Illinois State womens basketball player Zora Skrabalova was named Prairie Farms/Missouri Valley Conference Scholar Athlete of the Week for her performance in a win over University of Illinois-Chicago last Saturday.
The senior from Lednice, Czech Republic, matched her career high in scoring with 14 points and added a team-best 12 rebounds in a 74-64 victory over Illinois-Chicago on Dec. 14. Skrabalova, who has a 3.19 cumulative grade-point average in psychology, also established a Redbird Arena record by an Illinois State player by collecting six blocked shots against UIC.
Head coach Robin Pingeton praised Skrabalova for her aggressiveness on the court and her hard work in the classroom.
Zora takes a lot of pride in her academics and Im really proud of her, Pingeton said. Basketball wise, the last couple of weeks weve seen great things from Zora in practice and finally shes carried it over to the games.
Skrabalova carried her UIC performance over to the Redbirds next game against Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis. The Birds defeated IUPUI in Indianapolis Tuesday night, thanks in large part to Skrabalovas 16 points and seven rebounds.
Zora is hungry to become the best basketball player she can be before she leaves here, and thats going to help us in the long run this season, Pingeton said.
To qualify for Prairie Farms/Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Week laurels, student-athletes must carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.00, completed at least one academic year at a Valley institution and must be at least a sophomore in academic standing. In addition to the academic qualifications, student-athletes are evaluated on their athletic performance for a one-week period.
