Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Names Hilton Garden Inn Athletes of the Week
2/10/2003 12:00:00 AM | General
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Feb. 10, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern University has named its Hilton Garden Inn Athletes of the Week for the week of Feb. 3-9. The men's recipient is basketball's Jitim Young (Chicago, Ill./Gordon Tech), while the women's winner is tennis' Cristelle Grier (Surrey, England/Putney).
Young, a junior guard, had a monster week for the Wildcats, who gained their first conference win Wednesday vs. Indiana. He scored a game-high 23 points (shooting 9-of-11 from the field) and pulled down 12 rebounds as NU defeated the Hoosiers for the first time since 1988.
He followed that up with a 25-point, 10-rebound performance against Wisconsin on Saturday, again leading all players in both categories. Of Young's 22 rebounds on the week, 10 came on the offensive glass.
Young had the two double-doubles-the second and third of his career-despite playing with a heavily taped left hand due to a dislocated middle finger that he injured on Feb. 1 at Ohio State. For his efforts, he was named Big Ten Player of the Week.
Grier, a freshman who is the nation's No. 16 player, was the standout for the Wildcats at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships. Grier was undefeated at No. 1 singles, knocking off the number 3 and 4 players in the country in the process. Grier defeated USC's Jewel Peterson (No. 3) 6-4, 6-1 on Thursday. On Saturday, Tennessee's Vilmarie Castellvi (No. 4) succumbed to Grier 6-4, 6-2 in the match that clinched the win for the Wildcats.
Grier and doubles teammate Jessica Rush were unstoppable at No. 1, defeating the 9th- and 22nd-ranked teams. The duo were 8-6 winners over UT's Melissa Schaub and Castellvi (No. 22) and defeated USC's top tandem of Peterson and Tiffany Brymer (No. 9) 8-5.
