For the 15th consecutive season, the Missouri State women’s basketball team will be represented on the All-Missouri Valley Conference First Team, as junior guard Tahnee Balerio was selected for the honor Wednesday by the league’s coaches, media representatives and sports information directors.

 

Balerio finished the regular season as the MVC’s leading scorer with an 18.9 point per game average and her 4.9 assist per game mark ranks third in the league. The Buhler, Kan., product has scored in double figures in 25 of Missouri State’s 27 contests so far in 2006-07 and has led the Lady Bears in scoring 19 times and assists on 25 occasions.

 

Balerio’s performance this year rates among the top single-season efforts by a Missouri State player in a number of categories. She ranks 13th all-time in points scored (511), 10th in free throws made (133), fourth in three-point field-goal attempts, while her scoring average is the 10th highest in school history.

 

Earlier this season Balerio picked up MVC Player of the Week and Prairie Farms/MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week honors after posting a Valley season-high 39-point effort in the Lady Bears’ 71-56 victory over Oregon (Dec. 16). She also recorded 30+ point performances vs. Drake (twice) and Bradley (Feb. 15) to become just the third player in Missouri State history to register four 30-point games in a single season. Additionally, her 12-assist effort against Creighton (Feb. 23) was the 10th highest single-game total all-time at MSU.

 

A 2007 ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District VII Second Team pick, Balerio has also excelled in the classroom throughout her Missouri State career. She currently has a 3.88 grade-point average in private and commercial recreation and received MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team honors earlier this week for her efforts both on the court and in the classroom.

 

Other 2007 All-MVC First Team members included Kristi Cirone of Illinois State, Brandy Dahir of Drake, Carlai Moore of Southern Illinois, Rebekah Parker of Evansville and Tara King of Northern Iowa.

 

The tenth-seeded Lady Bears will open play in the State Farm MVC Tournament with an opening round matchup against against the seventh-seeded Bradley Braves at 8:35 p.m., Thursday, March 8, at the Knapp Center in Des Moines, Iowa.