HICKORY, N.C. — Catawba Valley Community College women's basketball player Danasja Horne has been named the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II Player of the Week for games played the week of Dec. 11-17.
The NJCAA officially announced Horne's honor on Wednesday.
The 5-9 guard/forward from Winston-Salem, N.C. becomes the third Red Hawk women's basketball player to win a weekly NJCAA honor in program history.
"This means everything," Horne said of her national weekly honor. " This means that the work I am putting in is finally paying off. It doesn't mean I need to stop working of course. I am going to continue to work to be the best I can be."
Horne averaged 32 points, 8.3 rebounds, 4.3 steals and 2.6 blocks in three games last week for the Red Hawks, helping them win two Region 10 games on the road against Brunswick and Guilford Tech.
That performance in three games even caught Horne off guard.
"When I got to college, I didn't expect to go off in games like that," she said. "I never did that in middle school through high school. When I went into those games, I thought 'compete' and 'be smart.' In order to play the game of basketball, you need to have that mindset. Without my teammates, this wouldn't even be possible. Without them looking for me on the court or without them rebounding or passing it out, it wouldn't have happened."
Catawba Valley women's basketball head coach Tisha England said the weekly performance is an embodiment of the type of player Horne is.
"Dee wants to win," England said. "She will play it out at all costs. If she gets hurt, she gets right back up. She is just a baller."
During Sunday's 69-66 win for Catawba Valley against Brunswick, Horne scored a career-high 38 points — falling one basket short of tying the all-time program record for points in a game set by Anika Jones (40).
"Dee is a very special athlete," England said. "I'm just trying to keep her focused. There is so much more in her. When we recruited and saw her, we expected that she was going to come in and be an impactful player. She's done that. I'm excited for her. There's still more greatness, though. As a coach, you can see it. I just want her to manifest it."
Horne joins Alliyah Chaplin ('19-20) and Kelis Carmon ('21) as members of the Catawba Valley Community College women's basketball program who have been honored by the NJCAA with a national weekly award.
Despite earning this national recognition, Horne remains motivated for the rest of the season to continue to be the best she can be for her teammates and program she represents.
"At the end of the day, I can go up or down, but my main goal is to go up," she said. "I hope to earn more awards throughout the whole year. Right now, this is my first accolade so I'm happy about it, but we just need to keep going forward."
The Catawba Valley Community College women's basketball team returns to the court on Friday, Jan. 3 for a home doubleheader also featuring the Red Hawk men's basketball team.
The Red Hawk women's basketball team takes on Fayetteville Tech at 3 p.m. followed by the Red Hawk men's basketball game against Bryant & Stratton (Va.) at 6 p.m.