Last Weekly MVC Awards

Meet Me in St. Louis

(St. Louis, MO) – Year end honors are being handed out by the Missouri Valley Conference, but we won’t gloss over the last weekly MVC awards. Several players have been claiming these awards with regularity and one player is running away with their particular category.

Arch Madness starts on Thursday for the men and Hoops in the Heartland is still one week away.

Top Players

Drake’s Tucker DeVries won the ‘Player of the Week’ award during the season’s first week and claimed it again on this final week of the men’s season. He averaged 34 points, 9.5 rebounds, four steals and 3.5 assists during the Bulldogs’ two wins. DeVries became the league’s top scorer in league games and finished second to Southern Illinois’ Xavier Johnson for the overall season race. This is DeVries’ third top player notification.

Belmont’s Tessa Miller averaged 19 points per game during Belmont’s two victories. The Bruins (22-7, 15-3) are in sole possession of second place. This is Miller’s first ‘Player of the Week’ award and the first ‘upperclassman’ award from the Bruins this season.

Newcomers Racking Up Hardware

Indiana State’s Ryan Conwell may have sown up the ‘Newcomer of the Year’ award by capturing his fifth ‘Newcomer of the Week’ honor. While Conwell was averaging 19.5 points and 9.5 rebounds, his Sycamore team was clinching its first league title in 24 years. Conwell finished the season as the Valley’s tenth leading scorer (16.0 ppg).

Missouri State’s Lacy Stokes has wrapped up the ‘Newcomer of the Year’ award on the women’s side. She scored 12 points against Bradley and put up and amazing 26 points, seven steals and seven assists during a win over Illinois State. The ‘Newcomer of the Week’ award is her eighth. She is second in the Valley in assists and fourth in steals.

Freshmen – Last Weekly MVC Awards

Valparaiso’s Cooper Schwieger has enjoyed an outstanding freshman season. The 6’9 rookie finished the regular season with a twenty-eight point performance during the Beacons’ senior day victory over Illinois State. This is Schwieger’s fifth ‘Freshman of the Week’ honor breaking a tie with Evansville’s Chuckie Bailey III.

Illinois State guard Shannon Dowell put the Missouri Valley Conference on notice. She is one of its next great players. The ‘Freshman of the Week’ scored 25 points in a win over SIU and 28 during a loss at Missouri State and was the NCAA’s top scoring freshman last week. The award is her second this year.

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Editor: Cover photo credit Maeve Coulter