March 13, 2002
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Sophomore women's basketball standout Shereka Wright and junior sprinter/hurdler Prentice Stovall have been named the female and male Purdue Athletes of the Month. The award is sponsored by WLFI-TV, Twin City Dodge Chrysler and the Gimlet Leadership Honorary.
At the Big Ten Track and Field Championships held at Minnesota, West Lafayette native Prentice Stovall had a stellar day in the preliminaries of the 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdle events. Stovall led the field in the 60-meter dash with an NCAA provisional and conference championship record of 6.71. The season-best time for any Boilermaker in the event shattered Vinny Sutherland's 1997 school record of 6.79. Stovall's success spilled over into the 60-meter hurdles, where he tied his own school record in 7.97.
In seven games during the month, Wright averaged 23.3 points per game, 6.6 rebounds and 1.3 steals. She scored a school-record 40 points at Michigan on Feb. 17. That broke the previous record of 37 originally set by All-American MaChelle Joseph at Michigan State on Feb. 15, 1991. (Jannon Roland tied the mark at Ohio State on Jan. 23, 1997.) Against the Wolverines, Wright went 15 for 21 from the field, including 1 for 2 from three-point range, and went 9 for 11 from the free throw line. She scored 14 points in the first half and 26 in the second, which alone would have tied her previous career-high.
Also in February, Wright was named first team All-Big Ten. She is the Boilermakers' leading scorer and ranks third in the Big Ten, averaging 19.1 points per game.