For the first time this season, Northwest Conference leading scorer Gretchen Owens of Linfield has been recognized as the NWC Women’s Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week, as announced Tuesday by the league’s sports information directors.

Owens averaged a team-high 24.3 points per game to lead the Wildcats to a pair of victories over nonconference opponents. Her best game was a season-high 29-point effort against Colorado College, a 69-60 win for Linfield. For the week, she also averaged 6.0 rebounds per game, shot 50 percent (26-of-52) from the floor and was nearly perfect at the line, knocking down 95.5 percent (21-of-22) of her free throw opportunities.

The senior guard leads the league in scoring at 20.2 points per game, more than three points per contest higher than the second-highest scorer. She is Linfield’s team leader in rebounds (sixth in NWC) at 7.2 per outing and also leads the Wildcats in assists with 32. Owens is hitting 43.1 of her field goals, including 31.6 percent from 3-point range, and shoots 85.2 percent from the free throw line.

Linfield currently sits in fifth place in the league with a 1-1 record in conference games and 6-4 overall. The 'Cats have won three of their last four contests.

NEXT: The Wildcats host La Sierra University in a nonconference matchup Wednesday, Dec. 28 at 6 p.m.