CLEVELAND, OH - Senior Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe (Nelson, New Zealand/Hawaii) of the University at Buffalo women's basketball team was named Mid-American Conference East Division Player of the Week for the first time in her career, as announced today by the league office. McMeeken-Ruscoe led the Bulls to two conference road wins last week by averaging 26.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.0 steals. She shot a combined 57.1 percent (20-for-35) from the floor in the two games. McMeeken-Ruscoe was also chosen as the MAC's Female Scholar Athlete of the Week for the second time this season.

Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe

McMeeken-Ruscoe scored a career-high 30 points in Buffalo's 76-59 win at Ohio on Wednesday, making her the first Bull to reach the 30-point mark in a game since Mari McClure did so against Bowling Green on February 24, 2001. She also added five rebounds, five assists and five steals against the Bobcats, and then followed that performance with 22 points in a 64-54 win at Central Michigan on Saturday, including a career-high seven free throws. McMeeken-Ruscoe was a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line in the two games, and six of her free throws at CMU came in the final three minutes of the game to secure the Bulls' win.

McMeeken-Ruscoe has scored over 20 points in four of her last five games, and she has a team-high seven 20+ scoring performances on the year. She is currently ranked sixth in the MAC in scoring (15.0 points per game), eighth in field goal percentage (.488) and 10th in both assists per game (3.75) and steals per game (1.88).

McMeeken-Ruscoe is the third Bull to receive MAC East Player of the Week honors this season. Junior Jessica Kochendorfer (Allen, MI/Quincy) earned the honor on December 23 and junior Kim Kilpela (West Bloomfield, MI/West Bloomfield) did so on January 20. The Bulls are currently riding a four-game winning streak that has upped their record to 15-9 overall and 7-6 in the MAC. They host Akron on Wednesday, February 26 at 7 pm in Alumni Arena.