WINONA, Minn. — Ali French (Winona, Minn.) closed out her first collegiate regular-season with a bang last week, as the Saint Mary's freshman hit a team-leading .520 in the Cardinals eight conference games, leading SMU to a 5-3 record — including an MIAC Tournament-clinching sweep of Augsburg last Thursday.
 
And French's offensive exploits did not go unnoticed as she was named MIAC Player of the Week, the league office announced on Monday afternoon.
 
French collected 13 hits in 25 at-bats — including three doubles — scored six runs and drove in 16. She also walked three times and stole a pair of bases. French had at least one hit in all eight games last week, and collected back-to-back three hit games in Game 2 against Concordia on Tuesday and Game 1 against Bethel on Wednesday.
 
With the regular-season behind them, French and the Cardinals turn their attention to the six-team MIAC Tournament, kicking off Thursday. SMU, which finished the year 13-9 in league play, earned the tournament's No. 6 seed, and will face will travel to either St. Olaf or Gustavus in the quarterfinals. SMU's opponent will be determined after Monday's completion of the MIAC regular-season schedule.