Former Illinois State All-American Kristi Cirone joined the Missouri women’s basketball staff in 2010 as a graduate assistant under head coach Robin Pingeton, serving in the role through 2012.
Cirone ended her collegiate career as only the second person to win the Jackie Stiles Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year award three years in a row, joining Stiles. She still holds Illinois State career records in points (2,139), assists (655), assists per game (5.3), 3-pointers (229), 3-point field goal attempts (613), free throws (512) and free throw attempts (655). She also holds the single-season records for points (657) and assists (203).
After her senior season, Cirone earned Associated Press and State Farm Coaches’ All-America honorable mention honors. She was also a Nancy Lieberman Award finalist for the nation’s top point guard, became the sixth player in Missouri Valley history to earn first-team all-conference honors four times and earned a spot on the MVC All-Defensive Team for the third consecutive year. Cirone also excelled in the classroom, earning All-MVC Scholar-Athlete first-team honors twice and second-team honors once, in addition to earning a spot on the 2009 CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V first team.
During her Redbird career, Cirone helped lead Illinois State to the 2007-08 and 2008-09 MVC regular-season championships, the 2007-08 MVC Tournament title, an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2007-08 and two WNIT berths.
Following college, Cirone spent time with the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun and Chicago Sky and played overseas.
Cirone, who hails from Chicago, earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science in 2009. She earned a Master’s degree from Mizzou in Educational and Counseling Psychology.