St. John's University Athletics
Aliyyah Handford Named BIG EAST Freshman Of The Week
12/17/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 17, 2012
QUEENS, N.Y. - Rookie guard Aliyyah Handford was voted the BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on Monday, after being named to the St. John's Chartwells Holiday Classic All-Tournament team. Senior guard Shenneika Smith also earned conference accolades as she was named to the BIG EAST weekly honor roll.
The Newark, N.J., native had 10 points 10 points and six rebounds in a win against Tennessee Tech, shooting 5-of-8 from the floor and grabbing six rebounds. In a one-point overtime loss to No. 14/17 UCLA in the St. John's Chartwells Holiday Classic championship game, Handford added eight points, two steals and three rebounds. For the week, she shot 53 percent from the floor.
Handford has started the last three games for St. John's. She is the first St. John's BIG EAST Freshman of the Week since Smith was on Feb. 22, 2010.
Smith earned her third league weekly honor of the season as she was named to the league's honor roll. Smith, like Handford, was also named to the St. John's Chartwells Holiday Classic All-Tournament Team. Smith led the Red Storm with 20.0 points per game during the two-game tournament in Queens, N.Y. It was her fourth-time on the All-Tournament team. She scored a game-best and season-high 25 points against No. 14/17 UCLA in the Classic's Championship (Dec. 16), went 2-for-6 from 3-point range and 5-for-6 from the foul line. She also added six rebounds, one assist, three blocks and two steals.
Against Tennessee Tech, Smith had a game-best 15 points and game-high eight rebounds against to take St. John's to the Holiday Classic Championship game. She also recorded a career- and game-high seven assists.
With five blocks over the weekend, she moved up the charts and tied Coleta Brown (1990-1993) for No. 3 in all-time blocks with 114.
The Brooklyn, N.Y. native has been on the conference honor roll eight times over the course of her career. She was also named BIG EAST Player of the Week on Nov. 26.
After the 1-1 weekend, St. John's (5-4) will be back in action on Saturday, Dec. 22 when the Red Storm travels to Hamden, Conn., to face the Quinnipiac Bobcats at 1 p.m.
