Player of the week: Tara Jones

Women's basketball player Tara Jones garnered Player of the Week honors after two impressive performances over the weekend on a tough road trip.

Jones, from Richmond, Va., is a junior guard for the Lady Royals. On Saturday, the team traveled to Greensboro, N.C., to take on conference foe Guilford College. Even though the Lady Royals were farther from their home court than they'll be all season, Jones made herself feel at home by scoring a career high 22 points in 28 minutes of play, helping lead EMU to a 70-63 victory over the Quakers. Jones was virtually unstoppable as she made 8 out of 9 field goal attempts along with grabbing seven rebounds and four steals. Jones said, "Offensively I pushed the ball up the court during transition and attacked the middle which was open for the most part."

The Lady Royals then traveled back into the Commonwealth to take on a second ODAC competitor in as many days against Emory & Henry College on Sunday. Jones had another career day as she tallied her first double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds in a difficult loss to the Wasps by a score of 90-84.

Kevin Griffin, in his first season as head coach, likes the energy and offensive threat Tara brings coming off the bench. "She has a feel for scoring the basketball and is gaining confidence as she plays. You can just see it--every game she seems to feel a little more relaxed and comes in the game to give Dana [Powell] a rest and at the same time sparks our team offensively," he said.

Jones and the rest of the Lady Royals have been preparing all week to take on archrival and "backyard" competition, Bridgewater College on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. Tara commented about the Bridgewater game, saying, "This weekend will be a tough game but I think we will be prepared for it."