Krimili named Player & Freshman of the Week & New WCC shooting records
Ioanna Krimili had a memorable January, and to cap it all off she is the first WCC player to receive the Player of the Week twice, while also receiving her 7th Freshman of the Week award in 10 weeks of action!
Importantly, Ioanna led her USF Dons to 4 straight wins, to receive the Team of the Week honor by the WCC as well. This is the longest winning streak for the Dons in 4 years.
Krimili scored 76 points last week, averaging 25.3 points per game. She forgot how to miss, running an incredible 60.5% (26/43) from the field and an insane 63.6% from three-point range (21/33).
What speaks volumes about Ioanna's constant growth into a true leader in NCAA D1 basketball is that she continued to improve on her performance game by game. She opened the week scoring 23 against Pepperdine at home shooting 53.6 percent from the field, and followed up with 24 points in the win over Pepperdine in Malibu where she shot 58.3 percent from the field. And just when everyone would expect her to have an off night and relax a bit in sunny southern California, she entered the "Krimili zone" against LMU and finished with 29 points, shooting 66.7 percent from the field, and making a USF single game record nine 3-point field goals.
Ioanna currently ranks second in NCAA D1 in three pointers made (58) but has only 5 fewer makes than the first player on the list, who has taken 42 more three-point attempts!
She's also sixth in the nation in three pointers per game, and 15th in free-throw percentage, with 91% efficiency!
Ivana Raca of Wake Forest University received the ACC Player of the Week three weeks ago, when she was averaging a double-double in ACC play, and led Wake Forest to wins against Miami and Boston College. For the year, Ivana is very close to a double-double with 16.7 ppg and 9.5 rpg in 35 mpg. In impressive fashion, she followed the ACC award with a career night and the most rebounds pulled in Wake Forest history over the past 5 years (19) while scoring 17 points, for a monster double-double, leading the Demon Deacons to an important victory over Virginia Tech. The much awaited game against the top-ranked team in the US, Louisville, came at home, and Ivana almost led her team to a major upset, as she put Wake up by one under a minute to go, only to eventually go down to the Cards by two. That game marked Ivana's fifth double-double of the season. Four days later, she had 24 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists on 10/16 shooting on a team win 73-59 against Florida State University on January 28th, while on January 31st and in a matchup against Clemson University where her team lost 66-69, she had 18 points and 6 rebounds while making 3/7 three point shots in 40 minutes of action.
What speaks volumes about Ioanna's constant growth into a true leader in NCAA D1 basketball is that she continued to improve on her performance game by game. She opened the week scoring 23 against Pepperdine at home shooting 53.6 percent from the field, and followed up with 24 points in the win over Pepperdine in Malibu where she shot 58.3 percent from the field. And just when everyone would expect her to have an off night and relax a bit in sunny southern California, she entered the "Krimili zone" against LMU and finished with 29 points, shooting 66.7 percent from the field, and making a USF single game record nine 3-point field goals.
Ioanna currently ranks second in NCAA D1 in three pointers made (58) but has only 5 fewer makes than the first player on the list, who has taken 42 more three-point attempts!
She's also sixth in the nation in three pointers per game, and 15th in free-throw percentage, with 91% efficiency!
Ivana Raca of Wake Forest University received the ACC Player of the Week three weeks ago, when she was averaging a double-double in ACC play, and led Wake Forest to wins against Miami and Boston College. For the year, Ivana is very close to a double-double with 16.7 ppg and 9.5 rpg in 35 mpg. In impressive fashion, she followed the ACC award with a career night and the most rebounds pulled in Wake Forest history over the past 5 years (19) while scoring 17 points, for a monster double-double, leading the Demon Deacons to an important victory over Virginia Tech. The much awaited game against the top-ranked team in the US, Louisville, came at home, and Ivana almost led her team to a major upset, as she put Wake up by one under a minute to go, only to eventually go down to the Cards by two. That game marked Ivana's fifth double-double of the season. Four days later, she had 24 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists on 10/16 shooting on a team win 73-59 against Florida State University on January 28th, while on January 31st and in a matchup against Clemson University where her team lost 66-69, she had 18 points and 6 rebounds while making 3/7 three point shots in 40 minutes of action.
Along the lines of Cypriots with double-doubles, Elena Pilakouta of the University of Nebraska in Omaha recorded her career-high on January 16th against South Dakota State University by having a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds in 31 minutes of action on a 54-64 team loss.
Yet another Greek setting career-best records, Elena Tsineke of the University of South Florida, had a night to remember on January 6th, recording her career-high in college basketball by scoring 31 points, 5/8 threes, 11/16 FGs, 4/5 FTs, adding 2 rebounds in 26 minutes of action on a team win 66-48 vs Wichita State University. Since then, her team has faced Houston and Tulane on January 9th and 13th accordingly and has remained undefeated in the conference (7-0) by winning both games. Elena scored 12 points in both games and is averaging so far this season 12 points per game.
In the same conference with the Tsineke sisters, in AAC competition, Sofia Gritzali of Cincinnati had career-best nights over the past 10 days with 31 minutes against Memphis and 30 against Wichita State. Against Memphis she had 8 points on 3/6 FGs, 1/2 3s, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and a couple of Gritzali-signature steals. Against WSU she added 4 rebounds and one more steal.
Back to personal bests in the ACC, Cynthia Ezeja had a fun December and more growth in January, with a couple of double-digit rebounding games (11) against Clemson (a win) and Florida State, in which she was honored with her first official start for the Pitt Panthers! Cynthia ranks third in rebounding on Pitt's team, and lags 5 and 10 mpg to the only two players pulling down half and one rebound more than her on avg.
In more Power-5 Conferences/Big12 action, Ioanna Chatzileonti of Kansas University had 14 points and 8 rebounds in 32 minutes of action against Oklahoma University on a 7/10 shooting from the field, and added 2 assists and 2 steals, in a 81-84 loss on January 27th.
In more Power-5 Conferences/Big12 action, Ioanna Chatzileonti of Kansas University had 14 points and 8 rebounds in 32 minutes of action against Oklahoma University on a 7/10 shooting from the field, and added 2 assists and 2 steals, in a 81-84 loss on January 27th.
On the other side of the country, Ornela Muca got back to positive contributions in the new year, for the decimated by injuries and suffering tough losses University of California at Berkeley Golden Bears. On January 15th, in 16' she scored a personal best 11 points, with 4/5 FGs and 3/3 three-pointers, adding a steal.
Christina Katsamouri continued her record-setting output in Manhattan in January with 14 points (6/8 FGs, 1/2 3s), 3 rebounds, adding an assist and a steal against St. Peters on January 2nd. She carried on the 20 mpg+ in January with 5 and 6 rebounds against Marist, to eventually receive her first starts on January 24th and 25th at Monmouth!
Georgia Sideri of the UPike Bears, had 14 points (6/12 FGs and 2/6 3s), 3 steals, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist, in 26' against Bethel. In her next game, on January 4th, against in-state Kentucky rival Cumberlands, Georgia was awarded with her first start, receiving 26' and scoring 2 points.
Filippa Goula, at Northeastern Junior College, scored 20 points in her US college basketball debut against Laramie County, and continues to lead her Colorado team this season from the point guard position.
More Greeks had personal best performances in December and January, including in NAIA and NJCAA action.
Georgia Sideri of the UPike Bears, had 14 points (6/12 FGs and 2/6 3s), 3 steals, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist, in 26' against Bethel. In her next game, on January 4th, against in-state Kentucky rival Cumberlands, Georgia was awarded with her first start, receiving 26' and scoring 2 points.
Filippa Goula, at Northeastern Junior College, scored 20 points in her US college basketball debut against Laramie County, and continues to lead her Colorado team this season from the point guard position.
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Image via: WCC Basketball