Eastern freshman guard Megan Sparks was named Ohio Valley Conference ‘Freshman of the Week’ Tuesday for the second time this season.

Sparks had previously received the honor for her performance during the week of Dec. 17.

Sparks’s strong rookie year has been one of the few bright spots for the Panthers who are without preseason First Team OVC selection Pam O’Connor, and suffered a nine game losing streak.

“You don’t really know when you have a freshman coming how they are going to adjust to a different level of competition coming out of high school,” Eastern head coach Linda Wunder said. “Megan is one of those players that has adjusted quickly to the collegiate game.”

This past week, Sparks helped the Panthers (3-12, 2-3) break a nine game losing streak in an 81-70 win against Tennessee-Martin last Saturday. Sparks scored 12 points against the Skyhawks and made 50 percent of her field goals in the game, including 2-of-4 from three-point range. Sparks was the only Eastern player to make a three-pointer in the game.

Sparks helped the Panthers win back-to-back games for the first time since last spring, when the Panthers defeated Murray State and Tennessee-Martin in consecutive games.

Sparks tied for a team-high 14 points with junior guard Lauren Dailey in a low-scoring affair against Murray State Monday. The Panthers held on to win the game 52-47 thanks to a pair of crucial free throws by Sparks in the closing seconds of the game.

In the last two games, Sparks averaged 35 minutes a game and made over 42 percent of her field goals. She also made 7-of-8 from the free throw line.

Sparks’s stats have improved as the season has progressed. In Eastern’s five conference games, Sparks is averaging 12.6 points per game, 5.8 rebounds per game and 2.2 assists compared to her regular season stats of 9.5 points per game,

four rebounds per game and 2.1 assists per game.

Wunder attributes some of the team success to Sparks moving into the starting lineup. So far this season, the freshman has made eight starts.

“Megan moving into the starting lineup has helped our team a little bit,” Wunder said. “She’s getting more confident and is helping us win some ball games.”

Sparks is also fourth on the team in minutes played this year, averaging 26.3 minutes a game.

The Panthers are thankful for Sparks’s ability to contribute her freshman year, while replacing one of their leading scorers from last season who graduated. Guard Michelle Lewis averaged 6.9 points per game while setting a school record for three-point shots made in a season (58).

“She’s stepped in and been a fairly consistent scorer for us which is something we needed in that other guard position,” Wunder said. “Michelle was a bit more of three-point specialist. Megan’s a little bit more versatile and can score in other ways.”

Sparks says she is getting better as the season progresses.

“With each practice and each game I think I’m getting more comfortable both shooting-wise and getting into the flow of the game,” Sparks said.

Sparks also said the team is improving as the season moves on.

“We are starting to play better and I think the team is starting to get more confident,” she said. “We are expecting to win games, not a 20-point loss or something worse.”