Athlete of the Week: Danielle Racette
It takes a special kind of performance to break a seven-year losing streak against a team. Senior Danielle Racette had just that kind of game against North Division rival Lee on Tuesday. The Drury point guard played her best game of the year, helping head coach John Franzoni earn his first ever road win against the Wildcats and giving the Blue Devils their first victory over Lee since 2005.
Racette scored a game-high 18 points, grabbed six rebounds, dished out eight assists and came up with four steals in Drury's 43-37 road win over Lee. She was also dialed in from downtown, knocking down four 3-pointers on the night, the last of which gave her team a double-digit lead with about three minutes left to play.
Before that game, Racette scored five points and dished out a team-high six assists in a 50-34 win over Monument Mountain on Saturday.
"In three consecutive tournament-level wins over Monument, Lee and Lenox, Danielle has been tremendous on both ends of the court," Blue Devils head coach John Franzoni said. "Danielle makes it difficult for teams to be effective pressing us because she is so strong with the basketball. In addition, she knows how to close out games with her clutch free-throw shooting."
Racette sank 4 of 5 foul shots in the fourth quarter alone to help seal the victory over Lee. She was even better in Drury's 50-41 home win over Lenox on Monday, sinking 9 of 11free-throw attempts in the final two minutes of the game. In the past two games combined, the Devils senior has made 17 of 20 shots from the foul line in late-game situations.
"Her foul shooting has helped us earn a pair of hard-fought victories in our last two games," Franzoni said. "She is just a tremendous leader, both on and off the court, and has worked hard each year to improve her skills and become an excellent player. Danielle is playing her best basketball of the season as we take on the most challenging part of our schedule."
Racette netted 14 points with seven steals and four assists against the Millionaires on Monday. On the season, she is second on her team in scoring with 10.9 points per game. Racette also leads her team with 12 3-pointers on the year and is one of the top assists leaders in the county with a 5.1 per game average.