Western Illinois University Athletics

Women's basketball's Michelle Maher and men's basketball's Brandon Gilbeck both earned WIU's Scholar-Athlete of the Week honors for their performances on the court and in the classroom. 


Maher's recognition came following a record-setting performance. In a league contest against North Dakota State on February 25, Maher broke the WIU single-game scoring record when she scored a career-high 41 points in a victory over the Bison. The senior's performance broke Lori Haskett's previous record of 38 points which had stood for 20 years (Jan. 20, 1996). Maher's 41 points are tied for second in Summit League history for league-only games and tied for sixth overall in Summit League history.
 
The guard rounded out the weekend with a 21-point, six rebound, two assist, and two seal effort in the near upset of South Dakota State. Over the course of the weekend, Maher moved from eighth to fifth on the Western Illinois all-time scoring list.
 
For the week, Maher averaged 31 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and shot 61.8 percent (21-of-34) from the field and 52.9 percent (9-of-17) from the 3-point range.
 
Maher is a Physical Education (K-12) major and owns a 3.544 GPA.

Gilbeck had possibly the best week of his young career at home this week. The freshman center played 17.0 minutes per game while averaging 9.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. He connected on 9-of-10 shots from the field and made his lone free throw attempt.
 
In Western’s game versus IPFW, Gilbeck finished with eight points on 4-of-4 shooting and six rebounds. He then missed a double-double by one rebound against USD, scoring 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting and pulling down nine boards.
 
Gilbeck is a pre-business major and owns a 3.317 GPA.