Jan. 19, 2016

COLUMBIA, S.C. ââ’¬” For the fourth time this season, South Carolina sophomore forward A’ja Wilson was named SEC Player of the Week, the league announced today. In two wins over top-15 opponents last week, Wilson scored 26 points and blocked eight shots in each and averaged 10.5 rebounds for the week. She earned ESPN National Player of the Week honors as well.

With the game at Kentucky tied at 56-56 with 7:26 to play, Wilson had a role in all but one field goal for the rest of the game as she scored three herself and assisted on Khadijah Session’s 3-pointer in addition to netting a pair of free throws to help the Gamecocks pull away. Her steady contributions late in the second quarter and third quarter helped South Carolina overcome an 11-point deficit despite a rowdy crowd in Lexington. Against Texas A&M, Wilson accounted for 26 of the team’s 59 points, and they were evenly distributed throughout the game. Hitting 11-of-19 field goals in the game, she shot 9-of-14 (.642) over the last three quarters. Wilson scored five of her seven fourth-quarter points in a 1:12 span to put Gamecocks up by four with 1:16 to play.

On the season, Wilson is fifth in the SEC with 17.0 points per game on 54.7 percent shooting, which ranks second in the league and 31st in the nation. Her 9.3 rebounds per game is fourth-best in the conference, and she is fifth in the nation in blocked shots at 3.5 per game. Wilson is 19th in the nation with nine double-doubles this season, already nearly double her freshman total of five.

The Gamecocks have a pair of road games this week as they launch a stretch of playing six ranked teams in the next eight games. South Carolina travels to Auburn for a Thu., Jan. 21, game on SEC Network+ before getting back on the road to #10 Mississippi State for an ESPN2 contest on Sun., Jan. 24, at 5 p.m. (ET).