For the second time in three weeks, the Northwestern State women’s basketball team collected the Southland Conference Player of the Week award.
After Mya Blake won it two weeks ago, freshman Vernell Atamah won the honor this time around.
Atamah averaged 25 points per game, helping earn the Demons (8-8, 5-2) a split against New Orleans and league-leading Southeastern Louisiana, including posting a 29-point, 11-rebound double-double in an 83-66 victory over the Privateers.
Her 29 points scored against UNO this past Thursday was the best scoring output for a Demon since Jiselle Woodson poured in 32 in the Southland Conference Tournament in 2023.
She backed that up with 21 points in a close loss against undefeated SLU, nearly leading the Demons back from an 18-point deficit. Atamah recorded a personal 8-0 run in the fourth quarter to cut a 12-point Lady Lions lead down to four.
Atamah’s 50 total points the last two games are the best two-game stretch for any Demon since Beatrice Attura dropped 55 points in a two-game stretch in March 2017.
She shot 51.7 percent from the floor, making 16 of 31 shot attempts, and added a block in each game and recorded three steals in the win over UNO.
The freshman also made 15 of her 18 attempts from the charity stripe in the two games and her 83.3 percent free throw shooting is fourth in the league.
Atamah is in the top three in most categories for the Demons, including leading in scoring, field goal percentage and rebounding.
Her 18.1 points per game during SLC play is tops in the league and her 7.1 rebounds per game is seventh in the conference.
Northwestern State begins a stretch of five of six on the road, traveling to Lamar on Thursday, the other undefeated team in the SLC standings, before finishing the weekend with a visit to rival Stephen F. Austin on Saturday.
