St. LOUIS – Missouri State's Alexa Willard and Brice Calip were recognized Tuesday (March 10) for their work in the classroom and on the court, with Willard landing one of six spots on the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete First Team, and Calip being selected to the honorable team after a vote of the league's sports information directors.

A senior guard from Lebanon, Mo., Willard leads the No. 21/23 Lady Bears (26-4, 16-2 MVC) in scoring at 16.1 points per game, shooting 46.8 percent overall, 43 percent on 3-pointers and 90.6 at the foul line to rank fifth nationally and second in MSU history in that category.

Willard, who carries a 3.79 cumulative grade point average as a general business major, has scored in double figures 27 times in 30 games for the MVC regular season champions, topping the 20-point barrier on eight occasions. She currently ranks 12th in MSU history with 1,517 career points, second in free throw percentage (.864) and 12th in 3-point accuracy at 37.0 percent. She recently set the school record for consecutive starts at 129.

Calip leads the MVC and ranks 22nd nationally with a 2.34 assist-to-turnover ratio, on pace for the second-best single-season mark in MSU history, and increased that to 2.70 in league games. she averages 12.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game on the year, adding 38 steals and shooting 80.4 percent from the foul line while ranking second in the league in free throw makes and attempts.

The junior guard from Sapulpa, Okla., owns a 3.45 GPA in sport and park administration, and has 22 double-figure scoring games this season. She has two games this year with eight assists and no turnovers, posted a stretch of 24 assists without a turnover from Jan. 31-Feb. 9, and has scored 994 career points.

The criteria for the scholar-athlete team balloting parallels the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) standards for the Academic All-America voting. Nominees must be starters or important reserves, have played at least 75-percent of a team's games, and must carry at least a 3.30 GPA (on a 4.0 scale). Student-athletes must also have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institution (true and redshirt freshmen are not eligible) and must have completed at least one full academic year at the institution. A total of 35 Valley student-athletes met the nomination criteria for scholar-athlete honors in 2020.

The Lady Bears are the No. 1 seed at this week's MVC Tournament in Moline, Ill., and open play on Friday at 12 p.m. against the winner of Thursday's game between No. 8 Loyola and ninth-seeded Indiana State.