With her career-high performance last week, Purdue University Calumet sophomore Cassidy Deno was named the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Week as announced by the league office Tuesday.
Deno (Otterbein, Ind./Benton Central), earned her first career weekly honor, as she is now the third different player from the No. 11 Peregrines’ roster to earn the award this season, joining juniors Patrice McBee (Monterey, Ind./Culver Community) and Jada Buggs (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Memorial).
The 5-foot-11 defending CCAC Freshman of the Year netted a career-best 28 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the floor and added 12 rebounds to record her second double-double the fourth of her career in a 102-94 win over Rochester College Dec. 20. The nation’s eighth-best free-throw shooter, Deno made 8-of-10 shots from the charity stripe – including a perfect 5 for 5 in the final minutes – to help seal the Peregrines’ 16 straight home win dating back to last season.
She also added four assists, two steals and a block in an all-around performance.
Deno currently ranks in the Top 40 in all of NAIA Division II in six categories: free-throw percentage (8th, 88.9); 3-point field goal percentage (15th, 45.2); total 3-point field goals made (24th, 33); 3-point field goals made per game (30th, 2.5); total scoring (37th, 221); and points per game (40th, 17.0).
The Peregrines’ (11-2) next matchup is set for Tuesday, Dec. 30, when Purdue Calumet travels to NCAA Division I Valparaiso University for an exhibition matchup starting at 7:05 p.m.