Missouri State's Jasmine Franklin averaged 15.5 points, 14.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game, while shooting 61.1% from the field as the Lady Bears claimed wins over Little Rock and North Texas to open the season, earning the 5th MVC Player of the Week honor of her career.
Bradley freshman Caroline Waite scored 23 points with five assists as the Braves beat 2021 NCAA Tournament participant Wright State in the season opener, earning her first Newcomer of the Week honor.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Jasmine Franklin, Sr., F, Missouri State
Franklin recorded a double-double in both games last week and is averaging 15.5 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks after two Missouri State victories. In the season opener at Little Rock, Franklin posted 18 points and 13 rebounds on 7-of-8 (.875) shooting from the field, while tying her career high with 4 blocks against the Trojans. Sunday, the senior posted her 27th career double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds against North Texas. She leads the Lady Bears with a 61 shooting percentage from the floor. With her performance against the Mean Green, Franklin surpassed 800 career rebounds and moved into the second spot on Missouri State’s career blocks list, owning 110 blocks in her Lady Bear career.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK:
Caroline Waite, Fr., G, Bradley
Making her official college debut against a Wright State squad that reached the second round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament, Waite led the Braves to their most-lopsided season-opening win in 35 years by scoring a game-high 23 points, while adding five assists and three rebounds in the 84-65 win Tuesday night. The 5-foot-4 guard even recorded Bradley’s first blocked shot of the 2021-22 season. Playing 34 minutes in her debut, Waite made 9-of-13 (.692) field goal attempts, including 5-of-9 (.556) from 3-point range to finish with the second-best freshman debut point total in Bradley history.
Noteworthy - In addition to the league's player and newcomer of the week selections, several conference players had notable performances, and they include:
Katie Dinnebier (DU) - Dinnebier scored the game winning three-pointer with two seconds left to lift Drake to 82-79 season opening win against Creighton on Nov. 10. She finished with nine points, four rebounds, and shot 50 percent or better in all areas of the court.
Abby Feit (UE) - Opening the season, with a pair of home games, junior Abby Feit took little time to adjust to head coach Robyn Scherr-Wells’ fast-paced system. In a 62-52 win over Austin Peay on Tuesday, Feit poured-in a team-best 21 points to go along with 11 rebounds and four blocks. Trailing by as many as seven in the fourth quarter, Feit scored 13 of her 21 points when the Aces needed it most, battling back to earn the 10-point win. On Sunday against Oakland City, Feit missed tying her career high by just one point, tallying 28 points and 10 boards in just 29 minutes for her third-straight double-double in the 100-59 victory. On the weekend, Feit averaged 24.5 points and 10.5 boards, while notching three blocks and two steals per contest.
Adrian Folks (INS) - Adrian Folks put together a pair of career performances over the opening weekend to help the Sycamores to a 1-1 start to the season. Folks opened the season with a 16-point, five-rebound game to start the season in the opening 88-33 win over Stephens. She followed up with a career-performance against Saint Louis. The Southgate, Mich. native had 16 points and nine rebounds at the half against the Billikens on her way to finishing with a career-high 24 points and 10 rebounds in the 65-58 road loss. Folks’ double-double against the Billikens was her fourth career double-double and second 20-point game. She ended up shooting 44.7% from the floor and 85.7% from the free throw line while adding two assists and two steals on the weekend.
Maya Wong (ILS) - Wong led the team in scoring in Saturday’s win over St. Thomas, averaging 11.5 points and 3.0 assists over two games in ISU’s opening week of play. The redshirt sophomore had nine points in ISU’s season opener, also dishing out two assists and grabbing two rebounds. Wong then shot 6-of-8 (.750) from the field to rack up 14 points in the Redbirds’ win over St. Thomas on Saturday afternoon, leading the team in scoring and assists (4). Wong currently leads the team in scoring on the season after her first two career starts.
Allison Day (LUC) - Loyola senior forward averaged a team-best 10.5 points and 6.5 rebounds as the Ramblers split a pair of contests to open the 2021-22 campaign. In Tuesday’s clash with Detroit Mercy, Day got to the free throw seemingly at will, hitting on 7-of-12 attempts from the charity stripe as part of an 11-point (2-4 FGs, 7-12 FTs), eight-rebound effort in a 63-40 Rambler victory. The Russellville, Ohio native chipped in 10 points (4-10 FGs, 2-3 3FGs) and six rebounds on Friday against DePaul. Day, who started all 27 games last season, has now reached double figures in scoring 45 times during her collegiate career.
Maya McDermott (UNI) - McDermott helped the Panthers to a 63 to 54 win over St. Louis and was second on the team in points in a loss against Iowa with a season high 14 points. McDermott had a career high in shots attempted Sunday against Iowa with 10 attempts, making 50% of those attempts. McDermott also had 5 assists and 1 steal on the week.
Leah Earnest (VALPO) - Earnest opened the season with a pair of strong efforts last week. She contributed nine points and led the team in rebounds in the opener against Miami. Earnest then exploded on Sunday for a career-best and game-high 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting against defending MAC Tournament champions Central Michigan to go with six rebounds. Earnest shot at a 73.3% clip from the field over the opening two games.
Anna Miller (DU) - Miller led the Bulldogs scoring efforts against Creighton. She finished with a career high 17 points, 15 of which came in the first half. She added five rebounds in her 17 minutes on the court.
Myia Clark (INS) - In her first week in the white and purple, senior Myia Clark made an immediate impact for the Aces. In her first two games, Clark averaged 16.5 points, five rebounds, three assists, and a pair of steals per contest in two Aces wins. Against Austin Peay, Clark recorded 15 points and five rebounds in Evansville’s 62-52 win, getting the offense started early with six points in the first quarter. In a 100-59 win over Oakland City, Clark poured-in 18 points, while again grabbing five rebounds.
Jada Stinson (ILS) - Stinson averaged 7.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists over two games in her Redbird debut. The graduate student had 10 points in ISU’s season opener at Northern Illinois, going 2-of-4 (.500) from behind the arc and going a perfect 2-of-2 from the free throw line. The Fayetteville, N.C. native then added four points in the Redbirds’ 70-55 win over St. Thomas on Saturday, dishing out two assists and grabbing three boards.
Mariah White (MSU) - Graduate transfer Mariah White posted double-digit scoring performances in both games last week and averages a team-high 17 points per game following two Missouri State victories. In Tuesday’s season opener at Little Rock, White’s 24 points were the most in a Missouri State debut since 11/18/80. In Sunday’s victory against North Texas, White contributed 10 points and 3 rebounds off the bench. After the first week of the regular season, White leads the Lady Bears in points (34), three-point percentage (.400) and points per game (17.0), while averaging 23.5 minutes off the bench.