SLIAC Weekly Release - Nov. 26

This week in the SLIAC is a weekly review of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. It recaps the prior weeks results and highlights upcoming events. You can also find the latest standings, statistics, schedules and awards.

HEADLINES

SLIAC Teams Earn Academic Honors (November 24, 2014)
A total of five St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference programs have been recognized by the  National Soccer Coaches Association of America for their success in the classroom this past fall.....MORE

Eureka Volleyball Teams To Give Back In Community (November 25, 2014)
This past weekend the Eureka College volleyball team and Illinois Institute of Technology women's basketball team partnered together to provide cooking supplies to Moses Montefiore Academy for their cooking class and their Thanksgiving Dinner.....MORE

SLIAC Announces Fall All-Academic Team (November 25, 2014)
The St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference would like to congratulate student-athletes named to the 2014 Fall All-Academic Team.....MORE

SLIAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

The SLIAC Players of the Week are honored for their performances during the week. Click on the sport link below to see the full list of 2014-15 Players of the Week. For this week's Player of the Week release - HERE

Men's Basketball- Nick Trisko, Greenville College
Women's Basketball- Chelsy Gibson, Fontbonne University

Men's Basketball l Women's Basketball

SLIAC WINTER STANDINGS

AROUND THE SLIAC

Blackburn women's basketball forward Briana Rae is off to a hot start this season, recording a double-double in all three of her games this season. Rae scored a season high 24 points with 10 rebounds in her season opener against Millikin and followed with 21 points and 17 rebounds against Central. In her last outing she recorded 19 points and 11 rebounds.

The Red Devil women's basketball team had an impressive victory over Illinois Tech, winning 86-44 last Saturday. Eureka held Illinois Tech to just 26-percent shooting while forcing 18 turnovers. Eureka had three players finish in double figures in scoring; Natalie Martindale (22), Emily Camden (18), and Michaela Balducci (12). Kelsey Shoemake added nine points and 16 rebounds in the win.

Griffin Chelsy Gibson was named the SLIAC Women's Basketball Player of the Week after helping Fontbonne notch their first win of the 2014-15 season. Gibson poured in 34 points, fourth most in program history, while grabbing 15 rebounds in a win over St. Mary of the Woods. On the week Gibson averaged 25.5 points and 11.5 rebounds while shooting 65.6 percent in two games.

Nick Trisko, of the the Panthers men's basketball team, was named SLIAC Player of the Week. Trisko guided the Panthers to a win over Dominican by scoring 19 points off the bench in just 15 minutes of action. In two games on the week Trisko averaged 15.5 points and 7.5 rebounds while shooting 63.6 percent from the field.

The Tigers men's basketball team had their three game winning streak to start the season snapped in a 97-76 loss to Knox on Tuesday night. The Tigers opened the year with wins over Central Christian, Ozark Christian, and Faith Baptist. The Tigers are averaging a conference high 87.0 points per game this season. Four Tigers are averaging double figures in scoring this year with Chris Fowler leading the way at 18.0 points per game.

The MacMurray basketball teams will have over a week off before returning to action. The Highlanders faced Webster in the SLIAC opener on Tuesday night and will not play again until a double header against Blackburn next Wednesday.

The Principia women's basketball team suffered their first loss of the season Tuesday night, falling to Millikin. Principia opened the year with wins over Crowley's Ridge and Robert Morris-Springfield. Kara Johnson leads the team in scoring at 16.0 points per game while Rachel Perea, last year's SLIAC Newcomer of the Year, is averaging 15.7 points.

The Spalding men's basketball team will finally return to action this week after a long break. The Golden Eagles opened the year in the Stormy Petrel Tipoff Classic, splitting a pair of games, on November 15. They have not played a game since then and their first game back in action will be against Birmingham Southern on Wednesday night, 11 days after their last outing.

The Webster women's basketball team opened SLIAC play with a win over MacMurray, extended their winning streak to three games. The Gorloks are averaging 68.2 points per game this season, allowing just 54.6 points. Ashley Brooks is leading the team at 14.2 points per game while Brittany Harris-Conway and Jessie Endicott are also averaging in double figures.

The Westminster men's basketball team picked up their first win of the year with a 74-38 victory over Central Christian on Monday night. The Blue Jays shot 48-percent in the game, knocking down 13 three-pointers. It was a balanced attack as just two Blue Jays scored in double figures but 13 of 15 players that played scored at least one point.

THIS WEEK'S SLIAC SCHEDULE

To see a complete schedule of this week's SLIAC action click HERE

KEEP UP WITH THE SLIAC ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Be sure to keep up with the SLIAC using various social media tools. You can follow us on Twitter (@sliac) HERE or Facebook (St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) HERE

Be sure to check out the SLIAC You Tube Channel. There you will find our weekly Feature Friday series where we talk with student-athletes from around the conference and help you get to know them outside of athletics and give you an idea of what it is like to be a NCAA Division III student-athlete. This week we talked with James Turner, a men's basketball player from Spalding University. Find out how he went from the Air Force to the basketball court HERE