2008 Woodie Awards
Safi Mojidi named A-10 Player of the Week
Matt Pavao
Issue date: 1/25/08 Section: Sports
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Mojidi was named Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Player of the Week last week for her play against George Washington University and St. Bonaventure University, where she averaged 23 points, four rebounds and three steals as the Rams split the pair of games at home.
"It's a pretty big deal," Mojidi said of her second career A-10 Player of the Week award. "It's an honor to get it, especially because the A-10 has a lot of great players."
Head coach Tom Garrick always enjoys seeing one of his players receive an award.
"I love the fact that I can watch my players grow up on the court, and when they get accolades, it's really great to see," Garrick said.
The Rams nearly toppled No. 13 ranked George Washington on Wednesday with help from Mojidi on both ends of the floor. Rhode Island held GWU to a season-low 48 points as the senior guard had a game high four steals. She also had a team high 16 points in the game, but the Rams came up short, losing 48-45 in the final minutes.
Rhode Island ended a four-game losing streak with a 56-48 win over St. Bonaventure on Saturday thanks to an offensive explosion by Mojidi. She set a season high for points as she put on a show against St. Bonaventure, scoring 30 points and adding six rebounds and two steals.
"We were real close against George Washington and we kind of took out that aggression [on St. Bonaventure]," Mojidi said. "People look up to me as a leader on the team and I knocked down some easy shots."
With 10 games left in the season, the Rams have already passed their win total from last year by three games with a record of 9-10. A big part of that has been the consistent play of the team's guard.
"It's a great feeling to be winning more and it boosts moral," Mojidi said. "It shows that we can win games and we're not going to settle for anything less."
Garrick talked about the importance of the team's senior captain.
"It helps when one of your best players is your leader," Garrick said. "She's always playing hard because she feels better about her leadership role when she is playing well."
In her final season with Rhode Island, Mojidi is slowly moving up in the all-time record books at Rhode Island. Averaging 14 points this season, she is currently fourth all-time in career points, fifth in field goals and second in 3-pointers.