Biography
Honors: First-team all-MVC (2018, 2020)...CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team (2020)...MSU Outstanding Female Athlete (2020)...MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team (2020)...Preseason WNIT all-tournament (2020)...MVC Tournament MVP (2019)...MVC Scholar-Athlete Second Team (2019)...Honorable mention all-MVC (2019)...MSU Female Junior Athlete of the Year (2019)...MVC All-Freshman Team (2017)...MVC Player of the Week (Dec. 18, 2017; Nov. 18, 2019)...MVC Newcomer of the Week (Jan. 16, 2017)...Athletic Director’s Honor Roll (Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019)...MVC Academic Honor Roll (2017, 2018, 2019)...MVC Commissioner’s Academic Excellence Award (2018, 2019).
Senior/Career Summary: First-team all-MVC pick as a senior, averaging 16.1 points and 3.2 rebounds....Ranked 25th on MSU’s single-season scoring list with 483 total points...Shot 46.8 percent overall, 43 percent on 3-pointers and 90.6 percent from the foul line to become the first player in school history with a 45/40/90 season...Started all 129 games of her career, ranking third in games played and setting the school record for consecutive starts...Ranked fifth nationally in free throw accuracy with the second-best season percentage in school history...Scored in double figures 27 times as a senior with eight 20-point games...Scored at least 10 points 77 times in her career with 20 or more in 15 games and two 30-point efforts...Finished career ranked 12th in school history with 1,517 points, second in free throw percentage (.864) and 12th in 3-point accuracy (.370).
2018-19: MSU’s second-leading scorer at 12.3 points per game while starting all 35 contests to tie a school record and push her streak to 99 consecutive starting assignments...Shot 40 percent overall, 34 percent on 3-pointers and 84 percent at the foul line, which moved her career free throw percentage to fifth in school history at 84.2 percent...Led the team with 31 treys...Added 2.5 rebounds per game with 31 assists and 19 steals...Honorable mention all-MVC selection...MVC Tournament MVP after averaging 17.7 points in three games, including a career-high 30 on 11-of-20 shooting in the championship victory against 21st-ranked Drake (March 17)...Scored in double figures 22 times with five 20-point games...Tallied 20 points in MSU’s NCAA first round win over No. 24 DePaul (March 23), including the 1,000th of her career early in the third quarter...Finished the year ranked 26th at MSU with 1,034 career points...Poured in 29 points versus Bradley (Feb. 17), shooting 13-for-18 to tie a JQH Arena record for field goals...Ended the season as JQH’s career field goal percentage leader, making 48.5 percent of her career attempts at home...Shot 11-for-15 for 25 points against Evansville (Jan. 6)...Grabbed a season-high eight rebounds against Evansville on the road (March 7).
2017-18: Earned first-team all-MVC honors after averaging 10.8 points on 48 percent shooting while starting all 33 games...Ranked 12th in the Valley in scoring and sixth in field goal percentage...Averaged 12 points on 52 percent shooting for the final 25 games of the season...Scored 10 or more points in 18 games, leading the Lady Bears 11 times...Tallied season-highs of 23 points and nine rebounds at Indiana State (Dec. 29)...Scored 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting against Northwestern (Dec. 16), earning MVC Player of the Week honors for her efforts...Connected on eight consecutive 3-pointers from Dec. 10-19...Notched her 500th career point on Feb. 11, ending the year ranked 55th on MSU’s scoring list with 605 points...Had 19 points and an MSU season-high six assists at Loyola (Feb. 16)...Shot 50 percent or better in 16 games...Hit five or more field goals 15 times...Shot 39 percent from beyond the arc and 89 percent at the free throw line.
2016-17: MVC All-Freshman selection after averaging 8.0 points and 3.7 rebounds per game with a .419 shooting percentage...Started all 31 games, joining Lisa Davies, Christiana Shorter, LaTanya Davis, Casey Garrison, Jackie Stiles and Aubrey Buckley as the only MSU true freshmen to start at least 30 games...Scored in double figures 11 times, including eight consecutive games from Dec. 19-Jan. 22, the longest streak by an MSU freshman since Casey Garrison in 2008-09...Scored a season-high 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting against Wichita State (Jan. 6)...MVC Freshman of the Week on Jan. 16 after averaging 14 points in wins at Evansville and Southern Illinois...Had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds versus Evansville (Feb. 12)...Shot 50 percent or better from the floor in 12 games...Shot 81 percent from the foul line...Averaged 2.2 offensive rebounds in MVC games to rank eighth in the league...Ended the year with 31 assists, 17 steals and eight blocks.
Background: Scored over 2,400 points and grabbed nearly 1,000 rebounds at Stoutland High as the most accurate free throw shooter in Missouri high school history...Made 466 career free throws at an 89.2 percent clip, including a state-record 42 straight and another top-10 streak of 31 consecutive makes...Twice went 13-for-13 from the foul line in a game...Averaged 31.2 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 3.3 steals per game as a senior, shooting 58 percent overall and 49 percent from 3-point range...Earned MBCA All-State honors as a senior and was a Miss Show-Me Basketball finalist...Picked up all-conference and all-district accolades each of her four prep seasons...Averaged 23.8 points as a junior and 26 points per game as a sophomore.
Personal: Alexa Willard is the daughter of David and Andrea Willard...Born March 9, 1998 in Springfield, Mo...Has one brother, Billy, and one sister, Alicia...Majoring in general business.
