Shakira Austin, Madison Scott Earn SEC Player of the Week Honors

Ole Miss Sets Program Record with Seven Total Weekly Honors in 2020-21

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – (Courtesy of SEC and Ole Miss Athletics) Ole Miss women’s basketball has earned two weekly honors from the SEC on Tuesday, with junior forward Shakira Austin being named the Co-SEC Player of the Week and forward Madison Scott winning her fourth SEC Freshman of the Week honor.

This marks the sixth and seventh weekly honor for the Rebels this season, breaking the program record for total honors in a single season of six set by the 2006-07 Elite Eight team (four Players of the Week, two Freshmen of the Week). Furthermore, it is the sixth Freshman of the Week honor for Ole Miss this season (four from Scott, two from Snudda Collins), adding onto a program record for a single-season.

Austin is the first Rebel to win Player of the Week since Crystal Allen did so on Dec. 30, 2018, and Scott’s four Freshman of the Week nods make her just the 20th player in SEC history and the first in Ole Miss history to earn it four times. In the 15 years of the Freshman of the Week award, the player with the most weekly honors by season’s end was named SEC Freshman of the Year 12 times, with the outliers being 2010 (A’dia Mathies, Kentucky), 2013 (Bashaara Graves, Tennessee) and 2017 (Delicia Washington, Florida; Amber Smith, Missouri).

Austin was critical for Ole Miss in its 70-62 upset over No. 14/15 Kentucky on Feb. 4, notching a double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds on 9-of-11 shooting. She was dominant in the first half, pouring in 17 points and seven rebounds to help give the Rebels their largest SEC halftime lead since 2015. Her double-double performance was the 20th of her career and fifth as a Rebel, and it was also her second in a row, making her the first Rebel to record consecutive double-doubles since Shandricka Sessom in December 2015 and the first in consecutive SEC games since Tia Faleru in February and March of 2015. Her performance vs. Kentucky was her 13th double-digit scoring game in 14 tries this season, as well as her sixth 20-point game in 2020-21.

Shakira Austin named SEC Co Offensive Player of the Week. (Photo: Ole Miss Basketball)

For her efforts this season, Austin was recently named to the Lisa Leslie Award Top-10 list, joining South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston as the only representatives from the SEC. On the year, Austin is averaging 17.1 points (6th SEC), 8.1 rebounds (11th SEC), 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks (6th SEC) while shooting 53.7 percent overall (3rd SEC, 33rd NCAA).

Scott, meanwhile, tallied nine points, eight rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal as a key contributor in that win over Kentucky. It was her sixth game with at least eight rebounds this season, and she also recorded a new career-high with two blocks. She currently leads all SEC freshmen and ranks 16th nationally among freshmen in rebounding at her season average of 7.2 per game. Scott has also been consistent shooting the ball, currently owning a 63.4 percent clip overall and a 64.3 percent mark in SEC play.

Ole Miss returns to action this Thursday night (Feb. 11) at Alabama, with tipoff set for 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.

(Feature image of Madison Scott courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics)