WINTHROP, Mass. – Simmons College's Presley Silva (Wilmington, Mass.) was named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of January 2-8, it was announced today by the league.
Silva averaged a double-double of 14.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in two games to go with 3.5 blocks, 2.0 steals and 0.5 assists per game, while shooting 57.1% (12-21) from the floor. The junior began the week by netting 10 points on 5-9 from the field to go with eight rebounds, two steals and a pair of blocks in a 54-51 victory over visiting Lasell College on January 5. A Tri-Captain, Silva capped the week with the best performance of her career, matching her personal-bests in points (19) and blocks (5), while pulling down a career-high 13 boards to go with two steals and an assist in just 23 minutes to lead the Sharks to a 78-44 victory over visiting Mount Ida College on January 7.
The Arlington Catholic High School product is one of two players to start all eight games this season for Simmons and ranks second on the squad with 8.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. Silva leads the team with 1.6 blocks per game, while ranking third among conference leaders and her team-best 46.2% (30-65) field goal percentage places her seventh in the GNAC. The post player has registered 50% of better from the field on five occasions, while coming up with at least one steal in six of eight contests. She also has at least one block in five games, including a current streak of four straight games.
For her career, Silva has started 36 of 56 games she's appeared in, while averaging 6.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. She also has 89 career steals in addition to 69 lifetime blocks, which ranks her second on the school's career list, while shooting 40.3% (141-350) from the floor.
The Sharks are currently 3-5 on the season, including a perfect 3-0 mark in league play to establish their best conference start in at least 15 years. Simmons will return to the hardwood on Tuesday, January 10 when it heads to West Hartford, Conn. to take on University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.