MOUNT PLEASANT – Iowa Wesleyan College forward Jessi Beachey (Jr.-Fisher, Ill.) has been named the Midwest Collegiate Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week, as announced by the conference Monday.
Beachey averaged 20.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game last week as the Tigers finished 1-2 on the week against a tough schedule of games. IWC lost to NCAA Division I South Dakota and lost to Jamestown (N.D.) College, the sixth-ranked team in NAIA Division II. Wesleyan then finished the week with a win over Valley City State (N.D.) University, a team just outside the top 25 in the NAIA Division II rankings.
The 6-2 Beachey scored a career-high 31 points against Jamestown, making 11 of 14 shots and hitting 9 of 11 free throw attempts as the Tigers nearly came back from a 22-point second half deficit. She followed that up with 21 points against Valley City State, all coming in the second half after she missed much of the first half with foul trouble. Beachey made 8 of 11 field goals, 5-for-6 from the free throw line, and also had seven rebounds as IWC rebounded from a15-point second half deficit to win.
For the season Beachey is leading the Tigers in scoring (16.8 points per game), field goal percentage (58.9%) and blocks (1.1 per game). She also is second on the team in rebounding (5.8 per game) and free throw shooting (84.9%). The Tigers are 3-6 on the season, with three losses to ranked teams and four of their six losses coming in overtime or by six points or less.
Wesleyan begins MCC play on Wednesday when it hosts William Penn University for a women’s/men’s doubleheader. Game time at Ruble Arena will be 5:30 p.m. for the women’s game, with the men’s game to follow at 7:30 p.m.
