Cawthorn named OVC Player. Freshman of the Week after big week
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – LaReesha Cawthorn had a monster week for the Tennessee Tech women’s basketball team as the true freshman earned both the Ohio Valley Conference’s Freshman of the Week honor, but also claimed the league’s Player of the Week award on Tuesday. The OVC weekly honors are nominated and voted on by the member institutions’ athletics communications contacts.
By Thomas Corhern, TTU Athletics Media Relations
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – LaReesha Cawthorn had a monster week for the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team as the true freshman earned both the Ohio Valley Conference's Freshman of the Week honor, but also claimed the league's Player of the Week award on Tuesday.
The OVC weekly honors are nominated and voted on by the member institutions' athletics communications contacts.
For the Franklin, Ky., native, it is her seventh OVC honor of the season with five Freshman of the Week nods (Nov. 18, Dec. 9, Jan. 20, Feb. 3 and Feb. 10) and two Player of the Week selections (Nov. 18 and Feb. 10).
Over the last week, the Golden Eagles played three games, going 2-1 with a 68-49 win at Tennessee State, a 68-53 loss to Western Illinois and a 75-70 overtime win over Eastern Illinois on Saturday.
For the three games, Cawthorn scored 53 total points and pulled down 47 total rebounds, averaging 17.7 points and 15.7 boards per game. She also had four blocks and four steals.
The week started with an 11-point performance in Nashville as she also pulled down six rebounds with two steals. Cawthorn followed up on Thursday with a 15-point, 14-rebound effort against conference-leading Western Illinois.
The big show came on Saturday against Eastern Illinois as Cawthorn was a force, putting together one of the best performances in program history as she scored 27 points and collected 27 rebounds – 14 offensive and 13 defensive – to go along with an assist, two steals and four blocks in the overtime victory.
The 27 rebounds is tied with Pam Cassity against Middle Tennessee in the 1975-76 season for the fourth-most in a single game in Tech program history. Cassity had the top eight rebound games in program history – all in the 1975-76 season – giving Cawthorn the most rebounds recorded by a Tech player in one game in 50 years.
It is also the most since for an OVC player in nearly 20 years – Southeast Missouri's Lachelle Lyles recorded 32 against Tennessee State in 2006. She also tied the NCAA single-game freshman rebound record, joining Aneesah Morrow (DePaul, 2021-22), Jillian Alleyne (Oregon, 2012-13) and Anriel Howard (Texas A&M, 2015-16).
Cawthorn currently ranks third nationally in offensive rebounds per game (4.7) and total offensive rebounds (108). She also ranks 18th nationally in rebounds per game (10.4 rpg) and 21st in total rebounds (239).
The two double-doubles last week give the true freshman seven in her career, tying for 24th all-time in program history.
Tech is back on the road this week as it travels to Morehead State on Thursday and Southern Indiana on Saturday.
Two home games remain on the 2025-26 slate as Tech hosts SIUE on Feb. 19 and Lindenwood on Feb. 21. Tickets for those games are on sale now – call (931) 372-3940, visit the Hooper Eblen Center ticket office or order online at TTUsports.com.
Photo | Thomas Corhern, TTU Athletics Media Relations
