Forward Dayana Mendes captured her second West Coast Conference Freshman of the Week award Monday, marking the fifth weekly honor for the Cougar women’s basketball team this season.
Mendes averaged a near double-double in the past week, averaging 12.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists. She also scored with efficiency, shooting 52.6% from the field.
Mendes recorded a double-double against LMU on Thursday with 14 points and 11 rebounds before scoring 11 points and grabbing eight rebounds against Portland. The double-double was Mendes’ third of the season.
The Cougs split their games last week, beating LMU 63-51 and losing to Portland on Saturday 84-79.
The young versatile frontcourt piece has carved out an important place on the WSU roster as the season has gone on. She started just her second and third game of the season this past week and played two of her highest minute totals this season, with 27 against LMU and 26 against Portland after playing a career-high 31 against Gonzaga last week.
After starting center Alex Covill went down with a leg injury a couple of weeks ago, Mendes has seen increased action. While she does not play full-time at the five, her defensive versatility allows her to be a mainstay even in a five-out offense.
WSU head coach Kamie Ethridge has expressed confidence in her young core many times this season and has said Mendes’ unique talent is something to tap into as the season goes on.
Ethridge said Mendes’ defensive versatility was a big factor in the team’s victory over LMU, esepcially when guarding the Lions’ leading scorer, guard Naudia Evans.
“It doesn’t matter who it is, we have a unique player in [Mendes] that can guard someone that small and not get beat off the bounce,” Ethrdige said. “We were able to switch a lot of things too.”
The Paris, France, native is not the only French Coug to win Freshman of the Week this year. Guard Charlotte Abraham won the award twice in back-to-back weeks in late December and center Candace Kpetikou picked up the most recent honor for the Cougs in late January.
WSU has only won freshman awards this season, still lacking a player of the week award despite strong performances from the likes of forward Tara Wallack and guard Eleonora Villa.
