Wingate’s Atkinson, Tusculum’s Gunn Named Women’s Basketball Players Of The Week

ROCK HILL, S.C. - Tusculum College's Jasmine Gunn and Wingate University' Anna Atkinson have been named the South Atlantic Conference Women's Basketball Players of the Week, league officials announced today.

Jasmine Gunn, a freshman guard from Nashville, Tenn., averaged 18.5 points per game to lead the Pioneers to a pair of South Atlantic Conference victories last week. The Pioneers are currently 12-2 on the season and 3-0 in conference play and are on a nine-game winning streak that is the longest active streak in the league, as well as Tusculum's longest as an NCAA Division II member.

Gunn shot 56 percent from the floor and averaged 8.5 assists per game for a second consecutive week.

Anna Atkinson

Jasmine Gunn

In Tusculum's 96-72 win over in-state foe Lincoln Memorial, Gunn posted a season-best 28 points on 11-for-16 shooting, while also dishing out a game-high 10 assists. The Antioch High School product added seven rebounds, while shooting 3-for-4 from three-point territory.

Against Catawba, Gunn tallied nine points, seven assists and four boards as Tusculum rallied from an 11-point deficit to defeat the visitors 85-70.

The Player of the Week award is Gunn's first accolade in her collegiate career.

Anna Atkinson, a junior guard from Marion, N.C., averaged 16.0 points per game, 10.0 assists per game, 3.5 steals per game and 2.5 rebounds per game as Wingate picked up two wins last week. The Bulldogs improved to 3-0 in the SAC with a 76-69 road win at Catawba Wednesday. Wingate is 9-5 overall.

In the Catawba victory, Atkinson led all scorers with 21 points. She contributed nine assists, five steals and three rebounds. The Bulldogs defeated Johnson C. Smith 86-45 Monday night at Cuddy Arena on the Wingate campus. The victory avenged an early season loss. The Bulldogs have won 12 consecutive games at home (dating to last season).

In the JCSU contest, Atkinson had 11 points and 11 assists in only 19 minutes of action. On the season, Atkinson averages 15.0 points per game and 9.1 assists per game. The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® candidate is number two in the NCAA Division II in assists per game. She leads the SAC in assists, steals and assist-to-turnover ratio.

Atkinson was named to the 2007 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III women's basketball first team (college division), selected by CoSIDA. She is a two-time All-SAC pick. This is Atkinson's first Player of the Week award.

The South Atlantic Conference Player of the Week is voted on by the league's sports information directors.