Illinois State's Simone Goods averaged 20.5 points and 9.0 rebounds, while shooting 60.9% from the field, earning the second MVC Player of the Week honor of her career. Illinois State's TeTe Maggett averaged 16.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game in a pair of Redbird wins, collecting her first Newcomer of the Week honor this season.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Simone Goods, Sr., F, Illinois State
The senior forward led the Redbirds to two-straight wins, tallying 41 points and 18 rebounds in this week’s contests. Goods tied her career high with 14 boards in the 61-49 victory over Austin Peay and captured her seventh career double-double with 22 points. She went 10-for-11 from the charity stripe Tuesday night and shot 50 percent from the field. She led all scorers in a 58-53 win over Northern Kentucky Friday night, scoring 19 points in 18 minutes of playing time.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK:
TeTe Maggett, Jr., G, Illinois State
The junior guard added double figures in both contests this week, guiding the Redbirds to two-straight wins. The Chicago native scored 17 points with seven rebounds in the win over Austin Peay and added 16 points in a win at Northern Kentucky. Maggett has scored in double digits in all but two games this season and averages 13.5 points per game. Additionally, she dished out seven assists and added 10 boards between the two games and shot 81 percent from the free-throw line.
Noteworthy - In addition to the league's player and newcomer of the week selections, several conference players had notable performances, and they include:
Nyjah White (BRAD) - White nearly turned in the first triple-double at Bradley since 1996, finishing with career highs of 23 points and eight assists to go with nine rebounds, two blocks and a pair of steals in a victory over Western Illinois last week. White was 10-for-15 from the field to help Bradley extend its conference-best start to 7-0 on the year. After collecting six points, two boards, four assists and one block in nine first-half minutes, White dominated the second half with 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting and had seven boards, four assists, a block and two steals in the second half.
Sara Rhine (DU) - Sara Rhine averaged 22.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals while shooting a blistering 86.3 from the floor in Drake’s two games last week. Rhine, who averaged 23.5 minutes last week, began the week going a perfect 10-of-10 from the field with one three-pointer in addition to four rebounds and three steals in 22 minutes in the team’s big win over Clarke. She then followed that with 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting and she pulled down nine rebounds in a hard-fought contest at South Dakota State. This season, Rhine is scoring a league-best 18.6 points per game while shooting a league-high 57.8 percent from the floor. She is also fourth in rebounding average at 8.2 per game, has four doubles and has pulled down a league-leading 82 rebounds.
Kerri Gasper (UE) - In a pair of home games last week, senior Kerri Gasper continued to produce for the Purple Aces. Opening the week against UIC, Gasper poured-in a season-high 22 points, adding five rebounds, one assist, and a steal in a narrow 62-54 loss to the Flames. The senior extended her streak of double-figure scoring performances on Saturday against SEMO, scoring 12 points and recording 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. In both games, Gasper played all 40 minutes. Through eight games, Gasper leads Evansville in scoring average (13.6), rebounds per game (7.4), and minutes per game (34.4).
Ashli O’Neal (INS) - Junior Ashli O’Neal averaged 14.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals over a three-game week last week. A 5-foot-5 point guard, O’Neal shot 37% from the floor and was 5 of 6 from the charity stripe while dishing out 10 assists.
Abby O’Connor (LUC) - Loyola sophomore forward Abby O’Connor averaged 12.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in the Ramblers’ three games last week. O’Connor opened the week with a 14-point, six-rebound effort in an impressive 64-53 road victory over Western Michigan last Monday. The South Bend, Ind. native again chipped in 14 points to go along with two blocks just three days later as part of a 56-43 win against SIUE in Rogers Park. She wrapped up the week by finishing just shy of a double-double at Purdue, adding eight points and nine rebounds. O’Connor, who has started in 39 straight games to open her collegiate career, ranks second on the Rambler roster in scoring (12.2 ppg) and leads the team in both rebounding (7.3 rpg) and blocked shots (1.3 bpg).
Danielle Gitzen (MSU) - Danielle Gitzen averaged 16.5 points on 52 percent shooting, 2.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game last week against a pair of teams ranked in the top 20 of the NCAA RPI. The senior tallied 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting Tuesday against South Dakota, adding five assists, two boards and two steals. Sunday at unbeaten Indiana, Gitzen scored 16 points to go with three boards and two assists.
Mikaela Morgan (UNI) - Morgan scored a season-high 17 points, just one point shy of her career-high. She went 3-7 from the field, including 2-4 from the three-point line. She was also a perfect 9-9 from the foul line to lead UNI to a 64-60 win over North Dakota Tuesday at home in Cedar Falls.
Makenzie Silvey (SIU) - Makenzie Silvey took home Compass Challenge Tournament MVP honors after she averaged 19.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game in SIU’s two wins. The Glen Carbon, Ill. native chipped in 23 points, six rebounds and three assists in SIU’s 82-73 win over Northern Illinois, which marked the second time this season she has scored 20-plus points. The 2018 MVC All-Freshman Team selection followed with 15 points and tied a career-best with seven rebounds in Southern’s 73-59 win over Eastern Illinois Saturday.
Lasha Petree (BRAD) - Petree continued her strong play with 19 points and matched a season-high with five rebounds in a home win against Western Illinois last week. She also added one assist and two steals as she helped the Braves to their seventh consecutive win to open the season. Petree scored 13 of her 19 points in the second half, including eight in the first quarter, to help Bradley open a 41-29 halftime lead in the win. The 19-point effort was her fourth outing this season with 19 or more points and her 16.7 points per game, which ranks sixth among freshmen nationally, is the highest scoring average for a Bradley freshman through seven games since Judy Burns in 1981-82.
Monica Burich (DU) - Monica Burich scored 10 points, grabbed two rebounds, handed out two assists and blocked one shot in 18 minutes in the victory over Clarke. Her 10 points is a high for Burich, a transfer from Colorado, as a Bulldog. Burich, who is one of Drake’s top bench players, followed that performance with five points and three rebounds in 17 minutes against South Dakota State.
Makayla Wallace (UE) - Just eight games into her collegiate career, freshman Makayla Wallace continued to fill the stat sheet. Against UIC on Wednesday, Wallace scored nine points, while adding seven rebounds and four assists, with all nine points coming from the free-throw line. On Saturday, Wallace added to her totals with one rebound, three assists, and three steals in a close 54-50 loss to SEMO. On the season, Wallace leads the Aces in assists per game (3.0) and steals per game (2.1), while leading Evansville’s freshmen in scoring (6.6 points per game).
Tamara Lee (INS) - Tamara Lee averaged 12.0 points per game last week and scored a career-high 23 points in ISU’s win over UIC Saturday. Lee shot 38.5 percent from the field last week, 41 percent from long range, and was 9-for-10 from the free throw stripe. Lee grabbed four steals – more than one per game – while averaging nearly 29 minutes per game.
Jasmine Franklin (MSU) - Jasmine Franklin averaged 11 points and six rebounds in two games against top-20 RPI teams, adding four assists, three blocks and two steals. Tuesday, Franklin had 14 points and eight boards versus South Dakota, shooting 5-for-10 and adding two blocks and two steals. Sunday at unbeaten Indiana, Franklin finished with eight points, four rebounds, three assists and a block.