SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Furman’s Cierra Carter has been named the Southern Conference women’s basketball player of the week for games played Dec. 12-18, the conference announced Tuesday.
Carter led the 8-4 Paladins to a 1-1 record at the West Palm Beach Invitational last weekend with averages of 28.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game and playing all 40 minutes in both contests on back-to-back days.
Carter opened the tournament with a career-best 31 points and eight rebounds against Ohio, shattering her previous career high of 27 set last year against Western Carolina. The senior finished the day 9-of-16 from the floor and a perfect 9-of-9 from the charity stripe. Carter scored eight of Furman’s 14 fourth-quarter points in the 70-68 win over the Bobcats and grabbed all eight of her rebounds on the defensive end.
The following day, Carter dropped 25 points and brought down three rebounds as the Paladins fell to Xavier. The Columbia, South Carolina, native also chipped in two steals and had another impressive day offensively as she finished 10-of-17 from the field and added four 3-pointers. Carter rallied Furman from a 25-13 second-quarter deficit versus Xavier as the 5-11 forward scored 14 of the Paladins’ 18 points to tie the game at 32-32 heading into the halftime break.
Carter finished the week with sizzling 57-percent shooting percentages from the floor and from behind the arc and went 10-of-10 from the free-throw line in the two games. Her strong performance over the weekend moved Carter up to 18th on Furman’s career scoring list with 1,112 points and to seventh in program history with 735 rebounds.
Also nominated: Britney Snowden (ETSU), Kahlia Lawrence (Mercer), Nadine Soliman (UNCG), Hannah Nichols (Samford) and Aryanna Gilbert (Chattanooga).
SoCon Women’s Basketball Players of the Week
Nov. 14 - Sydni Means, Mercer, Sr.
Nov. 21 - Tianna Tarter, ETSU, Sr.
Nov. 28 - Keiana Gilbert, Chattanooga, Sr.
Dec. 5 - Erica Haynes-Overton, ETSU, Fr.
Dec. 12 - Ije Ajemba, UNCG, Sr.
Dec. 19 - Cierra Carter, Furman, Sr.