Newbury College Freshman Awarded 5th Rookie of the Week Award

A Newbury College Freshman was awarded a 5th straight Rookie of the Week award after her second 20 point and 20 rebound performance, tying the previous record for Rookie of the Week.

Jaymesha Sanders helped the Nighthawks storm back to win yet another game after being significantly down 13 in the first half against Dean College in late January.

Sanders recorded 24 points and 24 rebounds in 36 minutes, which would be her second 20-20 game in two weeks.Going into the 4th quarter, Sanders hit a big three to give the Nighthawks their lead, which they would carry throughout the rest of the game for the win. Dean was the only conference loss the Nighthawks had previously this season, so this win put them in first place in the conference.

Sanders is a top candidate to win the 2017-18 rookie of the year award because of her dominant play , coaches and the athletic director.

”I just love winning and will do whatever it takes, stats aren't so important to me I just love being on a winning team” said Sanders who is averaging 14.2 points per game, which is the second highest on her team, and 12.2 rebounds per game, which is leading her team.

Newbury College Head Coach Marc Taney had nothing but positive words to say about his star recruit.

“She's doing more than what is expected as a rookie, and I'm not surprised at all, she's a hardworking kid” he said.

With her performances this year, it is looking like Newbury will claim the No. 1 seed in this year’s conference tournament, which has never happened before.

According the Newbury College’s athletic director the league looks for who had the biggest impact on their team each week based on stats and who is winning to determine the Rookie of the Week.

“Jay has incredible stats every week on a winning team, it’s going to be hard to overlook her on any week” he said.

Only one other freshman is Newbury Women's Basketball history has won rookie of the week more than 5 times and that is junior Savannah Olsen back in the 2015-16 season. With three more weeks of season to come, Sanders could pass that record.

Sanders will have to continue to put up great numbers when the team travels to Mitchell College on Saturday, Jan 27th seeking another conference win.

Photo by Dylan Foran, with permission