Kelley earns first MVC Freshman of the Week honor
Kelley is the second Purple Aces freshman to be recognized
ST. LOUIS – After back-to-back career games freshman point guard Avery Kelley (Evansville, Ind. / Memorial HS) is the Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Week.
Setting multiple offensive career highs in two games last week Kelley was selected as the Valley Freshman of the Week by conference office staff on Monday afternoon. She was the leading scorer for the Purple Aces in their game against Missouri State. Kelley was also the second leading scorer for UE in the team’s first conference win of 2025 over Southern Illinois on Sunday.
Evansville had a limited bench in its game against the Lady Bears and Kelley shined with increased minutes. Through 31 minutes on the floor, she had a team-high 18 points along with adding five rebounds. Kelley was also the only Ace to record multiple assists and steals on Friday in the loss. Her performance battling Missouri State was Kelley’s best shooting game with an overall shooting percentage of 76.9% including being a perfect four of four from the free throw line.
Kelley had a similar performance on Sunday, scoring 18 points for the second game in a row. She has now had double-figure scoring outings in her last three games. Kelley made a career-high three triples against the Salukis and had her second game this season making seven free throws on eight attempts. Away from scoring Kelley grabbed three boards, assisted on four baskets, and grabbed one steal.
In two games Kelley scored just over 25% of UE’s points in the team’s return to Meeks Family Fieldhouse. She averaged 28.5 minutes, 18 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1.5 steals per game over the weekend.
Kelley is now Evansville’s second freshman to earn Freshman of the Week honors. Teammate Camryn Runner has been the MVC Freshman of the Week six times in 10 weeks. The Aces have now earned seven of the 11 possible weekly awards for players in their first year of collegiate basketball.
