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.
DePaul badly needed a bounce back, and Megan Podkowa provided it on Saturday.
Podkowa, the Blue Demons' senior forward, had a career day with impeccable timing. In DePaul's 77-64 victory over previously unbeaten Northwestern, Podkowa scored a career-high 27 points, pulled down 14 rebounds and added four assists and four blocks.
Podkowa's big effort -- which earns her espnW national player of the week honors for the first time in her career -- helped the Blue Demons rebound from their 88-79 loss against South Dakota State earlier in the week.
It has been a heady opening stretch for Doug Bruno's team. DePaul has faced five ranked opponents already this season in building an 8-4 record. The win over 12th-ranked Northwestern, which started the day as one of 14 unbeaten teams remaining in the country, was DePaul's second Top 25 road win of the season and the second in eight days. The last time the Blue Demons had a pair of Top 25 victories in the same season was 2010-11.
Podkowa is leading the way. The Glenville, Illinois, native has been picking up her game of late, scoring at least 20 points in three straight contests. On the road against Texas A&M last week, she scored 20 points and pulled down a career-high 18 rebounds in a 80-66 win. She was named the Big East player of the week for the first time in her career.
She paces DePaul at 15.6 points and 8.6 rebounds a game.
Saturday's effort against Northwestern marked Podkowa's third straight double-double of the season (she leads the Big East with five double-doubles overall), and it helped the Blue Demons lead nearly from start to finish.
Podkowa set the tone on the glass, as DePaul finished the game with 51 rebounds. And she led the offensive charge from the perimeter, hitting 6 of her 7 attempts from 3-point range.
Also nominated: Nina Davis, Baylor; Erica McCall, Stanford
Previous winners: Kelsey Mitchell (Nov. 29) | Courtney Walker (Nov. 22) | Vanessa Panousis (Dec. 6) | Makayla Epps (Dec. 13)