Dec. 2, 2002

MILWAUKEE - Leadership, while being an intangible quality, is among one of the most important things any college basketball player can have. For University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball player Jessica Wilhite, she turned her strong ability to lead into tangible results as she was named the Horizon League Player of the Week here Monday (Dec. 2). Wilhite earned the honor thanks in large part to her play in the ASU/Wells Fargo Holiday Classic in Tempe, Ariz. this past weekend.

"I think Jessica was on a mission this week," UWM head coach Sandy Botham said. "She wanted to carry this team and she basically did that. She is a leader on this team on both ends of the floor. She was the best player on the court this weekend at Arizona State."

The 5-7 senior averaged 16 points, 5.7 assists, and 4.7 rebounds per contest in games versus Marquette, Oklahoma State, and Arizona State this week. Furthermore, Wilhite connected on 18 of 20 free throws on the week, good for a 90% clip. Wilhite, who is currently sixth on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,166 career points, led UWM to an 84-77 win over Oklahoma State on Friday (Nov. 29) and a subsequent berth in the championship game of the Wells Fargo Classic. In the OSU contest Wilhite scored 19 points with seven rebounds and a career-high eight assists. The Glen Ellyn, Ill.-native followed that up with a 24-point, six-assist performance in an 81-65 loss to Arizona State in the tournament championship game. As a result, Wilhite was one of five players on the ASU/Wells Fargo Holiday Classic All-Tournament team.

Wilhite enters play this week sixth in the Horizon League in scoring (14.2 ppg), second in assists (5.0 apg), and fourth in free throw percentage (90.0%).