Northern Colorado women’s basketball player Simental named Big Sky Conference player of the week

Northern Colorado’s Hannah Simental was named the Big Sky Conference women’s basketball player of the week for the first time this season, the league office announced Tuesday.

Simental, a senior guard from Pueblo, scored a season high 27 points Jan. 3 in an overtime loss at Oral Roberts. Three days later, Simental scored 23 points and hit the game-winning 3-pointer to lead UNC to a win over the University of Denver.

Both games were played as part of the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge, which was a two-date series between men’s and women’s teams in both conferences.

Simental averaged 25 points on 50% shooting from the field in the games against ORU and Denver. She shot nearly 44% (7 of 16) total from 3-point range in those games. Simental also recorded six rebounds, five assists and two steals.

She leads UNC in scoring with 15.2 points per game in 12 games, and she’s the third-leading scorer among Big Sky players.

Simental is the first UNC player to earn the Big Sky Conference player of the week honor since teammate Delaynie Byrne was selected in week two on Nov. 21. Byrne is the Bears’ second-leading scorer at 15.1 points. She leads the team and Big Sky in rebounds at 8.75.