Redshirt freshman center Candance Kpetikou notched the Cougs’ fourth West Coast Conference Freshman of the Week honor on Monday, after having the best week of her young career despite the team suffering two losses against Portland and Loyola Marymount.
Kpetikou averaged 12.5 points and 4.5 rebounds during the two-game stretch, including a career-high 13 points against LMU. Last week, Kpetikou also shot 7-11 from the free throw line and 9-13 from the field.
The young center’s career week comes after she averaged just 3.1 points in 10.8 minutes per game through her first 18 games this season. Kpetikou has appeared in 21 of the team’s 23 games this season.
The Niger native is joined by a recruiting class that includes six players, five of whom were also internationally recruited. Kpetikou has seen her role fluctuate all season, but has seen increased action recently as her presence on the boards and her developing post-play have begun to reveal themselves a key contributors to the Cougs’ success. Kpetikou played a career-high 21 minutes against LMU and is averaging 17.2 minutes over the last five games.
WSU head coach Kamie Ethridge said over the last two weeks a “light bulb” has gone off for Kpetikou in which she has put in more workouts and is beginning to pickup suggestions from the coaches.
Kpetikou has been competing with center Alex Covill, who has been starting the majority of the games, and previous freshman of the week winner Dayana Mendes for minutes this season as head coach Kamie Ethridge continues to figure out the pecking order in the front court. So far, depth has revealed itself as a good problem to have, as each has proven viable in a variety of situations this season.
On the same day she won the award, Kpetikou scored four points but grabbed an impressive eight rebounds. She will look to continue leading the Cougs’ young core on Thursday at home against Pacific.