ST LOUIS – For the third time this season, and the third time since the start of MVC play, DeAnna Wilson has earned MVC Player of the Week honors, as announced by the league office on Tuesday.
Wilson leads the league this season with her third Valley Player of the Week honor, which have all come since the start of conference play. She guided Illinois State to a pair of crucial home wins over UNI and Drake last week averaging 25.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game across the two victories.
She opened with a 26-point performance against UNI Thursday that tied her career-high for the third time in MVC play and was her third performance of 25-plus points. She scored 15 points in the second half, and 11 points in the fourth quarter, finishing the night with 8 rebounds, 1 block and 1 steal. Against MVC-leading Drake on Saturday she posted her fourth 20-plus point night in MVC play and her sixth of the 2023-2024 campaign, tallying 24 points and 7 boards in a thrilling win over Drake. Notably, Wilson outscored two fellow MVC player of the year candidates (UNI's Grace Boffeli and Drake's Katie Dinnebier) while handing them losses last week.
In MVC play, she is averaging 18.1 points (3rd in MVC) and 7.4 rebounds (6th in MVC) per game.
It is the second time in her career that Wilson has earned three MVC player of the week honors in the same season, joining a 2021-2022 campaign where she tied for the most MVC Player of the Week honors. Her most recent selection was the sixth of her Illinois State career.
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