By Marquis Cooley | Reporter

Senior guard DiJonai Carrington is our Lariat Spotlight Athlete of the Week. Carrington was a major factor in the Lady Bears reaching the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament. She was also named Big 12 Sixth Person of the Year and Big 12 Newcomer of the Year after transferring from Stanford in the fall.

The San Diego native stepped up big, increasing her season average of 14.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game to 18 points and 6.3 rebounds per game in the tournament.

Last Saturday, Carrington led the Lady Bears in a win over sixth-seeded Michigan in the Sweet 16 with 19 points and seven rebounds. In the controversial loss Monday night to UConn, Carrington chipped in 22 points and seven rebounds and kept the Lady Bears in the game after senior guard DiDi Richards went down with a hamstring injury in the third quarter.

“[Carrington] is a big time player,” head coach Kim Mulkey said. “So grateful that I got to coach her, and she stepped up big time for us, not just in this game [against UConn] but all year long. And I though she was pretty special out there myself.”