BATON ROUGE — Marcus Thornton of LSU picked up another honor for his back-to-back 30-point game week and Louisiana College’s Tillisha Given was also a league and state honoree as the pair pick up this week’s Louisiana Sports Writers Association state basketball player of the week honors.
Thornton had back-to-back 30-point games to become the first player since 1995 when Ronnie Henderson topped 30 in three straight games. The senior LSU guard had 17 points in a 3:40 period in the second half as LSU took control of the win over Mississippi State (81-57), including scoring three straight treys and a layup for the Tigers on four consecutive possessions.
He had 31 points against State and then 30 in the 80-70 loss to nationally-ranked Xavier. He was named SEC Player of the Week as well. He now has four 30 point or better games this season, seven for his two years at LSU. Ironically, he made 10-of-18 field goal attempts in each game.
Givens, a sophomore from Monroe, also earned American Southwest Conference East Division Player of the Week honors for Louisiana College. She had double-doubles in each of LC’s games this past week, both wins, and is one of only four players in the 15-team league averaging a double-double. In a win against conference rival East Texas Baptist, Givens nearly had a triple-double with 16 points, 15 rebounds, and six steals. She followed that up with a 19-point, 13-rebound effort in a win over LeTourneau.