SLIAC Weekly Release - March 2

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

HEADLINES

Eureka Claims First SLIAC Title (February 25, 2017)
The Red Devil women's basketball team put their names into Eureka College history when they won the institution's first ever St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) Tournament Championship, defeating Greenville College 82-74 in front of their home crowd.....MORE

Back To Back SLIAC Champs, Westminster Blue Jays (February 25, 2017)
Westminster College became just the third program to win consecutive St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Championships after besting Greenville College 128-121 in the 2017 championship game.....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 2016-17 Players of the Week. For this week's Player of the Week release - HERE

Baseball l Softball l Men's Golf l Men's Tennis l Women's Tennis l Men's Track & Field l Women's Track & Field

FINAL SLIAC WINTER STANDINGS

AROUND THE SLIAC

	Special recognition goes out to a pair of Blackburn basketball players. Aleisha Stiltner, of the women's team, and Ugo Pierantoni, of the men's team, both were named as representatives of Blackburn on the 2016-17 SLIAC All-Sportsmanship Team. Members of the All-Sportsmanship team were chosen by their coaches for being examples what the conference strives for in sportsmanship on and off the court.
	Eureka will face defending NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Champion, Thomas More in the opening round of this year's tournament. The Red Devils and Thomas More will tip at 6 p.m. in Crestview Hills, Ky. Eureka is making their first tournament appearance while Thomas More is 27-0 this season and ranked #2 in the nation. You can watch the game live HERE
	After making their first SLIAC Tournament appearance since 2012 the Griffins women's basketball team was honored with a pair of individual conference awards. Senior guard Emmie Haring was named SLIAC Co-Player of the Year after leading the league in assists for a third straight season and setting conference record for assists in a season and career. In addition freshman forward Raven Venegas was named SLIAC Newcomer of the Year after averaging 10.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game during conference play.
	After falling in the SLIAC Tournament Championship game the Panthers women's basketball teams season isn't quite over just yet. The Panthers found out they will host Trinity Christian in the opening round of the NCCAA North Central Region Tournament. That game is scheduled for 8 p.m. on Friday, March 3. You can watch it via Live Stats HERE
	The Iowa Wesleyan men's basketball team dropped their opening round game of the USCAA National Tournament, falling to Concordia-Alabama 81-71. Steven Soukup led the attack for the Tigers with 19 points, 10 rebounds, and three steals while his brother Michael finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds, and two assists. Brock Butler added 15 points. Iowa Wesleyan will now face Florida National University in the next round to close out the 2016-17 season.
	Playing a late rescheduled game the MacMurray Highlanders women's basketball team ended the year with a thrilling 66-64 win over Blackburn. The Highlanders, leading Blackburn by as many as 12 points in the game, had to hold off numerous runs by the Beavers including a chance to win it with 0.6 seconds on the clock. The game featured eight ties and nine lead changes. Anna Henry led MacMurray to their only conference win of the season by scoring 25 points, including knocking down five three-pointers.
	The Prinicipia men's basketball team took home two of the conference's top individual awards this season with head coach Todd Zimmerman being named Coach of the Year and guard TreVaughn Goodman being named Newcomer of the Year. Zimmerman led the Panthers to their first SLIAC Tournament trip since 2005, finishing with their most wins since the 2002-03 season. Goodman averaged 15.1 points per game during conference play and was key to the Panthers post-season trip.
	The Spalding baseball team has started the year off hot, going 5-1 in the opening week of the 2017 season. The Golden Eagles have run through their opponents, scoring more than five runs in five of their six games. Nic Chafin is leading the attack with a .500 batting average while Blake Patterson (.458 average and 6 RBI) and Dillon Sievert (.385 average and 8 RBI) are taking advantage and driving runs across.
	The Webster softball team opened the season up by going 4-0 over the weekend, their best start to a season since 2002. The Gorloks offense has exploded early this season, reaching double digits in runs in three of their four games. The Gorloks are hitting .388 as a team with Abby Burroughs leading the team with eight runs batted in. Chelsea Thornley has notched three of the teams four wins in the circle and holds a 2.50 earned-run average.
	Westminster will face Hanover College out of Hanover, Indiana in the opening round of the 2017 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament. The Blue Jays' game is set for a 6:30 p.m. start on Friday, March 3. Westminster is 19-8 overall and advanced to their second straight tournament after winning the SLIAC Tournament. Hanover meanwhile is 23-3 overall and defeated Mount St. Joseph in their conference tournament for an automatic bid. The winner will face the winner of Wooster and North Central on Saturday. You can watch the game live HERE

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 platforms. You can follow us on Twitter (@sliac) HERE , Facebook (St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) HERE , or on Instagram (@SLIAC) Don't forget to share your game day photos from around the conference by using #SLIACtion on your tweets.

Be sure to check out the SLIAC Feature Friday interview series. Each Friday we will feature interviews with student-athletes, coaches, and administrators from around the SLIAC. You can also view our previous feature videos, where you can get to know our student-athletes outside of athletics and get an idea of what it is like to be a NCAA Division III student-athlete, as well as conference tournament highlight videos.