WHITNEY SMITH NAMED E8 ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (Feb. 5, 2007) -- Whitney Smith, a freshman forward on the Nazareth College women's basketball team, has been named Empire 8 Conference Rookie of the Week for the seven-day period that ended Feb. 4, 2007. It marks the fourth time this season that Smith has been honored as the Empire 8's top rookie.

A native of Webster, N.Y. and a graduate Webster Thomas High School, Smith scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as Nazareth split a pair of conference games over the weekend. She scored 12 points to go with six rebounds in last Friday's loss at St. John Fisher. She added 13 points and five rebounds in a victory at Alfred Saturday.

Smith leads the Golden Flyers in scoring for 2006-07 at 12.2 points per game. She also ranks second in rebounding at 5.5 per game.

Nazareth, 7-13 overall, resumes its season Tuesday at RIT for another Empire 8 Conference game at 6 p.m.