BUFFALO — University at Buffalo women’s basketball senior shooting guard JoAnna Smith was named MAC East Player of the Week for the first time this season, as announced by the MAC office on Tuesday morning. This marks the fifth time in her UB career that she has earned the MAC weekly honor.
Smith finished off her strong week leading the Bulls to a road victory at Western Michigan on Saturday as she averaged 26.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals through two games. The senior has netted three straight 20+ point games and has five such efforts in her last eight MAC games.
On Wednesday night against Ball State, Smith went off for a team-high 26 points, three rebounds and two assists while connecting on a season-high six three pointers across 38 minutes. With her first triple of the game, she moved into third place on UB’s all-time three pointers made list (172).
In the 62-47 win over Western Michigan on Saturday, the Southaven, MS native continued her high level of play as she netted a game-high 27 points on 11-for-20 from the floor and 5-for-11 from behind the arc. Smith connected on three straight triples in the third quarter to put the Bulls up 15 and helped them secure their fifth MAC win of the season.
With her 27-point effort on Saturday, Smith moved into 11th place on UB’s all-time scoring charts as she has now netted 1,172 career points in the blue and white. Smith is just one point shy of entering the top-10 in scoring in program history.
On the year, Smith is averaging a team-best 16.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.2 assists while leading the Bulls in scoring 12 times. In MAC play, the senior ranks third in scoring (21.0 PPG) and second in three pointers made (30) while going over the 20-point plateau five times.
Smith and the Bulls return to the hardwood on Wednesday night as they travel to Toledo, Ohio to take on the Rockets at 7 p.m.
from UBBulls.com via IFTTT
