Drake's Becca Hittner averaged 20.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.0 steals per game, while securing her fourth 30 point game of the year, earning her third MVC Player of the Week honor of the season. Missouri State's Jasmine Franklin averaged 14.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2.0 blocks per game, while shooting 62.5% from the field in a pair of Lady Bears wins, collecting her third Newcomer of the Week honor this season.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Becca Hittner, Jr., G, Drake
Junior Becca Hittner averaged 20.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.0 steals per game while shooting 45.1 percent from the floor (14-of-31) and 90 percent (9-of-10) from the free throw line in Drake’s home wins over Evansville and Indiana State. Hittner bounced back from just her third single-digit scoring performance in the win over the Aces with her league-leading fourth 30-plus performance in the big win over the Sycamores. In the Indiana State win, she poured in a game-high 33 points on 12-of-19 shooting to go along with six rebounds, three assists and two steals in just 28 minutes. Despite a tough-shooting night that led to just seven points, Hittner, helped the Bulldogs in other ways in the Evansville win. She pulled down six rebounds, handed out five assists and nabbed four steals in 24 minutes.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK:
Jasmine Franklin, Fr., F, Missouri State
Missouri State’s Jasmine Franklin averaged 14 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2.0 blocks while shooting 62.5 percent from the floor in a pair of road wins. Franklin tallied a career-high 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting Sunday at Loyola, adding five boards, three blocks and three steals against the Ramblers. Friday at Valpo, the rookie had 10 points and eight rebounds, shooting 50 percent with two steals and a block.
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 turned in her 13th double-double of the season to help lead Bradley to a 75-65 victory over I-74 rival Illinois State Friday. She also had one assist and four steals as she helped the Braves complete the regular-season sweep of the Redbirds and move into a tie with Illinois State for fourth in the MVC standings. Brackmann had 14 points and 15 rebounds, collecting seven points and 10 boards in the second half to help Bradley pull away down the stretch. Her 13 double-doubles are tied for the second-best season total in school history and her 276 rebounds on the year rank as the fifth-best season total in Bradley history. Brackmann also broke into Bradley’s career top 10 in rebounding and ranks ninth all-time with 672 career boards.
Ty Battle (INS) - Ty Battle averaged a double-double over the weekend, averaging 15.0 points and 11.5 rebounds per game while also grabbing a team-high six steals. She grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds at UNI in a 15-point, 14-board performance as she led the Trees back from a 25-point deficit, cutting margin to only six.
Abby O’Connor (LUC) - Loyola sophomore forward Abby O’Connor continued to make her case for All-MVC honors this past weekend, averaging 16.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocks over a pair of games. O’Connor opened Loyola’s final homestand of the season by scoring 17 points (7-18 FGs, 3-6 3FGs) against Southern Illinois in addition to seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Two days later, the South Bend, Ind. native paced a quartet of Ramblers in double figures against Missouri State with 16 points (6-14 FGs, 3-7 3FGs, 1-1 FTs), five rebounds, a career-high tying three blocks and a steal. O’Connor, who is averaging 16.0 points and 8.8 rebounds during the month of February, enters the penultimate week of the regular season ranked in the top 10 in the league in scoring (9th; 14.0 ppg) and rebounding (7th; 7.2 rpg). The sophomore forward leads The Valley in both free throw percentage (89.2%) and blocked shots (1.4 bpg), while sitting second in three-point field goal percentage (42.5%).
Nicole Kroeger (UNI) - Nicole Kroeger went 11-21 (.524) from the field and averaged 13.5 points per game to lead UNI to a pair of home wins. She scored a career-high 22 points in the win over Evansville, including four three-pointers. She also added three rebound and a pair of assists. Friday, she scored five points, added two assists and grabbed two steals in the win over Indiana State.
Addison Stoller (VALPO) - After matching a career high with 22 points on Friday against first-place Missouri State, Stoller shattered that personal best with a 24-point outpouring on Sunday against Southern Illinois. In the game against the Salukis, Stoller accomplished the rare feat of scoring over half of her team’s points. She led the team in scoring in both games this weekend and has reached double figures in six straight and nine of the last 10.
Lasha Petree (BRAD) - Petree scored a team-high 16 points off the bench to help Bradley to a 75-65 victory over I-74 rival Illinois State as the Braves completed the regular-season sweep of the Redbirds. She was 10-for-14 from the free throw line in the win and also had two rebounds, one block and one steal to help Bradley move into a tie for fourth in the MVC standings. Petree’s 10 made free throws were the most by a Brave since Leti Lerma was 11-of-14 against Missouri State on Feb. 17, 2017 and she had the most attempts by a Bradley player dating back to Michelle Young making 20 trips to the line at Southern Illinois on Jan. 2, 2014. Petree has scored 330 points on the year, which is the highest season point total for a Bradley freshman since Heather Best had 340 points in 1995-96.
Lexy Koudelka (ILS) - The freshman forward added her first career double-double notching 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, while shooting 67 percent from the floor (8-of-12). She topped her personal best in both statistical categories this weekend and led all scores in the contest.
Tamara Lee (INS) - Shooting an impressive 44.8% from the field and scoring 18.5 points per game, Tamara Lee led the Sycamores over the weekend. She shot 37.5% from long range, tying a career-high five 3-pointers in Sunday’s game at No. 24 Drake and was perfect from the free throw line. She also grabbed three steals and dished out three assists on the week, averaging 32.0 minutes per game.
Cynthia Wolf (UNI) - Cynthia Wolff averaged 8.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in a pair of home wins for UNI. She had 11 points and nine rebounds in the Panther’s big win over Evansville, the largest margin of victory ever for the Panthers in an MVC game. She scored six points and four rebounds against Indiana State Friday.
Caitlin Wolf (SIU) - Caitlin Link averaged 6.0 points, a rebound and an assist in a pair of Saluki victories over the weekend. Link tied her career-best for points in the first half against Loyola- she scored eight points on 3-of-5 shooting to go along with a steal, a rebound and an assist in 18 minutes off the bench. She followed with two field goals and an assists in 19 minutes in SIU’s win over Valparaiso on Sunday.