Team of the Week

Jan 30, 2023

Shantashia John, Belhaven
Photo courtesy of Belhaven Athletics

The Team of the Week presented by Scoutware is D3hoops.com's weekly honor roll, in its 26th season of recognizing the top performance at each of the five positions from the previous week.

Men	Pos.	Women
Jahn Hines, Jr. Christopher Newport	G	Shantashia John, Fr. Belhaven
Dante Kikuba, Fr. Bridgewater State	G	Olivia Rangel, So. Carroll
Aaron Gao, Sr. Babson	G	Yuval Nitzan, Sr. Yeshiva
Jaden Gales, Fr. St. Vincent	F	Natalie Bruns, Jr. NYU
Spencer Swanson, So. Gustavus Adolphus	F	Aniyah Tate, Jr. Methodist
Games of Jan. 23-29, 2023 \| Previous seasons \| All-time honorees

Women's

Shantashia John

John won her third CCS Player of the Week and eighth Rookie of the Week awards while averaging 24 points, four assists, and four steals on the week. While playing limited minutes in a blowout of MUW, she roared back to play all 40 in a tight 73-68 win over Maryville, where she scored 31 points on 10-17 shooting (6-10 from behind the arc) and five assists.

Olivia Rangel

Rangel tied her career-high, scoring 27 points against Carthage on 8-14 shooting, going 10-13 from the FT line with seven rebounds, six assists, and four steals. She scored 22 of her 26 points in the first half against North Park, shooting 9-14 and 8-9 from the free throw line, with six rebounds, five assists, and two steals. On the week, Rangel averaged 27 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and three steals per game.

Yuval Nitzan

Nitzan led the way for the Maccabees in a 2-1 week, winning Skyline Player of the Week in the process. She netted a game high 17 against Pratt, scored another 17 with 11 rebounds against SJU-Brooklyn, and poured in a game high 24, with 10 rebounds, five assists, and four steals in a win over Old Westbury on Senior Night. Over the three games, Nitzan averaged 19 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, and four steals.

Natalie Bruns

Bruns recorded a triple-double in NYU's win over Carnegie Mellon (16 pts, 14 rebs, 10 blocks). The 10 blocks were an NYU record; she also added four assists and two steals in that game. Against Case Western Reserve, she had 19 points (9-12 FG), with six rebounds, and a career-high six assists. On the week, she averaged 18 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and six blocks per game on 64% shooting.

Aniyah Tate

Tate had a career day against Pfeiffer University with 27 points and 17 rebounds, both career-highs, shooting 9-13 from the field. She shot 8-11 against Warren Wilson, where she pulled down seven boards to go with 17 points.

Men's

Jahn Hines

Hines recorded a career-high 33 points as fourth-ranked Christopher Newport rallied in the second half to beat Salisbury. Hines registered 19 first-half points and added 14 more after the intermission. He made 12 of 21 shots for the day, including two of three from three-point range. He also was seven-of-nine at the foul stripe and pulled down eight rebounds.

Dante Kikuba

Kikuba averaged 27 points, 10 assists, six steals, and four rebounds in a perfect 2-0 MASCAC week for the Bears while shooting 53% from the floor, 56% from three-point range and 80% at the free throw line. He came within two steals of a triple-double as he notched a career-high 31 points to go along with ten assists, eight steals, and three rebounds in a 101-94 victory over MCLA, then tallied 22 points, nine assists, three steals, and three rebounds in a 99-68 win over Framingham State.

Aaron Gao

Gao averaged 16 points on 75% shooting while dishing out five assists per game in a 2-0 week for Babson. He went 6-of-6 shooting and finished with 15 points and six assists in an 87-64 win over Clark and followed it up by making a career-high four three-pointers and matched his career high with 16 points to go along with three dimes to help the Beavers defeat Emerson, 60-56.

Jaden Gales

Gales missed most of Wednesday's loss to Waynesburg due to an in-game injury, but rallied to lead St. Vincent to an overtime win over PAC-leading Washington & Jefferson at the weekend. He posted a 35-point, 11-rebound double-double, shooting 14-19 from the field and 7-9 from the foul line, while adding two steals and two blocks.

Spencer Swanson

Swanson averaged 33 points and 11 rebounds as Gustavus beat Bethel 96-92 in overtime and then topped Augsburg 84-82, completing the series sweep over both the Royals and Auggies. He scored a career-high 38 points against Bethel, shooting 15-for-21 from the floor and led the team with eight rebounds and three assists. Swanson then scored 27 points with 14 rebounds against Augsburg, posting his seventh double-double of the season.