Franklin earns Big 12 Player of the Week award

The Jayhawk senior received the honor for the first time after her performance against Tulsa.

For the third time this season, a Kansas Jayhawk basketball player earned a weekly award as the player of the week in the Big 12 Conference. For the first time, that player came from the Women's basketball team. On Monday, senior guard Zakiyah Franklin was named the Big 12 Player of the Week, her first time earning that award in her career.

Franklin received the honor after going 9-14 from the field (and 3-5 from three) to score 26 points in the 19-point win over Tulsa. That scoring effort was enough to push her into 25th on the all-time scoring list for the Jayhawks. But her award was about more than just scoring, as she also tallied five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

She is the first Kansas women's player to earn a weekly award since Ioanna Chatzileonti earned the Freshman of the Week award on December 7th, 2020. The last Big 12 Player of the Week from Kansas was Holly Kersgieter on November 11, 2019.

After being removed briefly from the starting lineup early in the season, Franklin has been pivotal for the Jayhawks, averaging the second most points per game on the team and seventh in the Big 12 Conference. And she has been especially efficient in her last 5 games, shooting 50.0% from three and averaging 2.0 more points, 0.7 more asists, 0.9 more rebounds, 0.3 more steals 0.2 less turnovers and 0.3 less fouls.

Franklin and the Jayhawks are back in action Wednesday night as they travel to Lincoln, NE to take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Tip is scheduled for 6pm Central and will be televised on Big Ten Network+.

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