SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Fresh off of a pair of Missouri Valley Conference victories this past week, the Missouri State Lady Bears (14-4, 5-1 MVC) earned another sweep Monday, as junior Casey Garrison and sophomore Tia Mays were tabbed MVC Player and Newcomer of the Week, respectively.
For Garrison, the honor is her third player of the week honor this season. The award is the first for Mays as a Lady Bear, but marks the 14th time in the last four seasons under head coach Nyla Milleson a Missouri State player has been chosen as the conference’s top newcomer.
Garrison powered MSU to a pair of home wins last week, averaging 17.5 points, 4.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals in helping the Lady Bears stop one streak and continue another. Garrison scored 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting while handing out a team-high four assists in MSU’s 76-61 victory over Illinois State Tuesday that halted an eight-game skid for the Lady Bears in their series with the Redbirds. She would convert seven straight field goal attempts at one point, including her last five shots of the first half to help MSU turn a four-point deficit into an insurmountable double-digit advantage.
Garrison, who also earned MVC Player of the Week recognition in consecutive weeks in November, came up big when it mattered most Sunday vs. Indiana State as well, tallying 12 of her game-high 18 points after intermission in MSU’s 11-point victory over the Sycamores. The Bolivar, Mo., product broke the Missouri State record for consecutive free throws made (33) with her 6-of-6 effort at the charity stripe, and registered game highs of five assists and three steals as well.
The honor for Garrison is the 11th weekly MVC citation of her career, including seven player of the week awards. She was named MVC Newcomer of the Week four times in 2008-09 en route to capturing the league’s Freshman of the Year honor. Last year, she was selected as player of the week three times on her way to receiving the Jackie Stiles MVC Player of the Year award as the league’s most valuable player.
Mays was a force for Missouri State on the defensive end of the court in its two MVC home wins, averaging a near-triple-double of 7.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 7.0 blocked shots. Against Illinois State, the 6-1 sophomore transfer narrowly missed equaling the same MVC single-game record for blocks (9) that she tied on Dec. 5, swatting Redbird eight shots and pulling down a game-high eight boards. Mays also matched a career high with three assists and contributed eight points on just two attempts from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 effort at the foul line.
The Des Moines native was equally impressive vs. Indiana State Sunday, grabbing a personal-best 11 rebounds, rejecting six more shots and chipping in six points to help MSU notch its fifth straight win over the Sycamores and its eighth consecutive Valley win at JQH Arena.
Just 18 games into her Missouri State career, Mays is already among the program’s all-time leaders in blocked shots. She currently sits third on the Lady Bears’ single-season blocks list with 65—just 10 shy of Sharon Zeilmann’s school record—and ranks sixth on the career list as well.
Off to their best conference start in seven years, the Lady Bears will wrap up their longest home stretch of the Valley season Friday (Jan. 21) when they renew their rivalry with Wichita State in a 7:05 p.m. contest at JQH Arena.
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