Dec. 23, 2008

Naperville, Ill. - Chicago State's David Holston and North Dakota's Kierah Kimbrough were named Great West Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Players of the Week for the week ending Dec. 21, the league office announced Tuesday.

Holston captures his first weekly honor after guiding Chicago State to a 2-1 record last week. The senior guard averaged 25 points, 3.3 assists, three rebounds and three steals a game last week. He started the week with 28 points and five assists while knocking down six threes at Hawaii. Two days later, Holston repeated his performance as he recorded 28 points with six triples to go along with three assists and three steals in a comeback victory over Southern. The Pontiac, Mich., native posted 19 points, five steals and four rebounds in a home win over Samford to conclude the week's slate. The 5-foot-8 guard is currently second on CSU's all-time assists with 373 after recording 10 helpers last week and is now 209 points shy of becoming the first Cougar to score 2,000 points in the school's Division I era.

Others nominated: Josh Olsen (Utah Valley), Tyler Cain (South Dakota)

Previous winners: Dec. 14 - Ryan Toolson (Utah Valley), Dec. 7 - Baron Sauls (Houston Baptist), Nov. 30 - Ryan Toolson (Utah Valley), Nov. 23 - John Cantrell (Chicago State), Nov. 16 - Ryan Toolson (Utah Valley)

Kimbrough grabs her first weekly honor after leading North Dakota to a pair of wins last week. The 6-foot-1 center started the week with 25 points on a near-perfect performance from the floor (10-of-11) and from the free throw line (5-of-6) in the 111-27 win over Mayville State. She also collected nine rebounds with two assists and three blocks in the tilt with Mayville State. The Greenbush, Minn., native followed that performance with a double-double effort in a hard-fought win over Seattle Pacific. Kimbrough tallied 21 points and brought down a career-high 13 rebounds while playing a season-high 31 minutes. For the week, Kimbrough averaged 23 points, 11 rebounds while averaging 65.4 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free throw line.

Others nominated: Alyssa Waldon (Chicago State), Robyn Fairbanks (Utah Valley)

Previous winners: Dec. 14 - Robyn Fairbanks (Utah Valley), Dec.7 - Julie McMurray (Utah Valley), Nov. 30 - Alyssa Waldon (Chicago State), Nov. 23 - Danye Guinn (North Dakota)/Robyn Fairbanks (Utah Valley), Nov. 16 - Bridget Yoerger (South Dakota)

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