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| SportsThursday, December 22, 2005 12:42 PM CST |
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Cirone sweeps Valley honors
NORMAL -- Just call her "T." Illinois State women's basketball opponents have a different nickname for Redbird freshman point guard sensation Kristi Cirone: T-R-O-U-B-L-E. The 5-foot-8 Cirone has added another laurel to her already-growing rookie resume by becoming the first player to sweep the Missouri Valley Conference's player and newcomer of the week honors in the three-year history of the dual awards. It was the third Valley newcomer of the week honor of the season for the Chicago Resurrection High School product, who is averaging a team-high 16.3 points, 3.8 assists and 35.8 minutes played following her career-best 27-point outburst in ISU's 83-71 win at Texas-El Paso Sunday. "This is a tremendous honor for Kristi," said ISU coach Robin Pingeton. "For a freshman to receive both of these awards in the Missouri Valley Conference and receive this recognition is terrific. "I've said this before: I think Kristi is the kind of kid and the kind of athlete who will do whatever it takes to get this program going in the right direction. Her play is just a start of a lot of great things to come for Illinois State basketball." Cirone is the first freshman to earn Valley player of the week honors since Missouri State's Jenni Lingor in 2002. She hit 8 of 10 field goal tries, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range, and 7 of 8 free throws against UTEP to help ISU snap a three-game losing streak. A life-long point guard who picked ISU over Marquette and Valparaiso, Cirone admitted she has been "a little bit surprised" but not shocked by her fast start. She ranks among the Valley's top five in assists, assist-turnover ratio (1.81:1), 3-point field goals made (2.5) and minutes. "The hardest part (about playing in college) was adjusting to the intensity level and how high everyone plays," Cirone said. "After awhile I got used to it and I feel more comfortable now, and the players and coaches have helped me get comfortable. "I've gotten off to a good start and I'm happy with how I've been playing because I've worked hard. But I always have high expectations on myself. I like being the point guard. I feel comfortable with it because I've done it my whole life so I know the leadership it takes. It's part of my competitiveness." Cirone has been answering to "T" most of her life, too. "My brother (Tommy) couldn't pronounce my name when he was little and it came out ?~T,' and it just kind of stuck," Cirone said. "My friends found out about it and it kept going on going on. Sometimes I answer to that more than Kristi." Cirone's emergence has helped ease the loss of top returning scorer Megan McCracken, who has been sidelined the entire season with a hip injury. ISU (5-3) will end nonconference play Thursday with a 7:05 p.m. game against in-state rival Illinois (6-3) at the Assembly Hall in Champaign. "I need to improve on some little things like being more vocal," Cirone said. "Coach P has stressed that me with me and I'm working on it. Overall I'm happy with how the team is playing. If we keep working hard it's going to pay off." Illinois tickets The Redbird Ticket office has a limited number of $7 reserved tickets for the Illinois game. Fans can obtain tickets in the Redbird block by calling (309) 438-8000. All day-of-game tickets at the Assembly Hall are general admission. Get area high school sports scores and statistics at Varsity Sports. E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
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