MIAC Women's Basketball Athletes of Week
WINONA, Minn. —
Courtney Euerle (Litchfield, Minn.) has come up big all season for the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team.
And when the Cardinals needed her most, Euerle was at her best.
The senior forward capped a remarkable week by equaling her career-best with 22 points, while adding a career-high 14 rebounds, in leading the Cardinals to a conference title-clinching 70-64 win over Augsburg last Saturday.
Monday afternoon, Euerle was rewarded for her efforts, as the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference named her their women's basketball Athlete of the Week.
Euerle, who has now won the MIAC's weekly award three times this season, opened the week by scoring 20 points and adding seven rebounds in an 83-63 win over Hamline last Wednesday. With that win, the Cardinals locked up the No. 1 seed — and home-court advantage — for this week's conference tournament.
And on Saturday, with that elusive MIAC regular-season crown on the line, Euerle once again stole the spotlight, pouring in 22 points on 9-for-17 shooting and a 4-for-4 effort from the free throw line in guiding SMU to a six-point, 70-64 win over Augsburg.
After not scoring more than 17 points in her first three seasons as a Cardinal, Euerle has eclipsed the 20-point mark five times this season — including each of her last three games. She has now led the team in scoring in each of its last four games, and has scored in double figures 18 times this season and 46 times in her fourth years in an SMU uniform.
Euerle heads into Thursday's MIAC Tournament semifinals boasting a team-leading 13.0 points-per-game, while also owning a team-best 7.6 rebounds-per-game. The senior's 22-point, 14-rebound effort against Augsburg last Saturday was also her fourth double-double of the season and eighth of her collegiate career.
The Cardinals (23-2 overall, 20-2 MIAC) — one of just five MIAC schools to win three or more MIAC women's basketball championships — will face the lowest remaining seed among #3 St. Thomas, #4 Gustavus, #5 Bethel and #6 St. Olaf following Tuesday's tournament quarterfinal games, in one of the two MIAC Tournament semifinal contests on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the SMU Gym.
