Basketball’s DeDe Cotten Named UNCP Student-Athlete Of The Week

PEMBROKE – After playing a key role in three games for the Lady Braves last week, including a key win at Georgia Southwestern on Sunday, senior DeDe Cotten has been named this week's UNCP Student-Athlete of the Week, athletic department officials announced Monday.

Cotten, a Fayetteville native, averaged 15.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game for the Black & Gold last week, including her first career double-double at Georgia Southwestern on Sunday. Having averaged better than 35 minutes of playing time over the stretch, she connected on 36 percent of her shots from the perimeter, including a deadly 5-for-9 clip from downtown in a tight loss at Augusta State.

She began her week with a career-best 22-point, 4-rebound effort in the setback to the Jaguars – a game in which she booked all five of UNCP's 3-pointers in the midst of a 7-for-11 effort from the field. Cotten followed that performance up with a 7-point, 10-rebound outing on Friday evening at Columbus State, and then registered  another monster outing in the win over Georgia Southwestern on Sunday, finishing with 16 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block.

A part-time starter for the Braves during both her sophomore and junior campaigns, Cotten is one of just two Lady Braves (Courtney Bolton) to start all 19 games this season. Having played in 98 games (47 starts) over her career in the Black & Gold, she boasts career averages of 7.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 0.8 steals per game. Her 10.2 points per game this season ranks second on the team.