Horizon League Women's Basketball Release #16
Feb. 18, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Green Bay junior guard Rachel Porath earned her third Player of the Week award this season and the fourth of her career after she led the Phoenix to a 2-0 record last week. In two games, Porath shot 77.8 percent from the field and averaged 20.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
Horizon League Player of the Week
Rachel Porath
Jr. * G * Luxemburg, Wis.
Green Bay junior Rachel Porath collected her third Player of the Week award of the season and the fourth of her career after she helped the Phoenix to a 2-0 mark this past week. This past week, Porath averaged 20.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. In addition, the Wisconsin native shot 77.8 percent from the field and hit at a 78.6 clip from beyond the arc. Porath began the week with against Valparaiso as she notched her second double-double of the season with 19 points and a career-tying 12 rebounds. Porath conclued the week with a career-high 22 points against Butler. Against the Bulldogs, the Green Bay guard, went 6-of-7 from three-point range.
Other Top Performances for the Week Ending February 16
Lade Akande, Butler
Jr. * C * Robinson, Ill.
Akande led the team with 17.5 points in two games last weekend, shooting 62.5 percent from the field (15-for-24). The Butler center also averaged 6.0 rebounds per contest. Akande began the week with 22 points on 9-for-16 shooting at Milwaukee on Thursday. She then notched 13 points on 6-for-8 shooting and chipped in four rebounds and a team-best two blocks on the road against Green Bay on Saturday.
Kailey Klein, Cleveland State
So. * G * Cherry, Ill.
Klein averaged 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game, while shooting 13-of-25 (.520) from the field. After being held to a season-low seven points on Thursday at Wright State, Klein responded by tying her career-high with 33 points on Saturday at Detroit. It was the fourth time she had scored 33 points in her career. Klein, who also grabbed seven rebounds, was 11-of-18 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers, while hitting 9-of-12 from the free throw line.
Chanica Hall, Detroit
So. * G * Minneapolis, Minn.
In two games this past week, Hall averaged 14.0 points and 5.0 rebounds on the week. The Titan sophomore scored with 13 points against Youngstown State on Thursday and 15 in UDM's victory over second-place Cleveland State on Saturday.
Brittany Boeke, Loyola
Fr. * F * Cherry Valley, Ill.
Boeke finished with 15 points and seven rebounds as Loyola won its only game of the week, knocking off intracity foe UIC, 63-57. Boeke, who left the game momentarily in the first half after getting hit in the face, saved her best work for the second half, scoring 10 of her 15 after intermission, including two key buckets that kept the Flames at bay.
Traci Edwards, Milwaukee
Jr. * C * Menasha, Wis.
Edwards shot 65 percent from the field and picked up a pair of double-doubles as she helped the Panthers to a 1-1 record this past week. Against Butler on Thursday, Edwards scored 19 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and blocked three shots. She then followed that performance by tallying 24 points and 10 rebounds against Valparaiso on Saturday.
Shanice Sadler, UIC
Fr. * F * Flint, Mich.
In her only game of the week, Sadler tied her season-high with 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting against Loyola on Saturday. The UIC freshman also pulled down eight rebounds.
Whitney Lewis, Wright State
Sr. * F * Lynchburg, Ohio
Lewis helped the Raiders to a 1-1 record this past week as she averaged 10.5 points and 11.0 rebounds per game. The WSU senior opened the week by scoring 10 points and pulling down nine rebounds against Cleveland State on Saturday. Lewis concluded the week by posting her second double-double of the season as tallied 11 points, including three three-pointers, and a career-tying 13 rebounds versus Youngstown State on Saturday.
Tiara Scott, Youngstown State
Jr. * F * Denver, Colo.
Scott led the Penguins with 17.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game in two road victories last week. Scott scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a 61-58 win over Detroit on Thursday. She also scored 12 points and grabbed four boards in YSU's 66-58 win over Wright State on Saturday. For the week, Scott shot 65 percent from the field and 72.7 percent from the free-throw line.
News From Around the League
Butler
The Bulldogs (16-8 overall, 6-7 Horizon League) defeated Milwaukee 75-73 on the road on Thursday to even the season series. On Saturday, BU fell to Green Bay 84-59.
With their victory at Milwaukee on Saturday, the Bulldogs tied the 2006-07 team with the most wins since the 1998-99 season and the most during head coach Beth Couture's tenure.
Sophomore forward Susan Lester notched her seventh double-double of the season with a team-best 23 points and 12 rebounds. She went 9-for-18 from the field, 3-for-6 from beyond the arc, added two assists and a team-high four steals.
Freshman Brittany Bowen put up another impressive single-game performance against Green Bay on Saturday as she tallied a team-high 18 points, including 14 in the second half, on 7-for-8 shooting from the field and a 3-for-4 mark from three-point range.
How the Bulldogs fare in the first half has a big impact on how the team fares in the game. Butler is 13-0 on the year when heading into the break with a lead.
Butler returns to the court on Thursday as it welcomes Wright State. The Bulldogs will then finish off the week on Saturday at home against Detroit.
Cleveland State
The Vikings (14-10 overall, 8-5 Horizon League) dropped a pair of road games last week, losing to Wright State (51-43) and Detroit (68-57). CSU has now lost three straight games for the first time this season.
Despite the losses, CSU has its best 24-game mark since the 1983-84 season.
The Vikings were held to a season-low 43 points at Wright State. CSU's previous low point total of the season was 52 in a 63-52 setback at Milwaukee (Jan. 12).
Sophomore guard Kailey Klein tied her career-high with 33 points on Saturday at Detroit. It was the second straight year that Klein scored 33 points in Calihan Hall and the fourth time that Klein reached 33 points for her career.
Sophomore forward Stephaine Crosley led the Vikings with 10 points in Thursday's loss at Wright State. She was the lone Viking in double-figures as Cleveland State was playing with just eight healthy players.
Saturday's loss at Detroit dropped CSU to 2-16 all-time in Calihan Hall.
The Vikings travel to Youngstown on Saturday for their only game of the week.
Detroit
The Titans (4-19 overall, 1-11 Horizon League) fell 62-59 at home against Youngstown State on Thursday, but rebounded on Saturday as they snapped its nine-game losing streak with a 68-57 victory over second-place Cleveland State at Calihan Hall.
Four Titans scored in double figures against the Vikings with sophomore guard Chanica Hall leading the way with 15 points on 6-of-17 shooting from the field. Hall also collected six steals, which set a career-high for the Minnesota native.Junior guard Zemora Davis came off the bench to net 14 points, while freshman guard Gabi Hungerford scored 12 for the Titans.
In addition, junior Sandi Brown led the Titans in rebounds with six and also added 10 points in UDM's first Horizon League win of the season.
Hall led the Titans with 13 points in UDM's 62-59 loss against Youngstown State on Valentine's Day and became the second player on UDM's current roster to log all 40 minutes in one game. Sophomore Heather Hatter matched her personal-best of 12 points in the loss and also tied career-highs in rebounds (8) and made field goals (5).
The Titans will travel to Indiana this week and will face Valparaiso on Thursday and Butler on Saturday.
Green Bay
The Phoenix (20-4 overall, 12-1 Horizon League) went 2-0 this past week with victories over Valparaiso (65-44) on Thursday and Butler (84-59) on Saturday.
After allowing Valparaiso to score 90 points in an overtime game earlier this season, Green Bay held the Crusaders to just 44 points. Valpo's 44 output against Green Bay on Thursday was the lowest point total by a Phoenix opponent this season.
In the first meeting between the two teams, Green Bay allowed Valpo to shoot 13-of-29 from three-point range in the overtime setback on Jan. 19. In the Kress Center, the Phoenix held the Crusaders to just 4-of-20 three-point shooting.
In Green Bay's victory over Butler on Saturday, the Phoenix captured their ninth-straight 20-win season.
Green Bay jumped on Butler early as it held the Bulldogs to just 19 first-half points.
Senior guard Kayla Groh is just eight points away from becoming Green Bay's 24th player to reach the 1,000-point plateau for her career.
The Phoenix travel to Chicago this week as they head to UIC on Thursday and Loyola on Saturday.
Loyola
The Ramblers (6-17 overall, 4-8 Horizon League) defeated cross-town rival UIC (63-57) on Saturday to win back-to-back games for the first time this season.
Freshman forward Brittany Boeke tallied 15 points and was one of four Ramblers that scored in double-figures. Boeke also pulled down a seven rebounds
Sophomore forward recorded her third double-double of the year and her second against UIC as she scored 10 points and collected 10 rebounds.
Loyola outshot UIC from the free-throw line 88.0-45.0 percent. The Ramblers converted 22-of-25 shots from the stripe compared to just 9-of-20 from UIC.
Defensively, Loyola allowed UIC to shoot 75 percent from beyond the arc in the first half (3-of-4), but in the second half, the Ramblers held the Flames to just 1-of-6 shooting from three-point range in the second half.
This week, Loyola welcomes Milwaukee on Thursday and Green Bay on Saturday.
Milwaukee
The Panthers (13-11 overall, 8-5 Horizon League) split a pair of League home games this past week as they fell to Butler (75-73) on Thursday. UWM rebounded on Saturday to defeat Valparaiso 76-70.
Against Butler, UWM trailed by 22 points at the half (44-22), but came back to cut the lead down to one point with just 44 seconds remaining in the game, but could not retake the lead.
It was a tale of two halves for the Panthers against Butler, in the first half, UWM shot just 32.0 percent (8-of-25), but rebounded in the second stanza to hit at a 61.3 clip.
On Satruday, head coach Sandy Botham broke the League record with her 126th loop coaching victory Saturday against Valparaiso.
Junior center Traci Edwards has posted double-doubles in her last three games and double-digit rebound totals in her last four.
Edwards' double-double streak is tied for the third-longest in school history, while her double-digit rebound streak is tied for second. She also now has 14 double-doubles this season, one off the school record she set as a freshman.
UWM travels to Chicago on Thursday to take on Loyola. The Panthers wrap up the week on Saturday against UIC.
UIC
The Flames (8-15 overall, 4-8 Horizon League) dropped their only game of the week, losing to Loyola 63-57.
Three UIC players scored in double-figures. Sophomore guard Jessie Miller led the way with 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting.
Junior center Nikki Grobbecker paced the squad with 10 rebounds. Grobbecker also chipped in with six points on 2-of-3 shooting.
UIC began the first half connecting on 3-of-4 shots from the beyond the arc (75.0 percent), but cooled off in the second half from three-point range as it went 1-of-6.
The Flames tied a school record with 10 steals in the game and forced Loyola into 20 turnovers.
UIC returns to action at home and welcomes Green Bay on Thursday and Milwaukee on Saturday.
Valparaiso
The Crusaders (11-13 overall, 6-7 Horizon League) dropped a pair of League games this past week losing to Green Bay (65-44) on Thursday and Milwaukee (76-70) on Saturday.
Junior guard Agnieszka Kulaga had a game-high 20 points against the Phoenix. Kulaga connected on 8-of-15 shots from the field.
As a team, the Crusaders struggled from three-point range as they connected on just 4-of-20 (20 percent) from beyond the arc.
Defensively, Valparaiso tied a season high with three blocked shots against Green Bay.
Against Milwaukee, junior forward Sarah Ott was 6-of-6 from the floor, including 4-of-4 from three-point range against the Panthers as she scored a game-high 18 points. Ott was one of five Valpo players that scored in double figures. Senior forward Sanna Helenius had a season-high 10 points against the Panthers.
Defensively, the Crusaders had 11 steals and forced the Panthers into 22 turnovers.
Valpo wraps up its home campaign this week as it welcomes Detroit on Thursday and Wright State on Saturday.
Wright State
The Raiders (10-13 overall, 7-5 Horizon League) split a pair of home games last week as they defeated Cleveland State (51-43) before falling to Youngstown State (66-58).
The Raiders outscored Cleveland State 20-7 over the final eight minutes to take a 35-18 halftime lead, and eventually went up 47-28 with 9:14 remaining to secure the win.
Pacing the Raiders was sophomore forward Erica Richardson who poured in 14 points, grabbed six rebounds and recorded three blocks.
In addition, senior forward Whitney Lewis grabbed nine rebounds and tallied 10 points, while freshman guard Shey Peddy added eight points.
Peddy was held under double-figures for just the second time this season. Peddy had eight points in the opener at Boston College.
On Saturday, Wright State shot 46 percent, but could not overcome nine three-pointers and 17-of-19 foul shooting by Youngstown State.
Peddy led the Raiders with 17 points. She also added five assists and five steals. Lewis posted her second double-double of the year as she tallied 11 points and a career-tying 13 rebounds.
Wright State heads to Indiana this week to take on Butler on Thursday followed by a stop Valparaiso on Saturday.
Youngstown State
The Penguins (12-12 overall, 7-6 Horizon League) went 2-0 on the road this past week as they defeated Detroit (61-58) on Thursday and Wright State on Saturday.
Junior forward Tiara Scott scored a game-high 22 points against Detroit.
Against Wright State, YSU snapped the Raiders' four game winning streak at the Nutter Center. Senior guard Heather Karner led way with a game-high 19 points. Karner was also one of four players to score in double-figures.
With its victory over Wright State the Penguins have matched their highest win total in Tisha Hill's tenure with 12 (2004-05).
Youngstown State won two straight road contests for the first time since the end of the 2004-05 season.
Senior guard Lauren Branson moved into fifth place on the YSU all-time assist chart. With seven assists last week, Branson now has 449 and moved past Colleen Cook (447, 1994-98).
Senior forward Jessica Schloemp extended her consecutive games played streak to 97.
In their lone game of the week, the Penguins will welcome Cleveland State on Saturday.
