NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Notre Dame senior forward Melissa Henderson (Garland, Texas/Berkner) has been selected as the BIG EAST Conference Offensive Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday. In addition, Henderson was named to the 11-player Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week, according to a release by that media outlet on Monday.

Henderson is Notre Dame’s first BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week honoree this season (and earns the third citation of her career) after tallying 10 points (4G-2A) last weekend in victories over Tulsa (7-1) and Indiana (4-1) to claim the championship at the Notre Dame adidas Invitational. The All-American and Hermann Trophy candidate collected Offensive Most Valuable Player honors at the tournament after notching a goal and two assists against Tulsa, followed by her fourth career hat trick (first since 2009) against Indiana.

In addition, Henderson tied the tournament record for goals by an individual in a single match and for the two-day event. Her hat trick against IU was the fifth in the 19-year history of the Notre Dame adidas Invitational, while her four-goal weekend tied former Fighting Irish high-scoring striker Jenny Heft, who netted four goals in 1998.

Henderson is the first Notre Dame player this season to earn a place on the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week. It’s also the seventh time in the Texan’s college career that she has been recognized with a weekly honor by Top Drawer Soccer, having garnered at least one TDS National Team of the Week accolade during each of her four seasons.

Henderson leads the Fighting Irish with five goals and 13 points this year, and she is second on the squad with three assists. With last weekend’s performance, Henderson moved up to ninth place in school history with 57 career goals, and tied for 12th in the Fighting Irish record books with 135 career points (57G-21A), while becoming just the sixth player in program annals to register at least four career hat tricks.

No. 10/7 Notre Dame kicks off a two-match West Coast road trip at 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT Friday when the Fighting Irish visit No. 2 Stanford in a rematch of last year’s NCAA national championship match (won by Notre Dame, 1-0, in Cary, N.C.). The Fighting Irish then will visit No. 16/15 Santa Clara on Sunday for a 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT match with the Broncos.

For more information on the Notre Dame women’s soccer program, join the Fighting Irish women’s soccer news Twitter page (@NDsoccernews) or sign up for the Irish ALERT text-messaging system through the sidebar on the women’s soccer page at UND.com.

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