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.
Do Good
Editor: Cover photo credit Maeve Coulter
Twitter Feed
Three more road wins so far in @ValleyHoops as @BradleyUMBB @BelmontMBB & @UIC_MBB capture road wins. Looks like @DrakeBulldogsMB will do so too. #FatherHarry
Well @RacersWBB followed the men's example and swept Iowa in the @ValleyHoops race! Racers are 6-1 & if @BelmontWBB holds on to their Iowa sweep, the Bruins and Racers will be tied for first. What a trip for those two teams! #FatherHarry
After today's action, @EIUWBB is 8-0 in @OVCSports play. 4 teams @usiwbb @TTUWBB @LRTrojans @LindenwoodWBB are tied at 6-2. Six other teams are under .500. Great race to the finish lies ahead. #FatherHarry
Really entertaining game between @BelmontMBB & @UEAthletics_MBB. Under four minutes left in a one point game. Gabriel Pozzato back in the Aces' lineup. Rogers is playing like I've expected. Triples are dropping. It's fun and @kylejpeach bringing it on #ThePlus #FatherHarry
