Every Tuesday, UK Athletics recognizes outstanding performances for our student-athletes. These are the honorees for the week ending Sunday, Feb. 21:
Men’s basketball: DeMarcus Cousins
Cousins, a 6-foot-11 forward from Mobile, Ala., averaged 19.0 points and 9.5 rebounds in wins at Mississippi State and at No. 17 Vanderbilt. He recorded his 16th double-double of the season at Mississippi State with 19 points while pulling down a game-high 14 rebounds. Against Vanderbilt he scored 19 points to go with five rebounds and three steals. Cousins has scored in double-figures in 18 of his last 19 games.
Women’s basketball: Victoria Dunlap
Dunlap, a 6-2 forward from Nashville, Tenn., earned her fourth Player of the Week award this season after averaging a team-high 15.5 points on 11-of-19 shooting (57.9 percent) to go with 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 2.0 blocks in UK’s two wins. The victories gave UK a school-record 11 SEC victories and its first undefeated home season (17-0) since 1980-81. It also set the school mark for home wins in a season with 17.
Gymnastics: Emily Green
Senior Emily Green won or shared two titles and finished second in another, helping UK post its season-high team score of 195.850 in a victory over Ohio State on Feb. 19. Green won the balance beam with a 9.850 and shared title honors with teammates Hillary Ferguson and Jasmine Minion on the floor exercise with a 9.900 score. Green has won back-to-back titles on the floor exercise after finishing first against Auburn with a 9.900 on Feb. 12. She has three floor titles this season and five in her career. Green’s 9.950 score against Florida on Jan. 22 was tied for the top score in the event by any SEC gymnast entering last week.
Women’s basketball: A’dia Mathies
Mathies, a 5-9 guard from Louisville, Ky., earned her third Freshman of the Week honor this season after averaging 11.0 points and 6.0 rebounds to go along with 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals in the wins. She recorded 11 points with a 3-pointer, four free throws, five rebounds and two steals against Florida and had 10 points with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals vs. South Carolina.
Baseball: Alex Meyer
Sophomore right-hander Alex Meyer made the start against Virginia Tech in the season opener for the Wildcats, picking up his first win of the season. A 6-9, 220-pound right-hander who is rated as the seventh-best sophomore in college baseball by Baseball America, Meyer worked five innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out eight. Meyer recorded his first three outs of the season by strikeout, adding punch-outs in five of his first six outs.
Men’s basketball: Patrick Patterson
Patterson posted back-to-back double-doubles in helping UK to wins at Mississippi State and Vanderbilt. He tied the game at Mississippi State on a field goal with :37 left to send the game into overtime. Tied for team-high honors with 19 points against the Bulldogs. Hit UK’s only 3-pointer in the second half to give the Wildcats a 52-49 lead at Vanderbilt. Then, leading 55-53 with :39 left against Vandy, grabbed crucial rebound off Vanderbilt missed 3-pointer to help preserve win. Now has eight double-doubles this season and 29 in his career, moving him to a tie for seventh on UK’s all-time double-double list.
Softball: Rachel Riley
Sophomore pitcher Rachel Riley tossed 14 scoreless innings in two shutout victories for Kentucky. Riley dominated Minnesota, limiting the Gophers to just two hits and zero walks in a complete game effort. She matched a career-high with six strikeouts against Minnesota as well. For the weekend, Riley recorded her third and fourth career shutouts in two starts while yielding no runs and just six hits in 14 innings of action.
Baseball: Taylor Rogers
Freshman southpaw Taylor Rogers made his collegiate debut in sparkling fashion, tossing 7.2 shutout innings to pick up the win over West Virginia Saturday. A 6-3, 170-pounder, Rogers was thrust in to the weekend rotation in his first college outing and dominated the Mountaineers, allowing only six hits and no runs, issuing just one walk and fanning two. A native of Littleton, Colo., Rogers got outs from the first 13 hitters he faced, carrying a perfect game into the fourth inning. Rated as the seventh-best freshmen in the Southeastern Conference and the 21st-best freshmen in college baseball, Rogers threw just 85 pitches, filling up the strike zone throughout the game, tossing first-pitch strikes to 25-of-29 batters faced. He forced 15 groundouts in the contest, fielding his position well with two assists and a putout. Rogers didn’t allow a WVU base runner to reach scoring position until the fourth frame.
Softball: Natalie Smith
Senior Natalie Smith led the squad with seven hits on a .438 batting average for the week as UK charted a 5-0 week and a championship at the Florida Atlantic Kickoff Classic. She had at least one hit in four of the five games, and prior to her one game without a hit she had charted at least a single in five consecutive games.
Rifle: Megan English
Sophomore Megan English had an outstanding week, ranking a team-best sixth overall in the combined categories at the 2010 Great American Rifle Conference Championships. English totaled a team-best 592 in air rifle, ranking third overall in the conference, also contributing a 573 in smallbore, good for 17th overall.
Rifle: Jen Pason
Senior Jen Pason finished third overall in the smallbore competition at the 2010 Great American Rifle Conference Championships, totaling a 581 to lead the team. Pason also charted a 582 in air rifle, ranking 21st overall in the match.
