UC Riverside's Kemie Nkele bookends the 2005-06 season with Big West Women's Basketball Player of the Week honors after a career-best performance last week. Her honor, for the week ending March 5, is her third award of the season. Besides winning the first and last votes of the season, she added one more early in the year.

The sophomore center tied, then broke, her career-high for scoring back-to-back games to help UCR close out the season on a six-game winning streak. On Tuesday, she scored 18 of her 29 points in the second half as the Highlanders ended South Dakota State's eight-game winning streak. The San Diego, Calif., native also added a career-high six assists.

Nkele followed that stellar performance with a career-high 30 points, including 21 second half points and the Highlanders final 12 points, as they avenged an earlier loss to UC Davis. Nkele became the first Highlander to reach the 30-point plateau since Crystal Harris (31) on March 6, 2004 vs. Pacific. UC Riverside ended the regular season on a six-game winning streak, the longest in program history since 2001-02.