STANDISH, Maine – Weekly accolades for the reporting period ending December 30th have been released and Saint Joseph's College senior guard Kelsi McNamara (West Newbury, Mass.) has garnered three honors.
For the second time this winter, McNamara has been listed on the D3hoops.com Team of the Week, a national honor bestowed upon the top five players in the country – by position – each reporting period. She also garnered Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Player of the Week and New England Women's Basketball Association (NEWBA) weekly honor roll acclaim for her efforts in a pair of games during the semester break.
McNamara carried the Monks to a pair of victories by averaging 33.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.5 steals per game during the team's California trip last week. The senior guard was lights out from the field with a 65.6% (21-32) shooting effort, which included a 66.7% (10-15) performance from beyond arc, and was 14-14 from the FT line in wins over Pomona-Pitzer and Occidental. In the 74-70 victory over Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday, McNamara netted a career-high 40 points and was 12-12 from the FT line with nine rebounds and three assists.
With her career-high scoring output, McNamara became just the second player in program history to net at least 40 points in a contest. Linda Johnson '81, who scored a team-record 49 points in a victory over Maine-Machias on February 25th, 1978, is the only other SJC player to hit the 40-point mark.
As of January 2nd, McNamara leads the conference in three-pointers made (36) and points (273) and ranks second in assists (71), three-point percentage (42.4%), field goals made (88), and points per game (22.8), third in free throws made (61), and fourth in FT percentage (85.9%).
Among all active NCAA DIII Women's Basketball players, McNamara is the career leader in three-pointers made (270) and attempted (693) and ranks third in assists (492) and assists average (4.92), fourth in points (1,704), and fifth in three-pointers made per game (2.70).
She currently ranks sixth in NCAA DIII Women's Basketball in scoring average, seventh in points, and 10th in assists.
For McNamara, the GNAC Player of the Week honor is the third of her career and the NEWBA honor roll listing is her eighth over the last four years. The four-year standout has garnered 79 individual accolades during her collegiate career.
Saint Joseph's (12-0), ranked 13th and 14th in the latest D3hoops.com and WBCA national polls, respectively, will play at Regis College in a GNAC opener on Tuesday at 7:00 PM.
