Missouri State's Abi Jackson paced the Lady Bears this weekend by averaging 22.5 ppg, while shooting 52 percent (17-for-33) from the field and 92 percent (11-for-12) from the free throw line across two MSU victories. The award is Jackson's first Player of the Week honor of the season.
Drake junior guard Megan Meyer led the Bulldogs in scoring in wins over Illinois State and Bradley over the weekend. Meyer averaged 20.0 points per game in the two victories, earning her third Newcomer of the Week honor.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Abi Jackson, Sr, F, Missouri State
Fifth-year senior Abi Jackson paced Missouri State this weekend by averaging 22.5 ppg, while shooting 52 percent (17-for-33) from the field and 92 percent (11-for-12) from the free throw line across two MSU victories. Jackson also pulled down 5.5 rpg and blocked a team-leading four shots as the Lady Bears defeated Evansville and Indiana State. On Thursday night against Evansville, Jackson scored a career high 31 points on 13-for-22 shooting from the field against the Purple Aces in just 27 minutes on the floor. Of Jackson’s 31 points, 20 of them came in the first half, as she also became the first Lady Bear with 20 or more points in a half since March 1, 2018. Jackson also grabbed eight rebounds, blocked three shots and had one steal in the win. On Saturday against Indiana State, Jackson dropped 14 more points, marking her sixth consecutive game with 14 or more points. Jackson added three rebounds and blocking a shot against the Sycamores.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK:
Megan Meyer, Jr., G, Drake
Drake junior Megan Meyer averaged 20 points per game over the weekend as the Bulldogs earned home wins over Illinois State and Bradley. Meyer tied a career high with 22 points, going 6 of 13 from behind the arc in Sunday’s win over Bradley. She added six rebounds, two blocks and a steal in the win. In Friday’s win over Illinois State, Meyer scored a team-high 18 points, shooting 6 of 10 from the field to lead the Bulldogs.
Noteworthy - In addition to the league's player and newcomer of the week selections, several conference players had notable performances, and they include:
Caroline Waite (BU) - In her first career games back in her home state of Iowa, Waite scored 21 points in both games and poured in 11 3-pointers during Bradley’s weekend swing to UNI and Drake … Waite scored a game-high 21 points Friday night at Drake, draining 6-of-8 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc for her third game of the season with six triples … Playing the full 40 minutes Sunday at Drake, the 5-foot-4 guard again pumped in 21 points, this time making 5-of-12 attempts from beyond the arc … Waite entered the weekend as the league’s top scoring underclassman and increased her team-leading scoring average to 13.3 ppg … Waite also leads The Valley by averaging 2.91 treys per game … Waite has scored at least 20 points seven times this season, including five times in the last eight games.
Maggie Bair (DU) - Bair averaged 13.5 points, 2.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists this weekend. Her 14 points against Illinois State helped the Bulldogs in the first half to take the lead. Her 13 points against Bradley included a three and going 4-for-4 from the line. Bair helped the Bulldogs defensively over the weekend, especially against ISU.
Myia Clark (UE) - An integral part of the success Evansville has seen this season, senior Myia Clark put on one of her best weekends in the white and purple. In two conference contests, Clark averaged 16 points and six rebounds. On Thursday at Missouri State, Clark recorded a team-best 19 points. Rounding-out the weekend, Clark fell just one point shy of another team-high, tallying 13 points.
JuJu Redmond (ILS) - Illinois State guard JuJu Redmond continued her torrid scoring pace, averaging 20.0 points in ISU’s two contests this weekend to move into 24th all-time in the Redbirds’ scoring records with her 1,118 career points. Redmond led Illinois State in both games, putting up 11 points in Friday’s loss at Drake before going for a game-high 29 points in ISU’s weekend finale at UNI. Redmond has ten 20+ point performances on the season and became one of just four Redbirds to record 1,100 points in only three seasons.
Maya Chandler (LUC) - Loyola sophomore guard Maya Chandler poured in 20 points to lead the Ramblers to a 66-52 win over Valparaiso this past Friday at the Athletics-Recreation Center in Valparaiso, Ind. Chandler went 8-of-13 from the field and knocked down a trio of three-point attempts en route to hitting the 20-point mark for the third time this season. During the Maroon & Gold’s current five-game win streak, the Martinsville, Ind. native has upped her game to another level, averaging a team-best 13.4 points on 45 percent (23-for-51) shooting, while also adding 3.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.2 steals.
Grace Boffeli (UNI) - Over two wins this past week, Boffeli helped the Panthers return to their strong defensive play. Boffeli averaged 13.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 2 steals per game in 40 minutes of play. Boffeli also notched her sixth double-double of the season in a close game against Illinois State where she led all rebounders and was second in scoring behind fellow forward Bre Gunnels. With her sixth double-double, Boffeli has 241 rebounds on the season, the 7th best rebounding season in Panther history. She is only one rebound away from having the 6th best rebounding season, currently held by Amber Kirschbaum in 2011-2012.
Abby Brockmeyer (SIU) - Saluki graduate forward Abby Brockmeyer averaged 18 points and 11 rebounds per game across two Saluki wins this past week. On Thursday against Indiana St., Brockmeyer put up 19 points and grabbed 13 boards, notching her MVC-leading 13th double-double. On Saturday against Evansville, Brockmeyer scored 17 points while pulling down 9 rebounds. The graduate forward shot 12-of-23 (52.2%) from the field for the week and was a perfect 11-of-11 from the free throw line. Brockmeyer currently leads the Valley in rebounding (10.2 per game), is second in field goal percentage (53.1%) and is third in scoring (16.3 points per game). Brockmeyer is the only Valley player averaging a double-double per game.
Ifunanya Nwachukwu (MSU) - Junior college transfer Ifunanya Nwachukwu was the leading rebounder for MSU across victories over Evansville and Indiana State, averaging 8.5 rpg. In addition to leading the team in rebounds, Nwachukwu averaged 6.5 ppg, shot 60 percent from the field and blocked two shots in 38 minutes on the floor. On Thursday night against the Purple Aces, Nwachukwu recorded her second double-double of the season with an 11-point, 13-rebound performance, which also marked her fourth double-digit rebounding game of the year. She was 5-for-8 (.625) from the field and blocked two shots in just 21 minutes as Missouri State got the win over Evansville. On Saturday afternoon against Indiana State, Nwachukwu had two points and grabbed four rebounds as MSU finished off the weekend with two victories. Nwachukwu ranks 7th in the MVC with 2.6 offensive rebounds per game.