Valparaiso University women’s basketball junior Meredith Hamlet (McBain, Mich. / McBain) has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Female Scholar Athlete of the Week, presented by Enterprise Bank and Trust Company.

To qualify for the honor, a student-athlete must carry a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 and be at least a sophomore in academic standing. The Valley honors one male and female athlete each week, taking into account their academic qualifications and athletic performance.

Hamlet had 23 points before halftime in Friday’s win over IU Northwest and finished the night 8-of-10 shooting, 5-of-6 from beyond the arc and 8-of-8 at the free-throw line for 29 points, matching a career high and reaching that total for the third straight season. Since the start of the 2015-16 season, there have been 11 occasions where a Valpo player has hit 5 or more 3-pointers in a game, and Hamlet has accounted for seven of those.

Hamlet has posted one 29-point game in each of her three seasons in a Valpo uniform. The scoring outburst against IU Northwest was her first time surpassing 20 points in a home game, as each of the first five 20+ point performances of her career came away from the Athletics-Recreation Center.

The Valpo junior followed her impressive outing against IU Northwest with a career-high six assists in Monday’s win at Eastern Illinois. For the season, she is averaging 13.8 points per game, which ranks second on the team, and shooting a team-best 52.2 percent from 3-point range.

Hamlet also thrives in the classroom, where she owns a 3.48 grade point average in public relations. She becomes the first Valpo athlete to garner this honor.