Michigan State’s Matilda Ekh named Big Ten Women’s Basketball Co-Freshman of the Week

Michigan State guard/forward Matilda Ekh has been named the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Co-Freshman of the Week, the conference announced on Monday.

Ekh shares this week’s honor with Nebraska center/forward Alexis Markowski.

On Feb. 16, Ekh scored a game-high 25 points against Wisconsin, which helped lead the Spartans to a 74-67 victory over the Badgers in Madison. The 25 points Ekh scored in that game were just two points shy of her career-high of 27, which she set at Ohio State on Jan. 12.

Michigan State’s only game last week was the victory against Wisconsin, but Ekh made it count. She made eight of her 11 shot attempts (72.7 percent), including hitting five of her seven three-point attempts (71.4 percent). Ekh also knocked down all four of her free throws, on the way to her fourth 20-point or more performance of the season.

This is Ekh’s third Freshman of the Week award this season, as she also received the recognition on Dec. 13 and Jan. 24. Ekh’s teammate, guard DeeDee Hagemann, also received Freshman of the Week honors on Nov. 15.

Ekh, who originally hails from Västerås, Sweden, has started all 25 of Michigan State’s games this season. She is averaging 12.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. She shoots 45.9 percent overall from the floor, 43.6 percent from three-point range and 80 percent from the free-throw line.

The Michigan State’s women’s basketball team takes on the Penn State Lady Lions at 6 p.m. on Monday night.