Feb. 1, 2011
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- Wildcat senior Michael Thompson (Chicago, Ill./Lincoln Park) of the men's basketball team and freshman Belinda Niu (Portland, Ore./Lincoln) of the women's tennis team have been named NU's Hilton Garden Inn Athletes of the Week for their performances last week.
Thompson was Northwestern's leading scorer in two Big Ten contests against ranked foes last week, beginning with an 18-point, seven-assist performance at No. 16 Minnesota on Wednesday. On Saturday, NU hosted No. 1 Ohio State where Thompson spearheaded a late comeback, coming alive in the final 10 minutes and finishing with a team-high 16 points and eight helpers.
Niu helped Northwestern to two sweep victories in the qualifying rounds of the ITA National Indoor Team Championship. Niu moved up to No. 3 singles for the first time and, on Saturday, was the first NU player off the courts in singles with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Kristin Norton. She followed that up with a hard-fought three set victory over Nebraska's Patricia Veresova on Sunday. In doubles, Niu and Maria Mosolova were the first NU players to finish both days, posting wins of 8-5 and 8-3 at No. 3 to help two-time defending Indoor Team champion NU return to the round of 16.
This week's Community Service Athlete of the Week is freshman Nick Friar (Westport, Mass./Westport) of the baseball team. Friar has made several recent trips to Edison Elementary School to engage the students in baseball skills sessions and encourage healthy lifestyles and success in school.
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