O’Donnell Collects Fifth Skyline Rookie of the Week Honor; Staab Lands on Honor Roll
NEW YORK — Averaging a double-double and leading the team in scoring last week, Kelly O'Donnell (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) has been selected as the Skyline Conference women's basketball Rookie of the Week announced by the league office today. It is the second straight accolade for the freshman and her league-leading fifth weekly honor of the season.
The 5-foot-10 guard averaged 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds over a 1-1 week for the Bears. She opened the week with 14 points, 13 rebounds, and three assists at Farmingdale State for her team-best sixth double-double of the season. She followed it up with 25 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals in a victory over Yeshiva on Thursday at home, her sixth game scoring 20-or-more points.
Finishing all but one game of her freshman campaign in double figures, O'Donnell now ranks fourth in the league in scoring at 16.9 points an outing, tops among rookies.
Also honored for her strong play last week was junior Caitlyn Staab (Lynbrook, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) who landed on the Skyline Weekly Honor Roll. Averaging just 6.7 points entering the week, Staab shared the team lead in scoring with O'Donnell, shooting an efficient .773 from the field. At Farmingdale on Tuesday, she erupted for a career-high 23 points with 11 rebounds for her first collegiate double-double.
With two weeks remaining in the regular season and still sitting in playoff position in sixth place, the Bears (8-12, 6-7) open a three-game stretch this week, hosting SJC Long Island—sitting a 1.5 games behind the Bears in seventh place—tomorrow, February 6. The team will also play their Play4Kay game wearing pink jerseys to promote breast cancer awareness and fundraising for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. with live stats and video available on SJCBears.com.