Editor's note: Charlie Creme, Graham Hays, Michelle Smith and Mechelle Voepel each vote to determine espnW's national player of the week, which is awarded every week of the women's college basketball season.
Just a couple of days before Kentucky faced Louisville in perhaps the biggest game of its nonconference schedule, the Wildcats had a pretty rough practice. And when it was over, junior guard Makayla Epps was summoned to a meeting with coach Matthew Mitchell.
Mitchell reportedly told Epps that it was time to step up and lead.
"You really have to exert yourself as a leader on this team," Mitchell said, according to the UK Wildcat News.
And so it was.
Epps -- her father, Anthony, had a 3-1 career record against the rival Cardinals when he played at Kentucky -- did plenty of exerting. The Lebanon, Kentucky, native scored 24 points and led the Wildcats to a dominant 72-54 win on Thursday night.
In a tough road matchup against Middle Tennessee on Sunday, she added a team-high 17 points to lead Kentucky to a 68-52 win.
For those stellar efforts, Epps was named espnW's player of the week.
Epps admitted after the Louisville win that she had heeded her coach's words. And had herself a great time in the process.
"Even if I wasn't scoring out there," Epps said, "I was having the time of my life regardless."
Epps shot 10 of 11 from the floor against the Cardinals, the third-best shooting performance in school history. Against Middle Tennessee, she also collected four assists and three steals, setting the tone for a Kentucky defense that converted 26 turnovers into 21 points.
Middle Tennessee coach Rick Insell told the Lexington Herald-Leader after the game that Epps was the catalyst.
"Epps has got more basketball IQ than all of the rest of them put together," Insell said. "Every time we made a little bit of a run, she was able to disrupt things."
Epps is leading Kentucky in scoring at 17.3 points per game to go with 5.5 rebounds. She also leads them in minutes played. Epps' success is the Wildcats' success at this point.
Kentucky is now 9-0 to start the season for the fifth time in school history, two wins shy of matching the 11-0 start from the 2013-14 season.
"[Epps] had an exceptional game Thursday night and a lot of juice and a lot of fight in her," Mitchell said to the Herald-Leader after Sunday's game. "I was proud she was able to bounce back today and play a real effective game. She made some really nice plays and some good defensive plays."
Also nominated: Kristine Anigwe, Cal; Madison Cable, Notre Dame; Alaina Coates, South Carolina; Danaejah Grant, St. John's; Niya Johnson, Baylor; Megan Podkowa, DePaul; Victoria Vivians, Mississippi State
Previous winners: Kelsey Mitchell (Nov. 29) | Courtney Walker (Nov. 22) | Vanessa Panousis (Dec. 6)