 "Photo: Anastasia Paranicas/Senior Photographer")
The Big East conference announced Matee Ajavon as the most recent Big East Freshman of the Week, making her the most honored rookie in the conference with four selections on the year.
In three wins last week against Syracuse, Seton Hall, and Connecticut, Ajavon averaged 10.3 points and 5 assists per game.
Against Seton Hall Feb. 9, she tied her career high in rebounds with six while leading the team in scoring with 13 points.
"Matee is just breaking the surface of how good she's going to be," Seton Hall head coach Phyllis Mangina said after last week's contest. "You've got to pay attention to her because she can hurt you in so many ways."
Ajavon rose to the occasion in Sunday's rematch against Connecticut with nine points and five assists in front of UConn head coach Geno Auriemma who, two weeks ago, compared defending her to defending Allen Iverson.
"How do you guard her?" Auriemma asked.
In the UConn game, Ajavon went toe-to-toe with another freshman phenom, Charde Houston of the Huskies. Houston has been the recipient of the award three times, and the contributions of both rookies have been crucial to their respective teams this year.
This week's honor for Ajavon was the fifth time a Rutgers player received the award, with Ajavon and teammate Essence Carson remaining two of the Big East's most dangerous freshmen. The two were teammates in the 2004 McDonald's and Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-America Games.
With five regular season games left to play, Ajavon leads RU with 13 points-per-game, nearly eclipsing the 300 point mark in the Knights' 23 games. She is adding 3.3 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 2 steals this year. The Knights are 8-1 in games which she started.
Ajavon, a Newark native, led Malcolm X Shabazz High School to back-to-back New Jersey Tournament of Champions titles in 2003 and 2004. She was named to the Parade All-America Second Team, the USA Today Super-25 All-America Team, and was invited to the 2004 USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team Trials.
"Mat sees the bigger game," Scarlet Knights head coach C. Vivian Stringer said after the Seton Hall game. "She comes to play and she comes to win."
Ajavon and her teammates will look to make it four-in-a-row and the second win in ten days against Syracuse when they travel to take on the Orange on Wednesday.
KNIGHT NOTE: Ajavon 13 points-per-game is tied with Pittsburgh Panthers center Marcedes Walker for the freshman lead in the Big East Conference this season. The tie shows both big (Walker is 6-feet-3-inches) and small (Ajavon is 5-feet-8-inches) can score for their teams.
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