Women's Basketball

MVC Women's Basketball Weekly Notebook (Jan. 12)

ST. LOUIS -- The Missouri Valley Conference announced its weekly women's basketball honors on Monday. Illinois State's Doneelah Washington has been named the MVC Player of the Week and Murray State's Sharnecce Currie-Jelks is this week's Newcomer of the Week. The MVC Freshman of the Week is Evansville's Sydney Huber.

Conference News & Notes
  • Belmont (6-0) and Murray State (5-0) are the last two remaining undefeated teams in Conference play heading into this week. The two will play each other on Sunday (Jan. 18) at 2:00 p.m. CT in Murray, Kentucky.
  • The Bruins’ 6-0 start in MVC play is their best since joining The Valley four seasons ago.
  • Since the turn of the calendar, home teams have gone an impressive 17-2, including a perfect 4-0 on Sunday.
  • In Monday morning’s issue of the NET, four teams find themselves inside the Top 150, including Belmont, who has jumped inside the Top 90, currently sitting at No. 89. Murray State (94), UNI (111) and Illinois State (122) join the Bruins.
  • Murray State erased a 19-point deficit on Friday, and used a 28-point win on Sunday, to extend its win streak to 12-straight. The Racers’ 12-consecutive victories are tied for the sixth-longest active win streak in Division I.
  • Three teams - Bradley (7-0), Illinois State (8-0) and Murray State (8-0) - remain undefeated at home this season. 
  • Redbird head coach Kristen Gillespie recorded her 100th MVC victory on Thursday night, becoming just the 10th coach in league history to reach triple digits. 
  • Southern Illinois powered past Valparaiso, 97-59, on Saturday for its first MVC win of the year. The Salukis’ 97 points against the Beacons is tied for the third-most in a Conference game this year. Additionally, it was the most points scored by SIU in a contest since notching 99 against Evansville during the 2023-24 campaign.
  • Murray State head coach Rechelle Turner reached career win No. 150 on Sunday with the Racers’ 95-67 victory over Drake.
  • Belmont’s 19-point win over UNI on Sunday marked the largest margin of victory in any game in the series.
  • Nine players in The Valley are currently averaging at least 15.0 points per game, led by Murray State’s Sharnecce Currie-Jelks and Halli Poock, who are each averaging 19.8 points per outing.
  • Belmont’s Tuti Jones, who is the nation’s current leader in games played (154), is third among active career steals leaders across all levels of NCAA women’s basketball. Her 401 steals are the most in the Bruins’ NCAA era.
  • Currie-Jelks (19.8 points, 12.4 rebounds) is the only player in the MVC averaging a double-double, and is the only player nationally averaging at least 15 points and 12 rebounds per game.
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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: DONEELAH WASHINGTON, ILLINOIS STATE
Sophomore | Forward | Lincoln, Neb. | Lincoln Northeast HS
22.5 PPG | 72% FG | 10.0 RPG | 6 STL | 5 BLK
Doneelah Washington was stellar in a pair of Redbird wins against UIC and Evansville. The sophomore averaged a double-double on the week with 22.5 points and 10.0 boards per game. Washington started the week with a 19-point, 10-rebound effort in the win over UIC. She followed that up with a career day against Evansville on Sunday, as she scored a career-high 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field and pulled down 10 boards in the victory. The 26 points scored are tied for the most by any Redbird player this season and Washington has now scored 15 or more points in six-straight games and 11 times this season. She is one of only five MVC players since 2009-10 with with 25+ PTS, 10+ REB, 4+ STL and 2+ BLK in a game against an MVC foe. She’s also the only ISU player since 2009-10 with that same stat line.

NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK: SHARNECCE CURRIE-JELKS, MURRAY STATE
Junior | Forward | Jackson, Tenn. | Indiana University
15.0 PPG | 46% FG | 14.5 RPG | 5 BLK
Sharnecce Currie-Jelks was a dominant presence in the paint for Murray State, averaging 15.0 points and 14.5 rebounds across two MVC wins. The junior posted back-to-back double-doubles, highlighted by a massive 18-point, 17-rebound performance against Drake, while adding five blocks and four steals on the week to anchor the Racers defensively She is the only player in the MVC averaging a double-double, and the only player in the country averaging at least 15 points and 12 rebounds per game.

FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK: SYDNEY HUBER, EVANSVILLE
Freshman | Guard | Cedar Rapids, Iowa | Mount Vernon HS 
13.0 PPG | 53% FG | 46% 3FG | 3.5 RPG
Sydney Huber continued her strong rookie campaign by averaging 13.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals for Evansville, which included a win over Southern Illinois. The guard shot an efficient 46% from 3-point range, scoring 15 points against the Salukis and adding 11 more at Illinois State. She played a season-high 31 minutes against SIU and was just two points off her career-high in scoring.