High land for the Highlander.
UC Riverside’s Jannon Otto was named the Big West Player of the Week for games played last week. It is the first time in Otto’s career that she received this honor, and the first time that UC Riverside has taken home the award since Simone DeCloud during the 2016-17 season.
Otto took home the award after a career-performance against the New Mexico State Aggies in a 65-64 victory. She put up 23 points on 80 percent shooting from the field. She went a perfect 7-7 from the free-throw line, pulled down six rebounds, dished out two assists, and had three steals.
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Otto has been the Highlanders leading scorer this season at 12.4 points per game. She hasn’t been shooting that well overall, connecting on only 40.5 percent of her field goal attempt, but the percentage is a bit skewed due to her three-point attempts. She’s shooting 10 percent from behind the arc. Otherwise, she’s shooting 44.8 percent on her shots from two-point range.
She’s one of the more well-rounded players in the Big West this season. Aside from her scoring, she’s also averaging 6.2 rebounds per game and 3.3 assists.
Although the Highlanders game on Dec. 31 was too late to be factored in to Otto’s player of the week award, she had one of her most well-rounded games of the season. In a 79-67 win over Cal State Bakersfield, Otto had 21 points on 60 percent shooting from the field, 14 rebounds, and six assists.
Otto is a transfer from New Mexico where she played during the 2015-16 season and was named the Preseason Freshman of the Year. She redshirted the 2016-17 season while transferring, and then fit right in with the Highlanders lineup averaging 8.7 points per game in her first season with the team.
The Highlanders will open Big West conference play this week on Jan 5 against UC Davis.