ST. LOUIS – Aniya Thomas of Missouri State women’s basketball earned Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week for her performances at Indiana State and Evansville to open conference action, the league announced today.
The fifth-year senior averaged 19.5 points and 5.5 rebounds, while shooting 55 percent (17-31) from the field, dishing out 10 assists and tallying seven steals in Missouri State’s two wins to open Valley play.
In Missouri State’s 73-61 victory at Evansville, Thomas added her name to the MSU record book as she scored 27 points (one shy of her career high), grabbed 10 rebounds, went 13-for-20 (.650) from the field, dished out five assists and pocketed six steals. Thomas’ stat line of a double-double with at least five assists and five steals was just the fourth of its kind in program history at MSU.
Her six steals were a career-high and her 10 rebounds tied a career-high mark, as she also turned in the Lady Bears’ highest-scoring performance of the season. In MSU’s first win of the weekend at Indiana State, Thomas was second on the team with 12 points and was the game’s leader with five assists.
The honor marks the first Valley award of Thomas’ career and is Missouri State’s third newcomer award of the season.
Missouri State returns to Great Southern Bank Arena for a three-game home stand. The Lady Bears will face Illinois State on Thursday, Jan. 5 with tipoff set for 6 p.m. CT in Springfield.
