Drake's Becca Hittner averaged 21.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game, while shooting 56.7% from the field against Valparaiso and Loyola over the weekend, earning her second-straight MVC Player of the Week honor of the season. Bradley freshman Lasha Petree averaged 16.0 points and 2.0 rebounds per game, including 13 points in a 46-second stretch as Braves erased a 15 point deficit with 2:30 to go, earning her fourth Newcomer of the Week honor.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Becca Hittner, Jr., G, Drake
In two road wins, Becca Hittner, the reigning MVC Player of the Week, averaged 21.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists while shooting a blistering 56.7 percent (17-of-30) from the floor and 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from the three-point line while averaging just 25.0 minutes. In the win over Valpo, Hittner scored a game-high 23 points on just 15 shots, including making 4-of-6 from three-point line, to go along with seven rebounds and two assists in 24 minutes. She followed that with another great performance in the win over Loyola with 19 points, a career-best seven assists, six rebounds and one steal in 26 minutes. Hittner leads the MVC in scoring at 19.8 points per game while shooting a league-high 44.3 percent from the three-point line.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK:
Lasha Petree, Fr., G, Bradley
Petree helped lead Bradley to a pair of victories, averaging a team-high 16.0 points per game on 53% shooting and was 8-for-12 from three-point range (67%). In Friday’s 81-80 comeback victory over Indiana State, Petree took over the game down the stretch by scoring 13 points in a 46-second span. She hit four three-pointers during the spurt and also had three steals as she helped Bradley rally from 15 points down with 2:30 to go for the one-point win, knocking down the game-winning free throw with 7.2 seconds remaining as she scored 14 points in the final 2:30 and 16 points in the second half. Petree finished with 18 points, three rebounds, one assist, two blocks and three steals in just 18 minutes off the bench. Petree followed that up with 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting in Sunday’s win over Evansville. She made 4-of-6 three-pointers and tallied one rebound, one assist and a block in the victory to help Bradley match its MVC win total from 2017-18.
Noteworthy - In addition to the league's player and newcomer of the week selections, several conference players had notable performances, and they include:
Marley Miller (UE) - On the road in central Illinois, senior Marley Miller put together one of the best weeks of her collegiate career. Facing Illinois State on Friday night, Miller scored a team-high 17 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, hitting five three-pointers in Evansville’s loss. On Sunday afternoon against Bradley, Miller tied a career-high with 21 points, again recording an impressive fourth quarter, tallying 10 points in the fourth period. This season, Miller has scored in double-figures 11 times with six double-digit scoring performances in MVC play.
Simone Goods (ILS) - Simone Goods added a game-high of 22 points in just 19 minutes of playing time, shooting 53 percent from the floor, and was perfect at the line (6-6). The senior forward fell shy of a double-double grabbing nine boards in win over Evansville Friday night. Goods proved her versatility Sunday afternoon, tying her personal best, dishing out four assists. She also shot 50 percent from the floor, adding 13 points for the ‘Birds while also grabbing six rebounds and denied three shots.
Abby O’Connor (LUC) - Loyola sophomore Abby O’Connor averaged a double-double over the Ramblers’ two games this past weekend, chipping in 12.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 blocks. In Friday’s matchup with UNI, O’Connor became the first Rambler to post back-to-back double-double efforts since 2016-17, finishing with 15 points, 11 rebounds and three assists against the Panthers. The South Bend, Ind. native fell just a carom short of notching a third straight double-double against Drake on Sunday afternoon, adding 10 points and nine rebounds, in addition to a season-high two steals. O’Connor currently ranks 10th in the MVC in scoring (13.3 ppg), seventh in rebounding (7.0 rpg) and leads the league in both blocked shots (1.4 bpg) and free throw percentage (91.7%).
Danielle Gitzen (MSU) - Danielle Gitzen scored a game-high 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting, adding three rebounds, three assists and a steal in Friday’s win at Southern Illinois. The senior hit her only 3-point attempt and went 6-for-6 at the foul line. Gitzen scored 13 of her 19 points in the second half, propelling the Lady Bears from a one-point halftime lead to a 12-point victory.
Karli Rucker (UNI) - Karli Rucker notched a double-double and averaged 12 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in a road sweep of Loyola and Valparaiso. She tallied 10 points and 10 rebounds in the Panthers’ 71-65 road win at Loyola. She then tallied 14 points, including 10 in the second half, to lead UNI to a 64-56 win over Valparaiso. She has now scored in double figures in each of the last 10 games and 18 of the last 19. She is now eighth in the MVC in scoring and second in the league in assists.
Nicole Martin (SIU) - Southern Illinois junior Nicole Martin scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds in SIU’s long game last weekend. Martin also added two assists, a block and a steal in 33 minutes of action. It marked the 15th time this season that the Jefferson City, Mo. native has scored in double figures this season.
Grace Hales (VALPO) - Hales hit five 3-pointers in a single game for the fourth time in her career and second time this season on the way to scoring a team-high 17 points on Friday against Drake. She had eight points in the third quarter alone and also led the team in rebounds with eight. That was the first time in her collegiate career she has led the team in both scoring and rebounding in the same game. Hales followed up that performance by reaching double figures for the sixth time in the last seven games on Sunday against UNI. Hales averaged 14.0 points and 7.0 rebounds over two games this week against the teams picked to finish first and second in The Valley.
Anna Newman (UE) - In a pair of road conference contests, freshman Anna Newman recorded a career-high to conclude the road trip. Against Illinois State on Friday night, Newman scored four points, while recording two rebounds and two assists. Taking on Bradley on Sunday afternoon, Newman set a new career-high with 14 points, besting her previous career-high of 13 points set against Bradley on Jan. 11, while adding four assists off the bench. Sunday’s performance at Bradley marked the second time this season that Newman scored in double-figures.
TeTe Maggett (ILS) - Maggett led all scorers and guided ISU to its 78-70 victory over Indiana State Sunday contributing 26 points, while also grabbing seven boards. ISU went 2-0 this weekend, downing Evansville 82-59. Maggett surpassed her personal best, dishing out eight assists and added five points, six rebounds and one steal as in the Friday night contest.
Janae Gonzales (LUC) - Loyola freshman Janae Gonzales continued her impressive rookie campaign, averaging a team-best 19.0 points over a pair of games. The Tolleson, Ariz. native opened her weekend with a team-best 20-point effort against UNI on Friday night, her third game of at least 20 or more points this season. She followed that up by again leading the Ramblers on Sunday against Drake, adding 18 points. Gonzales, who knocked down four triples in each contest, is tied for 15th in The Valley in scoring at 11.7 points per game and leads all MVC freshmen in three-point field goals made per game (2.5), a mark that puts her second overall in the conference.
Jasmine Franklin (MSU) - Jasmine Franklin posted her second 4-for-4 shooting performance of the season Friday at Southern Illinois, finishing with eight points, four rebounds and a career-high four steals in 17 minutes of action. Her shooting performance moved her back to second in the MVC with a .557 field goal percentage on the year.
Cynthia Wolf (UNI) - Cynthia Wolf tallied a career-high 13 points in just 11 minutes on the court against Loyola. She was 4-7 from the field and 3-6 from the three-point line. She grabbed four boards. Sunday, she only saw nine minutes, but grabbed seven rebounds, scored two points and tallied a pair of blocks.