NORTHAMPTON – After two impressive performances last week, senior guard Jessie Ruffner (Rocklin, Calif./Rocklin) of the Smith College basketball team has earned regional and national recognition by the New England Women’s Basketball Association (NEWBA) and D3hoops.com. She was named the NEWBA Player of the Week and landed on the D3hoops.com Team of the Week.
The Team of the Week presented by Scoutware is D3hoops.com‘s weekly honor roll, in its 27th season of recognizing the top performance at each of the five positions from the previous week. Joining Ruffner are Tanaesha Ellison (William Peace), Mary Schleusner (Washington & Lee), Cassidy Perry (Gallaudet), and Chiara Brown (La Verne).
Ruffner averaged a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds per game to along with 3.5 assists per game to give No. 15 Smith (10-2) wins over MIT and Springfield this past week. Against the Engineers, Ruffner finished with 17 points, 12 boards and three assists and followed that with a 29-point, eight rebound performance at Springfield where she hit the game-tying buzzer beater to send the game into overtime.
Ruffner, who is averaging career-highs in points (14.3), rebounds (9.3), assists (4.8), shooting percentage (59.8%), and minutes (32.5), moved to ninth on Smith’s all-time scoring list.
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The 13th-ranked Pioneers host Hamilton on Tuesday, January 9 at 6:00pm.
About Smith Athletics: Smith College is a NCAA Division III member of the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference that sponsors 11 intercollegiate sports. For more information log on to smithpioneers.com and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
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