BATON ROUGE — Guard Marcus Thornton and pole vaulter Katelyn Rodrigue were named the LSU Male and Female Athletes of the Week on Wednesday following a vote by a local media panel.
Thornton, was exceptional last week against Auburn and Alabama, combining to score 60 points over the two-game span.
Against Auburn, Thornton was credited with 38 points after going 14-23 from the field, 8-15 from beyond the three-point line and a perfect 6-6 from the charity stripe. His 38 points were the most by an SEC player since the 2004 season and the most points in a league game since LSU’s Ronnie Henderson scored 40 at Alabama in February of 1995.
Thornton followed that performance with his sixth consecutive 20-plus point game against Alabama. The junior from Baton Rouge scorched the Tide 22 points, three rebounds, an assist and a steal in 36 minutes of action.
With the performance, Thornton is now tied for first in the SEC in overall scoring, averaging 19.8 points per game. In addition, he leads the league in scoring in conference games (24.5 pts/gm) and is third in field goal percentage (84.1 percent).
Rodrigue made history at the Bayou Bengal Invitational last week, becoming the first Lady Tiger in program history to clear 13 feet in the pole vault indoors. While breaking her own school record in the event, Rodrigue improved her NCAA provisional qualifying mark with a clearance of 13-1 ? inches to win the event title. Rodrigue’s clearance better her previous record of 12-11 ? set on Jan. 19.
Rodrigue, a sophomore from New Orleans, has now broken her own school record in the pole vault five times in the last two years and is on the verge of becoming the first Lady Tiger in program history to compete in the event at the NCAA Indoor Championships.