Maryland women’s basketball center Brionna Jones earned her second consecutive Big Ten Co-Player of the Week honor Monday and freshman Kaila Charles won the Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor.
The award is Jones’ fourth conference player of the week recognition this season, and she shares it with Ohio State guard Kelsey Mitchell. Jones averaged 18 points and 11.5 rebounds in two wins this week, earning double-doubles in both of them to extend her streak to 10 consecutive games with a double-double.
Jones scored 25 points and collected 10 rebounds in Maryland’s 83-70 win over Michigan on Thursday and notched 11 points and 13 rebounds in a 80-71 victory against Rutgers on Sunday. The senior also had a combined five blocks in the contests.
Jones has 14 double-doubles this season, the third-most in the country and most in the Big Ten. She also ranks third nationally in field goal percentage (68.7) and has gathered the ninth-most rebounds (211) in the NCAA. The Havre de Grace native is averaging 19.4 points and 10.6 rebounds.
Charles earned her first conference weekly award after averaging 17 points and 6.5 rebounds against Michigan and Rutgers. Charles, one of two freshmen that have started every game for coach Brenda Frese’s squad, also garnered credit from her coach for her defensive efforts, particularly against the Wolverines.
Against Michigan, Charles scored 16 points and grabbed six boards and followed that with a team-high 18 points and seven rebounds in the defeat of Rutgers. The Glenn Dale native added one block and one steal in each game and shot a combined 13-for-20 from the floor (65 percent).
Charles averages 9.8 points and collects 5.4 rebounds per game. She was a McDonald’s All-American and Washington Post All-Met Player of the Year last year on Riverdale Baptist School’s nationally-ranked team.
