Jan. 10, 2008
NORMAL, Ill. -
Junior Kristi Cirone, a guard on the Illinois State women's basketball team, was named the Prairie Farms/Missouri Valley Conference Female Scholar-Athlete of the Week on Thursday, Jan. 10. Cirone, who received the Valley Player of the Week award for women's basketball on Monday, received the third scholar-athlete honor of her career.
Cirone scored 60 points combined in three Redbird wins, the most any player has scored during a three-game stretch this season. She averaged 24 points and 6.5 assists per game in the two Valley contests; the best start to Valley play in her career. She leads the conference in scoring and assists after the opening weekend. Against Evansville, Cirone led the Redbirds with 21 points and six assists. She scored 17 points in the second half, including 12 points, on three three-pointers and three free throws, during a pivotal 22-6 Redbird run. Against Southern Illinois, she scored 27 points, just shy of her career-high of 28, and had seven assists. Cirone made 10 free throws against the Salukis.
The Chicago native, who holds a 3.45 cumulative grade-point average in exercise science, was 19-for-21 from the free throw line over the three games and became just the fourth player in ISU history to accumulate 300 free throws in her career. She is currently in third place on the all-time list with 311. She is also three assists away from becoming the sixth player in Redbird history to surpass 400 in her career.
Cirone is the third Redbird to receive a scholar-athlete of the week honor. Her teammate, sophomore forward Ashleen Bracey, received the award on Dec. 19 and women's soccer forward Bethany Russ earned the award on Sept. 19.
The Prairie Farms/Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Week award is in its ninth year and seeks to acknowledge student-athletes in the Valley for their athletic and academic achievements. To qualify for the award, student-athletes must carry a GPA of at least 3.00, have completed at least one academic year at a Valley institution and be at least a sophomore in academic standing. In addition to their academic qualifications, student-athletes will be evaluated on their athletic performances for a one-week period.
