April 25, 2008

NORMAL, Ill. - The Illinois State women's basketball team held a celebration at Redbird Arena on Thursday night to commemorate its historic 2007-08 season. The Redbirds welcomed in their fans and family members to celebrate with them as they reminisced about the season, handed out individual awards, named the 2007-08 captains and recognized the four seniors leaving the program due to graduation.

The event, which was emceed by Redbird play-by-play announcer R.C. McBride, started off with the entire Redbird team and coaching staff being announced and presented their NCAA Tournament participant trophies. Illinois State Director of Athletics Sheahon Zenger and University President Dr. Al Bowman each spoke about how proud they were of the success the Redbirds had this past season and how much they enjoyed watching it all unfold.

Head coach Robin Pingeton took to the podium next and shared her feelings on a memorable and gratifying year.

"This was an amazing year; one that I will cherish for the rest of my life," said Pingeton. "We talk all the time about putting Illinois State back on the map and these players were dedicated to doing that. They did everything the right way. Each and every one of these players has put this program's success before their individual goals."

Two of the awards of the evening were presented based on the year's statistics. The Free Throw Award was given to sophomore center Nicolle Lewis. Lewis was 75-for-90 (.833) from the charity stripe, the best performance by a Redbird on the year. She was perfect from the free throw line on 13 occasions and had a streak of 18-consecutive free throws at one point during the year.

The Rebounding Award went to sophomore forward Ashleen Bracey. Bracey led the Redbirds in rebounds (251), offensive rebounds (84), defensive rebounds (167) and rebounding average (7.6). She showed tremendous improvement from her freshman season, when she averaged just 1.1 rebounds per game. Her rebound total was the 10th-best in ISU single-season history. Bracey led the Redbirds in rebounding 20 times and ranked third in the Valley. She pulled down at least seven rebounds in 21 games, including eight double-digit rebounding efforts. Her rebounding prowess helped her record a team-best seven double-doubles. Bracey set the MVC Tournament record with 37 rebounds over three games, including back-to-back games with a career-high 16 boards.

The Jill Hutchison Award was given to junior forward Brea Banks. The award is given to the player who best exemplifies the characteristics of an Illinois State women's basketball player. Banks appeared in a career-high 28 games this season. She shot 50 percent on the year (22-44), including 10 three-point field goals. She scored a career-high 13 points, her first double-digit scoring effort, on 5-for-5 shooting from the field against Loyola. She also had a career-best seven rebounds against nationally-ranked DePaul.

Pingeton also announced the Redbird captains for the 2008-09 season. Juniors Kristi Cirone, Ashley Sandstead, Banks and sophomore Maggie Krick all received the honor. For Cirone, it will be her fourth year as a captain, making her the first student-athlete in the history of the program to accomplish that feat. Sandstead served as a captain this past season. Banks and Krick will be captains for the first times in their careers.

Seniors Tamara Butler, Tiffany Hudson, Lashawn Johnson and senior manager Heather Page were then honored for their years with the Redbirds. Each senior gave a speech at the end of the night, thanking the numerous people who helped them during their time at Illinois State, and was presented with a framed jersey.