ST. LOUIS – Fifth-year senior Lexi Wallen has been named to the 2020 Missouri Valley Conference Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete Team, as voted on by the conference's women's basketball contacts. One of six MVC student-athletes named to the first team, Wallen becomes the first Redbird tabbed with the award since Chloe Nelson in the 2013-14 season.
Wallen joined the women's basketball team in December 2018, after competing four years for the Illinois State volleyball team. Currently in her last year of eligibility and first full women's basketball season for the Redbirds, Wallen is ranked third in the MVC in scoring, averaging 17.2 points per game while shooting an efficient 57.0 percent from the field.
Wallen completed her degree in Biology over the summer and will enroll in the Accelerated Nursing Program at Illinois State in May. This is the second academic honor this year for the senior, who also was previously named to the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) Academic All-District Women's Basketball Team in February.
The criteria for the scholar-athlete team balloting parallels the standards for the Academic All-America voting. Nominees must be starters or important reserves, have played at least 75-percent of a team's games, and must carry at least a 3.30 GPA (on a 4.0 scale).
Student-athletes must also have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institution (true and redshirt freshmen are not eligible) and must have completed at least one full academic year at the institution.
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