Houston's Tye Jackson and Rice's Lauren Neaves are named this week's players of the week.

Now, as someone who covers both of these young ladies and their respective teams on a regular basis, this news makes me proud:

Jan. 29, 2007
For the first time this year, Conference USA has named co-players of the week for women's basketball. Houston's Tye Jackson and Rice's Lauren Neaves both had solid performances in a pair of wins last week.

Tye Jackson, Houston 5-10, Junior, Guard, Houston, TexasJackson, who played two complete games, registered back-to-back double-doubles and grabbed a career-best 12 rebounds against Tulsa. The Houston native averaged 22.5 points, 11.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 3.0 steals per game for the week. Against SMU, the Cougars set C-USA single-game records for most rebounds (68) and most offensive rebounds (36).

Lauren Neaves, Rice 6-2, Senior, Forward, Cooper City, Fla. Neaves led the Owls with two double-double performances. She averaged 15.5 points, 14.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocked shots per game, while shooting 56.3 percent (9-of-16) from the field and 76.5 percent (13-of-17) from the free throw line. Against SMU, she registered 17 points and 15 boards in 25 minutes of play. With Neaves' 14 points and 13 rebounds against Tulsa, she joined the 1,500-point club and moved to No. 2 on the school's all-time rebounding chart (male or female). Defensively, Neaves helped shut down preseason C-USA player of the year Jillian Robbins, who was held to her second lowest total of the year of eight points and seven rebounds.

Rice and UH continue their homestands this Thursday, February 1, and this Saturday, February 3, versus Tulane and UTEP respecitvely.