Heal Wins Record-Tying 11th WCC Freshman of the Week Award

Posted: Feb 20, 2023

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Santa Clara University women's basketball's Tess Heal earned her record-tying 11th West Coast Conference Freshman of the Week award Monday, grabbing the nod this time for her historic week of Feb. 13-19 against two of the conference's top-four teams.

Heal's fifth-straight recognition gives her 11 for the season, tying San Francisco's Ioanna Krimili who also won 11 times in 2020-21. Santa Clara has won each of the last seven WCC Freshman of the Week awards with Marya Hudgins winning the award on Jan. 16.

Thursday was a huge day for Heal. She scored the second-most points ever in a game by a Santa Clara player with a whopping 39 points against BYU. She missed the program record by only one point. A list of her many accomplishments from Thursday's game alone follows below ::

• Her 39 points were more than any WCC player has scored this season, and more than any WCC player has scored in more than four years (since Pepperdine's Yasmine Robinson-Bacote scored 47 vs. Sacramento State on Nov. 23, 2018).
• Heal's 39 points rank as the 20th-highest single-game output in the nation in 2022-23 (through Sunday).
• She made 11 baskets Thursday to give her 180 made field goals for the season – tied for 10th all-time at Santa Clara
• Heal was a perfect 15-for-15 from the free-throw line against the Cougars – becoming only the 13th Bronco to go perfect from the line in a game (min. 10 attempts).
• Her 15 made free-throws were also tied for third-most all-time in a game, only two short of the record (17).

Q4, 0:12 | @byuwbb 76, #Broncos 72

Tess Heal with a 3️⃣ pointer!

Tess Heal with a season-high of 39 points. #StampedeTogether | #SCUBroncos pic.twitter.com/J85SyHIkjr
— Santa Clara Women's Basketball (@Santaclarawbb) February 17, 2023

Heal followed up Thursday's outstanding performance by scoring 17 points, dishing five assists and grabbing three rebounds against third-place San Diego. She scored 14 of her 17 in the fourth quarter and overtime, helping Santa Clara erase an 11-point deficit to send the game to an extra period. Her 17 points carried her over the 500-points mark for the season, putting her at 10th all-time on the Santa Clara single season records list. For the week, Heal averaged 28.0 points, 5.0 assists and 1.5 rebounds per game while shooting 48.5% from the floor and 95.7% from the free-throw line.

Q4, 5:35 | #Broncos 48, @USDwbb 46

Freshman of the Week Tess Heal has scored 5️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ points!

Broncos take the lead! #StampedeTogether | #SCUBroncos pic.twitter.com/1u16fPHjHX
— Santa Clara Women's Basketball (@Santaclarawbb) February 18, 2023

Heal is currently tied for the highest point total in the WCC with 511 points -- 26th-most in the nation (through Sunday). She's tied for third among the nation's freshmen with 17.6 points per game. Her 4.1 assists per game are tied for sixth among all NCAA Division I freshmen.

Heal and the Broncos wrap up the regular season next week on the road in Southern California. They'll face LMU at 7 p.m. Thursday, then take on Pepperdine in Malibu at 2 p.m. Saturday. Fans can find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.

2022-23 UCU WCC Women's Basketball Freshmen of the Week
November 14: Tess Heal, Santa Clara
November 21: Tess Heal, Santa Clara
November 28: Tess Heal, Santa Clara
December 5: Sydney Ward, Pacific
December 12: Tess Heal, Santa Clara
December 20: Tess Heal, Santa Clara
December 27: Sydney Ward, Pacific
January 2: Veronica Sheffey, San Diego
January 9: Tess Heal, Santa Clara; Sydney Ward, Pacific
January 16: Marya Hudgins, Santa Clara
January 23: Tess Heal, Santa Clara
January 30: Tess Heal, Santa Clara
February 6: Tess Heal, Santa Clara
February 13: Tess Heal, Santa Clara
February 20: Tess Heal, Santa Clara

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