MVC/OVC Women’s Weekly Award Winners

Dinnebier & McCowan Keep Shining

(St. Louis, MO) – Career high performances opened the door to the Missouri Valley and Ohio Valley Conferences’ women’s weekly award winners. Well known stars in each league were on display this week. Western Illinois’ Raegan McCowan and Drake’s Katie Dinnebier are adding to their individual legacies.

MVC and OVC teams are also receiving some national recognition.

Players of the Week

Drake is ranked sixth in the CollegeInsider.com, ‘Women’s Mid-Major Top 25’ poll. Reigning MVC ‘Player of the Year’ Katie Dinnebier poured a career-high 40 points during Drake’s showdown with the Big Ten’s Iowa. While the Bulldogs dropped that game and their previous one at Creighton, Dinnebier averaged 27.5 points and four assists. The Valley’s ‘Player of the Week’ is averaging 19.8 points per game and is closing in on 1,400 career points.

This is the second straight week that Drake has claimed the weekly award winners’ top recognition.

Western Illinois’ Raegan McCowan is the OVC’s reigning ‘Freshman of the Year’ and is this week’s ‘Co-Player of the Week’. The 5’11 sophomore averaged 20.5 points and seven rebounds during the Leathernecks’ two games. Her 21.6 point-per-game scoring average is tops in the OVC and twentieth nationally.

McCowan shares the weekly honor with Southern Indiana’s Merdith Raley. The Screaming Eagles won all three of last week’s games and they are now ranked twentieth in the mid-major poll. Raley averaged 14.3 points and 5.3 rebounds. She scored 19 points in the team’s win over defending WNIT champion Saint Louis.

Last week, McCowan’s teammate Mia Nicastro was the ‘Newcomer of the Week’.

Newcomer Weekly Award Winners

Southern Illinois’ Gift Uchenna enjoyed a spectacular week. The Saluki forward averaged 25 points and eleven rebounds during the team’s two games. She scored a career high 34 points and grabbed a personal best 17 rebounds against IU Indianapolis. The Valley’s ‘Newcomer of the Week’ produced SIU’s sixth highest all-time scoring output.

Illinois State transfer Brooke Coffey is the OVC ‘Newcomer of the Week’. The Lindenwood sophomore averaged 11.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists during the Lions’ two victories. Her double-double (11 points and 12 boards) sparked the Lions to a win over her former rival, Bradley Braves.

Rookies of the Week

Speaking of Bradley, Braves freshman Ellie McDermid is the Valley’s ‘Freshman of the Week’. While McDermid averaged ‘just’ 7.5 points, her floor game was outstanding averaging 8.5 rebounds and connecting on 64% of her shots. During that loss to Lindenwood, the Green Bay native recorded her first career double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Tennesee State freshman Somah Kamara averaged 15 points and three rebounds during the Tigers’ three games. Her 22-point performance against Lipscomb was a career high and the OVC ‘Freshman of the Week’ made nearly 52 percent of her shots during the three games.

The weekly award winners for the men were announced previously.