Women's Basketball

MVC Women's Basketball Weekly Notebook (Feb. 9)

ST. LOUIS -- The Missouri Valley Conference announced its women's basketball weekly honors on Monday. Bradley swept the trio of awards with Mya Wardle being tabbed the league's Player and Newcomer of the Week and Maya Foz being named the MVC Freshman of the Week. 

Conference News & Notes
  • Murray State sits atop of the Missouri Valley Conference standings with an 11-1 ledger. Belmont is in second place at 10-2, while Bradley is third with a 9-4 mark. Illinois State (8-4), Northern Iowa (7-6) and UIC (6-6) round out the top half of the league standings.
  • Three teams remain undefeated at home this season in Illinois State (12-0), Bradley (11-0) and Murray State (10-0). The last time a Valley program went undefeated at home was former member Missouri State, who went 15-0 on its home court during the 2019-20 campaign.
  • The MVC has nine players averaging at least 15.0 points per game this season. Five of those nine are sitting at 17.0 per outing or higher, marking the fourth most in any Division I Conference behind the Big Ten (10), SEC (9) and Big 12 (6).
  • Murray State became the first Valley team to reach the 20-win mark on Thursday, picking up the 114-78 victory at Indiana State. The Racers’ 114 points are the most in a game by an MVC program this season and the seventh-highest point total in the league since at least 2009. Halli Poock exploded for 33 points, just one shy of her career high and second-highest output by a player in The Valley this year.
  • The Braves shot 45.2% from the floor in a win over UNI on Thursday, including a season-best 57.9% from behind the 3-point arc in their win over the Panthers. Mya Wardle had herself a week, notching a season-high 16 points against UNI, before exploding for a career-best 25 points, including a 7-of-8 performance from 3-point range, in a victory over Indiana State on Saturday.
  • Evansville’s hot shooting led to an 83-59 win at Valparaiso on Thursday night. The Purple Aces’ 24-point margin of victory was the largest by Evansville over a Conference opponent since an 81-50 win at Loyola on March 2, 2017.
  • Southern Illinois went 2-0 on the week and secured its fifth MVC win of the season, topping UIC and Valparaiso. Jeniah Thompson scored the game-winner against the Flames at the buzzer, while Indya Green tied her career high with 29 points in SIU’s victory over the Beacons.
  • Belmont completed the regular-season sweep of Drake behind Jailyn Banks’ career-high 26 points on Thursday evening. Banks’ 26-point performance marked her 10th 20-plus point game of her career and fourth of the season.
  • Illinois State won its fourth-straight game and remained unbeaten at home with its 77-70 victory over Drake on Saturday. Head coach Kristen Gillespie earned victory No. 171 in her time at Illinois State, which puts her in the Top 10 all-time in MVC history.
  • UIC’s Jessica Carrothers surpassed 2,000 career points in her collegiate career on both the NCAA and NAIA levels, as the Flames bounced back with a 68-65 win over Evansville.
20191
PLAYER & NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK: MYA WARDLE, BRADLEY
Sophomore | Guard | Peoria, Ill. | Eastern Kentucky
20.5 PPG | 67% FG | 11-13 3FG | 3.0 APG
Mya Wardle had her hometown moment, as she led the Braves this weekend to two victories. Wardle cashed in her career-high in points on Thursday and then broke that on Saturday. Throughout the weekend, Wardle was 11-13 from behind the 3-point arc (85%) and 14-21 from the field (67%). She grabbed six rebounds and dished out six assists, going without a turnover on the week. In Bradley’s win against Northern Iowa, Wardle notched 16 points, with four treys, while adding a pair of rebounds and assists. In Saturday’s victory against the Sycamores, she cashed in 25 points, going 7-of-8 from beyond the arc and 8-of-12 from the field. She added on four rebounds, four assists and a steal. 

FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK: MAYA FOZ, BRADLEY
Freshman | Guard | Ontario, Canada | Fort Erie International Academy 
14.5 PPG | 52% FG | 5 REB | 4 AST | 3 STL
As the Braves continued their win streak and pick up crucial wins against UNI and Indiana State, Maya Foz continued to shine. In a 22-point home win against Northern Iowa, Foz led the team in scoring with 17 points, going 7-of-13 from the floor, while adding three rebounds and a pair of steals to help the Braves remain undefeated at home this season. In Saturday’s road win at Indiana State, Foz played a limited 17 minutes due to foul trouble, tallying 12 points, two assists, two rebounds and a steal, while shooting 50% from the floor.