Women's Basketball

Cirone, Jackson, Krick Receive All-Valley Honors

[March 12, 2008]  NORMAL -- The all-Missouri Valley Conference teams were announced by the league office on Tuesday, and junior Kristi Cirone, sophomore Maggie Krick and freshman Shala Jackson were among the players honored. For the second consecutive year, Cirone was named to the All-Valley First Team and All-Defensive Team. Krick received her first conference honor as an honorable mention selection, and Jackson was named to the All-Valley Freshman Team.

Cirone led the Valley in assists (5.6 apg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.31), while finishing second in scoring (16.3 ppg) and steals (2.6 spg). A three-time MVC Player of the Week and MVC/Prairie Farms Scholar-Athlete of the Week, she became the 22nd player in ISU history to eclipse 1,000 career points earlier this season and currently ranks eighth with 1,404 points. Cirone was an MVC Scholar-Athlete First-Team selection this week for the second consecutive year and earned CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine All-Academic District V Second-Team laurels in February.

Cirone is the sixth Redbird to be named to the All-Valley First Team in consecutive years. The last was Jenny Schmidt, who earned the recognition for three consecutive years, from 1997-99. Cirone and Evansville guard Rebekah Parker were the only repeat first-team selections. They were joined by forward Jill Martin of Drake, center Laura Rudolphi of Indiana State, guard Ally Thrall of Creighton and guard Lindsay Whorton of Drake.

Cirone became the first Illinois State player to be named to the league's all-defensive team in back-to-back seasons. The only repeat member of the Valley All-Defensive Team this season, she was joined by guard Ashley Austin of Evansville, guard Skye Johnson of Bradley, forward Erica Smith of Southern Illinois and Rudolphi.

Krick has started all 29 games this season and is second on the team in scoring (12.6 ppg), field goals (147), 3-point field goals (46) and steals (31). In a win over South Florida in the Best Western Roundball Classic, Krick recorded career highs with 27 points, on 10-of-13 shooting, and eight assists. In the Redbirds' win at Missouri State, she netted 25 points and tied the Illinois State single-game record with seven 3-point field goals. She has scored in double figures 16 times this season and led the Redbirds in scoring on eight different occasions. Krick was named to the MVC Scholar-Athlete Second Team this week and received an CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine All-Academic District V Second-Team honor earlier this season.

Krick was the 11th Illinois State player to receive honorable mention recognition and the third consecutive, after Cirone achieved the feat in 2006 and sophomore center Nicolle Lewis did so last season. Receiving honorable mention recognition along with Krick were guard Courtney Felke of Evansville, guard Angela Phillips of Indiana State, forward Kiki Stephens of Wichita State and forward Tiff Terwelp of Missouri State.

Jackson has played in every game this season and started seven consecutive games at the end of the year. ISU's freshman leader in every category, Jackson is sixth on the team in scoring (8.0 ppg) and third in rebounding (4.7 rpg). She scored in double figures 11 times in the regular season, including the first three games of her collegiate career, and had a career-high 20 points in her second game against Green Bay. In back-to-back games against Indiana State and Missouri State, Jackson recorded her first double-digit rebounding games, with 11 and 13 respectively. During her seven-game stretch as a starter, she averaged 8.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.

Jackson became the seventh Redbird to be named to the All-Freshman Team, formerly known as the All-Newcomer Team. This season marked the third consecutive year that ISU has had a representative on the squad, after Cirone earned the honor in 2006 and sophomore forward Kenyatta Shelton did so last season. The other members of the Valley All-Freshman Team were guard Marisha Brown of Missouri State, guard Jacqui Kalin of Northern Iowa, guard Kelsey Woodard of Creighton and guard Ellen Young of Southern Illinois.

All three student-athletes will be recognized at the State Farm MVC Awards Banquet that commemorates the beginning of the State Farm MVC Tournament on Thursday in St. Charles, Mo. Along with the official announcement of the all-Valley teams, the Jackie Stiles Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Rawlings Coach of the Year will also be announced.

The Redbirds (23-6, 13-5 MVC) are the No. 1 seed in the 2008 State Farm MVC Women's Basketball Tournament. ISU will play the winner of No. 8 Bradley versus No. 9 Southern Illinois in the quarterfinals on Friday at 12:05 p.m. at the Family Arena in St. Charles.

(Missouri Valley Conference news release) [To download Adobe Acrobat Reader for the PDF file, click here.]

[Text from file received from Jimmy Knodel, assistant media relations director, Illinois State University]