February 25, 2008
For the first time of her career, Texas A&M women?â„¢s basketball player Danielle Gant (Oklahoma City, Okla.) was named the Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Women?â„¢s Basketball Player of the Week on Monday by a media voting panel for games of Feb. 18-24.
Gant, a 5-foot-11 junior combination guard/forward, led No. 20 Texas A&M to a 2-0 week with milestone victories over Iowa State (60-46) on Feb. 20 and rival Texas (65-50) on Feb. 24. She averaged a team-leading 17.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.0 blocks and 2.0 steals per game against the Cyclones and Longhorns combined. For the week, she shot 55.2 percent from the floor (16-of-29) including a 10-of-18 performance versus ISU.
Gant scored a game-high 22 points and seven rebounds with five on the offensive end in A&M?â„¢s third-ever win over Iowa State to give head coach Gary Blair his 500th career victory. It marked her 10th 20-point game of her career. She also recorded her 1,000th career point against UT with 12 points and a career-and season-high seven assists in A&M?â„¢s third-ever series sweep of the Longhorns and fourth-ever win in Austin. Gant became the 21st player in school history to reach the 1,000 career point plateau and now has 1,004 career points to date. She joined teammates Morenike Atunrase, Takia Starks and A?â„¢Quonesia Franklin in the elite group as A&M became one of 14 known teams in NCAA women?â„¢s basketball history to have four 1,000 point scorers on its roster in a single season.
Gant is currently on an 11-game double-digit scoring streak and ranks 10th in the Big 12 in scoring, tied for ninth in rebounding, sixth in field-goal percentage (52.3), third in steals (2.4 avg) and second in offensive rebounds (4.0 avg).