MOLINE, Ill. – Drake's Becca Hittner has been named the 2018 Jackie Stiles MVC Player of the Year, becoming the ninth Bulldog to win the league's top award. Hittner has started all 30 games, leads the MVC in three-point percentage at 44.0 percent, ranks second in scoring at 15.7 points per game and third in shooting percentage at 49.2. Hittner, who was the 2017 MVC Freshman of the Year, raised her already impressive play to another level in league play this year. She led the Valley in free throw percentage at 95.7 and three-point shooting at 50.7 percent, narrowly ranked second in scoring at 16.0 points per game and was fourth in shooting percentage at 53.5 percent. Hittner is the first MVC player to post 50-50-95 shooting numbers in league play in 15 seasons.
In her first season at Illinois State, Simone Goods is this year's Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year. A junior transfer from Kirkwood Community College, Goods leads the Redbirds with 13.7 points per game and 6.0 rebounds per contest. The junior standout has scored 20 or more points in six games this season and has had four double-doubles. Goods took home the Valley's Newcomer of the Week honor three times this season, en route to becoming the third Redbird to win Newcomer of the Year honors, joining Jamie Russell (2012) and Janae Smith (2013).
Drake junior guard Sammie Bachrodt earns this year's Defensive Player of the Year honor, becoming the first Bulldog to win the league's top defensive award. This season, Bachrodt is averaging impressive stats across the board at 10.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Bachrodt, who was selected to the Preseason All-MVC First Team, leads the Valley in assists with 117 and is second in steals with 60. She has started all 96 games in her career and is No. 9 all-time at Drake in career steals with 195. Bachrodt was selected to the MVC All-Defensive Team for the second-straight season.
Southern Illinois rookie Abby Brockmeyer is this year's Freshman of the Year after she burst onto the Valley scene as one of the most efficient players in the league. Brockmeyer led all Valley freshmen in rebounds (7.1/game), blocks (1.28), offensive rebounds (2.5) and defensive rebounds (4.6). She also ranked third among Valley freshmen in scoring (10.1) and fourth in minutes per game (29.1). She finished the regular season tied for 15th nationally among freshmen in rebounds per game and ranks 19th among freshmen nationally in blocks per game. Her five double-doubles this season are tied with Mary Berghuis for the second-most in a freshmen season in program history while her 294 rebounds are the fifth-most in a single-season by a freshman in program history. She was named the Valley's Newcomer of the Week three times and becomes the third Saluki to earn the league's top freshman honor (Cari Hassell, 1995; Cartaesha Macklin, 2012).
Drake's Sara Rhine earns the Valley's fourth-ever Sixth Player of the Year, a distinction that is designed to honor an impact player that has started in fewer than half of its conference games. This year, Rhine has played in 28 games, averages 15.6 points per game (4th in MVC) and 6.0 rebounds per game (9th in MVC) and shoots a league-high 58.4 percent from the floor. Rhine, who played in just eight games in 2016-17 due to injury after being named the 2016 MVC Freshman and Sixth Player of the Year, tied Hittner for most 20-plus point games with six this season. She is already one of the most accurate shooters in program history with a 59.1 percent career clip, which ranks third all-time. The sophomore is the first player in league history to earn the award twice.
In her sixth season at the helm, Drake's Jennie Baranczyk has been named the league's Coach of the Year for the second time in her career, guiding the Bulldogs to their seventh MVC regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed at this week's MVC Tournament. The Bulldogs finished 18-0 in regular season play for the second-straight season and has won 40-straight regular-season MVC contests. With her 23 wins so far this season, Baranczyk now has 122 career victories to her name and her .642 winning percentage is tied for sixth all-time in MVC coaching history. Drake enters this week's MVC Tournament winners of 19-straight games. Baranczyk joins Lisa Stone (2001) and Lisa Bluder (1995, 1997, 1998) as the only other Bulldog head coaches to earn the award.