WEEK of: DECEMBER 7-13, 2009
Sophomore guard/forward EBONY CUNNINGHAM (East Orange, NJ/East Orange Campus) is the NJCU Women's Athlete of the Week for the second time this year and the third time in her career.
After a brilliant performance last week in which she averaged a double-double of 31.0 points and 13.5 rebounds while playing 80 minutes over two games, tallying 62 points and 27 rebounds, she was also named the New Jersey Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week. The award is for week four of the 2009-10 season and is the first conference honor of her career.
In a 1-1 week, Cunningham scored the most points by an NJCU player since 1989, the second most ever in the 40-year history of the program, and the most in any known road game, when she notched 35 points in the Knights one-point, 65-64 win at York College (NY). Cunningham shot .489 from the field (23-47), .500 from three-point range (7-14) and.600 (9-15) from the line and added1.5 steals and 1.0 assists per game.
Cunningham is the first NJCU women’s player to claim the NJAC Player of the Week award since Alaia Robinson on November 26, 2007. No player in the NJAC has scored more than her 35 points since Rutgers-Camden’s Megan Rulon scored 39 on November 28, 2005.
In an 87-65 loss at New York University on December 9, Cunningham achieved what was at the time a career-best 27 points (10-28 FG), including 5-of-11 from three-point distance, and added 12 rebounds (eight offensive) for what was her seventh double-double and fourth career 20-point game, and easily surpassed her previous scoring high of 21. She played a full 40 minutes for the second time in her career.
NJCU led in the first half and Cunningham made a layup for a 14-10 lead with 12:13 left in the first half. Cunningham drilled a three to force a 31-31 tie with 4:00 on the board. After NYU took a 33-31 lead, Cunningham sank yet another triple with 3:13 left in the period for a 34-33 lead. NYU went in front from there. NJCU stayed within striking distance for much of the second half and Cunningham hit another three with 5:10 remaining for a 12-point deficit (73-61).
In a 65-64 win over York College, Cunningham scored the most points by an NJCU women’s basketball player in more than 20 years and the Gothic Knights needed every one of her career-best 35 points and season-high 15 rebounds as NJCU won by one.
Cunningham, who scored 22 in the first half, notched her career-high 35 points, shooting 13-of-19 from the field, 2-of-3 from three-point range and 7-of-9 from the line, and nine of her 15 rebounds were on the defensive glass. She played just under 40 minutes. It also was her second straight double-double.
The 35 points marks her fifth career game of at least 20 points and her eighth double-double. Her scoring total was the most since Monique Hemingway netted a school record 40 vs. then-Kean College on February 23, 1989 and matched Hall-of-Famer Mary Beth Kennedy, who scored 35 against Caldwell College on February 20, 1978, for the second most in single-game school history. Cunningham’s 35 were the most scored in a known road game in school history, surpassing the mark of 34 by Anabel Rodriguez at Stevens Institute of Technology on January 21, 2002.
In the first half, Cunningham scored 22 of NJCU’s 34 first half points and hit a three for a 12-5 lead before the Knights headed to the intermission with an eight-point advantage, 34-26.
In the second half, the NJCU lead stood at five, 39-34, with 15:55 left before the Knights unleashed a 15-2 run over the next 4:32 to stake itself to an 18-point, 54-36 margin. Cunningham scored five more during the run.
York would rally for a three-point lead. With 1:19 left Cunningham hit a jumper for her 35th point and the Knights trailed by one, 64-63. With the game tied with 29 seconds remaining. York missed two shots and Cunningham grabbed a critical defensive rebound with 24 seconds left before the Knights made a free throw for the winning margin.
Cunningham is currently averaging 16.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.4 steals and 1.1 assists per game in 259 minutes over eight contests. She is shooting .363 from the field (49-135), .278 from three-point distance (10-36) and .542 from the line (26-48). She leads NJCU in scoring and rebounding, ranks second in minutes, third in steals and fourth in assists.
Among NJAC leaders, she ranks third in scoring and offensive rebounding (33, 4.13 per game), fifth in minutes per game (32.38), seventh in total rebounding, ninth in steals, tied for 10th in three-pointers made (10, 1.25 per game), 15th in three-point percentage, tied for 16th in defensive rebounding (29, 3.63 per game), 21st in free throw percentage, and 27th in field goal percentage.
