Feb. 6, 2006
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame senior forward Courtney LaVere (Ventura, Calif./Buena HS) has been selected to the BIG EAST Conference Weekly Honor Roll, the league office announced Monday. It’s the first time this season LaVere has earned a spot on the BIG EAST Honor Roll, which recognizes student-athletes with exceptional performances aside from the players chosen to receive the conference’s Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week awards.
LaVere is the fourth Notre Dame player to be tapped for conference honors this season, and the third to join the Honor Roll, along with senior guard Megan Duffy (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne HS), a three-time recipient, and freshman guard Lindsay Schrader (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett HS). In addition, Duffy and sophomore center Melissa D’Amico (Manorville, N.Y./William Floyd HS) have garnered BIG EAST Player of the Week laurels, and Schrader is a prior BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honoree this season.
LaVere averaged 16.0 points and 2.5 blocks per game with a staggering .800 field goal percentage (16-of-20) last week as Notre Dame registered double-digit victories over Syracuse (67-55) and Providence (66-48). On the road at Syracuse, LaVere collected 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting and blocked three shots, but her biggest contribution was a pair of baskets that bracketed an 8-0 second-half run for the Irish and put them ahead to stay. Three days later against Providence, LaVere was nearly flawless from the field, connecting on 9-of-10 shots and winding up with a season-best 18 points, pacing four Notre Dame players in double figures, as the Irish chalked up their largest win in more than a month.
Rutgers guard Cappie Pondexter took the Player of the Week honor for the third time this season, while Connecticut guard Renee Montgomery claimed the Freshman of the Week citation.
Notre Dame (14-7, 5-5 BIG EAST) returns to the hardwood Tuesday at 6 p.m. (ET) when it plays host to Villanova at the Joyce Center. The game will be broadcast to a national cable television audience on ESPNU.
— ND —