Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina point guard Jada Burton helped the Catamounts end the calendar year on a high note as she was today named the Southern Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week following her historic triple-double performance this week against Southern Wesleyan. Burton's outing of 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists represented WCU's first triple-double in program history and her conference weekly accolade is the first of her career. The senior from Spartanburg is the second Catamount to earn a weekly award this season, joining AC Carter who was named the conference's top player following the first double-double of her career against Queens.
The SoCon's weekly awards are selected and announced by the league office from nominations submitted by the media relations or communications personnel at each member institution.
One of only 12 players to date in the NCAA this season to record a triple-double, Burton conducted a masterful offensive effort for a short-handed Catamounts team against Southern Wesleyan, pushing the team to its second-highest scoring game of the season in the 112-53 victory. She dished out 12 of the team's 29 assists, tied for the fifth-most by an individual Catamount and the second-most assists by a team in a single game. Additionally, Burton chipped in a team-high four steals and a block as she filled the stat sheet.
Currently the SoCon's assists per game leader with a 4.9 average, Burton also leads the conference in field goal percentage, hitting 61.2% of her shots this season. She's tied for sixth in steals per game with 1.6 and for 15th in points per game with an average of 9.8.
Burton and the Catamounts are back in action on Thursday, Jan. 2, to host the Montreat Cavaliers before opening SoCon play against the Chattanooga Mocs on Thursday, Jan. 9. Both games will be broadcast on the Catamount Sports Network with free live streaming audio online at CatamountSports.com, with live video stream through ESPN+ (paid subscription required).
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