A pair of SEMO Basketball freshmen have earned recognition from the Ohio Valley Conference.
Kennedi Watkins was awarded OVC Co-Freshman of the Week honors after leading the Redhawks this past week with 26 points (13ppg) and 20 rebounds (10rpg) in their pair of contests against Tennessee State (Jan. 20) and at Eastern Illinois (Jan. 22). Watkins almost had a double-double of 13 points and nine rebounds against Tennessee State. Watkins then registered her first career double-double at Eastern Illinois, finishing with 13 points to go along with a personal high 11 rebounds and five steals.
Watkins has scored in double-digits in each of the past four SEMO games. The weekly honor marks the first for Watkins in her career at SEMO. She is the third Redhawk this season to earn the award. SEMO men’s basketball point guard Phillip Russell claimed his fourth OVC Freshman of the Week honor.
Russell, who hails from St. Louis, averaged 12 points and 7.5 assists in two wins for SEMO last week. He shot 50 percent (8-of-16) from the field and collected three steals to go along with 15 assists in that stretch. Russell finished with 15 points and seven dishes vs. Tennessee State (Jan. 20) before scoring nine points and distributing a season-high eight assists two days later at Eastern Illinois (Jan. 22). Both Redhawk team are home this weekend – they will host SIU Edwardsville at the Show Me Center Saturday afternoon. The women tip-off at 2pm, followed by the men at 4pm.
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