The Valpo women’s basketball team had a pair of players honored on Tuesday as the Missouri Valley Conference unveiled its women’s basketball Scholar-Athlete teams. Senior Olivia Brown (East Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids [St. Bonaventure]) was named to the Scholar-Athlete First Team, while fifth-year Maya Dunson (Dayton, Ohio/Wayne [Loyola]) was named to the Scholar-Athlete Second Team.

Brown has been one of the Valley’s top shooters this season, ranking second in the conference in both 3-point percentage and 3-pointers/game. She leads Valpo in scoring, averaging 12.1 points/game, and has paced the squad in the scoring column 14 times this year. Brown also sits seventh in the conference in MVC-only play in field goal percentage, and is poised to crack Valpo’s single-season top-10 charts for both 3-point percentage and 3-pointers made this season.

In the classroom, Brown carries a perfect 4.00 GPA as a communication major. A CSC Academic All-District honoree this year, Brown earned the MVC Commissioner’s Academic Excellence Award last year.

Dunson has been an integral piece on the court for the Beacons this year, tasked with defending opposition post players. She averaged 4.9 points and 2.8 rebounds per game in conference play. Dunson scored a career-high 14 points earlier this season against Indiana State, and pulled down a career-best seven rebounds on three occasions.

In the classroom, Dunson graduated from Loyola in December 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in biology, studying on the pre-med track with a focus on oncology. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in public health at Valpo and owns a 3.96 GPA. Dunson was a CSC Academic All-District honoree this year.