Heal Earns Record 12th WCC Freshman of the Week Award

Posted: Feb 28, 2023

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Santa Clara University women's basketball freshman guard Tess Heal set a new record Tuesday by earning her 12th West Coast Conference Freshman of the Week award, more than anyone has ever earned in a single season, after a solid performance on the road.

The previous record had been held by San Francisco's Ioanna Krimili, who won the award 11 times in its inaugural season of 2020-21. Heal won six in a row to close out the regular season and seven of the last eight (one co-award). Santa Clara claimed each of the last eight awards (one co-award) with Marya Hudgins winning on Jan. 16.

Heal posted another all-around week in two road games to wrap up conference play. She averaged 11.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game while carrying a 1.6 assists-to-turnovers ratio, shooting 33.3% from 3-point range and a perfect 100.0% (13 for 13) from the free-throw line. No other freshman in the conference scored more points, had more rebounds or more assists than Heal during the week.

She scored a team-high 18 points, grabbed four rebounds, dished four assists and swiped a season-high three steals at LMU on Thursday. She had four more assists, four rebounds and four points at Pepperdine on Saturday.

Heal moved into seventh all-time for points in a single season at Santa Clara last week, reaching 533. She also moved into fifth all-time in a single season as a Bronco with 134 made free throws. She is four assists away from reaching 10th on the Broncos' all-time single season list.

Heal has continued to play as one of the best freshmen in the nation this season. Her 17.2 points per game are ranked fifth among all freshmen (through Monday), and her 533 total points are second among the country's freshmen. Her 4.1 assists per game rank fifth in the nation among freshmen.

Heal and the Broncos next travel to the 2023 UCU WCC Basketball Tournament starting Thursday. The Broncos will be the No. 8 seed and face No. 9 seed Pepperdine in the first round of the tournament at noon on Thursday. 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
February 28: Tess Heal, Santa Clara

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