St. LOUIS -- Missouri State freshman guard Alexa Willard was honored Monday as the Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week in women's basketball.

Willard helped the Lady Bears to a pair of big road wins last week, scoring 14 points in each game at Evansville and Southern Illinois. Friday at UE, Willard needed only five field goal attempts to reach 14 points as she made a pair of treys and went 6-for-6 at the foul line.

Sunday, the Lebanon, Mo., native added another 14 points and two rebounds to finish the week shooting 43 percent both overall and from long range while making all seven free throw attempts. 

Willard has now scored at least 10 points in six consecutive games, the longest stretch by a Lady Bear rookie since Kenzie Williams did so during her redshirt freshman season in 2012. The last true freshman to score in double figures in six or more consecutive outings was Christiana Shorter, who accomplished the feat over the final seven games of the 2009-10 season.

The Lady Bears (7-9, 3-2 MVC) return home to face Illinois State at 7 p.m. Friday.