For the fifth time this season, Kutztown senior center Olivia Smelas has been voted the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference’s Eastern Division Defensive Athlete of the Week.

In two games last week — both wins for Kutztown — Smelas, a Jim Thorpe graduate, was once again a leader defensively as she helped KU allow the lowest point totals back-to-back in eight games.

In a 55-47 victory over Shippensburg on Feb. 11, Smelas recorded four points, seven rebounds and four steals. In a 48-45 win at Bloomsburg on Saturday, Smelas finished with a game-high 15 rebounds — eight of them defensively — and added three steals and three assists.

Smelas ranks fourth in the PSAC in rebounding at 9.5 rebounds per game, ranks at the top of the Eastern Division in steals with 63 (2.6 steals per game) and ninth in blocks with 27.

The Golden Bears (15-9; 11-6) clinched a spot in the PSAC Tournament with their victory at Bloomsburg. They currently sit as the two seed in the East with four games to play.