Colorado University Athletics
Leonard Earns Pac-12 Freshman Of The Week Honors
February 22, 2016 | Women's Basketball
BOULDER – University of Colorado's Kennedy Leonard of the women's basketball team was named the Pac-12 Conference Freshman of the Week for the week of Feb. 15-21, the conference office announced Monday.
A 5-8 guard from Southlake, Texas, Leonard averaged 18.0 points, 7.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game, helping the Buffs earn a split against the Bay Area schools in their final two home contests of the year. The Buffs fell to 15th-ranked Stanford on Friday night (49-80), then dominated California with a 21-point victory (78-57) on Sunday afternoon to end a five-game skid.
Leonard turned in her best performance of her young career against California, finishing with career-highs in points (23), assists (13), field goals (9) and field goal attempts (18) while shooting a stellar 50 percent from the field. The freshman registered her second points-assists double-double of her career, becoming just the third player in Colorado history to record multiple points-assists double-doubles. In addition, she is only the second player to earn a points-assists double-double while scoring more than 20 points. Her team-leading 13 assists were more than Cal's entire team total (11) and is the fourth-most all-time in a single game in program history.
The first-year Buff also scored 13 points in the Buffs' tough loss to Stanford. She has reached double-figure scoring in 16 games this season, second most on the team and averages 11.8 points per game.
The weekly honor from the Pac-12 is Leonard's first and Colorado's sixth since joining the league for the 2011-12 season.
The Buffaloes finish their regular season campaign on the road this week. Colorado plays at Washington State on Thursday, Feb. 25 (8 p.m. MST) and at Washington on Saturday, Feb. 27 (2 p.m. MST). The Pac-12 Tournament runs March 3-6 in Seattle.
