Horizon League Women's Basketball Release #1
Nov. 5, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format 
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The 2007-08 Horizon League women's basketball schedule gets underway on Friday Nov. 9, as seven teams take to the court in games across the country.
MILWAUKEE PICKED TO FINISH FIRST IN PRESEASON POLL
The Milwaukee Panthers will begin the 2007-08 season as the favorite to win the Horizon League regular-season title as they garnered 253 points and 13 first-place votes in voting by head coaches, sports information directors and media members. During the 2006-07 season, the Panthers finished with a 10-6 mark in League play. UWM returns four starters from last season's squad, including 2007 Preseason Player of the Year Traci Edwards.
The Panthers have not been picked to finish first in the League since the 2001-02 campaign. In that season, UWM finished second in the League with a 14-2 mark.
Green Bay picked up 244 points and nine first-place to rank second in the poll. For the past five years the Phoenix had been picked to finish first. Butler placed third with 238 points and five first-place votes, while UIC was tabbed fourth with 176 points and one first-place vote.
Valparaiso, which will begin its first season in Horizon League play was fifth with 152 points. Youngstown State (118), Wright State (104), Cleveland State (102), Detroit (78) and Loyola (75) rounded out the 2007 poll.
EDWARDS NAMED PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Milwaukee's Traci Edwards was named Preseason Player of the Year with 267 points and received 24 of the 27 possible first-place votes. In two seasons at UWM, Edwards has scored 1,115 points and sports a career average of 18.3 points per game.
Last year, Edwards led the League in both scoring (20.5 ppg) and rebounding (9.4 rpg). In addition, the Wisconsin native led all individuals with 16 games with at least 20 points or more and 13 double-doubles.
Butler's Lade Akande, Cleveland State's Kailey Klein, Detroit's Joyce Massey and Green Bay's Rachel Porath rounded out the League's Preseason First-Team.
Second-Team honorees consisted of Youngstown State's Heather Karner, Butler's Susan Lester, Wright State's Whitney Lewis, Loyola's Maggie McCloskey and UIC's Jessie Miller.
GREEN BAY IN SEARCH OF MORE SUCCESS
The 2006-07 season saw Green Bay claim the regular-season and Horizon League Championship crowns for the fifth time in six years. Green Bay finished the year with a 29-4 overall mark including, a perfect 16-0 League record and made its 10th straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Phoenix finished the year ranked No. 22 in both the Associated Press and USA Today polls.
Since the 1997-98 season, Green Bay has captured at least a share of the last nine regular-season titles and won eight of the last 10 championship crowns. Despite the recent success, the Phoenix road to an unprecedented 10th straight League title figures to be a difficult journey as the squad lost three of its top scorers to graduation, including 2006-07 Horizon League Player of the Year Nicole Soulis.
RECAPPING THE 2007 POSTSEASON TOURNAMENTS
Green Bay and UIC each competed in postseason tournaments in 2007. The Phoenix advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to Connecticut in Hartford, Conn. Green Bay went into the locker room with the 40-38 halftime lead, but eventually fell 94-70. UIC faced off against Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minn., and dropped a 97-54 decision to the Golden Gophers.
EDWARDS LONE RETURNEE FROM THE 2006-07 ALL-HORIZON LEAGUE FIRST TEAM
Milwaukee's Traci Edwards is the only returning player from last year's All-Horizon League First Team. Edwards returns to the Panthers for her junior season. During her sophomore campaign, the 6-foot-2-inch center led the League in scoring (20.5 ppg) and rebounding (9.4 rpg). Edwards also ranked high among the NCAA leaders as she was 13th in scoring and 12th in the country in field goal percentage (.574).
TOPPING THE CHARTS
After leading the League in scoring and rebounding last season, Edwards became just the third player in League history to win both statistical categories joining Cleveland State's Audra Cook (1999-2000) and Milwaukee's Maria Viall (2003-04) in that group. No player has ever won both the scoring and rebounding titles two years in a row. In addition, the Panther center will be aiming for her third straight League rebounding crown.
2006-07 ALL-HORIZON LEAGUE SECOND TEAM MEMBERS AKANDE AND MASSEY RETURN
Butler's Lade Akande and Detroit's Joyce Massey return to for their junior and senior seasons, respectively. Last season, Akande was the Bulldogs' second leading scorer (14.1 ppg) behind 2006-07 All-Horizon League First Team member Jackie Closser. UDM's Massey finished the year fourth in the League in scoring (14.9 ppg).
PHOENIX LOOK TO RELOAD
Graduation hit Green Bay hard at the end of last season as the squad lost its top three scorers in the form of Nicole Soulis (16.6 ppg), Natalie Berglin (11.9 ppg) and Amanda Popp (10.2 ppg). Despite the losses, the Phoenix do return Rachel Porath and Kayla Groh, both of whom started in 32 games a year ago.
Porath was fourth on the squad in scoring and led the League in three-point field-goal percentage as she connected at a clip of .438. Groh was named to the Horizon League All-Defensive squad.
In addition, the Phoenix welcome seven newcomers to the squad.
BOLLANT REPLACES BORSETH AT GREEN BAY
Head coach Matt Bollant begins his first season on the bench at Green Bay. Bollant arrives in Green Bay after spending the previous five years at Bryan (Tenn.) College. Under Bollant's watch, Bryan made four straight NAIA national tournament appearances. The team advanced as far as the Sweet 16 in 2005-06 with a 26-8 record.
Prior to his appointment at Bryan, Bollant served as an assistant coach at Indiana University for two seasons and the University of Evansville for three years. Bollant replaces 2006-07 Horizon League Coach of the Year Kevin Borseth and is just the third head coach Green Bay women's basketball history.
PHOENIX MOVE INTO NEW DIGS
Green Bay will move out of the Phoenix Sports Center and into the Kress Center for the 2007-08 season. The Phoenix Sports Center served as the team's home court for 31 seasons. In those 31 years, the Phoenix had a record of 303-64.
The $33 million state-of-the-art facility Kress Center will be able to seat 4,000.
UIC HOPES TO BUILD ON 2007 WNIT APPEARANCE
During the 2006-07 season, UIC went 19-13 and made an appearance in the WNIT. The 19 wins were the most the Flames had ever won in a year. This season UIC returns two starters and its two top shot blockers in the form of Jessie Miller and Nikki Grobbecker. Following the 2006-07 campaign, Miller was named to the 2006-07 All-Horizon League Newcomer Team.
FLAMES LOOK FOR EXPERIENCE
Graduation also hit UIC hard at the end of the 2006-07 season as the Flames lost three starters in LaShonda Grant, Jacquay Holmes and Krystal Hugelier. This season, UIC welcomes six newcomers.
RYCKBOSCH CLOSE TO THE TOP
Head coach Lisa Ryckbosch is close to becoming the winningest coach is UIC history. She needs just 12 wins to surpass Eileen McMahon to become the Flames' all-time leader in coaching victories.
BUTLER RETURNS THREE STARTERS
In the upcoming 2007-08 season, Butler returns three starters from last year's squad that finished tied for second place with an 11-5 record.
AKANDE APPROACHES MILESTONE
In just two seasons, Bulldogs center Lade Akande has totaled 878 points and needs just 122 points to become the 19th player in Butler history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. The last BU player to reach 1,000 points in her junior season was Jennifer Marlow (1998-99).
COUTURE INKS FIVE-YEAR CONTRACT EXTENSION
Prior to the start of the 2007-08 season, Butler head coach Beth Couture signed a five-year contract extension with the Bulldogs. In five years as head coach, Couture has a mark of 65-81.
BOTHAM CLOSES IN ON RECORD
Milwaukee head coach Sandy Botham has a League record of 118-50 in 11 years at the helm. Entering this season, Botham needs just eight League wins to break former Green Bay head coach Kevin Borseth's League record for coaching victories. Throughout her career, Botham has averaged 10.1 League wins per season.
NEAR THE TOP
Milwaukee has finished second or better in the League standings in seven of the last eight seasons. Since the 1999-2000 campaign, UWM has posted a mark of 93-30 in League contests.
WELCOME TO THE HORIZON LEAGUE
Valparaiso will begin its first season in the Horizon League. In the previous 15 years, the Crusaders competed in the Mid-Continent Conference.
A TOUGH ROAD AHEAD
Valparaiso faces a tough 2007-08 schedule this season as the Crusaders will meet six teams that participated in the 2007 NCAA Tournament, including instate foe Purdue, which advanced to the Elite Eight.
SHARP SHOOTERS
Last season the Crusaders were finished 16th among NCAA teams in three-point field goals per game (6.8) and 12th in three-point field-goal percentage (37.4).
WRIGHT STATE WELCOMES SIX
After losing three of it top four scorer from last year's squad, Wright State will look to its youth as the Raiders welcome six newcomers to the squad this season.
LEWIS RETURNS FOR HER SENIOR YEAR
Wright State senior Whitney Lewis is the Raiders' top returning scorer from last season. During the 2006-07 campaign, 6-foot forward averaged 11.4 points per game and ranked in the top five several offensive categories including field-goal percentage, three-point field-goal percentage and free-throw percentage.
BRANSON CONTINUES TO CLIMB
Youngstown State guard Lauren Branson ranks seventh on the school's all-time assist list with 326 for her career. She needs just 74 more to become just the sixth player in school history to record at least 400 assists. Last season, the senior guard was second in the League in assists per game (4.32).
DEFENSIVE SPECIALIST
Cleveland State guard Dominique Butler has been the squads' best defensive player the past two seasons. Last year, Butler led the League in steals and was named to the All-Defensive Team for the second straight season.
TOUGH ON THE GLASS
During the 2006-07 season, Cleveland State proved to be a strong around the glass as it led all teams in the League in rebounding with an average of 39.2 rebounds per contest.
LOYOLA LOOKS TO REPLACE ITS LEADERS
The Ramblers must replace a pair of All-Horizon League Second Team performers in Marquise Hanser and Jenna Real, both of who have graduated. Each scored over 1,000 points in their respective careers, making them the first set of classmates to accomplish the feat since Ciara Henderson and Meskhenet Lands did it in 2003-04.
IMPRESSIVE FRESHMEN
Loyola's freshman class from last year accounted for 45 percent of the team's scoring, 39 percent of its rebounding and 52 percent of its assists.
TITANS LOOK TO REBOUND
Last season Detroit posted a mark of 5-26. UDM will look to senior forward Joyce Massey to lead the way for the Titans. Last season, Massey averaged 14.9 points per game. Detroit also received a strong contribution from India Bruster. In 22 games last season, Bruster averaged 8.1 rebounds per game.
SMART COOKIES
Valparaiso, Green Bay and Cleveland State each finished in the Top 25 of the 2006-2007 Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Academic Team Honor Roll for Division I. The rankings recognize teams throughout the nation that hold the highest grade-point averages.
The Horizon League (three), the Big Sky Conference (three) and Missouri Valley Conference (four) were the only leagues to place three or more member institutions in the WBCA Academic Top 25.
Valparaiso finished No. 12 and was the highest ranked institution in the League with a team GPA of 3.419.
Green Bay was ranked 18th with a GPA of 3.334. The Phoenix was one of only four teams to be placed in the WBCA Academic Top 25 and compete in the 2007 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship.
Cleveland State finished 21st on the academic rolls and ended the 2006-2007 campaign with a team GPA of 3.310.
In the last 10 years, Valpo and Green Bay have made this honor a routine distinction. The Crusaders have ranked in the Top 25 in each of the last nine years, while the Phoenix has finished in the Top 25 in seven of the last nine seasons. CSU returned to the Top 25 for the first time since the 2001-2002 season when the Vikings finished 11th.
WHERE AND WHEN IS THE HORIZON LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP?
The Horizon League Championship opens five days later this season with the first round beginning on Monday, March 10. In the first round, the No. 7 seed will host the No. 10 and the No. 8 seed will welcome the No. 9 seed. The winners of those games will move on to face the higher seeds in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, March 12.
Semifinal action will get underway on Friday, March 14 at the site of the highest remaining seed, while championship action will take place at the same site on Sunday, March 14 live on ESPNU.
