Women's Hoop Report XXXIV

The games that are considered for National Players of the Week range from Jan. 8 - Jan. 14.

Anastasia Hayes - Middle Tennessee State - Senior - Guard

In back-to-back contests against Florida International, Anastasia Hayes looked like the best scorer in the country. On Jan. 8, she scored 29 points, going 12-of-22 from the field. Hayes led her team to a 69-65 win while also pitching in with four assists, three steals and one block. On Jan. 9, she followed that with 28 points on eight-of-16 shooting. Her team won 99-89 that day as she drained 12-0f-16 free-throws as well.

Hayes is averaging a career best 27.9 points per game, which is second in the nation. She has a career scoring average of 16.1 points per game.

Veronica Burton - Northwestern - Junior - Guard

In a Jan. 9, conference win over Big Ten foe Iowa, Veronica Burton had one of her better shooting performances of the season, while taking care of the basketball and preventing the opposition from doing the same.

The 5-9 guard made six-of-nine shots, including three-of-four from three. She also had seven assists and one turnover. It was the fifth time this season that she had at last five assists with just one turnover. Burton also had three steals which actually was a low this season. She is second in the nation with an average of 4.4 steals per game.

So far in her first nine games she is averaging a career high 17.7 points, as well as a career best shooting clip of 50 percent.

Nneka Obiazor - Youngstown State - Freshman - Forward

Last week, Nneka Obiazor found her stride with her first big time game as a college athlete. The 5-10 forward had her first double-double and 20-point performance in the same game. In Youngstown State's first win of the season after starting out 0-3, Obiazor scored 22 points and yanked down 11 rebounds in a win over Oakland. She also had two assists and two steals. Obiazor knocked down 10-of-19 shots that game as well.

Prior to that contest she nearly had her first double-double with a 12-point, nine-rebound effort against Oakland, the day before. Obiazor is currently averaging a team second best 12.5 points, while leading the squad with 8.3 rebounds per contest.

Esmery Martinez - West Virginia - Sophomore - Foward

The 6-2 forward is a bit of a regular on this list. One of the best rebounders in the nation, Esmery Martinez is becoming a leader for the West Virginia squad that is in the midst of a five-game win streak. On Jan. 13, she scored 18 points with 15 rebounds and three assists in a win over Texas Tech. It was her third straight game with at least 18 points and fifth straight game with at least 16 points.

The game was also her sixth straight double-double of the season. Martinez also had a double-double against Texas in a 92-58 victory. In that game she scored a season best 19 points and shot 75 percent from the field which is also her top performance of the year in that category. Martinez is averaging 13.8 points and 13.2 rebounds per game.

Lavender Briggs - Florida - Sophomore - Guard

Lavender Briggs' team dropped two games last week but Lavender she did as much as she could to prevent it from happening. The biggest performance of her career took place on Jan. 14 as the 6-1 guard shot the lights out in an 84-80 road loss to Arkansas. She scored 41 of her team's points. That's right, Briggs scored more than half of her team's points.

Briggs posted her 41 points on 17-of-29 shooting, which added up to 58 percent. She also shot 54 percent from three, nailing six-of-11 shots. Briggs is averaging 19.6 points per game f0r the season.