Bundren named to all-conference squad

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The pain in Blaine Bundren's leg that caused the Harrisburg guard to miss nearly a month of basketball was only surpassed by the pain she felt while sitting on the sidelines.

"It killed me," Bundren said. "I hated sitting on the bench and watching the games. I wish I could have been out there helping because I felt like I was letting them down."

Despite being out of game action from Jan. 5 to Feb. 4, Bundren still did enough to garner All-Southern Illinois River-to-River Ohio honors. The Lady Bulldogs' senior guard made a triumphant return to action in a Senior Night win against Benton. Bundren scored 10 points, dished five assists and grabbed two steals in the 52-47 victory.

"We just seemed to play better with Blaine. She's such a dynamic player. Everybody kind of got back to playing their usual positions," co-head coaches Denise Clayton and April Horning said after the win against Benton. "She does all the little things automatically."

Bundren said she looked forward to what her future holds as she will play at Southeastern Illinois College next fall. The senior point guard said she felt honored even though she missed a significant amount of time on the court.

"I couldn't believe it. I didn't think I'd go that far because of the time I missed with my injury," Bundren said. "I think maybe someone else deserved it more than I did, but I'm really excited."