WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A day after earning her second Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor, Purdue's Mary Ashley Stevenson was named the US Basketball Writers Association Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Week.
Stevenson is the first Boilermaker to garner the rookie laurel by the USBWA. She joined Brittany Rayburn as the only USBWA weekly honorees from Purdue. Rayburn was tabbed the national player of the week on Jan. 17, 2012, after setting the school record with 12 3-pointers against Minnesota.
Continued from Stevenson's Co-Big Ten Freshman of the Week…
Stevenson tallied 20.5 points and five rebounds in games against Illinois and Indiana. She shot 62.5% (15-24) from the field with her second 3-pointer of the year and made 10 of her 11 free throw attempts. Stevenson added two steals, an assist and one block.
Stevenson opened the week with a career-high 25 points in a 77-72 overtime win over Illinois. She led Purdue with nine rebounds. Her 25 points were the most by a Big Ten freshman against a major conference opponent this season and the most by a Purdue rookie since the 2010-11 season.
Stevenson also posted a perfect 9-for-9 at the line, including two free throws with six seconds left in overtime to make it a two-possession game. She was the ninth freshman nationally and the first from the Big Ten to go perfect at the line with nine or more made free throws this season, as well as the first Boilermaker rookie to do that since the 2009-10 season.
In her first trip to Assembly Hall to face Indiana, Stevenson led Purdue with 16 points on an efficient 7-of-9 shooting, including her second triple of the year.
The New York City native is up to 10 points per game this season, ranking third among Big Ten freshmen. She leads league rookies in conference play with 10.8 points per game. Stevenson is second among Big Ten freshmen in rebounding in all games and league play. She is fifth in the Big Ten with a 42.3% shooting clip and third with a 79.7% mark at the line.
She has scored in double figures 12 times this year, most by a Purdue freshman since 2016-17. Stevenson has posted nine games with at least seven points and seven rebounds, the most of any Big Ten freshman this season.
Stevenson has played the last three games with a custom mask after breaking her nose against Ohio State. She has averaged 14.3 points, 3.7 rebounds per game with a 59.3% shooting clip during that span.