May 5, 2008

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Sophomore Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) has earned her second Big Ten Player of the Week honor of the year and the third of her career after batting a perfect 1.000 (5-for-5) with three doubles and a home run in Northwestern's sweep of Michigan State over the weekend, helping NU win a share of the Big Ten championship.

Pauly began the weekend with a 2-for-2 performance Saturday in a 6-3 victory over the Spartans, clubbing two doubles and drawing two walks while scoring once. On Sunday, she was 3-for-3 with a single, a double and a home run, driving in two and scoring twice. She had a 2.200 slugging percentage in the series.

Overall for the week, Pauly batted .700 in four games played. On Tuesday at the DePaul Invitational, she scored a run against No. 1 Alabama before going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored in a darkness-shortened contest with No. 20 DePaul.

Pauly's award is the seventh conference weekly accolade for Northwestern this season.