Feb. 18–

NSIC Player of the Week
#21 Katie LaViolette
G, 5-9, Sr.,
Manitowoc , Wis.
Manitowoc Lutheran HS
Concordia-St. Paul

The senior point guard from Manitowoc, Wis.  averaged 17.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.5 assists and set a school record by making 17 free throws in a game to help lead #5 Concordia University (24-1, 15-1 NSIC) to a pair of road wins over the weekend.

On Friday night, LaViolette scored the last five points of the game in the last 61 seconds to propel the Golden Bears to a 71-70 win at Winona State. She finished the game with nine points, six assists and six rebounds and it was her three-point play with nine seconds remaining that vaulted Concordia to the win.

The late game heroics carried over to the next night at Upper Iowa, when she went off for a career-high 25 points, making a school record 17 free throws in 18 tries while just missing a triple-double with nine assists and nine rebounds in a 70-54 win over Upper Iowa.

On the week, LaViolette did her damage from the free throw line, shooting 95.2% (20-21) from the stripe. The nation’s leader in assist-turnover ratio dished out 15 while committing just four turnovers (3.75 ratio). The 34 points over the weekend leaves her 19 shy of 1,000 for her career.

She undoubtedly received competition for the award from teammate Kelly Lund. The senior guard from New Brighton, Minn. added 19 points each night to keep Concordia's offense rolling. She shot  68.4% (13-19) from the field for the weekend. Over the last four games, Lund is scoring 20.0 points per game and has scored 93 in the last five, raising her season average from 7.4 to 9.6 in that five game span.