STATE FARM MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Karly Buer, So., G, Missouri State
Buer led the Lady Bears in scoring (17.5) and rebounding (6.0) in two road victories last week, adding five assists and two steals at Drake and Creighton. She shot 41 percent from the floor but made two-thirds of her three-points attempts and all nine free throws. Thursday at Drake, Buer scored 15 points to go with career highs in rebounds (8) and minutes (37) in MSU’s 69-66 win. Saturday, Buer tallied 11 of her 20 points in the second half to lead the Lady Bears to a 63-55 win at Creighton. 

STATE FARM MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK
Jamie Russell, Jr., G, Illinois State
Russell was perfect (7-of-7) from the free throw line in Illinois State’s win over Indiana State Friday, 78-67. Russell also made five shots from the field, collecting 17 points in the game. She recorded five rebounds, four on the offensive side of the ball. In 30 minutes of play, Russell also handed out three assists and had two steals. Russell leads the Redbirds in steals (23) in Valley play and is the second-leading scorer and rebounder. Russell is currently in the top-five in the Valley in steals and assists. In assists, she ranks fifth with 3.7 per game and is fourth in steals with 2.3 per game. On the season, Russell leads ISU in steals (48) and assists (77) and is the team’s second-leading scorer with 12.0 points per game. 

Noteworthy - In addition to the league's player and newcomer of the week selections, several conference players had notable performances, and they include:

MacKenzie Westcott (BU) - Westcott averaged 10.5 points, 14.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists last week, helping Bradley to wins against Evansville and Southern Illinois. She had six points and a season-high five assists to go along with a career-best and Renaissance Coliseum record 15 rebounds to help Bradley to an 82-64 win against Evansville. Against Southern Illinois, Westcott matched a season-high with 15 points and also grabbed 13 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the year. She matched a career-best with 15 free throw attempts against the Salukis and also had two assists and two steals in a 66-50 Bradley victory. Westcott snagged her 500th career rebound against SIU.

Carli Tritz (CU) - Tritz helped Creighton knock off league-leading Wichita State and filled up the stat sheet in Creighton’s two games last week. Last Thursday, Tritz led the Bluejays with 15 points, making 7-of-7 free-throws to help the Bluejays beat Wichita State 61-59. She also led the team with two steals and three assists in the win. Against Missouri State she topped the team with 17 points, six assists, two blocks and two steals, while adding a season-high nine rebounds. For the week she averaged 16.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per game while making 10-of-12 (.833) free-throws.

Rachael Hackbarth (DU) - Hackbarth, after snaring her fifth Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week honor had another impressive weekend for the Bulldogs. In a hard fought battle against Missouri State on Thursday, she scored 28 points while pulling down 10 rebounds. On Saturday against league-leading Wichita State, Hackbarth scored 17 points, tallied 12 rebounds and tied a career high in both assists (5) and minutes played (38). On the week, Hackbarth averaged 22.5 points and 11 boards and shot .696 from the field. Hackbarth now leads the league in scoring (19.5 ppg), rebounding (10.8 rpg), field goal percentage (.536) and double-doubles (15). 

Meagan Collins (UE) - Collins scored double-digit points in both games last week, averaging 12.5 points and 6.5 rebounds, while shooting a team-best .714 percent (10-14) from the field and .667 (2-3) from three across the two road contests. Collins logged 11 points in 18 minutes of play at Bradley, and scored a team-high 14 points and nine rebounds at Northern Iowa, piloting UE back from a 15-point second-half deficit to make it a three-point game in the final 30 seconds. On the season, Collins leads UE with a .365 (23-63) three-point percentage, while averaging 8.4 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.

Katie Broadway (ILS) - Broadway was three-points shy of her career-high 29 points in the Redbirds’ victory Friday over Indiana State, 78-67. The senior guard netted 26 points in the victory with 18 points coming in the first half. In the win, Broadway sank six three-pointers, tying a career-high. She also took away five Sycamore balls in the game with all of them coming in the first half. The five steals set a career-high for Broadway. The Bethalto, Ill., native also grabbed three rebounds in 38 minutes of play. Broadway leads the Redbirds with 16.7 points per game and is fourth on the Valley scoring list. On the season, she also leads ISU in points (350). In Valley play, Broadway leads the Redbirds in points per game (18.5) and three-point field goal percentage (.394).

Brittany Schoen (INS) - Schoen knocked down four three-pointers and scored a team-high 18 points on Friday night at Illinois State, her second straight game with at least four treys and 18 points. The ISU senior moved her career total for three-pointers to 255, needing just one more to tie former Sycamore Kourtney Mennen for eight place in Missouri Valley Conference history. 

Amber Kirschbaum (UNI) - Kirschbaum averaged 17 points and 11 rebounds in the Panthers’ two victories over Southern Illinois and Evansville. Against the Salukis, Kirschbaum registered her fourth double-double of the season with 23 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, shooting 9-of-14 from the floor. Against the Purple Aces, she put up 11 points and seven rebounds. Between the two games, Kirschbaum shot 13-of-22 (59.1 percent) and extended her streak of consecutive free throws made to 16.

Haleigh Lankster (WSU) - Lankster showed why she has become a Top 10 scorer and Top 3 stealsmith in the Wichita State record books in a pair of road performances over the weekend. The senior led WSU with 16 points and five steals in a 2-point loss at Creighton and followed up with 12 points and five more steals in a rousing 74-56 victory at Drake. Lankster now owns 1,240 points as she closes in on 9th place in WSU history and 232 steals, leaving her 15 shy of passing Allison Daniel (1982-86) for second place on the all-time team list. This year, Lankster tops the conference in steals (61) and ranks 15th in scoring (12.3 ppg). 

Catie O'Leary (BU) - O’Leary averaged nearly averaged a double-double for the week, scoring 10.5 points and grabbing 9.5 rebounds per game in wins against Evansville and Southern Illinois. She had 17 points, seven rebounds, one assist and one steal in the win against Evansville, collecting 14 points, four boards, an assist and a steal in the second half. O’Leary hauled down a career-best 12 rebounds and also scored four points in the victory against SIU, helping Bradley to its highest rebound total since Dec. 29, 2001.  

Taylor Johnson (CU) - Johnson scored the final four Bluejay points in Creighton’s 61-59 win over first-place Wichita State last Thursday, finishing with 12 points off the bench. The rookie was 4-of-9 from the floor, which included the go-ahead layup late in the game and was 3-for-4 at the free-throw line, making both of her attempts with 7.5 seconds left on the clock in the two-point win over the league-leaders. Against Missouri State she made 3-of-6 shots, including 2-of-5 from long range and finished with eight points and two steals. For the week she averaged 10 points and 2.5 rebounds per game, making 7-of-15 shots (.467) from the field and 3-of-4 from the line.

Kyndal Clark (DU) - Clark had another great weekend for the Bulldogs as she averaged 12 points per contest, five rebounds per game and shot a .417 clip from three-point land. Clark has scored in double-figures in each of her past four games, and set a career high against Missouri State with seven rebounds. On the season, Clark’s .424 clip from beyond the arc is third best in the MVC.

Racheal Mahan (INS) - Mahan made her first career start for Indiana State on Friday night at Illinois State, turning in an 11-point, nine-rebound performance. Mahan posted career highs in rebounds, minutes played (31), free-throws made (five) and free-throws attempted (nine) against the Redbirds.

Cartaesha Macklin (SIU) - Macklin averaged 13.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game for the Salukis in a pair of road matchups last week. The freshman point guard led SIU in scoring for both contests, finishing with 14 points Thursday at Northern Iowa before tallying 12 Saturday at Bradley. Macklin went 3-for-3 from the free throw line against UNI to tie the SIU record for free throws made in a season. She hit three more tosses against the Braves to put herself alone as the Salukis’ all-time single-season leader. Macklin continues to rank first among Valley newcomers in scoring and assists with averages of 16.0 and 3.7 per game respectively.