Junior guard Rachel Clancy earned her first Big West Conference Player of the Week honor Monday afternoon.
Clancy averaged 19 points per game in two Cal Poly victories against UC Davis and Pacific last week.
“I was very happy with my individual performance, but more so definitely with my team’s performance,” Clancy said.
At the start of last week, the second-seeded Mustangs were looking up at the top team in the conference. With a 69-48 victory against conference leader UC Davis, Cal Poly took sole possession of the number one spot in the Big West.
“It was the first time we have ever had first place in our sights,” Clancy said. “We did a really good job of grasping it.”
Clancy hit four of seven three-point attempts against UC Davis and finished with 14 points against the Aggies. Clancy, who has started all 22 games for Cal Poly (15-7, 8-2) this season, also recorded five assists against UC Davis.
“Knocking off Davis in such a big way really gave me confidence as an individual for the next game,” Clancy said. “To come on top the way we did was definitely a good way to grab first place.”
Two days later during a 99-66 pummeling of Pacific, Clancy converted all five of her three-point attempts and seven of nine shots, totaling a game-high 23 points. She added five rebounds and five assists.
“I think our up-tempo style really caught Pacific off-guard,” Clancy said. “We ran so hard that I found myself open a lot—a majority off my shots were uncontested.”
Clancy enters Cal Poly’s match-up at Long Beach State on Thursday, leading all Big West players with a 51 percent three-point mark. She is ranked second in field goal percentage with a 51 percent average. She also ranks 12th among conference performers with 12 points per contest.
Monday’s honor was the conference-leading fourth Player of the Week award for Cal Poly this year.
“It could have been a shared award for a couple of players on the team—it was definitely a group performance,” Clancy said. “Everybody stepped up in all the games.”
Clancy’s uncontested looks can be attributed to Santiago’s dominance. Nonetheless, it’s hard to pin the team’s success on one player.
“It could have been anyone on the team. I’m flattered,” Clancy said. “I definitely did not expect it.”