January 2, 2004

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today that Loras College basketball player Alicia Davis (Dubuque, Iowa/Hempstead HS) and Simpson College wrestler Bart George (Truro, Iowa/Norwalk HS) were named IIAC Female and Male Athletes of the Week for the period of December 15-January 1.

Davis, a senior center, averaged 18.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game during the two-week period. She shot 71.7 percent from the floor on 33-of-46 shooting in four contests. Davis scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds (3-6) in Loras’ 63-60 victory over Carthage. At the Clarke College Holiday Tournament, Davis led the Duhawks to a third place finish and was named to the All-Tournament Team. In the opener, a 92-76 victory over Blackburn, she scored 31 points (on 15-of-16 shooting), grabbed 11 rebounds (4-7) and had three blocks to earn Player of the Game honors. She scored 11 points (on 5-of-11 shooting), had 13 rebounds (6-7) and three blocks in a 77-75 overtime loss to Augustana (Ill.) and finished the Tournament with her third double-double of the week in the third-place game against Clarke (87-51) scoring 12 points (on 6-of-9 shooting), grabbing 11 rebounds (6-5) and blocking two shots.

George, a senior, went 7-0 with three pins, a technical fall and a major decision during the Citrus Open and Citrus Duals in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on December 28-29. He won the 197-pound weight class at the Citrus Open, posting a technical fall, fall and a major decision in four matches including the Championship match against Case Western’s Josh Schmidt (10-0). In the Duals, George went 3-0 with two falls to improve to 15-0 on the season with nine pins. He pinned Heidelberg’s D.L. Koontz at 1:58 and Coast Guard’s Dan O’Laughlis at 0:29 to go along with a decision over John Carroll’s Dan Brown (4-1).

The IIAC also announced its Players of the Week for the Conference’s three sports in competition during the two-week period. Davis and George earned the weekly honor for women’s basketball and wrestling, and Luther College’s Jake Lappe (Morning Sun, Iowa/Aquinas HS) earned the honor for men’s basketball.

Lappe, a senior forward, averaged 18.5 points and 10.0 rebounds in two games during the two-week period. He shot 63.6 percent from the floor on 14-of-22 shooting in victories over California Tech (84-40) and Chapman (62-56). He scored 19 points (8-of-11 shooting), grabbed 12 rebounds (5-7) and had two assists against California Tech. Against Chapman, he scored 18 points (6-of-11 shooting) and grabbed eight rebounds (1-7).

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