Maggie Dwyer’s career-high 29-point effort led Missouri State to a 97-89 victory over Canisius Friday (Dec. 21) and netted the junior forward her second Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week honor for 2007-08, the league office announced Wednesday.

 

Behind Dwyer’s 10-of-21 shooting performance against Canisius, MSU shot a season-high 50 percent from the floor, and its 97 points represented the Lady Bears’ best offensive showing since the 2002-03 season. Dwyer established a new career scoring high for the third consecutive game, pouring home 17 in the second half to help the Lady Bears turn around a one-point halftime deficit and pick up their second win of the season.

 

Missouri State took control of the game for good when Dwyer’s three-point play with 16:18 left in the game turned a 54-52 Lady Bear lead into a five-point advantage and sparked a 29-14 run that saw MSU stretch its lead to as many as 17 points. The Grand Haven, Mich., product accounted for 12 points during the decisive Missouri State scoring spurt and finished the night with seven rebounds and three assists.    

 

Dwyer, who was tabbed MVC Newcomer of the Week for the first time on Dec. 10, is averaging a team-high 14.4 points per game and leads the MVC in three-point field goal percentage (.475).

 

The Lady Bears (2-8) will be back in action on Saturday (Dec. 29) when they travel to Bowling Green, Ky., for their final non-conference matchup of the season against Western Kentucky at 4 p.m.