April 1, 2008

NORMAL, Ill. - Illinois State junior guard Kristi Cirone was named to the 2007-08 Associated Press Women's Basketball All-America Team as an honorable mention selection on Tuesday, April 1. Cirone was one of 45 honorable mention honorees on the AP team, which also featured three five-member squads. Cirone is the first AP All-American in Illinois State women's basketball history.

There are two other national awards that Cirone is in contention for. She is a national finalist for the WBCA/State Farm All-America Team and is among nine final nominees for the Nancy Lieberman Award, which is given to the nation's top-point guard.

Cirone is the third student-athlete to receive all-America recognition in women's basketball. Charlotte Lewis was a Street & Smith's All-American in 1975) and a Kodak All-American (the former sponsor of the WBCA All-America Team) in 1977. Cathy Boswell was a two-time WBCA All-American, earning the honor in 1982 and 1983.

The Chicago native ended the season with a game-high 22 points, five rebounds and four assists in ISU's 69-61 loss to Oklahoma in the NCAA Tournament. In her first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, Cirone poured in the third-most points in a single-game in school history. She finished the year ranked fifth in ISU single-season history in points (552), third in three-point field goals (64), tied for seventh in free throws (104), seventh in assists (172) and eighth in steals (80). She also became ISU's all-time lead in free throws made (371).

Cirone was the Jackie Stiles Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year for the second-consecutive season, becoming just the fourth player in the history of the conference to achieve that feat, after leading the Valley in assists (5.6 apg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.04), and finishing second in scoring (16.3 ppg) and steals (2.6 spg). She was also a First-Team All-Valley, First-Team All-MVC Scholar-Athlete and All-Valley Defensive Team selection.

During the 2008 State Farm MVC Tournament, Cirone earned MVP honors after averaging 18.7 ppg to lead the Redbirds to the championship. She tied her season-high with 27 points against Southern Illinois in the quarterfinals and scored 20 points in the championship game against Drake.

Oklahoma forward Courtney Paris, who recorded a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds against ISU in the NCAA Tournament, was a first-team selection. DePaul guard Allie Quigley, who scored 22 points in an 80-75 Blue Demon victory over the Redbirds in November, joined Cirone as an honorable mention pick.