Dec. 24, 2012

STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford women's basketball's Chiney Ogwumike was named Pac-12 Player of the Week for the third time in 2012-13, the conference announced Monday morning.

The announcement also marks the sixth weekly conference honor of Ogwumike's career, passing Val Whiting (1990-93) and moving to just three back of the nine selections by all-time Stanford and Pac-12 leaders Candice Wiggins (2005-08) and Jayne Appel (2007-10).

Ogwumike averaged 21.0 points, 17.0 rebounds and shot 48.6 percent from the field last week as top-ranked Stanford (11-0) battled to road wins at No. 21/17 South Carolina (53-49) and No. 10/11 Tennessee (73-60). The wins improved Stanford's season-opening run to 11 games, the second-best start in program history, only behind the 20-0 start the Cardinal made to the 1989-90 campaign.

Ogwumike, a junior forward from Cypress, Texas, recorded her eighth and ninth double-doubles of the season, and seventh and eighth in a row, last week at South Carolina and Tennessee, respectively. She opened the week with a 21-point, 15-rebounds effort that included four blocks on defense in the Cardinal's 53-49 decision over the Gamecocks Wednesday night.

Three days later in Knoxville, the Cardinal faced Tennessee in a place where it had only defeated the Lady Volunteers once in 12 previous trips. Ogwumike helped end the seven-game slide against Tennessee in Knoxville by scoring 21 points and setting career highs with 19 rebounds and five assists in Stanford's 73-60 win. Her 19 rebounds also set the new Thompson-Boling Arena benchmark for an opponent against the Lady Vols.

Ogwumike and the Cardinal conclude non-conference play next Saturday, Dec. 29, welcoming second-ranked Connecticut to Maples Pavilion for a 1 p.m., ESPNU-televised contest. The battle of No. 1 vs. No. 2 is sold out at Maples Pavilion and is the third time that the Cardinal and Huskies have faced each other as the nation's top-two teams.