Kennedy's triple-double lands sophomore's first career NAIA Player of the Week honor

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A day after earning her first conference weekly honor, Clarke University women's basketball sophomore guard Zoe Kennedy earned the NAIA Offensive Player of the Week honor, NAIA officials announced on Tuesday morning.

The Cedar Rapids, Iowa native produced one of the Pride women's basketball program's best performances in its history with a 27-point, 16-assist, and 10-rebound triple-double last Saturday against Peru State College for the first triple-double for CU women's basketball since the 2017-18 season when Kea Whittington did so.

Handling primary ball-handling duties with a short handed roster on Saturday, her 16 assists also tied the school record set way back in 1990 when Tina Kuhle set the mark while no one else has had more than 13, which also came from Whittington's 2018 triple-double.

Both Kennedy and her teammate Reese Ryan earned the Heart of America Athletic Conference Players of the Week on Monday as they became the second and third members of the team to earn conference weekly honors after Sydni Morris won the first Heart Defensive Player of the Week of the season and Kennedy now becomes the second Pride athlete this 2024-25 academic year to earn and NAIA Player of the Week honor after Luke Persenico also earned offensive honors for the men's soccer team.

Clarke women's basketball continues their busy stretch post Christmas break when they host Mount Mercy University at the Kehl Center on Wednesday, Jan. 8 for a 5:30 p.m. CT tip.