March 12, 2008

www.siusalukis.com

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Southern Illinois' Erica Smith and Ellen Young earned All-Missouri Valley Conference honors for the 2007-08 season the league office announced Wednesday.

Smith was selected to the All-Defensive team, while Young earned All-Freshman honors.

A native of Florissant, Mo., Smith is earning MVC honors for the second-straight year, an honorable mention-team member a year ago. The junior who has started all 28 games this season leads the team in rebounds (189), blocks (17) and steals (53), ranked in the top-10 in the MVC in rebounds (5th, 6.8 rpg), steals (3rd, 1.89 spg) and offensive rebounds (4th, 2.57 orpg).

Young, a freshman from Salem, Ill., averaged 12.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.9 steals per contest her first season for the Salukis. She wrapped up the regular season ranked 13th in scoring, third in 3-point percentage (.411) and eighth in 3-point field goals made (51).

Evansville's Rebekah Parker and Illinois State's Kristi Cirone each became two-time first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference selections, duplicating last season's honors, as they headline a list of six players named to the all-conference first-team unit.

Joining Cirone and Parker on the first team are Ally Thrall of Creighton, Drake's Jill Martin and Lindsay Whorton and Laura Rudolphi of Indiana State.

Rudolphi was a second team all-Valley pick last season, while Thrall and Whorton were honorable mention selections in 2006-07.

Missouri State landed two players, Tahnee Balerio and Maggie Dwyer, on the five-person all-conference second team. The two Lady Bears are joined by Creighton's Sara Cain, UNI freshman Jaqui Kalin and Evansville's Shannon Novosel.

Additionally, five schools are represented in the all-MVC honorable mention selections.

Cirone is a repeat honoree on the All-Defensive Team. She is joined by Skye Johnson of Bradley, first-team all-MVC performer Laura Rudolphi, Southern Illinois' Smith and Evansville's Ashley Austin.

Five schools are also represented on the MVC All-Freshman Team. Creighton's Kelsey Woodard, UNI's Jacqui Kalin, Young of Southern Illinois, Shala Jackson of Illinois State and Marisha Brown of Missouri State were tabbed to the five person team.

The Missouri Valley Conference will announce its specialty award winners, including 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, at the pre-tournament banquet scheduled for noon on March 13 at the Columns Conference & Banquet Center in St. Charles, Mo.

First Team
^Kristi Cirone, Illinois State, Jr., G, Chicago, Ill./Resurrection
Jill Martin, Drake, Sr., F, Norwalk, Iowa/Norwalk
^Rebekah Parker, Evansville, Sr., G/F, Silver Lake, Ind./Tippecanoe Valley
*Laura Rudolphi, Indiana State, Sr., C, Carlyle, Ill./Carlyle
!Ally Thrall, Creighton, Sr., G, Des Moines, Iowa/Dowling Catholic
!Lindsay Whorton, Drake, Sr., G, Independence, Mo./Truman

^2006-07 First Team; *2006-07 Second Team; !2006-07 Honorable Mention

Second Team
^Tahnee Balerio, Missouri State, Sr., G, Buhler, Kan./Buhler
Sara Cain, Creighton, Sr., F, Walford, Iowa/Cedar Rapids Prairie
Maggie Dwyer, Missouri State, Jr., G/F, Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven
Jacqui Kalin, UNI, Fr., G, Sioux City, Iowa/North
Shannon Novosel, Evansville, Jr., C, Lexington, Ky./Lexington Catholic

^2006-07 First Team; *2006-07 Second Team; !2006-07 Honorable Mention

Honorable Mention
!Courtney Felke, Evansville, Sr., G, Rochester, Ind./Rochester
Maggie Krick, Illinois State, So., G, Washington, Ill./Washington
Angela Phillips, Indiana State, Sr., G, Oak Ridge, Tenn./Oak Ridge
Kiki Stephens, Wichita State, Sr., F, Tulsa, Okla./Union
Tiff Terwelp, Missouri State, Sr., F, Quincy, Ill./Quincy

^2006-07 First Team; *2006-07 Second Team; !2006-07 Honorable Mention

All-Defensive
Ashley Austin, Evansville, Jr., G, Lawrenceville, Ga./Collins Hill
^Kristi Cirone, Illinois State, Jr., G, Chicago, Ill./Resurrection
Skye Johnson, Bradley, So., G, Olympia Fields, Ill./Marian Catholic
Laura Rudolphi, Indiana State, Sr., C, Carlyle, Ill./Carlyle
Erica Smith, Southern Illinois, Jr., G/F, Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood West

^2006-07 All-Defensive Team

All-Freshman
Marisha Brown, Missouri State, Fr., G, Kansas City, Mo./Center
Shala Jackson, Illinois State, Fr., G/F, Fort Wayne, Ind./South Side
Jacqui Kalin, UNI, Fr., G, Sioux City, Iowa/North
Kelsey Woodard, Creighton, Fr., G, Bellevue, Neb./West
Ellen Young, Southern Illinois, Fr., G, Salem, Ill./Salem Community