Indiana State's Shannon Thomas averaged a double-double (17.5 ppg, 10.0 rpg) in two Sycamore wins last week, highlighted by a 15-point, 15-rebound performance against Eastern Illinois, tallying a sharp .765 shooting percentage in both contests.  For her outstanding efforts, Thomas has been named the MVC Player of the Week.  For the second time this season, Creighton's Carli Tritz is the MVC Newcomer of the Week.  Tritz exploded for a career-high 21 points versus No. 22 Nebraska, the highest scoring output by a Bluejay freshman since 2007-08.

STATE FARM MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Shannon Thomas, Jr., C, Indiana State
Junior center Shannon Thomas dominated the paint in both Sycamore victories this week, totaling her first double-double of the season against Eastern Illinois on Wednesday before recording her second 20-point game of the season on Sunday against USC Upstate. On Wednesday, Thomas tallied 15 points and 15 rebounds in ISU's 59-50 win, going four-for-six from field and seven-for-nine from the free-throw line. The junior center came back with just as strong of a performance against USCU on Sunday, tossing in 20 points by hitting nine of her 11 shots and a pair of free-throws. For the season, Thomas is third on the team in scoring (10.9 points per game), second in rebounding (6.2 rebounds per game) and second in field goal percentage (55.2%).

STATE FARM MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK
Carli Tritz, Fr., G, Creighton
Freshman guard Carli Tritz exploded for a game-high and career-high 21 points against Nebraska on Wednesday night for the highest scoring game by a Bluejay freshman since the 2007-08 season.  The rookie went 8-for-14 from the field and 4-for-6 from three-point range against Nebraska, after entering the game just 1-for-5 from long range on the season.  She played 32 minutes, including the final 12 minutes on a sprained right ankle.  Slowed with the ankle injury, Tritz added four points, two assists and two steals at 18th-ranked Notre Dame on Saturday.  For the week she averaged 12.5 points, 2.0 steals, 1.5 assists and 1.0 blocked shots per game against the nationally-ranked foes.  She has now grabbed at least two steals in each of Creighton's last six games and ranks second in the league in steals.

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

Raisa Taylor (BU) - Taylor matched a season-high with 22 points on 7-of-8 shooting to highlight a 62-55 win at Western Illinois for Bradley.  She also had five rebounds, two assists and one block in 29 minutes of play against the Leathernecks.  Taylor scored 14 of BU's final 18 points and collected 18 of her game-high 22 points in the second half to help the Braves hold off WIU.  She made 8-of-9 free throws, including six of seven attempts in the final three minutes of play to help BU to it's third consecutive victory and fifth win its last six contests.  

Sam Schuett (CU) - Schuett surpassed a pair of milestones last week while averaging a double-double against two BCS schools.  On Wednesday, the senior became the 23rd player in school history to reach 1,000 career points and the seventh Bluejay to reach 700 career rebounds as she nabbed a season-high 13 rebounds to go along with seven points against Nebraska.  At 18th-ranked Notre Dame, she led the Bluejays with 13 points and eight rebounds.  For the week she averaged 10 points and 10.5 rebounds per game against the nationally-ranked teams (Nebraska was ranked No. 22 in the coaches poll).

Stephanie Bamberger (UE) - Bamberger matched her career-high, scoring 17 points in Evansville's, 63-60, loss to UT-Martin. Bamberger was 5-for-9 from the field, including 3-for-6 from three-point range. The Kettering, Ohio native made a layup with by 2:04 remaining to put the Aces within three, but UE could not catch the Skyhawks in the time left. Bamberger also added four rebounds, two assists, and two steals. She leads the team with 15 threes on the year.

Katie Broadway (ILS) - Broadway scored a game-high 18 points in ISU's 77-51 win over Ball State Dec. 9. Broadway's season-best 18 points gave her six-straight double-digit scoring games, the longest streak of her career. She tied her season-high with three three-pointers.

Christiana Shorter (MSU) - Shorter played a critical role on both ends of the court for Missouri State, averaging a double-double of 14.0 points and 10.0 rebounds while shooting .565 from the floor in leading the Lady Bears to victories over SIU Edwardsville and Saint Louis this past week. Playing with a nasal fracture sustained in MSU's Dec. 5 contest with Arkansas State, the sophomore forward was particularly tough during crunch time last week, hitting on 8-of-10 second-half field goal attempts, including a 6-of-7 effort after the break Sunday vs. SLU to help MSU take control of a tight game down the stretch and notch their fourth win in-a-row. Against the Billikens, Shorter blocked three shots and polished off her second double-double of the season with a 19-point, 12-rebound afternoon. That performance followed a strong all-around game vs. SIUE on Thursday in which she finished just one point and two rebounds shy of another double in the Lady Bears' rout of the Cougars.

Jacqui Kalin (UNI) - Kalin averaged 18.5 points, 3.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game to help the Panthers earn wins over South Dakota and South Dakota State last week.  Kalin scored 19 points and dished out four assists with no turnovers in the Panthers' 73-64 win over South Dakota on Dec. 7. She shot 6-of-13 (46.2 percent) from the floor against South Dakota State, finishing with 18 points on the night. Kalin scored 15 of her 18 points in the second half, helping UNI stretch a five-point halftime lead into an 81-60 victory.  Kalin leads the Panthers with 15.2 points per game on the season.

BreAnna Dawkins (WSU) - Dawkins continued to solidify her claim to the starting point guard role, tying for the team lead with 10 points in a 67-41 rout of Savannah State Friday afternoon.  Dawkins kept her season shooting percentage at .500 with a 4-for-8 performance, including 1-of-2 beyond the arc.  She also tallied a team-best seven rebounds while forcing two steals. 

Morgan Reid (DU) - Reid was solid under the basket last week, grabbing a team-best 17 total rebounds. Reid grabbed seven boards and dished out two assists against Wisconsin to start the week, then pulled down 10 rebounds and scored seven points against Tennessee Tech. The freshmen totaled seven of her 17 total boards off the offensive glass and finished the week with four assists, three steals, nine points and just one turnover.

Andrea Rademacher (INS) - Rademacher put together the best game of her young career on Sunday, scoring a career-high 14 points against USC Upstate. Rademacher led the Sycamores with 21 minutes played off the ISU bench, going six-for-nine from the field and a perfect two-for-two from the free-throw line to record her highest scoring output of the season. ISU's redshirt freshman also pulled down a defensive rebound, blocked one shot and dished out two assists in the Sycamore victory.

Tia Mays (MSU) - Mays once again led Missouri State's dominant defensive effort last week with team highs of 10.5 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per outing to help the Lady Bears run their win streak to four games. Against SIU Edwardsville, the 6-1 forward grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and swatted away six Cougar shots to crack the MSU all-time top 10 single-game blocks list for the second time in as many games. On Sunday at Saint Louis, she posted her third straight double-digit rebounding effort with 11 boards, established a new career high for steals (2) and matched another personal best with four assists in MSU's 67-57 win over the Bills.