Junior power forward Alnisa Hernaiz (Irvington, NJ/Irvington) of the women’s basketball team is the New Jersey City University Athlete of the Week for the period of December 17-23, 2012. Hernaiz wins the award for the third time this season and the eighth time in her three-year career.
Alnisa Hernaiz
Hernaiz, a 5-foot-7 Criminal Justice major for NJCU, and the current New Jersey Athletic Conference leader in rebounding at 10.2 per contest, previous was NJCU’s Athlete of the Week on November 19 and December 10.
In NJCU’s only game of the week on December 19—a 64-45 non-conference home loss to the United States Merchant Marine Academy—Hernaiz had another outstanding individual effort, grabbing 18 rebounds while pouring in 13 points.
Hernaiz moved within one rebound of 500 for her career, sliding into 14th place in school history by generating her 12th career double-double and third this season, with 12 of her 18 boards coming on the defensive glass. She shot 6-of-10 from the field and added three steals in 37 minutes.
Hernaiz, who registered double digits in rebounds for the 22nd time in her career and fifth time this year, led NJCU in rebounding in a game for the 28th time in her career and reached double digits in scoring for the 20th time overall. The 18 rebounds were just two shy of the career best 20 she grabbed on December 3 at Centenary College. Her final rebound came with 5:46 left in the contest.
On the season in 12 games (all starts), Hernaiz is averaging 9.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, 2.3 steals, 0.9 blocks and 0.8 assists per game, while shooting .438 from the field (49-112) and 15-39 from the line. In 353 minutes, she has tallied 113 points—reaching double figures in five outings—while adding 122 rebounds (45 offensive, 77 defensive), 27 steals, 11 blocks and 10 assists.
Hernaiz also leads the conference in defensive rebounding at 6.4 per game. Also among the NJAC leaders, Hernaiz ranks fourth in offensive rebounding (3.8 per game), ninth in field goal percentage and blocked shots, 10th in steals, and 19th in scoring.