Indiana State's Del'Janae Williams helped lead the Sycamores to a 2-0 record during the week and improve to 4-1 in league play, posting wins over Evansville and Valparaiso. Williams averaged 22.5 points, 4.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game, during the two wins. The award is Williams' first career MVC Player of the Week honor and first from a Sycamore since Jan. 29, 2018 (Ashli O’Neal).
Drake freshman forward Anna Miller led the Bulldogs to a win over rival Northern Iowa on Friday evening. Miller led the Bulldogs with 16 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two blocks, earning her first Newcomer of the Week honor.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Del’Janae Williams, Jr., G, Indiana State
Williams continues to showcase her all-around game for the Sycamores, as the junior guard averaged 22.5 points, 4.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game in a pair of wins for Indiana State last week. She led all players in scoring in both Sycamore wins last week, finishing with 21 against Evansville and 24 against Valparaiso, including 13 in the fourth quarter against the Beacons to put that game out of reach. Williams put together one of the most complete games an Indiana State player has had this season against Evansville, adding five rebounds, five assists, five steals and two blocks in addition to her aforementioned 21 points against the Purple Aces. She also had four assists, two steals and two rebounds against Valpo. The 20-point outings were her third and fourth 20-point games this season and marked the second time this year she recorded back-to-back 20-point games.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK:
Anna Miller, Fr., F, Drake
The freshman continues to impress for the Bulldogs this season. In Friday’s win over UNI, Miller led the team with 16 points, eight rebounds, two assists, and two blocks. Miller recorded both blocks in the second half and helped Drake stop UNI when the score was close. This was her seventh game in a row, 11th this season that she recorded one or more blocks. Friday’s game marked her 7th this season scoring in double digits.
Noteworthy - In addition to the league's player and newcomer of the week selections, several conference players had notable performances, and they include:
Tatum Koenig (BU) - Koenig has been Bradley’s most-consistent contributor in the six games since Gabi Haack’s injury and once again delivered during this past week’s trip to Missouri State and Southern Illinois … Koenig was Bradley’s leading scorer Thursday at Missouri State, finishing with 12 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the field, four assists, three rebounds and a steal … The 5-foot-7 senior point guard shared team-high scoring honors Saturday at Southern Illinois, posting 13 points on 6-for-10 field goal shooting with three rebounds and two assists … In the two games, Koenig averaged 12.5 ppg on 58.8 percent (10-17) field goal shooting, including a 3-for-7 effort from 3-point range, 3.0 rpg and 3.0 apg.
Grace Berg (DU) - Berg recorded her 10th game this season scoring in double digits when she finished with 13 points against UNI. In her 26 minutes on the court, she added 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals to the books. This was her 4th game in a row recording at least one steal for Drake. Her 5 assists marked her 3rd game in a row with at least one and 15th game this season recording an assist. The 2021 Newcomer of the Year continues to make her impact at Drake and find the basket when the Bulldogs need it.
JuJu Redmond (ILS) - Illinois State guard JuJu Redmond led ISU in scoring in both games over the weekend, averaging 16.0 points and 5.5 rebounds to help the Redbirds off to a 6-1 start in the Valley, the program’s best since the 2009-10 season. Redmond had 13 points and seven boards in Thursday’s contest at Southern Illinois before posting a game-high 19 points in Saturday afternoon’s win over Missouri State. The win over the Lady Bears snapped their 15-game home winning streak and was ISU’s first at JQH Arena since 2019.
Allison Day (LUC) - Loyola senior forward Allison Day poured in a season-high 21 points (10-17 FGs, 1-2 3FGs) and ripped down nine rebounds in the Ramblers’ 68-54 win over Evansville this past Friday at Gentile Arena. Day’s effort marked the 10th time this season she has reached double figures in scoring and her second 20-plus point showing of the 2021-22 season. The Russellville, Ohio native is averaging 11.2 points and 5.6 rebounds across 18 appearances, both of which are team-best marks.
Abi Jackson (MSU) - Abi Jackson had a career weekend as she led the Lady Bears last week with 16 ppg in addition to 7.5 rpg as Missouri State split their games against Bradley and Illinois State. On Thursday night against the Braves, Jackson set a career high with 22 points, while also grabbing 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season, three of which have come in Missouri Valley Conference play. She also set career highs in field goals made (9), field goal attempts (23) and minutes (35) against Bradley. On Saturday afternoon against Illinois State, Jackson recorded her eighth double digit scoring performance of the season with 10 points on 50 percent (4-for-8) shooting from the field to go along with five rebounds. The fifth-year senior also logged a career high five blocked shots against the Redbirds. Jackson leads the MVC and ranks 17th nationally with 2.4 blocks per game.
Makenzie Silvey (SIU) - SIU graduate guard Makenzie Silvey became the new all-time leading scorer in Saluki women’s basketball history this past week. Silvey broke the record on Saturday in a 53-41 win over Bradley. Silvey averaged 16 points per game last week as the Salukis also defeated Illinois State on Thursday. In that victory over the Redbirds, Silvey scored 15 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out six assists. Against the Braves, the graduate guard scored 17 points to go with seven rebounds. Silvey currently sits second in the MVC in scoring (16.1 ppg), is tied for 5th in assists per game (3.5) and leads the conference in minutes per game (35.6). Silvey now sits at 1,780 career points scored.
Grace White (VU) - White averaged 14.0 points/game on 52.6% shooting, a team-best 7.5 rebounds/game, 2.5 assists/game, 2.5 blocks/game and 2.0 steals/game in Valpo’s two games last weekend. She opened the weekend with 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds Friday against Indiana State. Then, in Sunday’s win over Evansville, White finished with 18 points, a team-high eight rebounds and a game-high four blocked shots. 13 of White’s 18 points came in a personal 13-0 run over a 3-minute span in the 3rd quarter which extended a 3-point lead to 16 points. White tied career highs for both blocked shots and 3-pointers made (4) in the win over the Purple Aces.
Arianna Smith (INS) - Smith averaged 11.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in a pair of wins for Indiana State last week, recording her first career double-double in the process. Earning the start in back-to-back games for the first time this season, Smith opened the week with nine points and six rebounds in a 69-51 win over Evansville. She followed that with her best statistical game of the season at Valparaiso, setting new career highs of 15 points and 10 rebounds in an 85-65 win. Six of Smith’s 10 rebounds at Valpo were on the offensive end. She also added one assist, one block and two steals in the two games last week.
Olivia Brown (VU) - Brown averaged a team-best 17.0 points/game last weekend for the Beacons. She opened the weekend with 13 points and five assists against Indiana State on Friday, setting a new career high for assists. Then, in Sunday’s win over Evansville, Brown led all players with 21 points - matching her high in the Valpo uniform - on 7-of-12 shooting while also grabbing a season-high six rebounds. 12 of Brown’s 21 points came in the 2nd quarter, part of a 22-4 frame which turned a 9-point deficit into a 9-point lead.