We are nearly a month into the MVC women's basketball non-conference schedule and the league continues to churn out standout individual performances. Valpo's Meredith Hamlet averaged 22.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game as the Crusaders went 2-1 during the week, earning her first career MVC Player of the Week honor. Loyola freshman Janae Gonzales averaged 17.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, while shooting 68.8% from the field in two Rambler wins last week, collecting her second Newcomer of the Week honor.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Meredith Hamlet, Sr., G, Valparaiso
Hamlet started her week with a season-high 26-points on Monday against Toledo before upping that season watermark to 28 on Thursday at Chicago State. A week that started with a pregame ceremony honoring Hamlet’s 1,000 career point finished with the Valpo senior averaging 22.7 points per game over three games. In addition to coming within one point of a career high, she tied a career watermark with four steals and dished out a season-high five assists on Thursday at Chicago State. She also knocked down five three-point field goals in the win over the Cougars before hitting four threes in a 14-point effort to help Valpo past Eastern Illinois. Hamlet’s efforts against Chicago State and Eastern Illinois helped Valpo capture back-to-back victories for the first time this season.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK:
Janae Gonzales, Fr., G, Loyola
Loyola freshman guard Janae Gonzales averaged a team-best 17.5 points in the Ramblers’ two home wins last week. Gonzales flirted with a double-double in a 76-40 win over Chicago State last Monday, scoring 13 points and grabbing seven rebounds, before pouring in a game-high 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting in an 81-67 comeback win over Purdue Fort Wayne three days later. The Tolleson, Ariz. product connected on nine of her 13 attempts from beyond the three-point arc between the two contests, operating at a red-hot 69% clip from distance. Gonzales, who has started in all six games this season, averages 12.5 points, a mark that ranks second on the Rambler roster.
Noteworthy - In addition to the league's player and newcomer of the week selections, several conference players had notable performances, and they include:
Chelsea Brackmann (BRAD) - Brackmann averaged 13.0 points on 50 percent shooting to go with 13.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals in a pair of victories. She finished one point and one rebound short of a double-double in Wednesday’s victory against Eastern Illinois, collecting nine points, nine rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals. Brackmann followed it up with her best outing of the season as she scored 17 points and pulled down 17 rebounds for the most boards in the MVC this season in Saturday’s home win over Oakland for her second double-double of the year. She also had two assists, one block and one steal against the Golden Grizzlies. Brackmann scored 15 points and collected nine rebounds in the second half, keying a 13-2 third-quarter run with eight points, five rebounds, one assist and one steal in a three-minute span. She has helped Bradley to just the second 6-0 start to a season in program history and the team’s longest win streak since 2009-10.
Becca Hittner (DU) - Junior Becca Hittner reached a career milestone in Drake’s 85-69 win over Creighton this past week. Hittner, who scored a game-high 23 points, is the 32nd player in program history to surpass 1,000 career points and accomplished the feat on her first three-pointer of the game. She equaled her season-high behind a great shooting day, going 5-of-9 from the floor, 3-of-3 from behind the 3-point line and 10-of-12 from the free throw line. Hittner added four rebounds, three assists and two steals in 28 minutes in the victory over the Bluejays. She has scored 12 or more points in six out of the team’s eight games this season and averages 15.9 points per game.
Kerri Gasper (UE) - As one of three seniors on the roster for the Purple Aces, senior guard Kerri Gasper has started her final collegiate season off strong. In a pair of road games, Gasper averaged 19 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1.5 steals. Against Marshall, Gasper recorded her second double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 boards as the Aces fell to the Herd in overtime. On Sunday afternoon, Gasper extended her double-figure scoring streak to three games, pouring in a team-high 21 points while grabbing seven boards and tallying three steals.
TeTe Maggett (ILS) - The junior guard led all scorers in Thursday’s win and added her second-straight game with 20 or more points. Additionally, she dished out a team-high of three assists and grabbed five boards for the ‘Birds. Maggett went 2-for-5 from behind the arc, both of which came in the fourth quarter. Illinois State led by only two possessions, prior to Maggett sinking a 3-pointer with 2:10 left to play in the game.
Ashli O’Neal (INS) - Junior Ashli O’Neal shot 62.5% (5-for-8) from the floor and was one of three players with four steals as Indiana State won at Southeast Missouri, 62-51. O’Neal was 100% from long range (3-for-3) and scored a team-high 15 points in the win, reaching double digits in every game this season to date. The 5-foot-5 guard also grabbed four rebounds, dished out three assists and her four steals helped force 35 SEMO turnovers. She played 30 minutes and hit 2 of 3 free throw attempts.
Ellie Rice (LUC) - Loyola sophomore guard Ellie Rice continued the fast start to her second campaign in Rogers Park last week, averaging 15.0 points in a pair of home victories. Following an 11-point showing in Monday’s 76-40 rout of Chicago State, Rice erupted for 19 points, all of which came in the second half, as the Maroon & Gold came from behind to defeat Purdue Fort Wayne, 81-67. The Austin, Texas native, who also dished out a career-high tying five assists in the win over the Mastodons, currently leads the Rambler roster in scoring, averaging 14.0 points.
Brice Calip (MSU) - Brice Calip scored a career-high 18 points Saturday at North Texas, adding three rebounds and two steals in 29 minutes. Calip scored 10 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to help MSU rally from a five-point deficit entering the final 10 minutes, shooting 5-for-13 overall and 7-for-9 from the foul line.
Karli Rucker (UNI) - Karli Rucker led the Panthers in points, rebounds and assists and recorded her first career block to help UNI earn a 53-40 true road win over a tough IUPUI team Friday in Indianapolis. Entering the game, IUPUI’s only loss was an overtime setback to Wisconsin. Rucker leads UNI at 16.1 points per game.
Nicole Martin (SIU) - Nicole Martin poured in a team-high 21 points and shot 50% (8-of-16) from the floor in SIU’s lone game last week. The Jefferson City, Mo. native also snagged five rebounds and added a steal in 30 minutes of play. It marked the fifth time in her career that the 2018 All-MVC First Team selection has scored 20 or more points.
Lasha Petree (BRAD) - Petree scored in double figures in a pair of home wins, averaging a team-best 19.5 points per game and collected 2.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per outing. She came off the bench against Eastern Illinois to score 10 points and had three rebounds and one block in the victory against the Panthers. In her first career start, Petree scored 17 points in the first half of Saturday’s win over Oakland and finished with a season-best 29 points. She hit 5-of-8 three-pointers and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line in addition to coming away with a season-best four steals. Petree’s 29 points were the most by a Bradley freshman since Heather Best scored 31 points against Indiana State on Feb. 29, 1996. She scored nine points during the third quarter to help the Braves pull away down the stretch. Petree has helped Bradley to just the second 6-0 start to a season in program history and the team’s longest win streak since 2009-10.
Tamara Lee (INS) - Tamara Lee scored 12 points and was one of three Sycamores with four steals in Indiana State’s 62-51 win at Southeast Missouri last week. A redshirt senior, Lee shot 57.1 percent (4-for-7) from the floor and was 3 of 4 from the free throw line.
Jasmine Franklin (MSU) - Jasmine Franklin tallied 16 points, six rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots Saturday at North Texas. The rookie went 5-for-9 from the floor, shooting above 50 percent for the fourth time in five games this season, and recorded multiple stuffs for the third consecutive game, the first Lady Bear to do that since Tia Mays in 2011.