ST. LOUIS – Missouri State women's basketball forward Sarah Linthacum was named Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week, the league announced Monday.
 
Linthacum (Sr., Jefferson City, Mo.) led the Lady Bears with a career-high 20 points on the road at UT Martin last Tuesday. She connected on a career-high nine field goals, shooting .692 (9-for-13) from the field against the Skyhawks. In Saturday's win at Saint Louis, Linthacum scored 11 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out a career-high six assists with no turnovers.
 
Across the week, Linthacum averaged 15.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. The senior transfer also owned a 9.0 assist-to-turnover ratio in those two games (9 AST, 0 TO) and shot .481 (13-for-27) from the field. She is one of just two Lady Bears with double-figure points in every game to start the season.
 
This season, Linthacum is Missouri State's third-leading scorer with 12.8 points per game and she leads the team with 8.5 boards per game. The award marks the first MVC weekly honor of her career. 
 
Missouri State (3-1) heads to the Virgin Islands Paradise Jam this week as the Lady Bears wrap up a six-game road stretch. MoState will face Gonzaga on Thursday (Nov. 28), Florida State on Friday (Nov. 29) and Texas Tech on Saturday (Nov. 30). All three games will tip off at 4:30 p.m. CT and will stream on ESPN+.