Texas Tech University Athletics
Perkins Named Big 12 Player of the Week
November 24, 2003 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 24, 2003
DALLAS - Texas Tech's Jia Perkins and Texas' Jamie Carey tied for Big 12 Women's Basketball Player of the Week and Colorado's Emily Waner was named Big 12 Rookie of the Week for 2003-04 season opening games, the conference office announced Monday.
Players are nominated by each school's sports information office and voted on by a panel of media who cover Big 12 women's basketball.
Perkins, a 5-8 guard, averaged 18.5 points and 7.5 rebounds, and was named MVP of the Preseason WNIT while leading Texas Tech to four wins and the tournament title. In the first game against UTSA, she recorded a double-double with 19 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. It marked the fifth double-double of her career. Perkins shot 41.7 percent from the field, 90 percent from the free throw line and tied her career-high three blocks. In the second game vs. Western Kentucky, she scored 18 points while shooting 61.5 percent from the field. Against No. 18 UC Santa Barbara, the Granbury, Texas, senior scored a season-high 22 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out four assists. In the championship game against No. 15 Rutgers, Perkins had 15 points and eight rebounds. Perkins has now moved to seventh on Tech's all-time scoring list with 1,578 points.
Carey, a 5-6 guard, averaged 18.5 points and shot an incredible 67 percent from the floor to lift Texas to two victories to start the year and to the No. 2 ranking in the nation (UT's highest ranking in 16 years). Carey registered 14 points, five boards and three assists in the win over then-No. 2 Duke. She netted a game-high and Jimmy V Tournament record 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting against North Carolina State. Those 23 points are two shy of Carey's career high (set at Stanford) and the best scoring effort of her Texas career. The Thornton, Colo., junior had tremendous second half efforts in each game with 11 points and three rebounds vs. Duke in the second stanza and 15 points on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting in the final period vs. NC State.
Waner, a 5-8 freshman guard, had one of the more impressive debuts for a rookie in Colorado history in her first four games. In her first game, she put up 17 points, including five three's, in CU's win over Old Dominion. It was the third-best performance for a Buffalo in her freshman debut ever. The next night against No. 15 Notre Dame, the frosh again showed no fear, hitting the game-winning three-pointer with 12.5 seconds left to give CU the WBCA Classic championship and earning her a spot on the all-tournament team. She averaged 13.5 points per game in the tournament. In the Subway Classic, Waner averaged 30.5 minutes per game and was 4-10 from beyond the arc scoring 14 points. Against No. 13 Minnesota, the Highlands Ranch, Colo., native earned the first start of her career (and the first for a CU freshman in four years) and responded by going 3-4 from the three-point line for nine points.
