Horizon League Women's Basketball Championship - Semifinals Preview
March 14, 2008
GREEN BAY, Wis. - The semifinals of the 2008 Horizon League Women's Basketball Championship begin tonight at 6:30 p.m. (EST) in Green Bay, Wis. The match-ups will feature No. 2 seed Wright State vs. No. 3 seed Milwaukee and No. 1 seed Green Bay vs. No. 4 seed Cleveland State.
The Horizon League at a Glance
Higher seeds hold in quarterfinal games
In Wednesday's quarterfinal games, each of the higher seeds prevailed on its respective home court as No. 1 seed Green Bay defeated No. 9 seed Loyola (83-67), No. 2 seed Wright State downed No. 7 seed Youngstown State (69-60), No. 3 seed Milwaukee held off No. 6 seed Valparaiso (67-60) and No. 4 seed Cleveland State shot past No. 5 seed Butler (79-68).
Green Bay advances to its 13th consecutive Championship semifinal
The Green Bay Phoenix will appear in its 13th straight League Championship semifinal on Friday against Cleveland State. The Phoenix is in search of its fifth League title in the last six years.
Edwards collects her 17th double-double of the season
Milwaukee junior center Traci Edwards posted game-highs of 26 points and 11 rebounds against Valparaiso in the quarterfinal round of the Horizon League Championship to record her League-best 17th double-double of the season.
Cleveland State and Wright State advance to semifinals
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 semifinals. Wright State will appear in the League semifinals for the first time since 2005, while Cleveland State makes its first appearance since 2003.
WSU's Peddy scores 26 points
For the seventh time this season, Wright State freshman guard Shey Peddy scored 20 points or more in a game. The Boston native went 10-of-13 from the field, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. Peddy leads all League freshmen in scoring with 16.3 points per game.
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.
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.
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 (17-13 overall, 10-8 Horizon League) advanced to the quarterfinal round of the Horizon League Championship following a 79-68 victory over Butler.
Cleveland State shot 53.8 percent from three-point range and took a 44-39 lead into the locker room. In the second half, CSU hit only one shot from beyond the arc (1-of-5).
The Vikings' defensive held BU's Susan Lester and Lade Akande to 26 points combined. The last time BU played at Cleveland State, Lester and Akande teamed up for 51 points and 26 rebounds.
Sophomore guard Kailey Klein recorded her second straight double-double as she netted 20 points and pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds to lead the Vikings.
Klein enters the semifinals with 594 points, which is the second highest total in a single season at CSU. She is 41 points shy of breaking the record and needs to just six more points to become just the second player to score 600 points in a season.
The Vikings split a pair of games on the road to close out the regular season as they fell to UIC (93-80) on Thursday, but rebounded against Loyola (86-70) on Saturday.
CSU's victory over Loyola on Saturday gave the Vikings their 10th League victory, breaking the old mark of nine set in 2003-04.
Cleveland State will face the No. 1 seed Green Bay Phoenix on Friday at 9:00 p.m. (ET).
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 (26-4 overall, 17-1 Horizon League) defeated Loyola 83-67 in the quarterfinal round of the Horizon League Championship .
Green Bay improved to 33-5 all-time in the League championship with the win and posted its 25th straight win at home against circuit opponents.
The Phoenix trailed Loyola at the half 48-47, but Green Bay would go on to outscore the Ramblers 46-29 in the second frame.
Green Bay outshot Loyola 68.2 to 36.4 in the second half. In addtion, the Phoenix tallied a season-low nine turnovers while the Ramblers were forced into 17 for the game.
Junior center Lavesa Glover led the Phoenix with 21 points while junior forward Erin Templin posted 16 points, which was one point away from her career-best.
Senior guard Kayla Groh and junior guard Rachel Porath added 14 and 12 points, respectively.
Green Bay will host the remainder of the Horizon League championship, starting Friday with semifinal action.
The Phoenix will take on No. 4 seed Cleveland State at 8 p.m. central.
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 (17-13 overall, 11-7 Horizon League) defeated Valparaiso at home 67-60 at home in the quarterfinal round of the Horizon League Championship.
Junior center Traci Edwards scored 26 points and pulled down 11 rebounds as she picked up her 17th double-double of the season, while adding a pair of blocks.
Edwards pushed her season scoring total to 614, which is just one point off the school record she set last season.
Senior guard Aubri Rote added 10 points, knocking down and went three 3-pointers, while Jody Crumble chipped in seven points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals.
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.
UWM and WSU split its regular season meetings with the Raiders defeating the Panthers by one (57-56) in season League opener. In the second game, Milwaukee beat Wright State 67-54 at home in its final game of the regular season. The Panthers' shot a school-record 64.3 percent in their win, but shot just 34.6 percent in the loss.
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 (15-15 overall, 11-7 Horizon League) defeated Youngstown State 69-60 in the quarterfinal round of the Horizon League Championship.
With the win, Wright State advances to the tournament semifinal for the first time since 2005.
The Raiders shot 58 percent from the floor over the first 20 minutes compared to just 36 percent for Youngstown State and took a 37-29 lead into the locker room. In the second half, WSU outscored YSU 32-31.
Wright State's home game against the Penguins was its first since falling to Green Bay in the 2005 championship game.
Freshman guard Shey Peddy led all scorers with 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting. Peddy's 26 point output was her seventh 20 point game of the season.
Senior forwards Whitney Lewis (10 points) and Sierra Crayton (10 points) and freshman guard LaShawna Thomas (10 points) each scored in double-figures.
WSU enters Friday's contest having won seven of its last 10 games. The Raiders split the regular-season series with the Panthers.
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.
