FOREST, Va. – Anna Giannopoulou (Athens, Greece) was brilliant, recording a pair of 20-point double-doubles for the Guilford College women's basketball team and in the end, she claimed her third Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Defensive Player of the Week honor of the campaign for the week ending on January 26^th, as announced by the conference offices on Monday afternoon.

The senior forward just keeps on dominating this winter, and this week was no different, averaging 25.5 points on .567 (21-37) from the field and .750 (9-12) from the free throw line, adding 12.5 points, including 3.5 offensive, 2.0 assists, seven total blocks, and four total steals in a 1-1 week. Averett had no answers for Giannopoulou on Wednesday as she exploded for a career-high 28 points in a double-double effort. She shot a terrific .625 (10-16) from the field and .727 (8-11) from the line in the game while snaring 12 rebounds, three of them on the offensive side. The Quaker defense locked down on the Cougars too, holding the hosts to just .274 shooting from the field and 3-of-12 from three, forcing 20 turnovers with 11 steals. Giannopoulou was in the thick of that effort too, blocking a career-high five shots while grabbing a trip of steals in the 76-57 decision. Her encore was tremendous as well on Friday night against the No. 6 nationally ranked Generals of Washington & Lee University. Giannopoulou accounted for 23 points on .524 (11-21) shooting in another double-double showing, adding 13 rebounds, four offensive. The Quakers forced 22 turnovers in the game, the second-most the Generals have committed in a game this season, while only shooing .415 on the night. The Greek forward added two blocks and a steal in that effort while also dishing a tandem of assists in GC's upset bid.

On the season, Giannopoulou has been resurgent, averaging 15.4 points and 8.8 rebounds, both top-150 marks in the nation. Of those boards, 6.9 have been of the defensive variety, 68^th-most in Division-III. She also been among the nation's premier shot-blockers, accumulating a conference-high 41 total swats at an average of 2.41 per game, ranking 16^th and 15^th respectively in the country.

Giannopoulou now stands alone as the only Quaker to have received ODAC weekly recognition three times in a single season, surpassing the group of Lindsey Gauldin '23 in 2022-23, Miracle Walters '20 in 2018-19, and Anais Weatherly '17 in the 2015-16 campaign, as two-time weekly honorees in a single year. For her career, Giannopoulou now has a quartet of ODAC weekly commendations, bringing her alongside Weatherly for the most by a Quaker in a career. Alongside Giannopoulou's trio of awards, Briahna Scott (Graham, N.C.) received Defensive Player of the Week recognition this season, as GC has reset their program-record for most awards received as a team in a single season.

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