Sandman Player of the Month: Farmer concludes career with fabulous February
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – After averaging 18.75 points per game in the final four contests of her Canada West career, women's basketball player Mackenzie Farmer has been named the Sandman Player of the Month for February.
She wins a free night's stay at the Sandman Signature Edmonton Downtown hotel.
Farmer produced 75 points, 25 rebounds, 12 assists, three steals and two blocks in four February games and finished the season with 312 points (fourth best since the program joined Canada West in 2014), 62 assists (also fourth) and 129 rebounds (eighth).
The fifth-year forward's February performance raised her 2022-23 points per game scoring average to the best single season mark of her career (15.6), which is fourth in the program's CW history. And she also finished the 2022-23 season with a new record for free throws (101/115).
Farmer shone on the Griffins' first road trip of February as they traveled to Lethbridge Feb. 3-4 with just eight healthy players. She scored 30 points in the first contest – a 92-84 loss – adding five rebounds and four assist, while breaking her own program record for free throws (14 of 16).
The Sherwood Park product then followed that up with 25 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals in Saturday's 81-67 loss.
Mackenzie Farmer makes a point during action against Lethbridge Feb. 3. She scored a career-high 30 points against the Pronghorns (Lethbridge Sports photo).
"Her weekend against Lethbridge was one of the best in her career – the most consistent she's been," said Griffins head coach Katherine Adams. "She scored a career high 30 points and (to finish with) 55 points across the weekend is huge. Obviously, that number stands out.
"It doesn't show what she does at the other end of the floor. We asked her defend one of their best players and had her doing a lot of different things on the defensive end. With our circumstance, being short numbers, we asked a lot of her and she delivered.
"That was really great to see at the end of her career, and truthfully what you'd expect from a veteran player."
Farmer finished off her career with 20 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, two blocks and a steal in a pair of home losses to the nationally-ranked Regina Cougars on Feb. 10-11 in which the short-handed Griffins had just SEVEN healthy players.
"Leadership is a huge one," said Adams of what Farmer exhibited down the stretch of the season. "Just being that steady, consistent and reliable presence and voice, we needed someone to step up and carry us – to put the team on their shoulder and say, 'follow me.' When you look at her and Shannon (Majeau) being our veterans in that group leading a group of first and second years, it's really tremendous what she did from a leadership perspective and then backing that up with her individual athletic performance, as well, was really impressive."
Farmer's final basket left her with 1,146 career points – the most by any MacEwan player in Canada West play and the third-most in the program's all-time history dating back to its genesis in the 1970s behind only Megan Wood (1,504 from 2012-16) and Michelle Mackinnon (1,267 from 1996-00).
In addition, Farmer set new program career records for most minutes played (2,743) and free throws (317/399).
