Indiana University Athletics
IU Athlete Of The Week Goes to Valentin Again
2/20/2006 12:00:00 AM | General
Feb. 20, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - On a weekly basis, IUHOOSIERS.com will recognize the top performances in Hoosier Athletics by selecting an IU Athlete of the Week. For the week ending Feb. 19, senior women's basketball player Cyndi Valentin earned the honor for the second-straight week and the third time this season. Valentin also was recognized as Big Ten Co-Player of the Week for the second consecutive week.
Valentin was vital to Indiana's upset victory in overtime against then-No. 10 Purdue on Feb. 19. She notched a team-high 25 points, including a deep three-pointer with five seconds in regulation to send the game into overtime.
Once in the overtime period, Valentin came up big for the Hoosiers, scoring six of IU's eight points, including two free throws with two seconds on the clock to seal the Hoosier victory. Valentin helped IU earn its first win over a top-10 team since 2002, when it defeated the Boilermakers in the Big Ten Tournament. It was also the first time IU defeated Purdue in Mackey Arena since the 1996-97 season.
The Bloomington, Ind., native was 5-of-6 from three-point range on the afternoon (her five three pointers were a season-high), and managed to grab four rebounds, dish out four assists and register two steals. Valentin now has 12 20-plus scoring performances to her name this season and 27 in her career, which is tied for second all-time in the record books.
"Cyndi played her heart out at the end of our game," Indiana head coach Sharon Versyp said. "It was a gigantic win for this program and I am so proud of not only Cyndi, but everyone on our team. They really are a special group."
Valentin earned the IU Athlete of the Week honor from a list of deserving student-athletes. The list of nominees include: junior Annica Lofstedt (women's swimming), junior Brooke Zimmerman (water polo),redshirt freshman Andrae Hernandez (wrestling), and sophomore Christina Loukas (women's diving)
Hoosier Honor Roll
Junior Annica Lofstedt (women's swimming):
Individiually, Lofstedt not only set the school record in the 100-yard butterfly with a 54.06 to eclipse the previous standard set by Erin Smith in 2004, she became only the second Hoosier in history to post a sub-50 100-yard freestyle after touching in 49.69. She also placed 10th in the 50-yard freestyle. Meanwhile, the Hoosier contingent of Lofstedt, junior Clarissa Wentworth, junior Leila Vaziri and freshman Allison Kay set a school record in the 400-yard freestyle with a B-cut time of 3:19.22 to win the conference crown. The effort also became Indiana's first Big Ten titlist in the event since 1981 and only its fourth all time.
Junior Brooke Zimmerman (water polo):
Junior Brooke Zimmerman led the No. 17 Indiana water polo team to a 3-1 mark at the Princeton Invitational as she led the squad in goals and assists during the invite. The Calagary, Alberta, Canada native finished with eight goals on 18 shots to go along with nine assists, eight steals and four kickouts earned.
She opened the Princeton Invitational with her first career hat trick on Feb. 17. Zimmerman scored three goals on four shots against Bucknell in a 12-9 victory. She also had two assists and a kickout earned in the contest.
Redshirt freshman Andrae Hernandez (wrestling):
Hernandez completed his first Big Ten dual season in commanding fashion, losing only one match in conference action to go 7-1 in Big Tens, and 26-6 overall. Hernandez opened the weekend with a 10-3 decision over Daniel Quintela (Northwestern) in the Hoosiers close loss to the Wildcats (19-15) on Feb. 17. The Griffith, Ind., native followed the performance, pinning Michigan's Jim Shutich at the 6:45 mark for his ninth of the season to lead all Hoosiers in the category. With the 7-1 mark in Big Ten action, Hernandez enters the conference championships on March 4-5 as one of the top seeds.
Sophomore Christina Loukas (women's diving)
Loukas opened up the 2006 Big Ten Championships with a conference title in the one-meter after tallying a meet-and-pool record total of 345.20. She also placed second in the platform event with a 312.20 to secure her second straight Big Ten Diver of the Championships, even though she shared this title with Purdue's Carrie McCambridge.
