UC Santa Barbara senior Mekia Valetine saved one of her best performances of her career for the final game of the regular season, when the Gauchos needed it most. Her explosiveness on both offense and defense lifted the Gauchos to a win over league-leading Cal Poly and solidified her second Big West Women's Basketball Player of the Week honor in three weeks.
This marks the third weekly accolade of the 2010-11 season.
UC Santa Barbara clinched a share of its 14th Big West Women's Basketball Championship with Saturday's victory over Cal Poly and a large part of its success came by way of Valentine. The Greensboro, N.C., native, drained 27 points and pulled down 20 rebounds for her second 20-20 game of her career. Valetines 20-rebound performance is a Big West single-game season high.
She missed just two shots on 13 attempts for a .846 field goal percentage and recorded five blocks against he Mustangs.
Others nominated: Paige Mintun (UC Davis), Brittany Waddell (UC Riverside)