Youngstown State fifth-year senior Emily Saunders has been named the Under Armour Horizon League Women's Basketball Player of the Week for the opening week of the 2023-24 season. The conference office announced the award on Monday.

Saunders a 6-foot-5 forward from Mullens, W. Va., was the only player in the Horizon League to average a double-double last week, posting 21 points and 11.5 rebounds per game in the first two starts of her collegiate career. She also topped the circuit by shooting 76% (19-for-25) from the field, and she ranked third in the league with 1.5 blocks per contest.

Saunders began the week with 20 points, 14 rebounds, two steals, and two blocks against Xavier as the Penguins beat the Musketeers for their first win against a current member of the Big East since 2006. She led all players in the points and reboudns columns, and the 14 rebounds were the most of her career. Saunders then went 9-for-10 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in a career-high 22-point, nine-rebound performance against Division II Slippery Rock to finish the week.

Saunders is in her second season at Youngstown State as a transfer from Tennessee. She averaged 4.3 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game in 2022-23 as a reserve post behind all-league selection Lilly Ritz, who was a three-time Horizon League Player of the Week.

Youngstown State beat Xavier 55-41 and Slippery Rock 78-32 last week, and it will look to stay unbeaten as it continues its three-game homestand to begin the season against Western Michigan on Thursday at 5 p.m. YSU Will play its first road contest at West Virginia on Sunday at 4 p.m.