ST. LOUIS – Indiana State senior guard Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year, announced at the annual awards presentation at the Family Arena on Thursday.

Abdul-Qaadir is the first Newcomer of the Year for the Sycamores since Ashley Clark in 2005 and third overall, also joining Clark and Amy Amstutz (1997). The Springfield, Mass. native is a postgraduate transfer from Memphis using her final year of eligibility with ISU.

The senior guard leads the Sycamore offense with 14.4 points per game, 127 assists (4.3) and 56 steals (1.93) per game. Her 14.4 points per game is eighth in the MVC, third in assists, sixth in steals and seventh in free throw percentage (.790).

She has been named the MVC Player of the Week and Scholar-Athlete of the Week three times each and Newcomer of the Week twice this season. She set nearly all of her career-highs at Indiana State, recording 32 points at Loyola, dished out 11 assists at Wichita State and grabbed nine rebounds against Northern Iowa.

She has started at point guard in all 29 games of the season and scored in double-figures 21 times. Abdul-Qaadir recorded her first double-double at Wichita State on Feb. 23 with 12 points and 11 assists.

The honor caps the week for Abdul-Qaadir who was also named an MVC Scholar-Athlete second team and All-Conference first team selection along with the MVC Player and Scholar-Athlete of the Week.

Abdul-Qaadir and the Sycamores are set as the top seed for the upcoming MVC Tournament on Friday. ISU takes on the winner of the No. 8 Loyola or No. 9 Bradley game at 1 p.m. ET. The game will be seen live on Valley Live or listen to the action on 98.5 WIBQ FM.

For the latest information on the Sycamore Women's Basketball team, make sure to visit GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.