KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A day after being named as the American Midwest Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week, Lyon College senior center Samantha French added another honor to her resume as she was recognized as the NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball Player of the Week, which was announced by the national office on Tuesday.

French played a big role for the Scots last week as she led the team in scoring with 20.5 points per game and a team-high nine rebounds per game. French propelled the Scots to a huge, 65-56, over top-ranked and previously unbeaten Freed-Hardeman. She recorded a new career-high as she finished with a game-high 25 points to go along with 10 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season. French followed that up with 16 points and eight rebounds against Park. For the week, French finished 15-of-25 from the field and 11-of-12 from the charity stripe.

For the season, French is averaging 12.4 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per game. She is shooting 57.4-percent from the field this season, which is the best in the AMC and ranks fourth in the NAIA.

The 22nd-ranked women’s basketball team will open up a three-game road trip on Thursday night at St. Louis College of Pharmacy. Tip-off for Thursday night’s game is 5:30 p.m.

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BATESVILLE, Ark. – The 18^th-ranked Lyon College women’s basketball team snapped their two-game losing streak as they sprinted past Central Baptist, 76-41 inside Becknell Gymnasium Tuesday night. Three Scots scored in double-figures, while the team jumped on the Mustangs early and never relinquished the lead.

Lyon is now 20-5 overall and 16-4 in the AMC. Central Baptist falls to 11-14 and 7-13 in the conference. Lyon remains in third place in the AMC, while Central Baptist is in ninth place.

GAME FLOW

The Scots jumped out to an early 19-7 lead after the first quarter on the Mustangs. Samantha French added four points as part of an 8-3 run to end the period. The Scots would continue the run and score the next 10 points – led by five points from Ali Tucker. Madison Riley would later cap off the Scots’ largest lead thus far at 32 points, after she made a basket before halftime to give Lyon a 44-12 lead.

The onslaught would continue as Lyon eclipsed 50 points in the game at the 5:56 mark of the quarter. Hayley Cormican added a basket to give the team a 51-20 lead. French, Tressa Linson and Tucker would score the team’s final nine points of the quarter to give Lyon a 65-29 advantage. In the fourth quarter, the Scots reached their biggest lead of the game at 41 points. Linson drained a three-pointer before Cormican added an easy bucket under the basket to help the Scots to a 72-31 lead. Lyon would never look back as they earned their 20^th win of the season.

KEY STATISTICS

– Riley posted a team high 15 points, while Tucker and French had 13 and 10 points off the bench.

– Lyon shot 53.4 percent from the floor on 31-of-58 shooting.

– Riley and Tucker each made three three-pointers to contribute to 10 overall for Lyon.

– Central Baptist was held to just 25.8 percent from the field.

– The Scots had eight total blocks as Cormican tied her career high with three.

HEAD COACH TRACY STEWART-LANGE QUOTES

“We played better tonight. Overall we played with more purpose defensively. I thought we fed off of our defense and that was good to see. We need to build off of that and start each game that way. It was good to see us share the ball so well. I thought everyone that stepped on the floor played with a lot of effort and contributed.”

WHAT’S AHEAD FOR THE SCOTS

The Scots welcome No. 8 Columbia to Becknell Gymnasium on Thursday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

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