BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- Senior Melissa Glerum has been selected as the "Most Valuable Player" for the Illinois Wesleyan University women's basketball team.

A 5-foot-7 guard from Champaign (Centennial HS), Glerum was a first team all-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin selection and, for the second straight season, she earned the team's "All-American Titan" honor, bestowed for sportsmanship, integrity, leadership and overall responsibility to basketball success.

Glerum averaged 9.2 points and 1.8 rebounds per game and was the Titans' leading scorer in three of the final five games of the season. Her single-game highs were 20 points (vs. Carthage), five rebounds (at Texas Lutheran), and six assists (vs. Lake Forest), and her 49 3-point field goals this winter was the second most in a single-season for an IWU player.

Glerum capped her career by becoming the 10th leading scorer at IWU with 980 points and second all-time with 149 career 3-point field goals. She also ranks No. 10 in career free throws made (169), and assists (172), is No. 8 in career field goals made (333) and 28th in career rebounds (279).

The Titans finished with a 16-9 overall mark, tied a school record by winning their last 10 games of the year, and were 11-3 in the CCIW. The second-place conference finish equals the 1994 squad for the best-ever for an IWU women's basketball team.

Senior Kristen Conley (Cerro Gordo HS), who averaged 5.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, finished her career fifth in IWU history with 90 3-point field goals and No. 6 with 193 free throws made. She also ranks 13th in career assists with 161, No. 19 in career field goals made with 195, and is No. 22 in both all-time scoring (673 points) and rebounds (315).

IWU got another solid season from 6-foot-junior post player Cindy Uphoff (El Paso HS), who led the team with 11.6 scoring and 7.1 rebounding averages. She also shot .587 from the field, making 111 of 189 field goal tries.
After three seasons, Uphoff is No. 14 in school history with 482 career rebounds and is also 14th with 276 field goals made. She is 11th in career free throws (with 154) and No. 20 in IWU career scoring with 706 points.

Uphoff got help along the front line from sophomores Katie Cantrell (Bloomington, Normal Community HS) and Amanda Jones (Bloomington, Normal West HS). Cantrell scored 9.7 points and snared 4.0 rebounds per game while Jones, a mid-year transfer from Illinois State, contributed 9.6 points and 4.0 rebounds in 14 games.

Third-year head coach Mia Smith awarded letters to 13 players, 11 of whom return for next season. The letterwinners are, with hometowns and high schools:

SENIORS - Kristen Conley (Cerro Gordo HS); Melissa Glerum (Champaign, Centennial HS).
JUNIORS - Amy Gorzynski (Schiller Park, East Leyden HS); Andrea Palmer (Danville, First Baptist HS); Brandi Rock (Roberts, Paxton-Buckley-Loda HS); Cindy Uphoff (El Paso HS).
SOPHOMORES - Jen Birkholz (Forreston HS); Katie Cantrell (Bloomington, Normal Community HS); Elisa Ettner (Marengo HS); Emily Ettner (Marengo HS); Amanda Jones (Bloomington, Normal West HS); Kristin Scott (Bloomington, Central Catholic HS).
FRESHMEN - Brooke Bailey (Byron HS).