BRENTWOOD, TENN -- For the third time this season,
Lariah Washington has been named Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week. Washington previously earned the honor on November 21 for her performances against Western Illinois, Valparaiso, and Loyola Chicago during the week of November 14-20, as well as on December 5 for her performances against Wright State and Northern Illinois during the week of November 28-December 4.
In EIU's lone game this past week, Washington notched her fifth 20-point game of the season as she scored 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field and 7-of-10 shooting from the free throw line to go along with six assists in EIU's 78-67 home win over Central Michigan.
For the season, Washington is averaging 20.2 points per game, which leads the OVC and ranks 19th in the nation. Her 1,379 career points rank 13th on EIU's all-time scorers list. She is six points away from tying Tracy Roller for 12th on the list and just 10 points away from entering the top 10. She is currently shooting the rock at a 49.7% clip, ranking second in the OVC. Along with scoring, Washington has been efficient at distributing the ball, as her 3.9 assists per game rank fourth in the OVC. Washington leads the OVC with 74 made field goals on the season.
This marks the fourth time that an EIU player has won an OVC weekly award this season, as
Macy McGlone was named OVC Newcomer of the Week on November 21 to go along with Washington's first OVC Player of the Week honor. Washington becomes the first Panther to earn the honor three times in a season since Sabina Oroszova earned it three times in a four week span during the 2013-14 season. She previously won OVC Freshman of the Week honors four times in her freshman season in 2019-20.
The Panthers wrap up the non-conference portion of their schedule on Thursday, December 22 at Minnesota at 3:30 PM CT before opening up conference play at home against OVC newcomer Lindenwood on Thursday, December 29 at 5 PM CT.
