Feb. 22, 2010

NEW ORLEANS - On the heels of a 2-0 week that saw the Green Wave improve to 21-5 on the year and claim sole possession of first place in the Conference USA standings, Tulane University women's basketball standouts Roshaunda Barnes and Olivia Grayson were named C-USA Player and Freshman of the Week, respectively.

Barnes shared the C-USA award with Southern Miss' Pauline Love and also claimed Player of the Week honors from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association. Both awards are the first of her career and Barnes becomes the first Tulane player to earn C-USA Player of the Week honors since Jami Montagnino earned the distinction on Jan. 15, 2007. Grayson, meanwhile, is the first Tulane player to ever win Freshman of the Week honors from C-USA as the award is in its first year of existence.

A junior point guard from Baton Rouge, Barnes averaged 16.5 points, 5.0 steals and 4.5 assists per game last week while adding four rebounds. She scored a game-high 21 points in Tulane's 86-6 win over then-conference co-leader Memphis on Thursday and added 12 points in Saturday's 64-56 win over UAB.

Barnes added five steals in each game while posting vie assists against the Tigers and four against the Blazers. For the week, she shot 50.0 percent from the field (11-of-11), including a 33.3 clip from beyond the 3-point arc (2-of-6). She was even better from the free throw line, connecting on all seven shots against Memphis and 2-of-3 against UAB to finish the week with a 90.0 percentage (9-of-10).

Grayson, meanwhile, averaged 9.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 blocks, 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game. For the week, the rookie from Metairie, La., connected on 7-of-13 shots from the field (53.8). Grayson had two blocks against Memphis and a career-high five against UAB.

She hit 4-of-7 shots from the field, including a 2-of-3 showing from 3-point land against Memphis to finish with 11 points. Grayson then added seven points on 3-of-6 shooting against UAB. She had four rebounds, an assist and a steal in Thursday's win while tallying four assists and three steals in Saturday's regular-season home finale.

Barnes, Grayson and the Green Wave return to action on Thursday, Feb. 25, when they open a three-game road swing to end the regular season at Rice. Tipoff of that ballgame is slated for 7 p.m. From there, Tulane will travel across town to play at the University of Houston on Saturday, Feb. 27, at 2 p.m. in Hofheinz Pavilion before heading to El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday, March 3, for an 8:05 p.m. showdown at UTEP.

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