Horizon League Women's Basketball Championship - Finals Preview

March 15, 2008

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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - No. 2 seed Wright State will meet No. 4 seed Cleveland State in the Championship Final of the 2008 Horizon League Women's Basketball Championship at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU.

The Horizon League at a Glance
Cleveland State and Wright State in search of first-ever NCAA bidA berth in the 2008 NCAA Tournament will be on the line when Cleveland State and Wright State meet in the Horizon League Championship final. Both CSU and WSU have never appeared in the Division I NCAA Tournament.

Cleveland State and Wright State advance to Championship final
After Wright State and Cleveland State were picked to finish seventh and eighth respectively in the League's preseason poll, both teams find themselves in the Championship final. Wright State will appear in the League title game for the first time since 2005, while Cleveland State makes its first appearance since 2000.

Green Bay left out of the Horizon League Championship final
For just the second time since 1996, Green Bay will be left out of the League Championship title game. The last time the Phoenix were left out of the Championship final was in 1996.

Cleveland State ends Green Bay's 13-game winning streak
Cleveland State defeated Green Bay 90-66 in the Horizon League Championship semifinal, which snapped the Phoenix League-best 13-game winning streak. Green Bay's loss at home marked just the second time this season it had fallen at the Kress Center. It first loss came to Marquette back on Dec. 1.

WSU's Peddy leads Raiders to win over Panthers
Freshman guard Shey Peddy scored 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting to lead the Raiders to a 57-55 victory over Milwaukee. Peddy has paced the Raiders in scoring for the last five games.

Another 20-point effort for Edwards
Milwaukee junior center Traci Edwards paced the Panthers in scoring during Friday's semifinal loss to Wright State as she tallied 25 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including a perfect 11-of-11 from the free throw line. Edwards opened the Championship with game-highs of 26 points and 11 rebounds in a 67-60 win over Valparaiso in the quarterfinal round. Edwards has scored 20 points or more 16 times this season.

ESPNU to broadcast title game
Sunday's 2008 Horizon League Championship title game will be broadcast on ESPNU. Dan McLaughlin will be the play-by-play announcer, while Sarah Kustok will handle color commentary.

Horizon League announces postseason awards
Milwaukee junior center Traci Edwards was selected as the Player of the Year, while Green Bay head coach Matt Bollant and Wright State head coach Bridgett Williams earned Co-Coach of the Year recognition. WSU freshman guard Shey Peddy and senior forward Sierra Crayton also took home individual honors as they received the League's respective Newcomer and Sixth Player of the Year awards. Cleveland State University junior guard Dominique Butler took home the circuit's top defensive honor.

News from around the League
Butler
The Bulldogs (20-10 overall, 10-8 Horizon League) were eliminated in the quarterfinal round of the Horizon League Championship following a 79-68 loss on the road to Cleveland State.

The loss to the Vikings in the quarterfinal round of the Championship snapped Butler's four-game winning streak.

The Bulldogs trailed by five (71-66) with 2:52 to go in the game, but Butler was held to just one field goal for the remainder of the contest.

Four BU players scored in double-figures with Brittany Bowen leading the way with 17 points on 7-of-16 shooting. Sophomore forward Susan Lester and junior center Lade Akande scored 15 and 11 points, respectively.

As a team, Butler hit at a 43.1 clip from the field, but struggled from beyond the arc as it shot just 25.0 percent, including an 0-8 mark in the second half.

Butler's victory over Valparaiso gave the Bulldogs their 20th win of the season, the most for the team since the 1997-98 campaign (25-6) and the most during head coach Beth Couture's six-year tenure.

Cleveland State
The Vikings (18-13 overall, 10-8 Horizon League) advanced to the Championship final for the first since 2000 after they defeated Green Bay 90-66 in the semifinals.

Senior forward Robyn Hoying scored a career-high 22 points and was one of five Cleveland State players, who reached double figures.

Cleveland State will square off with No. 2 Wright State at 12:00 p.m. CST in the Kress Events Center. During the regular season, the two teams split with CSU winning at home 68-54 (Jan. 19) and losing on the road 51-43 (Feb. 14).

The Raiders defeated third-seeded Milwaukee, 57-55, in the first semifinal.

With the victory, CSU collected it 18th win of the season, which is the third most in school-history and the most since the 1983-84 team won 19.

Sophomore guard Kailey Klein finished with 18 points, while junior guard Dominique Butler chipped in 14 points and eight boards. Sophomore guard Jessica Roque added 14 points off the bench, while Brittany Korth tallied her first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

The Vikings hit at a season-best .596 (31-52) from the field, the second best percentage in school-history. CSU also connected on 13-of-25 (.520) from three-point range, including a 6-for-8 effort by Hoying.

Klein's 18-point output gives her 609 points for the year. She is just the second player in CSU history to score 600 points in a season.

CSU's victory over Loyola on March 8 gave the Vikings their 10th League victory, breaking the old mark of nine set in 2003-04.

Detroit
The Titans (6-24 overall, 3-15 Horizon League) fell in the first round of the Horizon League Championship on the road to Youngstown State to end their 2007-08 season.Junior guard Zemora Davis led the Titans with 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Junior guard Sandi Brown also scored in double-figures as she tallied 11 points.

Detroit struggled from the three-point range against the Penguins as it went just 2-of-13 from beyond the arc.

Detroit ended its regular season with two losses on the road as the Titans dropped a 59-50 decision at Milwaukee on Thursday and then were defeated by Green Bay on Saturday, 71-51

Brown collected her fourth career double-double at Milwaukee with a team-high 17 points and a career-best 12 rebounds. In addition, sophomore Chanica Hall chipped in with 10 points and dished out a game-high four assists against the Panthers. Brown went on to score in her 15th double figure game this season in the regular season finale against Green Bay with a team-high 15 points.

Green Bay
The Phoenix (26-5 overall, 17-1 Horizon League) were eliminated from the Horizon League Championship after it fell 90-66 to Cleveland State in the semifinal round of the Horizon League Championship .

Green Bay's loss dropped the Phoenix to 33-6 all-time in the League Championship. Prior to the loss, the Phoenix had won 25 games at home against League opponents.

Green Bay was led by junior center Lavesa Glover's 17 points as she led four players in double figures. Junior guard Kati Harty added 15 points as she went 8-of-8 from the free throw line.

Senior Kayla Groh and junior Rachel Porath also scored in double-figures as they scored 14 and 11 points, respectively.

The Phoenix shot 34.6 percent in the first half and trailed 42-26 at halftime. Green Bay came out of the locker room by going 5-of-6 from the field and cut the lead to seven, 44-37, with 16:13 to go, but the Phoenix would get no closer.

For the game, Green Bay shot 42.6 percent from the field, while connecting at a 44.4 percent clip from beyond the arc.

Loyola
The Ramblers (8-23 overall, 5-13 Horizon League) were eliminated in the quarterfinal round of the Horizon League Championship following a 83-67 loss to Green Bay on the road.

Loyola led at the half after shooting a 53.6 percent in the first half, but in the second frame, the team connected at a 36.4 clip from the field as it was outscored 46-29.

Sophomore guard Maggie McCloskey led the way with 22 points, and Elyse VanBogaert and Keisha Collins each added 16 points apiece for the Ramblers.

In addition, McCloskey went 6-of-10 from beyond the arc (60.0 percent).

The six treys gave McCloskey 90 for the season, three better than former Loyola player Mary Just's single-season school record (87) and just three short of Jessica Wilhite's (UWM) single-season Horizon League mark.

All five of Loyola's starters will return for the 2008-09 season.

Milwaukee
The Panthers (17-14 overall, 11-7 Horizon League) were eliminated in the semifinal round of the Horizon League Championship.

Junior center Traci Edwards posted her second straight 20 point game in the League Championhip as she poured in a game-high 25 points. In addition, she also tied a tournament and school record by finishing 11-for-11 from the free throw line.

Edwards was the only Milwaukee player, who finished in double figures. The UWM junior also broke the school record for points in a season (639) and points per game (20.6).

Both teams combined for 57 turnovers (WSU 29-UWM 28). UWM finished the game shooting at 42.1 percent.

Sophomore Jodie McClain hit a three-pointer to give the Panthers a game-high 10-point lead at 33-23 with less than four minutes to play in the second half.

Milwaukee then went 10:29 without a field goal, settling for just five free throws. The Raiders, meanwhile, rattled off 19 points to take a 42-38 lead with 6:29 to play.

With the win over the Crusaders, the Panthers advance to the semifinal round of the League Championship for the fourth time in the last five years.

The Panthers closed out the League schedule by winning four of their last six games and finished in a second-place tie with Wright State.

UIC
The Flames (10-20 overall, 6-12 Horizon League) were eliminated from the Horizon League Championship in the first round following a 73-69 overtime loss to Loyola on Monday.

UIC trailed by eight with 8:18 to go in the second half, but UIC drained eight straight points to cut the deficit to one. The Flames tied the game with 18 seconds remaining, but in the overtime session UIC was outscored 14-10.

Sophomore guard Jessie Miller posted game highs of 22 points and 14 rebounds to record her second double-double of the season. She also had a game-high seven steals.

As a team, the Flames forced the Ramblers into 20 turnovers. UIC also had 12 blocks, five of which came from Cassie Johnson.

Valparaiso
The Crusaders (14-16 overall, 9-9 Horizon League) were eliminated in the quarterfinal round of the Horizon League Championship losing 67-60 at Milwaukee.

Valparaiso trailed by 18 points with 4:19 to play after trailing by just six at the half (30-24).

The Crusaders rallied to cut the lead to just four points (61-57) with 41 seconds to play, but they would get no closer as Milwaukee scored six of the final nine points to secure the victory.

Milwaukee, shot 45.1 percent from the field for the game, including 42 percent from beyond the arc, while Valpo hit at a clip of 38.0 from the floor, but made 14-of-30 three-pointers to keep the game within reach.

The 14 triples are the third most for the Crusaders in a single game in school history.

Junior forward Sarah Ott led the Crusaders with 15 points. Fellow juniors Agnieszka Kulaga and Aimee Litka each chipped in with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

In 2007-08, Litka scored in double figures in 27 of 30 games this season.

Wright State
The Raiders (16-15 overall, 11-7 Horizon League) defeated Milwaukee to advance to the Horizon League Championship final.

Wright State will take on Cleveland State in the Championship final. During the regular season, WSU split with CSU with the Raiders losing on the road 68-54 (Jan. 19) and winning at home 51-43 (Feb. 14).

The Raiders trailed by just five points (26-21) at the half. WSU then saw its deficit grow to 10 points with 16:37 to go in the game.

The Raiders responded by going on a 30-13 run over the next 15 and a half minutes to take a 52-46 lead into the final minute of the game. In the final minute, WSU held on, despite UWM scoring nine of the final 13 points of the game.

WSU enters Sunday's final having won seven of its last 10 games. The Raiders split the regular-season series with the Panthers.

The Raiders shot 53 percent for the game compared to 42 percent for Milwaukee and also held a 26-20 rebounding advantage, resulting in a 9-4 edge in second-chance points.

WSU also led in points in the paint (30-22) and points off of turnovers (31-22). Both teams shot well from the foul line as Wright State was 14 of 18, including 12 of 14 the final 20 minutes, while the Panthers were 20 of 24.

Freshman guard Shey Peddy led Wright State with 16 points, while sophomore Erica Richardson and senior forward Sierra Crayton each scored 12 points.

Youngstown State
The Penguins (14-17 overall, 8-10 Horizon League) were eliminated by Wright State in the quarterfinal round of the Horizon League Championship.

Junior forward Tiara Scott led the Penguins with team-bests of 18 points and 10 rebounds as she recorded her fifth double-double of the year.

Seniors Lauren Branson (10 points) and Heather Karner (15 points) and junior guard Toni Roscoe (11points) each scored in double figures,

As a team, YSU held a 36-33 advantage on the boards, but struggled from the field shooting just 35.2 percent from the field.

YSU finished the regular season with a loss at Loyola (86-70) on March 6 and a win on the road against UIC (71-62) on March 8.

The Penguins' victory over UIC marked its eighth League win and matched its highest total since joining the Horizon League in 2001-02.