Belmont's Destinee Wells averaged 23.0 points and 7.0 assists per game, while shooting 52.8% from the field in a pair of wins over Evansville and Indiana State. The award is the second MVC Player of the Week honor of her career.
Illinois State transfer Paige Robinson averaged 26.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 45.7% from the field as the Redbirds split with Southern Illinois and Missouri State, earning her third Newcomer of the Week honor.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Destinee Wells, Jr., G, Belmont
Junior guard Destinee Wells had quite the performance Sunday in Belmont’s 81-69 win over visiting Indiana State, recording a career-high 35 points on 16-for-27 shooting and distributing a game-high five assists. She became the first Bruin to reach 35 points in a game since 2005 and her 16 made field goals are the most by a Belmont player in over two decades. Wells scored 18 points in the first half, including 11 in the opening quarter alone, and added 17 points in the second half versus the Sycamores. On Friday evening in the Bruins’ 40-point, 93-53 home rout of Evansville, Wells nearly registered a double-double with 11 points and a season-high tying nine assists. Committing just one turnover, Wells went 3-for-4 at the free-throw line and came up with a steal. In the two victories across the weekend, Wells averaged 23 points and seven assists while shooting 52.8 percent (19-of-36) from the field.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK:
Paige Robinson, Gr., G, Illinois State
Robinson averaged 26.5 points per game for Illinois State as the Redbirds went 1-1 at home with a win over Southern Illinois Friday before dropping their matchup with Missouri State Sunday. She made 16-of-35 shots for the week (45.7%), and was 6-of-15 (40.0%) from long range. She averaged five and a half rebounds on the week with four assists, one block, and one steal. Against the Salukis, she would go for a game-high 23 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the field while grabbing eight rebounds, dishing out four assists, and went a perfect 7-of-7 from the free-throw line over her 35 minutes of action. In the finale of the week against Missouri State, she once more would hold the game-high in points, scoring 30 (22 in the second half) off 9-of-19 shooting from the field, 4-of-9 from three-point range, and 8-of-9 from the charity stripe. Against the Lady Bears, she also gathered three rebounds, one block, and one steal.
Noteworthy - In addition to the league's player and newcomer of the week selections, several conference players had notable performances, and they include:
Maggie Bair (DU) - Maggie Bair made history for the Bulldogs during their two-game road trip this week. The senior forward became the 36th player in Drake history to score 1,000-career points. Bair reached the milestone on her birthday and in her home state of Illinois in Drake’s loss at UIC (2/12) as she led the Bulldogs with 15 points, eight rebounds, four assists, while adding two blocks and a steal on the defensive end. Including the Bulldogs’ first matchup of the week, a blowout win at Valpo (2/10), Bair averaged 12 points and seven rebounds while shooting at a .588 field goal percentage.
Jaida McCloud (UIC) - Jaida McCloud has hit her offensive stride mid-season, as she was a key contributor in UIC women’s basketball team (14-11, 6-8 MVC) two-game homestand over the weekend. In UIC’s loss to UNI, 55-47 (17-6, 12-2 MVC), McCloud led the offense with 15 points and eight rebounds. In the Flames victory over Drake (14-8, 9-5 MVC) on Sunday, McCloud secured her first double-double in the season, netting 19 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. The junior has scored double figures in the last six games, averaging 15 points a game.
Aniya Thomas (MOST) - Fifth-year senior Aniya Thomas led the way for the Lady Bears as she helped lead them to wins over Bradley and first-place Illinois State last week. Thomas averaged 17 points and 4.5 rebounds across the week, while going a perfect 13-for-13 from the free throw line. She also dished out four assists and collected two steals. In Friday night’s 10-point win at Bradley, Thomas tied for a game-high 19 points and grabbed five rebounds, including going 7-for-7 from the charity stripe, in addition to tallying two assists and a steal. On Sunday, Thomas logged all but eight seconds on the floor as MSU took down the first-place Redbirds on the road in a crucial Valley matchup. In the victory, Thomas posted a team-high 15 points, pulled down four boards and went 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Eleven of Thomas’ 15 points came in the second half alone as she helped propel the Lady Bears down the stretch to a five-point win. The graduate transfer has reached double figure points in 19 of 23 games this season and is averaging 15.6 points and 4.7 rebounds against Valley opponents, while leading MSU with 99 assists and 49 steals this season.
Katelyn Young (MUR) - Katelyn Young averaged 26.5 points and 7.0 rebounds for the Racers over a 1-1 week. On Friday, she notched her ninth double-double of the season with 24 and 10, following that with a 29-point outburst and four rebounds against Evansville. The junior went 18-of-33 (54.5%) from the floor on the week, 5-of-9 (55.55) from 3-point range and 12-of-13 (92.3%) at the free throw line, in addition two two steals and two blocks.
Grace Boffeli (UNI) - Boffeli had another stellar week in two big road wins for the Panthers against UIC and Valparaiso. Boffeli averaged 17.5 points, 10 rebounds, and 0.5 blocks for UNI as the team grabbed a hard-fought 55-47 victory over UIC and another offensive explosion at Valparaiso. Boffeli also picked up her 9th double-double of the season against the Beacons to continue leading the Valley in double-doubles. Boffeli also leads the MVC in rebounding with an 8.7 average and free throw attempts with 148 tries.
Kendal Cheesman (BEL) - Sophomore forward Kendal Cheesman provided a huge spark for Belmont off the bench in the Bruins’ home wins over Evansville and Indiana State. Averaging 14 points and five rebounds in 24.1 minutes of action on the court for the weekend, Cheesman shot 60 percent (9-of-15) from the floor, went 6-for-11 (.545) from beyond the arc and was a perfect 4-for-4 at the foul line. She scored a career-high tying 14 points in both victories, going 4-for-7 from distance Friday evening in Belmont’s 40-point drumming of the Purple Aces while dishing out an assist and making a block. In the Bruins’ 81-69 win Sunday afternoon, Cheesman went 2-for-4 from deep against the visiting Sycamores and grabbed a game-high tying seven rebounds. Cheesman’s 28 minutes of play Sunday versus Indiana State were a season high.
Bella Finnegan (INS) - Finnegan averaged 19.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.5 blocks and one steal per game across a pair of contests last week for Indiana State. She led all scorers with a career-high 26 points in a win over Murray State, knocking down 11-of-16 shots and all three of her 3-point attempts against the Racers. Finnegan also added seven rebounds and three assists against the Racers. Against Belmont, the freshman had 13 points on 6-for-13 shooting, along with six rebounds, two assists and two blocks. She has scored in double-figures in three of the last four games for Indiana State and is averaging 15.3 points per game in that span.
Ali Saunders (VU) - Making the first two starts of her career, Saunders delivered with 17.5 points/game on 61.9% shooting and 4.0 assists/game in Valpo’s two games on the weekend. Saunders opened with a game-high 16 points and four assists against Drake, hitting a season-best four 3-pointers. Saunders followed with a perfect shooting performance as she tied for game-high honors with 19 points against UNI, going 7-of-7 from the field - including a 3-pointer - and 4-of-4 from the foul line. She is the first Valpo player to hit at least seven field goals in a game without a miss since 2004.