Courtney Ward (Bartlesville, Okla.) has been selected as the Bobcat Athlete of the Month for January.
Ward was selected as the Female Athlete of the Month after being honored twice last month by the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) as the conference's women's basketball player of the week.
On Jan. 7, Ward received her first honor from the HAAC. Ward was a one-woman wrecking crew for the Bobcats during the prior week as she claimed several career-high totals. For the week, she averaged 27.3 points, 16.7 rebounds, 3.3 blocked shots, and 2.0 assists while shooting 54.7 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free throw line.
Ward had a career-high 30 points in a loss at Baker University and then had a career-high 23 rebounds in a win over victory over Missouri Valley College.
During that week, Ward played the entire time in two of the games and rested only a couple of minutes in the third game.
Then, the next week, Ward again received the honor after recording three double doubles during the week. Ward averaged 15.0 points, 13.7 rebounds, and 2.7 blocked shots while shooting 51.2% from the field. During the week, the Bobcats went 2-1.
Currently, Ward is the HAAC's leading rebounder averaging 12.13 boards per game. Additionally, Ward is fifth in scoring (15.5) and second in blocks (1.83).
Nationally, as of Feb. 4, Ward is first in offensive rebounds per game (5.5), third in total rebounds per game (12.125), third in total rebounds (291), tenth in total blocks (44), 12th in defensive rebounds per game (6.625), 14th in blocks per game (1.833), 18th in field goal percentage (51.4%), 19th in total scoring (372), and 48th in points per game (15.5). Ward is tied for fourth nationally with 16 double doubles during the season.
Ward was one of Peru State's nominees for the CoSIDA All-American program and will be nominated for the NAIA-Daktronics Scholar-Athlete award for the second time.
“Courtney deserves the recognition for December for her efforts in helping her team to several victories in the month,” said AD Schneider. “She is a great example what a student-athletes should be, both on the court or field, and in the classroom,” added Schneider.
