After a fantastic freshman campaign last season, Vernell Atamah has picked up right where she left off.

After she averaged 21.3 points in Northwestern State’s first three games against Nebraska, Wichita State and Kansas, Atamah earned the first Southland Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week award of the season, the league announced Monday.

Atamah, a sophomore nursing major from Mesquite, Texas, scored 20 points in the season-opening loss to Nebraska, beginning a week in which she scored at least 19 points in all three games. Her 21.3 points per contest leads the Southland.

Among her performances was a 25-point outburst in the victory at Wichita State, one in which she buried a career-high seven 3-pointers.

Atamah helped the Demons earn their first road victory against an American Conference team in program history.

She became the first NSU player with consecutive 20-point games against Division I opponents to start a season in more than 25 years.

Overall, she made 13 3-pointers in the three games and drained at least three triples in each game. Last season, Atamah made at least three 3-pointers just once during the entire season.

Her 52 percent from deep is the best mark in the SLC for anyone who has attempted at least eight 3-point shots.

It is the second weekly award won by Atamah in her career, also doing so Jan. 20, 2025, after posting a career night against New Orleans, scoring 29 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, as well as recording three steals before scoring 21 points against Southeastern Louisiana (Jan. 18).

Atamah and her NSU teammates open the home schedule at Prather Coliseum Saturday night at 6 against Champion Christian.