NCAA.COM RELEASE
Each week, NCAA.com's Starting Five recognizes some of the top women's basketball players in the country based on their performances from the previous week of action. For her stellar performance at Marshall, sophomore center
Bayley Plummer was chosen this week as one of the five student-athletes that are showcased on a national scale.
Plummer garners national recognition by winning the fans' choice on Twitter, receiving 44 percent of the votes to beat out Western Kentucky's Tashia Brown (36 percent), Columbia's Camille Zimmerman (14 percent) and Nevada's Teige Zeller (6 percent).
The Thomasville native joins some pretty good company in Chennedy Carter (Texas A&M), Brooke McCarty (Texas), Teaira McCowan (Mississippi State), and Jessica Shepard (Notre Dame) in this week's starting five.
"It is an honor to be nominated for the NCAA Starting Five," Plummer stated. "I appreciate App Nation and the fans for taking their time to vote for me. I am blessed to be surrounded by a great community and an even better team."
By far her best performance of her young career, Plummer played the entire game and posted career highs of 16 points and 18 rebounds along with three blocks, three steals and two assists in the nail-biting 56-54 victory at Marshall last Saturday. Trailing 48-43 with 4:36 left in the game, Plummer scored all five of her fourth-quarter points including an impressive one-handed and-1 to cap off a 9-0 run during a rally in which the Mountaineers outscored the Thundering Herd 13-6 to capture the triumph. Plummer notched her third double-double of the season and fifth of her career while snagging double-digit rebounds for the eighth time in 10 contests. She became the first Mountaineer since Maryah Sydnor in 2013-14 to score at least 15 points and grab 15 rebounds, while the 18 boards were the most since Anna Freeman in 2012-13.
Plummer is having a breakout season where she's averaging 8.2 points, 12.1 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks while playing 29.8 minutes per game. She tops the Sun Belt and is 10th in the nation on the glass and is third in the league in blocked shots per game. Her 18 rebounds are the most by any player in the Sun Belt this season and owns two of the top three rebounding performances by a Sun Belt student-athlete.
"
Bayley Plummer continues to be a dominant force in the paint for our team," head coach
Angel Elderkin said. "Her efforts on the glass have been tremendous; we appreciate her recognition on the NCAA Starting Five."
The Mountaineers will look to end non-conference play with back-to-back wins on Thursday against UNC Asheville at 7 p.m.
