Kennesaw State’s Wells Picks up First A-Sun Player of the Week Honor of the Season

Release from Kennesaw State Athletics:

For five-straight weeks the Kennesaw State women’s basketball team has earned a Atlantic Sun Conference weekly honor as senior Kristina Wells was named Co-A-Sun Player of the Week, the conference announced on Monday (Dec. 22).

It is the first such honor for the Douglasville, Ga., native this season and the fifth of the season for KSU with sophomore Deandrea Sawyers and junior Jasmine McAllister collecting Player of the Week and three Newcomer of the Week honors earlier this season, respectively.

“This was a much deserved award for Kristina Wells,” said head coach Nitra Perry. “She has been so consistent. Now that we have Jasmine, who has just exploded onto the scene, Kristina has been silently doing what she does. If that is a double-double, or making a pass at the end of a game for a game-winner or it that is a rebound, she has done it. Time and time again I have called her number and she has not let me down yet and not let this team down. Her energy has been amazing. She has played every position on the floor from one to four since my first year and she has not complained one time. I just want her to keep going and keep winning.”

Wells led the Owls to back-to-back wins over the past week as KSU extended its conference-leading win streak to six games with a 76-56 blowout win at Mercer, followed by a hard-fought 50-47 victory over Gardner-Webb on Saturday. With the win, the Owls improved to 9-2 on the season, the best start to a season in Division I history and the best since the 2000-01 campaign. It is also the first six-game winning streak for the Owls in the Division I era and the first since the 2001-02 season.

Wells averaged a double-double over the week with 17.5 points and 11.5 rebounds, while shooting at a 54.5 percent clip from the field and connecting on 11-of-13 free throws. She also totaled seven assists, three blocks and two steals, while only committing two turnovers in 80 minutes of play.

The senior opened the week by pacing the Owls against their rivals, pouring in a team-high 20 points on 5-of-9 shooting and a 10-of-10 mark from the charity stripe, to go along with a season-high 14 rebounds and six assists. It marked the second double-double of the season for the Douglasville, Ga., native and the 15th of her career.

She followed that performance up with a 15-point, nine-rebound, two-block and two-steal effort on Saturday against Gardner-Webb, where she had another stellar shooting performance, going 7-of-13 from the floor. For the season, Wells is averaging 12.3 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists for the Owls.