Editor's note: Charlie Creme, Graham Hays, Michelle Smith and Mechelle Voepel each vote to determine espnW's national player of the week, which is awarded every Monday of the women's college basketball season.
You know that dream in which you're playing hoops and every shot you put up goes in? That pretty much happened for No. 22 Texas A&M's Kelsey Bone this past week, but she was wide awake.
In the Aggies' three games -- victories over Kansas State and Old Dominion, and an 83-74 loss to No. 5 Notre Dame -- Bone actually didn't make everything. But she sure wasn't far off.
Bone shot 85 percent -- 39 of 46 -- from the field, as she averaged 27.6 points and 10.3 rebounds at the World Vision Classic tournament in Las Vegas to earn espnW national player of the week honors.
The 6-foot-4 junior center and the Aggies started Wednesday with an 83-60 win over Kansas State, which for the past 16 seasons was a Big 12 opponent until Texas A&M's move to the SEC this season. Bone was 11-of-13 from the field for 22 points, and added seven rebounds against the Wildcats. But the Houston native was just getting started.
That was followed by a 78-55 victory Thursday against Old Dominion in which Bone had a career-high 33 points -- on 15-of-18 shooting -- along with 14 rebounds. That scoring output topped the career best she'd established just 12 days earlier against TCU.
Then Friday, the Aggies pushed the Irish before falling, with Bone making 13-of-15 shots as she scored 28 points and had 10 rebounds. Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said the Irish had "a lot of trouble" guarding Bone, a sentiment that K-State and ODU certainly shared.
The Aggies are 8-4, with all their losses being to ranked opponents (the others were Louisville, Penn State and UConn). Next up for Texas A&M is Prairie View A&M on Dec. 29 and Rice on Jan. 1. In between those games, Bone, a New Year's Eve baby, will turn 21 on Monday.
On Jan. 3, the Aggies begin SEC play with Alabama, but that league won't be new to Bone. She spent her freshman season at South Carolina -- where she was SEC newcomer of the year in 2010 -- before transferring.
Bone had some ups and downs last season after sitting out 2010-11, when she practiced with the Aggies but was on the sidelines as they won the national championship. Still, she averaged 11.9 points and 6.9 rebounds in 2011-12, and vowed to have an even bigger junior year.
She's doing just that. Bone leads the Aggies, averaging 17.6 points and 9.1 rebounds. She's shooting 63.1 percent, and has even made both of her 3-point attempts this season.
Also nominated
Layshia Clarendon, California: Her 28-point effort against Kansas gave Cal its first home win over a ranked team since Linsday Gottlieb arrived and pushed the Bears to a 9-1 record, matching a school-best start.
Chiney Ogwumike, Stanford: She helped Stanford become the only top-five team to win two true road games against ranked teams, totaling 21 points and 15 rebounds at South Carolina and 21 points and 19 rebounds at Tennessee. On a road trip in which her teammates shot just 42 percent, she shot 49 percent and carried the load both in scoring (33 percent of Stanford's points) and rebounding (40 percent of Stanford's rebounds).