O’Donnell Nabs Third Straight Skyline Rookie of the Week Accolade
NEW YORK — Posting a monster week to help keep the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team in playoff contention, freshman Kelly O'Donnell (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) has been selected as the Skyline Conference women's basketball Rookie of the Week for the sixth time this season, announced by the league office today.
The 5-foot-10 guard averaged 24.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.7 steals per game to helped the Bears (10-13, 8-8) level their league record to .500 with a 2-1 week. The team holds their postseason fate in their hands needing just one win in their final two games of the regular season this week.
O'Donnell opened the week netting a career-high 35 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the field and 11-of-12 from the free throw line in a victory over SJC Long Island on Tuesday. She fell one rebound shy of a double-double and also swiped four steals in the 94-72 triumph over their sibling rivals.
After recording team highs of 17 points and seven rebounds in a losing effort at Old Westbury on Thursday, O'Donnell flirted with the first triple-double in program history in a victory over Sarah Lawrence on Saturday. She set a new Bears single-game record, swiping 10 steals to record the first points-steals double-double, tallying 20 points and 10 steals before halftime. O'Donnell finished with 22 points on 10-of-19 shooting, 10 steals, and eight boards in just 25 minutes of action in the 75-28 win.
With an active streak of 21 games scoring 10-or-more points, O'Donnell leads St. Joseph's averaging 17.9 points, third in the Skyline Conference, and is one of just two players averaging 20 points in league contests.
Looking to clinch a playoff berth for the second time in three years, St. Joseph's plays their home finale tomorrow, hosting first-place Mount Saint Mary College (18-5, 15-1) in the opening game of a doubleheader tipping off at 5 p.m. with live stats and video available on SJCBears.com. The Bears will wrap up the regular season on Saturday, looking to sweep the series with SJC Long Island, in a 1 p.m. showdown in Patchogue.