March 5, 2007
Women’s Basketball
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SYCAMORES PLACE FOUR ON MISSOURI VALLEY'S TOP 35 GREATEST LIST

ST. LOUIS – The Indiana State women’s basketball program has built a proud tradition by competing in the Gateway and Missouri Valley Conferences since becoming an NCAA Division I sport in 1982. That Sycamore tradition was honored again earlier today (March 5) by the league when four former players were named to the MVC’s Top 35 Greatest Players List.

Headlining the Sycamore selections is Melanie Boeglin, who competed from 2002-2006. Boeglin is the first Sycamore to earn both First Team All-MVC and MVC All-Defensive Team mentions four times in her career. She took home the 2006 Jackie Stiles MVC Most Valuable Player Award, as well as the 2005 MVC Defensive MVP honor. In addition, Boeglin was a three time State Farm All-Missouri Valley Conference Tournament selection and is one of just two Valley players to earn both the league and defensive player of the year honors during her career. Nationally, Boeglin earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America First Team honors as a senior as well as three other All-America mentions in her final campaign. Boeglin also set school records for career assists, steals, games played and free throws made. She owns the Valley mark for career assists and steals as well.

Also on the list is Kourtney Mennen, who competed from 1999-2003. Mennen was a two-time First Team All-Missouri Valley Conference selection. She is the second all-time leading scorer in the program’s history, and ranks 10^th all-time in the Valley in scoring with 1,843 career points. As a senior, Mennen stroked a school record 82 3-point field goals in leading the Sycamores to their first of three State Farm MVC Tournament Championship Games. Mennen hit 33 consecutive free throws as a senior, a mark which is second-best in the history of the conference.

Also honored was Amy Amstutz, who competed from 1996-99. Amstutz was a three-time First Team All-Missouri Valley Conference selection, as well as three-time MVC All-Defensive pick. She took home the 1999 MVC Defensive Player of the Year and also was the 1997 Valley Newcomer of the Year as well. Her 261 career steals are second on the ISU list and rank in the MVC’s Top 15.

ISU’s final honoree is Amy Hile, who competed from 1983-87. Last year, Hile was inducted into the Indiana State University Athletics Hall of Fame. Hile was a three-time All-Gateway performer and finished her career as the school’s No. 1 all-time leading scorer with 1,944 points, a statistics which ranks fifth-best in the Valley. Hile also concluded her career as Indiana State’s all-time leading rebounder, pulling down 916 caroms, which ranks ninth best in the history of the league.

In 2006-07, the Missouri Valley Conference celebrates a century of excellence as the nation’s second-oldest NCAA Division I conference begins its second centennial as a leader in college athletics. As a part of the Centennial Celebration, The Valley is naming all-centennial teams for each of the Valley’s sponsored sports, including women’s basketball.

The list of women’s basketball players recognized as the greatest to play in the league tops out at 35 student athletes, while an all-time greatest coach was also voted on. The team was determined through an on-line fan vote (www.mvc100.org), in-arena ballots and a centennial committee. Over 3,500 votes were cast for women’s basketball while all 10 schools have at least one representative on the team.

Jackie Stiles of Missouri State, the all-time leading scorer in the history of Division I Women’s Basketball, received the most votes and therefore earns the title of all-time greatest player in the Missouri Valley Conference. Her coach during her tenure as a Lady Bear, Cheryl Burnett, was voted as the all-time greatest coach in the league, with both honors highlighted by the team’s historic run to the Women’s Final Four in 2001.

In the league’s first 99 seasons, inclusive of all MVC-sponsored sports, 32 members combined for 27 national championships, while 55 Valley student-athletes captured NCAA individual titles. In addition, Valley student-athletes and coaches earned 48 National Player or Coach of the Year honors in their respective sports. And the league had a myriad of student-athletes who collected All-America honors and earned national academic distinction in The Valley’s first century.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL (sponsored 1983 to present and encompasses the merge between the Gateway Conference and Missouri Valley Conference in July, 1992): Twelve different programs have sponsored women’s basketball in the Gateway/Missouri Valley Conference era. These members include Bradley, Creighton, Drake, Eastern Illinois, Evansville, Illinois State, Indiana State, Missouri State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, Wichita State and Western Illinois.

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