March 11, 2014
Complete Valley Release
ST. LOUIS - Guards Chloe Nelson and Katy Wingeearned All-Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete honors Tuesday, as announced by the league office. Nelson was named to the first team, while Winge received honorable mention accolades. In all, 18 players were honored on the scholar-athlete teams, while a total of 27 Valley student-athletes met the nomination criteria for scholar-athlete honors in 2014.
"It's a huge honor for Chloe and Katy to earn spots on the MVC Scholar-Athlete team," head coach Barb Smithsaid. "Their passion, time, commitment, work ethic and leadership continue to be the driving force behind their success on and off the court. It's hard enough to be a student-athlete, but to excel in the classroom as a scholar-athlete is an outstanding accomplishment. We're very proud of them."
Nelson is the only Redbird to start every game this season and is the team's leading scorer with 13.7 points per game. Through 28 games, she has poured in 384 points and tallied double-digit performances in 21 games, including six-straight games with a double-digit scoring effort. Besides leading ISU in points per game, the Florissant, Mo., native also leads the Redbirds in assists (77) and free throw percentage (74.9) and ranks second on the team in steals (30).
Nelson, a two-time MVC Scholar-Athlete honorable mention selection, was named the MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week on Dec. 26, after leading ISU in scoring at Princeton and Milwaukee. A member of the leadership team, Nelson netted a career-high 26 points in ISU's win over Florida (Nov. 29). She also pulled down a career-high eight rebounds against the Gators. Most recently, Nelson dished out seven assists at Drake (March 8), which was also a career-high. Nelson is in the top-12 in three categories in the Valley ranking, including scoring, assists and free goal percentage. Nelson holds a 3.95 cumulative grade-point average in psychology and has had six semesters with a 4.0 GPA and has been on the Dean's List every semester.
Winge has played in 24 games this season for ISU and started 18 contests. The Eden Prairie, Minn., native averages 6.5 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. She has the second-best field goal percentage on the team (43 percent). Winge also has 33 assists, 15 steals and three blocks on the season. She grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds against Evansville (Feb. 14) and had three steals two days later against Southern Illinois (Feb. 16), which was also a career-high.
In the last five games, Winge has averaged 11 points per game, which is the second most on the team. She has scored in double figures in four of the last six games. With more playing time in the paint, Winge has also pulled down 3.7 rebounds per game and dished out 12 assists and recorded seven steals. Prior to the last six games, Winge was averaging 4.8 points per game. The junior is working towards a double major in communication and marketing and holds a cumulative GPA of 3.82
The criteria for the scholar-athlete team balloting parallels the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) standards for Academic All-America voting. Nominees must be starters or important reserves, have played at least 75-percent of a team's games, and must carry at least a 3.20 GPA (on a 4.0 scale). Student-athletes must also have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institution (true and redshirt freshmen are not eligible) and must have completed at least one full academic year at the institution.
The Redbirds enter the 2014 Valley Tournament in St. Charles, Mo., as the No. 6 seed. ISU will play Friday at Family Arena at 8:37 p.m., against No. 3 Northern Iowa.
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