DAVENPORT, Iowa – Indiana State guard Bella Finnegan was named to the 2023 Missouri Valley Conference All-Freshman Team, as announced at the conference's awards banquet Wednesday night at the Rhythm City Casino Resort.
 
Finnegan averaged 8.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game this season for the Sycamores, ranking second among MVC freshmen in scoring, third in rebounds and seventh in assists. In conference play, Finnegan's numbers jumped to 10.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. The month of February was particularly strong for the Hometown, Illinois, native, as she led Indiana State in scoring during the Sycamores' eight games that month at 15.3 points per game.
 
She was the only freshman in the conference to record multiple 20-point games during MVC play, scoring 26 at Murray State and 21 at Southern Illinois. Her 26-point game against Murray State, which consisted of an 11-for-16 mark from the field and a perfect 3-for-3 mark from 3-point range, was the highest-scoring game for an Indiana State freshman since Caitlin Anderson had 27 for the Sycamores against Evansville during the 2019-20 season. In addition to the pair of 20-point games, Finnegan scored in double-figures 10 times this season.
 
One of the top 3-point shooters in the freshman class, Finnegan was one of three first-year players in the conference to average at least one 3-pointer per game. She also led all MVC freshmen and was fourth overall in the conference in free throw percentage, knocking down 86.7 percent of her attempts from the charity stripe (52-for-60).
 
Finnegan becomes the 17th player in program history to earn a spot on the MVC All-Freshman Team, and gives Indiana State an all-freshman honoree for the third time in the last four seasons after Del'Janae Williams (2020) and Arianna Smith (2022) earned the same honors in recent seasons.
 
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