Abby Brockmeyer knew she was going to college at NCAA Division I Southern Illinois University.

She just wasn’t sure which one: Carbondale or Edwardsville.

The Salukis finally got the nod.

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Brockmeyer, preparing for her senior year at Raymond Lincolnwood High School along with her senior season for Litchfield’s co-op girls basketball team, said last week she’s made a verbal commitment to attend SIUC and play for Salukis’ head coach Cindy Stein.

“I’d narrowed it down to two, and it was a 50-50 thing,” Brockmeyer said. “Something in my gut just told me to go to Carbondale. I really like (Stein). She’s a fun person to be around. She’s hilarious sometimes. She’s always nice, and she’s a good coach.”

The 6-foot-1 Brockmeyer also plays golf and softball at Lincolnwood, but basketball has been her top sport for many years.

After averaging an area-leading 21.2 points and 12.1 rebounds per game for the Purple Panthers last season, she was named Honorary Captain for this year’s State Journal-Register All-Area Girls Basketball Team.

Litchfield’s co-op with Lincolnwood pushed the Purple Panthers into Class 3A for the postseason this year, but Brockmeyer still earned second-team honors on The Associated Press Class 3A All-State Team. She also was a first-team all-state pick by the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette.

One of Brockmeyer’ summer teammates on the St. Louis Blue Star team, Makenzie Silvey, also has committed to SIUC. Silvey will be a senior at Edwardsville High School.

“I think I’ll have fun there with Makenzie and the rest of the team,” Brockmeyer said. “They have another girl from my (2017) class coming in, Rachel Pudlowski (from Fort Zumwalt South near St. Louis). She seems really athletic.”

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Stein formerly was head coach at Missouri, Emporia State and Illinois Central College in East Peoria. She’s entering her fourth season as the Salukis’ coach after they went 20-13 overall and 12-6 in the Missouri Valley Conference this past season.

Brockmeyer follows another Montgomery County all-stater to Carbondale. Nokomis’ Molly McDowell played for the Salukis after leading NHS to Class A state titles in 1998 and 1999.

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(c) 2016 The State Journal-Register, Springfield, Ill.

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