ST. LOUIS – Four Illinois State women's basketball student-athletes were honored with 2020 All-Missouri Valley Conference recognitions, as announced by the conference office on Wednesday morning. Seniors TeTe Maggett and Lexi Wallen were both All-MVC First Team selections with junior Juliunn Redmond recognized as All-MVC Honorable Mention. Junior Paige Saylor rounded out the conference awards for the Redbirds, as she was named to the All-Defensive Team for the second time in her career.
Maggett, a senior from North Chicago, Illinois, earns All-MVC First Team honors again during the 2019-20 season, after having previously been recognized last year. The senior is ranking in the top-10 of several statistics in the conference including minutes played (2nd, 34.0 mins/game), scoring (6th, 15.1 points/game), assists (6th, 3.9 assists/game), rebounding (7th, 6.4 rebounds/game) and steals (10th, 1.5 steals/game). Maggett had a career-high 33 points on Dec. 4 versus Western Illinois, while also leading the 'Birds in assists in 19 games this season.
Wallen, a senior from Champaign, Illinois, leads the Redbirds in scoring on the season, averaging 17.2 points per game while shooting 57.0 percent from the field. The senior ranks third in the conference in scoring, as well as 19th nationally in field goal percentage. She had a career-high 35 points in Feb. 14's double overtime win over Loyola Chicago and has racked up double-digit scoring in 25 of 29 games this season. Wallen was named MVC Player of the Week on Jan. 6, was honored on the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team and was one of 42 DI women's basketball student-athletes selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team.
Redmond, a junior from Chicago, Illinois, averaged 13.7 points and a team-high 7.2 rebounds in MVC play in her debut season with the Redbirds. She tallied double figure scoring in 15 of 18 Valley contests, also recording five double-doubles on the year, all in conference play. Redmond earned the MVC Newcomer of the Week title on three occasions this season, also leading ISU with 54 steals during the 2019-20 campaign.
Saylor, a junior from Martinsville, Indiana, is averaging 5.8 points and 30.7 minutes played per game this season, while appearing in every game and starting in all put two. The junior dished out 57 assists while grabbing 35 steals during the year. This is Saylor's second selection to the All-Defensive Team, having earned the distinction during the 2017-18 campaign along with All-Freshman Team honors.
MVC specialty awards for Player, Newcomer, Freshman, Defensive Player and Sixth Player of the Year will be announced, in addition to the league's Coach of the Year, at an awards ceremony between Games 1 and 2 of the MVC Tournament on Thursday, March 12, at TaxSlayer Center in Moline, Illinois.
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