SAC Communications
Rich Tortorelli
OKLAHOMA CITY – Science & Arts of Oklahoma’s Milagros Carrera scooped up the Sooner Athletic Conference’s first women’s basketball player of the week nod for 2020-21, while Malik Malone earned the league’s honor for men’s hoops.
Carrera, a sophomore guard from Lima, Peru, has turned in 24.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.50 steals per contest during the Drovers’ 2-0 start. During the week of Oct. 26-Nov. 1, Carrera shot 58.1 percent from the field, 50 percent from 3-point land and 88.9 percent from the free-throw line.
In USAO’s season opener, Carrera boasted of her first career 30-point performance in the Drovers’ 87-60 victory over Southwestern (Kan.) on Thursday night in Winfield, Kan. Carrera rang up 32 points, five rebounds, three assists and four steals while hitting 13 of her 17 shots from the floor and all four tries from the foul line. Carrera surpassed her previous high of 27 points at Texas Wesleyan on Feb. 13, 2020.
Carrera rallied USAO from a 10-point second-quarter deficit Friday in North Newton, Kan. Carrera contributed 16 points, six rebounds, four assists and three thefts in USAO’s 75-65 win over Bethel (Kan.).
In leading the No. 2 Mid-America Christian men’s basketball team to a season-opening 108-73 victory over Manhattan Christian (Kan.) on Halloween, redshirt junior forward Malone was named the first Sooner Athletic Conference Player of the Week.
In his first start with the Evangels, Malone turned in a double-double, scoring a game-high 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including going 2-for-2 from beyond the three-point arc while ripping down a team-leading 11 rebounds to go with a pair of blocked shots.
Malone helped spearhead a huge first half for the Evangels, who went into the halftime break with a 54-28 advantage. The Kileen, Texas native scored 11 points in the opening half, going 4-for-7 and ripped down seven rebounds while blocking both shot attempts over 14 minutes of action.
The 6-6 forward came back with nine points in the second half, knocking down 4-of-5 from the field and dishing out a pair of assists to help the Evangels secure the 35-point victory.
With the win, Mid-America Christian has won 12 straight season-openers while picking up the team’s 18th straight home victory.
Malone is just the second Evangels player to earn conference player of the week honors in the last four seasons, joining NAIA All-American Ashford Golden who was a two-time recipient during the 2019-20 campaign.