The opening weekend in MVC women's basketball was filled with outstanding individual efforts from veterans and newcomers alike.  Two players turned in double-doubles, four players topped the 20-point mark and three players cleared better than 10 rebounds.  The only league player to top 30 points was Indiana State's Kelsey Luna, who poured in 37 points and topped the 1,000 career points milestone en route to the league's first State Farm Player of the Week honoree in 2009-10.   Bradley's Katie Yohn became the first Braves' freshman to score in double figures in their first two games since 1981-82, averaging 14.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists to capture the conference's initial Newcomer of the Week honor.

Much like last season, again in 2009-10 the Missouri Valley Conference will release its players of the week on Mondays, with the full women's basketball notebook available on Tuesdays, beginning tomorrow (Nov. 17).

State Farm MVC Player of the Week
Kelsey Luna, Indiana State
Indiana State senior guard Kelsey Luna had a career-high 37 points in 38 minutes of work on Saturday, leading Indiana State to a 77-73 win at Kansas State.  Luna smashed the coveted 1,000 career points milestone in the first game of her senior season and now stands at 1,019 points over the last three-plus years as a Sycamore. She went 15-for-21 (.714) in field goal range and 5-for-6 in free throws against the Wildcats, while adding a pair of 3-point shots. Luna also had a steal, an assist and two rebounds to her credit.

State Farm MVC Newcomer of the Week
Katie Yohn, Bradley
Bradley freshman Katie Yohn made a big impact in the first two outings of her career.  She led the Braves in scoring in the first game of her career, finishing with 16 points and a game-high five assists off the bench in the season opener at Northern Illinois.  Yohn made her first career start Sunday against Illinois-Chicago and responded by shooting 6-of-10 from the field.  In addition to dishing out a game-high five assists, she contributed 13 points, five rebounds, one block and one steal as she helped the Braves to a 79-64 win against the Flames.  Yohn averaged 14.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists last week and is the first Bradley freshman to score in double figures in their first two games since Judy Burns in 1981-82.

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 turned in a pair of double-doubles, averaging 14.5 points and 12.0 rebounds per game as she helped Bradley to a 1-1 record. Harris made 14-of-21 shots in the two games and also averaged 1.5 assists and 3.5 blocked shots per game. She made 7-of-12 shots from the field and collected 15 points and 13 rebounds in the season opener at Northern Illinois. Harris also had two blocks and one steal in 24 minutes of play against the Huskies. She followed it up with a dominating performance against Illinois-Chicago in which she contributed game-highs of 14 points and 11 rebounds. Harris hit 7-of-9 shots from the field and also had five rejections to go along with a career-high three assists.
• Chevelle Herrring, Creighton - The Bluejay point guard opened her senior season with a pair of solid performances in two well-balanced home wins over Arkansas State and Davidson. Against ASU in the opener, Herring made 2-of-3 three-pointers and finished with nine points and team-high five assists, while the 5-foot-4 guard added a blocked shot and four rebounds. In the Davidson win, she led all scorers with 20 points, making 7-of-15 shots from the field and 4-of-7 from long range. For the week she averaged 14.5 points, 4.0 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game, shooting 38.5 percent (10-26) from the field, 60.0 percent (.600) and 100 percent (3-3) from the line.
• Jordann Plummer, Drake - Plummer scored 22 points and pulled down nine rebounds in Drake's last-second 70-68 loss at UMKC. Both numbers were game highs. Plummer also totaled four steals and four assists and shot 50 percent from three-point range.
• Chelsea Falkenstein, Evansville - Falkenstein had a break-out opening week of play this week for Evansville, as she paced the Purple Aces in both scoring and rebounding with averages of 10.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game against Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Samford. Falkenstein began the week by equally her single-game career-highs for points and rebounds, and establishing a new single-game high for steals in UE's season-opener against Milwaukee with seven points, five rebounds, and four steals. She then nearly doubled both her point and rebound totals against a Samford squad which posted a 22-7 record a year ago on Sunday with a team-high 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Despite playing in just two games, Falkenstein enters this week's action needing just two points and two steals to equal her entire season totals of a year ago.
• Nicolle Lewis, Illinois State - Lewis was named to the Hawkeye Challenge All-Tournament Team, averaging 16 points and 8.5 rebounds over the two games. She had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds in the win over UCLA. She followed that with 20 points and five rebounds against Iowa in the championship game. Lewis shot 80 percent and hard four blocks in the tournament.
• Casey Garrison, Missouri State - Garrison picked up right where she left off last year, leading Missouri State with 15 points in its season-opening loss to Georgetown Saturday. The 6-0 sophomore also registered a game-high six assists to go along with six boards. Her string of five straight MSU points in the opening minutes staked the Lady Bears to an early six-point lead and she poured home six points in a two-minute span to ignite another Lady Bear rally midway through the second half.
• Haleigh Lankster, Wichita State - Lankster rang in the 2009-10 regular season in style for Wichita State, scoring a career-high 18 points on 8-of-16 shooting for the Shockers Sunday afternoon at Colorado State.  Lankster scored WSU's first six points of the game before foul trouble kept her out of much of the first half. The Tulsa native tallied her points in just 16 minutes, and connected on one of WSU's five three-point field goals as well. Lankster also posted two rebounds and a steal to go along with her team-best 18 points.
• Ally Jensen, Creighton - The rookie guard was part of Creighton's opening weekend three-point barrage, as all seven of her attempts in her first two games came from beyond the arc. She was 4-for-7 from three-point range in her first two games, including a 3-for-4 performance from deep against Davidson. She had four points, two rebounds and a steal in her collegiate debut against Arkansas State. The guard followed with a nine-point game on her three treys in just 12 minutes against Davidson. For the week she averaged 6.5 points and 1.0 rebounds per game, shooting 57.1 percent (4-7) from the field and three-point range.
• Chelsea Hawkins, Evansville - Hawkins led UE's six newcomers in scoring this week with an average of 9.5 points per game, while shooting 66.7 percent from the floor, including 62.5 percent from three-point range. Hawkins opened her UE career with a solid eight-point, three-steal effort against Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Friday night, in which she went 3-of-6 from the floor and 2-of-5 from three-point range. She then followed it up with an 11-point, two-assist effort against Samford on Sunday in which she went a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range. For the week, Hawkins went 6-of-9 from the floor and 5-of-8 from three-point range. She also hit both free throws she attempted, while averaging 2.0 steals per game defensively.
• Hannah Spanich, Illinois State - Spanich made her Redbird debut after transferring from New Mexico State last season. She had the best game of her young career against Iowa with 10 points, four rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal. She scored the first six points in an 8-0 run that put the Redbirds up by five in the second half.
• Taylor Whitley, Indiana State - Whitley had six points in Indiana State's 77-73 win at Kansas State on Saturday. The freshman was 6-for-8 (.750) from the free throw line and also notched three steals, an assist and two rebounds against the Wildcats.
• Christiana Shorter, Missouri State - Shorter turned in a strong debut effort for the Lady Bears in their 79-55 loss to Georgetown on Saturday, finishing with 12 points, four steals and three rebounds. The Tulsa native went 4-of-7 from the floor and a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe in just 23 minutes of court time. Shorter accounted for six MSU points over a three-minute stretch in the second half to help the Lady Bears momentarily climb back into the contest after trailing by as many as 25 early in the period.
• Stephany Neptune, Southern Illinois - Neptune started her first regular-season game as a point guard, after spending the last three of her career a forward. The senior posted eight points, 12 rebounds, five assists, a block and four steals in 39 minutes against Saint Louis Friday night in the Salukis' season opener and her first game for SIU. 
• Jessica Diamond, Wichita State - Diamond led all of WSU's eight newcomers with 11 points in the season opener Sunday afternoon at Colorado State. Diamond played 28 minutes for the Shockers, and pulled down five rebounds while leading the squad with two steals as well.  Diamond was 1-for-2 from three-point range and also tallied her first career assist and block against the Rams.