By By Nick Pipitone

WEEKLY HONORS

Player of the week: Pride forward Amaka Agugua

The senior forward put up some of her best numbers of the season, scoring a season-high 14 points in the win over the University of Massachusetts and then another eight points in a win over Central Connecticut State University.

Play of the week: UMass forward Kate Mills’ missed shot at the buzzer

In the Pride’s 59-58 win over UMass on Dec. 1, Mills had an opportunity to seal the win with a short jumper with three seconds remaining. The shot was off-target, enabling the Pride to stave off the final push in the Minutewomen’s late-game rally.

HIT THE BOOKS

With the end of the semester quickly approaching, the Pride only play three more games in the month of December. Head coach Felisha Legette-Jack said that she purposely set up the non-conference schedule this way to give her team more time to study for exams.

“We’re students before athletes,” Jack said. “We take pride in being good students and getting our work done, along with playing basketball.”

POINT TAKEN

In this past Sunday’s 29-point decimation of CCSU, Jack got to show off one of the emerging strengths of her team: two dynamic, yet stylistically-different, point guards. Sophomore India Ali started and played 16 minutes, scoring four points and adding four assists, while freshman Nikki Williams came in for 21 minutes and scored 12 points, also dishing out a team-high five assists.

Ali, in her second year at the starting role, is more knowledgeable on the court and runs a better offense. She is able to keep things at a slower pace and set up the rest of the team. Williams, conversely, is the more aggressive guard. Thus far this season, she has been more apt to drive to the basket and take chances.

The two guards have offered a good change of tempo and pace for the Pride, forcing teams to adjust when one or the other subs in.