Sophomore guard Lexi Held was named Big East Player of the Week for the first time in her young DePaul career on Monday. 

Held helped lead the Blue Demons to two wins this past weekend while averaging 20 points, six rebounds and three assists in wins against Villanova and Georgetown. Held also shot 50 percent from the field and 44 percent from the three-point line.

Held began the weekend on Friday with 21 points and a career-high eight rebounds in the 85-69 win against visiting Villanova, who was in second place in the conference coming in. She combined for 51 points with fellow sophomore guard Sonya Morris, who had a career-high 30 points in the win. 

On Sunday, Held followed up her performance with 19 points, four rebounds and three assists in just 20 minutes of action. The 5’10” guard has averaged 17.4 points per game in Big East play this season as the no. 11 DePaul Blue Demons have gotten off to a 9-0 start in the conference and a 17-2 record overall. 

It isn’t the first time that Held has received Big East accolades. Last season, as a freshman, Held was named Big East Freshman of the Week four times and was voted onto the All-Freshman team by the conference’s coaches. 

Creighton’s Carly Bachelor was named Big East Freshman of the Week after scoring 17 points and ten rebounds against Xavier on Friday and 14 points and 12 rebounds on Sunday’s loss to Butler in her first career start.

Held and DePaul’s wins over the weekend set them up for another two-game homestand with Creighton coming to Wintrust Arena on Friday at 7 p.m. before hosting Providence on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Wintrust.