February 4, 2008

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Bemidji State University senior point guard Amy Lawson (Spencer, Iowa) has been named Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Player of the Week for her role in helping the Beavers to a 1-1 record during the week of Jan. 27-Feb. 2. The league office announced the award in a release today.

Lawson averaged 25.5 ppg, 6.0 apg, 3.5 spg and grabbed 2.5 rpg leading the Beavers to a weekend split at home versus No. 6 Concordia-St. Paul and MSU Moorhead. She shot a sizzling 16-of-27 from the field (.592), 6-of-10 from behind the arc (.600), and 13-of-19 from the free throw line. Friday, she posted 12 points on 4-of-8 from the field (.500) while grabbing three rebounds, dishing out seven assists and garnering two steals in 38 minutes of play in a 87-74 loss to the Golden Bears. In Saturday’s thrilling 92-91 overtime win versus MSU Moorhead the senior point guard netted a career-high 39 points breaking her two-week old BSU single-game scoring mark of 38 points she set on Jan. 19 at Winona State University. She shot 12-of-19 from the field (.631), 5-of-7 from behind the arc (.714) and was 10-of-13 from the free throw line (.769). She also grabbed two rebounds, dished out five assists and recorded five steals in 44-of-45 minutes of play.

The senior point guard moved into ninth place on BSU’s all-time scoring list (1,131) moving past teammate Stephanie Peterson (Sr., C, Bismarck, N.D.) (1,128). Lawson also set a new career-high mark in minutes played playing 44-of-45 possible minutes in Saturday’s thrilling win of MSU Moorhead.

The Spencer, Iowa native currently ranks seventh in the conference in scoring (15.7) helping BSU to the second highest scoring average in the league (77.5) and eighteenth in the nation. Lawson also ranks second in the league and sixth in the nation with 6.91 assists per game and first in the NSIC with 2.36 steals per contest.

The conference award marks the second of the season for Bemidji State and the fourth of its kind for Lawson after she received the award on Dec. 4, 2006, Jan. 22, 2007 and Jan. 21, 2008. Lawson becomes the first BSU player to earn NSIC Player of the Week honors twice in back-to-back seasons. The NSIC award moves her past Stacia Swanson (2001-04) for the most NSIC Player of the Week awards garnered throughout her career with four.

The Beavers (11-11 / 7-6 NSIC) will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 9 as they travel to Crookston, Minn. for a NSIC tilt with the University of Minnesota, Crookston Golden Eagles (6-16 / 2-11 NSIC). Tipoff is set for a 6:00 p.m. start from Lysaker Gymnasium.

Bemidji State University, located in Bemidji, Minn., is an NCAA Division II institution and a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).

--beavers--