Red Devils Snag Four All-SLIAC Honors
WEBSTER GROVES, Mo. — Four Eureka women's basketball players have received St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors for the 2019-20 season, SLIAC commissioner Dick Kaiser announced at Webster Groves, Missouri, on Friday.
Olivia Falls (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington) was named to the All-SLIAC First Team, Ashley Harfst (Saunemin, Ill./Pontiac) was named to the Third Team, Ja'Keesha Hawkins (Peoria, Ill./Peoria) was selected to the All-Defensive Team and Jadyn Mitchell (Flanagan, Ill./Flanagan-Cornel) was voted SLIAC Sixth Woman of the Year.
Falls, a 5-foot-8 sophomore, is a first-time All-SLIAC honoree, and was one of the most consistent players in the league from start to finish. She averaged a team-best 15.4 points per game while shooting a league-high 57.2 percent from the field and snagging 10.5 rebounds per game.
She tallied the most made free throws of anyone in the league with 123 in 161 tries, the most rebounds (263), the fourth-most field goals (131 of 229), the fourth-most total points (395) and the fifth-most points per game 15. She also notched 44 steals and 42 assists.
At Westminster on Feb. 1, Falls dropped a career-high 30 points and went 18-of-21 from the free-throw line, falling two shy of tying Caty Eeten Bane for the most free throws in a single game in program history. She also scored the game-winning basket in the Red Devils' 75-74 victory over Spalding on Jan. 16.
Falls, who was a four-time SLIAC Player of the Week honoree, reached double figures 21 times and notched 15 double-doubles.
Harfst is also a first-time All-SLIAC honoree. In her final season as a Red Devil, she averaged a double-double of 14.2 points per game and 10.5 rebounds per game while shooting 37.3 percent from the floor and contributing 1.7 assists and 1.6 steals per game.
The 5-foot-7 senior tied with Falls for the second-most rebounds per game in the SLIAC with 10.5 per game, gathered the second-most total rebounds on the season (262), hit the second-most free throws (118 of 135) and recorded the second-highest free-throw percentage. Harfst also led the league in minutes, logging 855 on the season. By season's end, she had reached double figures 22 times and contributed 13 double-doubles.
Harfst posted a career-high 28 points in a win over St. Mary-of-the-Woods on Nov. 20, and pulled down a career-high 21 rebounds at Principia on Dec. 7 — the second-most in a single game by a Eureka player in program history.
Harfst is the 17th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points, and one of only five players to reach 1,000 points and 600 rebounds. She finished top 10 in seven statistical categories, including fourth in free throws made with 360 and fourth in free throws attempted with 449, sixth in games played with 104, seventh in rebounds with 689, seventh in points with 1,142, ninth in 3-point field goals with 108 and ninth in 3-point field goals attempted with 329.
Hawkins, a 5-7 senior, finished third in the SLIAC in steals with 54, averaging 2.2 per game. She notched three or more steals on nine occasions, recording four at Rockford and against Calvary Baptist, and swiping five at Principia.
Mitchell is the SLIAC's first recipient of the Sixth Woman of the Year award. A 5-foot-5 freshman, Mitchell contributed 11.8 points off the bench while shooting 39.4 percent from the floor, 36 percent from distance. She shot 81.3 percent from the free-throw line on the season and 91 percent in conference play, and also distributed 29 assists and notched 23 steals.
Best known as an outside threat, Mitchell hit a slew of big shots from deep over the course of the season and finished with 40 made 3s in her first season in maroon and gold.
Harfst was Eureka's representative on the SLIAC All-Sportsmanship for the third time in four years. The All-Sportsmanship Team feature one player form all 10 SLIAC teams.