The Team of the Week started in the 1997-98 season, recognizing the top performance at each of the five positions from the previous week.
| Men | Pos. | Women |
|---|---|---|
| Bryan Egli, Rose-Hulman | G | Rasheka Barnes, Christopher Newport |
| Merrill Brunson, UW-Platteville | G | Tameeka Lyles, Marymount |
| Carl Howell, St. Joseph's (Maine) | F | Kristen Venne, Susquehanna |
| Brian Wilder, Colby-Sawyer | F | Shera Wolf, Ohio Northern |
| Antwann Jones, Manchester | C | Karyn Kern, Susquehanna |
Men's
Usually we don't give much consideration to players who had only one game during a week, but when that performance totals 44 points and nine rebounds on 7-for-11 3-point shooting, it's hard to argue against. That's what Rose-Hulman's Bryan Egli registered in a 72-69 loss to DePauw.
Another big game was registered by UW-Platteville's Merrill Brunson, as he shot 12-for-15 from the field in a win against UW-Stout. The junior guard scored 33 points and added seven rebounds and five assists. Brunson shot 4-for-6 from 3-point range and leads the nation in three-point percentage at 57.5%.
St. Joseph senior Carl Howell averaged a solid 31.7 points over three games, becoming the school's all-time leading scorer with 2,206 career points. Howell added 8.3 rebounds and shot 53 percent from the floor.
Brian Wilder is our other Northeast region forward. The senior averaged 36.0 points and 8.5 rebounds and connected on 74.4 percent of his field goal attempts in a 2-0 week. He produced the Chargers’ second-highest ever point total when he scored 45 of the team’s 80 points at Norwich as he went 17-for-25 from the field and 11-for-13 on free throws.
Antwann Jones had had 30-30 vision, as he led Manchester to an overtime victory against Franklin with 30 points (nine rebounds, four steals) on 13-for-18 shooting. He added 30 points (14 rebounds, four steals) in a 65-60 loss to Anderson. Jones held Anderson center Chaz Smoot to 11 points below his average.
Women's
Senior guard Rakesha Barnes led her team to crucial victories in the last two regular-season games to move Christopher Newport into a tie for first in the Dixie Conference. Against first-place Methodist, she scored 31 including the team's final 13 points to rally her team from a ten-point deficit and force overtime. Barnes shot 34-for-68 from the floor for the week, 8-for-11 from 3-point range and added 13 assists and eight steals while averaging 27 points.
Tameeka Lyles helped lead Marymount (Va.) to two wins last week, scoring the game-winning basket against Catholic and averaging 18 points and 9.5 rebounds in 30 minutes per game. The sophomore added five assists, five steals and three blocked shots.
Susquehanna's Kristen Venne, a frequent member of our Team of the Week, averaged 25.5 points and 9.0 rebounds while shooting 69 percent from the field (20-for-29) and 91.7 percent from the line (11-for-12). Venne had 24 points, nine rebounds and three assists in Susquehanna's win against Albright and followed with a game-high 27 points, nine rebounds and three assists in a win at Juniata.
Shera Wolf scored 29 points in Ohio Northern's 78-77 overtime upset of No. 12 Capital and led all scorers with 19 as ONU ended its regular season with a 66-51 win at John Carroll. Wolf also tied an ONU record by making 23 consecutive free throws before missing one against Capital. She shot 17-for-29 from the floor, 7-for-15 from 3-point range and averaged 5.5 rebounds in the two games.
Susquehanna's Karyn Kern also made the Team, marking the first time teammates on the court were Teammates of the Week. The junior center averaged 22.0 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 2.0 blocks per game -- shooting 81 percent from the field (17-for-21) and 90.9 percent from the line (10-for-11). She set a single-game record for field goal percentage while going 11-for-13 (84.6 percent) for a game-high 26 points and 11 rebounds against Albright and added another double-double (18-11) against Juniata.