Missouri State moved into a tie for second place in the league standings with victories over Creighton and Drake at JQH Arena last weekend, behind the solid performances of Jaleshia Roberson and Christiana Shorter.  Roberson connected on 61.1 percent of her field goal tries, including a red-hot 8-of-13 (.615) from three-point range, and was a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line in the two contests.  She scored 20 points on just 10 field goal attempts and recorded three assists and two steals in the 87-78 win over the Bulldogs.  Against Creighton, Roberson scored a game-high 19-points and added two rebounds, two steals and two assists.  For the third time this season, Roberson has been named MVC Player of the Week.  Her Lady Bear teammate, freshman forward Christiana Shorter averaged 17.0 points and 9.5 rebounds and played prominent roles down the stretch in both wins for the Lady Bears. Against Creighton, she scored 18 points, grabbed nine rebounds and converted a pair of conventional three-point plays in the final 2:36 that would prove to be the difference in MSU's 70-64 win over the Bluejays. On Sunday, Shorter came up big for the Lady Bears once again, recording her third double-double of the season with a 16-point, 10-rebound effort in MSU's 87-78 victory over Drake.  For the second consecutive week and the fourth time this season, Shorter has been named MVC Newcomer of the Week.         

STATE FARM MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Jaleshia Roberson, So., G, Missouri State
Sophomore guard Jaleshia Roberson led the Missouri State charge in wins over Creighton and Drake last weekend, averaging 19.5 points, 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals.  Roberson was red-hot from three-point range, hitting on 8-of-13 (.615) attempts from beyond the arc, including a 3-of-3 effort in the second half of Sunday's victory over Drake to help MSU overcome an 18-point deficit.  The Kansas City product scored 20 points on just 10 field goal attempts and recorded three assists and two steals in the 87-78 win.  Her fourth and final triple of the day with 4:43 to play gave the Lady Bears a four-point lead and sparked a 14-2 scoring run that ultimately put the game away for MSU.  That performance followed up a game-high 19-point effort on Friday against Creighton in which she was 4-of-5 from three-point range and 5-of-8 from the field overall.  Additionally, Roberson converted all five of her free throw attempts, including two with 21 seconds left to help wrap up the 70-64 win over the Bluejays.  In all, Roberson connected on 61.1 percent of her field goal tries and was a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line in the two contests.

STATE FARM MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK
Christiana Shorter, Fr., F, Missouri State
Freshman forward Christiana Shorter turned in another big week to help Missouri State start the second half of conference play with victories over Creighton and Drake. Shorter averaged 17.0 points and 9.5 rebounds and played prominent roles down the stretch in both wins for the Lady Bears. Against Creighton, the Tulsa native scored 18 points, grabbed nine rebounds and converted a pair of conventional three-point plays in the final 2:36 that would prove to be the difference in MSU's 70-64 win over the Bluejays. On Sunday, Shorter came up big for the Lady Bears once again, recording her third double-double of the season with a 16-point, 10-rebound effort in MSU's 87-78 victory over Drake. She also came through with another key play in crunch time. With Drake leading 69-68, Shorter's basket with 5:48 left in regulation started a 14-2 run that put MSU on top to stay. For the week, she was successful on 12-of-23 (.522) field goal attempts and 83.3 percent of her free throw tries, and also blocked a pair of shots to move up to No. 9 on the Lady Bears single-season blocks (28) list.

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

• Sonya Harris, Bradley - Harris averaged 11.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 blocks per game as she helped Bradley extend its MVC road win streak to four games with a pair of victories last week.  Harris shot 55 percent from the field (11-for-20) in the two games to help Bradley match its best ever start to Missouri Valley Conference play at 8-3.  She opened the week with six points and 14 rebounds at Evansville.  Harris tied a career high with three assists and also added a block against the Purple Aces.  At Southern Illinois, she was 8-for-12 from the field and finished one rebound short of a double-double (16 points and nine rebounds).  Harris also had one assist (no turnovers), two blocks and a steal.  She has helped Bradley to a four consecutive Valley road wins, marking BU's longest road win streak in conference play since the 1991-92 season.

• Megan Neuvirth, Creighton - Neuvirth averaged 17 points and 9 rebounds per game in a pair of road contests last weekend for the Bluejays.  Against Missouri State she led the Jays with 16 points and eight rebounds, adding three assists.  At Wichita State she notched her fourth double-double of the season and 17th of her career when she led all players with 18 points and 10 boards.  Neuvirth made all three of her three-point attempts at WSU and shot 5-of-6 (.833) from beyong the arc last week.  She also made 13-of-23 (.565) shots from the field and chipped in 2.5 assists per game.

• Rachael Hackbarth, Drake - Hackbarth registered her second career double-double with 16 points and a career-high 12 rebounds in Drake's matchup with Wichita State last week. The sophomore added three steals and a personal-best four blocks on the evening. Hackbarth followed that performance with nine point, five rebound effort against Missouri State. In total, Hackbarth scored 25 points and pulled down 17 rebounds and shot an impressive 61.1 percent from the floor.

• Amy Gallagher, Evansville - Gallagher once again led Evansville in scoring this week, as she averaged 11.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.0 steals per game for the Purple Aces.  Gallagher scored a team-high 14 points on Sunday in the Purple Aces' game against Northern Iowa, after chipping in nine points on Friday night against Bradley.  Gallagher enters this week's action just seven points shy of surpassing the 800-point barrier in her Purple Aces' career.

• Ashleen Bracey, Illinois State - Bracey led Illinois State with 19 points and nine rebounds in the Redbirds' win over Indiana State Saturday. Bracey made a career-high five three-pointers and also had three assists and two steals. Bracey has had at least 10 points and nine rebounds in eight of the 10 Valley games this year.

• Taylor Whitley, Indiana State - Whitley led Indiana State with 17 points at Illinois State on Saturday, as the freshman connected on 6-of-7 shots from the free throw line and added career bests in assists (5) and steals (4) over 31 minutes of action. She is ISU's leading scorer through 10 conference games with 10.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per contest.

• Jacqui Kalin, UNI - Kalin averaged 15.0 points and 6.0 rebounds to help the Panthers pick up a pair of wins at Southern Illinois and Evansville this weekend. The sophomore tallied 18 points and four rebounds at SIU, tallying 10 of her points from the free-throw line. Against Evansville, she notched 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists to help UNI pull away for a 71-52 win.  Kalin is leading the Panthers with 15.0 points per game on the season.

• Stephany Neptune, Southern Illinois - Neptune averaged 12.5 points, 10.5 rebounds 2.5 steals and 1.5 assists, in 39.5 minutes in two games over the weekend. She recorded a game-high 19 points and 12 rebounds, adding three assists and three steals against Northern Iowa Friday. Sunday, against Bradley she added six points, nine rebounds and two steals.

• Samantha Heck, Evansville - Heck had another solid week in the post for the Purple Aces this week, as she averaged 8.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.0 steals per game in two contests against Bradley and Northern Iowa.  Heck swiped a season-high three steals on Friday night against Bradley, while chipping in four points and two rebounds against the Braves.  She then did her work on the offensive end on Sunday, posting her seventh double-figure scoring game of the season with 13 points and a team-best seven rebounds on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor against Northern Iowa.  For the week, Heck shot 46.7 percent from the floor (7-for-15), while knocking down both free throws she attempted.

• Hannah Spanich, Illinois State - Spanich tied her career-high with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting in ISU's win over Indiana State Saturday. She also had four rebounds, one assist and one steal. Spanich's six field goals were also a career-high and she scored in double-figures for the first time in 12 games.

• Sheena Johnson, Wichita State - Johnson averaged 16.0 points and 2.5 rebounds as the Shockers went 1-1 on the week. The junior from Clinton, Miss., scored a career-high 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the floor in an overtime win against Drake. Johnson also had three assists and a career-high five steals against the Bulldogs. She finished with 10 points, two rebounds and two steals against Creighton on Sunday.