SAN MATEO, Calif. — Santa Clara University women's basketball freshman Tess Heal added another accolade Monday to her already dazzling debut season in 2022-23, getting named the West Coast Conference Freshman of the Week for the seventh time, this award for the week of Jan. 16-22 after powering the Broncos to two WCC road wins.
Heal helped lead Santa Clara (13-9, 4-5 WCC) to two conference road wins during the week, averaging 12.5 points, 5.0 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game. She scored 12 points, pulled down four rebounds and dished three assists in the Broncos' comeback win at San Diego on Thursday. She was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in the game's final 20 seconds to seal the victory.
Heal scored 13 points and tied a season-high with seven assists Saturday at BYU, helping the Broncos win for the first time ever in Provo. Heal shot 73.3% from the free-throw line during the week, had two total steals and carried a 1.4 assists-to-turnovers ratio.
Q4, 5:51 | #Broncos 56, @bywbb 46
— Santa Clara Women's Basketball (@Santaclarawbb) January 21, 2023
Tess Heal puts Santa Clara's lead back up to 1️⃣0️⃣!#StampedeTogether | #SCUBroncos pic.twitter.com/QB4mvWTNDf
Heal has dominated this year's WCC Freshman of the Week awards, winning seven of the 11 handed out so far. The Broncos have collected eight overall, with Marya Hudgins winning last week's award. Heal and Hudgins have now combined to win or share three awards in a row dating to Jan. 9. Heal's seventh award on Monday put her at second-most won by a player in a season. San Francisco's Ioanna Krimili won it 11 times in its debut 2020-21 season. Pacific's Anaya James won it six times last season.
The Broncos rookie continues to play as the best freshman in the WCC and one of the best not only on the West Coast, but in the country. She has outplayed even the most senior newcomers in the WCC, making her case for WCC Newcomer of the Year through the conference's first half, which concluded Saturday. Her 16.0 points per game are sixth-best in the nation among freshmen (through Saturday). She's the WCC's top-scoring newcomer and ranks fourth overall. Her 4.1 assists per game are tied for eighth among the nation's freshmen. She trails only one WCC newcomer in assists (Pepperdine graduate transfer Marly Walls), ranking fifth overall.
Heal and the Broncos begin the WCC's second half on Saturday with a short trip up the peninsula to face San Francisco. Fans can find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.
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