UC Riverside’s Marina Ewodo wins Big West Player of the Week

High land for Ewodo.

UC Riverside’s Marina Ewodo was named the Big West Player of the Week for games played last week. It was Ewodo’s first time taking home the weekly honors.

In the Highlanders’ single game last week, a 73-59 win over Long Beach State, Ewodo put up 25 points on 76.9 percent shooting from the field, 50 percent from the three-point line, 4-5 from the free-throw line, eight rebounds, three steals, and four blocked shots.

Ewodo played all 40 minutes and scored 12 of her points in the second half as the Highlanders held off Long Beach State for the win. Her 25 points were a career-high. It was also the third time this season she’s scored over 20 points in a game.

As a junior, Ewodo is having the best season of her college career. She’s played in all of UC Riverside’s 19 games, averaging 12.0 points per game on 49 percent shooting from the field, 7.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.5 steals, and 2.0 blocked shots. She isn’t much of a long-range threat, however, shooting only 29.3 percent from the three-point line on 2.2 attempts per game.

Ewodo is more of a traditional forward, preferring to attack the basket and put pressure on the defense by scoring most of her points in the paint.

A native of France, Ewodo played high school basketball there before making the trek to the United States to play college basketball.

Despite a strong season for Ewodo, the Highlanders have struggled this season. They are currently 8-11 overall, and 2-3 in conference play. They have both a four-game losing streak and a three-game losing streak this year.

They will continue Big West conference play this week, hoping to grab a couple more wins as they travel to Hawaii, and then host UC Santa Barbara on the weekend.