Jan. 5, 2009
ST. LOUIS -
Illinois State senior Kristi Cirone was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week for the second-consecutive week, as announced by the league office Monday. It is the eighth-career player of the week award for Cirone, moving her into a tie with former Drake player Jill Martin for the fourth-most in the history of the Valley. Cirone was honored in back-to-back weeks at the beginning of conference play last season.
Cirone led Illinois State to three wins last week by averaging 22.0 points, 6.7 assists and 4.0 steals per game. She shot 48.9 percent from the field (22-45) and 50 percent from three-point range (7-14). Cirone scored 20 points in each game to extend her career-best streak to six-consecutive games with at least 20.
She had 20 points, nine assists and four steals against Eastern Illinois. Her six points in the first half moved her into second place on the ISU all-time scoring list. She then had 22 points and seven assists in ISU's MVC-opening win over Creighton. Cirone scored 14 of her game-high 21 points in a triumph over Drake in the first half, then scored six points in the final three minutes to keep the Bulldogs at bay.
Missouri State's Jackie Stiles collected 18 MVC Player of the Week awards in her career, the most ever, followed by Indiana State's Melanie Boeglin (9) and Drake's Wanda Ford (10).
The Redbirds (11-3) are back in action Saturday when they visit Indiana State (6-7) at 1 p.m. CST. Both teams enter the game 2-0 in Valley play.
