Campus Life

Fletcher, Veldman earn Athlete of the Week honours

A pair of victories for each of the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns men's and women's basketball teams have netted Alex Fletcher and Kim Veldman the Subway Pronghorn Athlete of the Week honours.

Senior guard Alex Fletcher was a key contributor in the Pronghorn men’s 2-0 road weekend to open the second semester of conference action. The two wins, which were both in overtime, moved the Horns to 9-3 on the season and into a second place tie in the Prairie Division with the Saskatchewan Huskies.

Kim Veldman is one of the conference's leading scorers.

Thursday night, in the Horns' 84-82 overtime victory over the Mount Royal Cougars, Fletcher tied for a team high 17 points, but none were bigger than his three-point basket in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter that forced overtime. He also recorded six rebounds and six assists in the win.

The Merced, California native then scored 19 points to go along with another six rebounds and six assists in the Horns' thrilling 126-120 triple overtime win over the UNBC Timberwolves two nights later. More than halfway through his final season of eligibility, Fletcher is averaging 10.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game.

On the women's side, Veldman is picking up where she left off before the semester break. Veldman led the Pronghorn women’s basketball team to a two-win road weekend as well, combining for 38 points and 18 rebounds in the Horns' wins over the Mount Royal Cougars and UNBC Timberwolves.

The fourth-year nursing student scored 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting and grabbed eight boards in the Horns' 66-48 win over the Cougars Thursday night in Calgary. She then scored another 19 points and recorded her sixth double-double of the season, with 10 rebounds in the Horns' 62-50 win over the Timberwolves.

Through 12 games this season, Veldman sits second in conference scoring, averaging 20.7 points per game, and third in Canada West rebounding, averaging 10.6 boards per contest.

The men's and women's basketball teams face a huge test this weekend when the University of Alberta comes to town for games Friday and Saturday night in the 1st Choice Savings Centre gym.