OVC Freshman of Week honors to Tech's McKenzie, Holbrook
The two most productive freshmen in the Ohio Valley Conference last week helped the Tennessee Tech men's and women's teams each forge 2-0 conference records and they have been honored for their efforts.
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- The two most productive freshmen in the Ohio Valley Conference last week helped the Tennessee Tech men's and women's teams each forge 2-0 conference records and they have been honored for their efforts.
Forward Amadi McKenzie of the men's team and guard Stefanie Holbrook from the women's team have each been named the OVC Freshman of the Week for their performance over the weekend.
In his OVC debut, McKenzie had five points and five rebounds in just 16 minutes of action in the Golden Eagles victory over Eastern Illinois last Thursday. On Saturday night, McKenzie set a career-high with 18 points and grabbed five rebounds in Tech's 63-61 come from behind victory over Southeast Missouri.
A native of Atlanta, Ga., McKenzie made several key plays in
Tech's fifteen point second half comeback on Saturday night.
His biggest play was a putback, which turned into a three-point
play, with just 11 remaining in the game to give the Golden Eagles
a two-point advantage and the victory.
McKenzie has seen his production increase as the season has gone
on, and has remained a consistent force off the bench for
TTU. He his shooting a team-high 72 percent from the floor,
averaging just over six points per game in just fourteen minutes of
action. He also grabs almost four rebounds per contest.
McKenzie is also tied for the team lead in blocks with eight.
He is one of the reasons why the Golden Eagles are the top
rebounding team in the league in regards to rebounding margin over
their opponents.
The honor for McKenzie is Tech's second Freshman of the Week award
this season, as fellow rookie Anthony Fisher won the
award for his performance in Tech's season debut against Ole
Miss.
This is also the Golden Eagles' second consecutive week of being
awarded by the OVC, as senior forward Willie Jenkins was named the
OVC Player of the Week on Jan. 3.
In earning the Freshman of the Week award for the second
time this season, Holbrook set an Ohio Valley Conference
record and averaged 20 points per game as the Golden Eaglettes beat
EIU and Southeast Missouri.
On Thursday night, Holbrook was blazing from long range, hitting 10-of-12 for a career-high 30 points as the Eaglettes downed EIU 88-56. She followed up on Saturday by going 3-for-3 and scoring 10 crucial points in Tech's 80-78 victory over Southeast Missouri.
In the win over SEMO, Holbrook played a major role as Tech came
back from a 17-point deficit in the scond half. She hit a pair of
3-pointers to bring Tech to with six points, and a moment later
poured through her third consecutive trey as she was knocked down.
She made the shot and added a free throw for a four-point play.
For the week, Holbrook was 13-for-15 from long range for 86.6
percent. The 10 3-pointers against EIU broke the OVC record for
most trifectas in a game, topping the previous markof nine held by
several players including former Eaglettes Rachel Gobble and Dana
Bilyeu.
A freshman from Oak Ridge, Tenn., Holbrook has come off the bench to play in all 12 games this season and has jumped to third on the team in scoring, averaging 9.1 points per game overall. For the year, she is shooting 52.6 percent (30-for-57) from long distance to lead Tech in 3-pointers made and percentage.
She had previously been named Freshman of the Week once in December, and her selection this week gives the Eaglettes three such honors. Kristina Tyler was selected in the first week of the season. In addition, junior Emily Christian has twice been chosen the OVC Player of the Week.
Both the Golden Eagles and Eaglettes are currently riding three-game winning streaks, and are 2-0 in the OVC standings. They will host Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky this weekend in Eblen Center. Thursday's games are White County Night, and Saturday will be Jackson County Night.
For ticket information, call the Eblen Center ticket office at (931) 372-3940.
