West Virginia’s JJ Quinerly (player) and Kansas’ S’Mya Nichols (freshman) were voted for Big 12 women’s basketball weekly awards for the fifth week of the season.
Quinerly scored 22 points in the Mountaineers’ 83-65 win over then-No. 25 Penn State and followed up that effort with her fourth consecutive 20+ point game, scoring 25 against Delaware State. The junior guard added four rebounds, two assists and three steals as the Mountaineers knocked off the Lady Lions to pick up their first AP Top 25 win of the season. Against Delaware State, the Norfolk, Virginia native became the first West Virginia player with 25 points, eight rebounds, 12 assists and seven steals in a game, and is just the second Division I player to accumulate those totals since 1999. The criminology major averaged 23.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 5.0 steals to capture her first player of the week honor and her first Big 12 weekly award since being named Freshman of the Week in the 2021-22 season. Nichols averaged 21.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and shot 69.2 percent from the field as she led Kansas to a pair of wins. The guard from Overland Park, Kansas set career highs in both contests this week, dropping 20 points against Houston Christian and 23 points at Wichita State. She added four assists in each game and went an impressive 10-of-12 from the field against the Shockers. It is the first career weekly honor for the former five-star recruit and is the first KU freshman honored since December 2020. Big 12 Players of the Week Player: Nov. 13: Madison Conner, TCU, G, Jr. Nov. 20: Ayoka Lee, K-State, C, Sr. Nov. 27: Sedona Prince, TCU, C, Sr. Dec. 4: Rori Harmon, UT, G, Jr. Dec. 11: JJ Quinerly, WVU, G, Jr. Freshman: Nov. 13: Stailee Heard, OSU, G Nov. 20: Kailey Woolston, BYU, G Nov. 27: Kailey Woolson, BYU, G Dec. 4: Madison Booker, UT, F Dec. 11: S’Mya Nichols, KU, G