After torching the University of Maryland-Baltimore County women’s basketball team for 39 points and finishing last week’s two-game stretch averaging 28 points and 10 rebounds, sophomore Maralene Zwarich has been named The Northeastern News Player of the Week.
Zwarich collected 17 points and 11 rebounds in the week’s earlier game, and was named America East Player of the Week for the second week in a row.
After entering the season as a shooting guard, Zwarich moved to power forward in the Huskies’ current lineup, despite being slightly undersized at six feet. She has responded by leading NU in both scoring (15.1) and rebounding (6.4) and ranking sixth and eighth in the league in each category, respectively.
“She is probably the best athlete I’ve ever had to coach,” said Husky coach Willette White, who has paced the sidelines for close to 20 years as either a head coach or assistant. “With her running, jumping and lateral movement, when you combine skills with that athletic ability, the kid can be unstoppable.”
It was this athleticism that allowed White to move Zwarich inside from the perimeter.
“She’s small and strong, and can get to the glass. We face her up [to the basket] a lot too,” White said, noting that Zwarich is just as comfortable posting up with her back to the basket.
“That’s what makes her so difficult to defend, her versatility.”
Both White and Zwarich were surprised to hear the final point total after the UMBC game.
“After the game I didn’t even know I had 39,” said Zwarich. “We needed someone to score points and I just stepped up.”
“It didn’t feel like that much when the game was going on, she was taking good shots and making easy shots,” said White. “I knew she was on fire. But she is definitely capable of averaging 20-plus points a game, she’s that type of player.”
Over the last two-week period, Zwarich has averaged 26 points per game; during the same streak the team has gone 3-1. The Huskies are currently 5-1 in their past six games.
“Our main goal is to win the America East championship and to be number one in every defensive category,” Zwarich said. “We also need to learn to win on the road and we’ll be all set.”
A Kansas native, Zwarich sent a recruiting tape to a number of America East schools before making the decision to come to NU. She says it was the activeness of the city that drew her to Huntington Avenue.
As a freshman she appeared in every game, averaging 9.3 points per game (third highest on team) and 4.5 boards (second).
She was named America East Rookie of the Week last February, after hanging a season-high 22 points on Binghamton.
– Peter Conroy, News Staff
