Horizon League Women's Basketball Release #5

Dec. 3, 2007

Complete Release in PDF Format

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Butler junior center Lade Akande was selected as the Horizon League Women's Basketball Player of the Week for the third time this season following a 20-point, nine rebound performance in an 83-70 win over Indiana State on Saturday at the State Farm Hoosier Classic in Valparaiso, Ind.

Horizon League Player of the Week
Lade Akande, Butler
Jr. * C * Robinson, Ill.
Butler center Lade Akande collected her second consecutive Player of the Week award and her third of the season. Akande received the award after she helped Butler to an 83-70 victory over Indiana State at the State Farm Hoosier Classic in Valparaiso, Ind., on Saturday. The win over the Sycamores was BU's third straight as it improved to 5-1 on the year. The BU junior led the Bulldogs in scoring for the fifth time in six games as she totaled a game-high 20 points in 23 minutes on 9-of-18 shooting from the field. In addition, she also tied her season-high with nine rebounds. Akanke has 968 career points and is just 32 points shy of becoming the 19th player in Butler history to record 1,000 career points.

Other Top Performances for the Week Ending December 2
Dominique Butler, Cleveland State
Jr. * G * Milwaukee, Wis.
Butler averaged 13.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game as CSU lost to Ohio (70-59) at home on Monday and at Miami (Ohio) (89-71) on Saturday. In addition, the junior guard shot 80.0 from the field, tallied five steals and collected four assists for the week.

Lavesa Glover, Green Bay
Jr. * C * Miami, Fla.
Glover averaged 13.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in a 1-1 week. The Green Bay junior began the week with a 13 point effort in a 76-54 win at home over Northern Illinois on Wednesday. She then concluded the week with a career-high 14 points during a 60-48 loss at home against Marquette on Saturday.

Keisha Collins, Loyola
So. * G * Chicago, Ill.
Collins averaged 11.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in a 0-2 week. The LU guard opened the week by scoring six points in a loss at Illinois State on Thursday. Collins then responded with her best Division I performance by scoring 17 points in a 70-52 loss to Eastern Illinois on Saturday.

Aubri Rote, Milwaukee
Sr. * G * Delafield, Wis.
Rote averaged a team-best 17.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in a 1-1 week. The Panther guard opened the with 17 points and eight rebounds in a 73-70 overtime loss to Miami (Fla.) at home on Wednesday. Rote concluded the week on Saturday by pouring in a game-high 17 points and eight rebounds during a 77-51 points on the road at Central Connecticut State.

Briana Hinkle, UIC
So. * G * Bexley, Ohio
Hinkle averaged 11. 5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game as the Flames fell 74-35 at No. 17/21 DePaul on Thursday and 69-57 at Illinois on Sunday. Against DePaul, Hinkle scored nine points and pulled down six rebounds. She then followed that performance with 14 points.

Jasmine Ussery, Valparaiso
Fr. * F * Newburgh, Ind.
In Valparaiso's lone game of the week, Ussery scored 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting off the bench in 16 minutes to help propel the Crusaders to a 64-55 win over Ball State in the State Farm Hoosier Classic on Saturday. The Indiana native also added a team-best six rebounds. The win over BSU was Valpo's second straight win.

Whitney Lewis, Wright State
Sr. * F * Lynchburg, Ohio
In Wright State's lone game of the week, Lewis helped the Raiders to their second victory in a row with a 57-40 win over Canisius on Saturday. In the win, Lewis scored 15 points and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds. In addition, the Ohio native added two steals, one block and two assists versus Canisius.

News From Around the League
Butler
The Bulldogs defeated Indiana State 83-70 in Valparaiso, Ind. on Saturday in their only game of the week.

Butler's 5-1 start to the season is the program's best since the 1998-99 team opened the year at 5-1.

Junior guard Candace Jones and sophomore forward Susan Lester each notched the Bulldogs' first double-doubles of the season against Indiana State. Jones posted 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Lester added 16 points and 10 boards.

Butler's 83 points scored against the Sycamores were a season high. The Bulldog defense also held Indiana State to only 63 points up until the final minute, 12 points below ISU's season scoring average (75.4 points per game). The Sycamores would score seven more in the final 60 seconds after Butler pulled the regulars from the floor.

Butler opens up a four-game homestand this week when it hosts Oakland City on Monday at 7:00 p.m. The Bulldogs then host Evansville on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. before taking a 10-day break for finals. The home stretch concludes against Tennessee State (Dec. 16) and IPFW (Dec. 20).

Cleveland State
The Vikings fell 70-59 to Ohio last Monday against at home. CSU then dropped a 89-71 decision at Miami (Ohio) on Saturday.

Sophomore guard Kailey Klein tied the school-record for free throws in a game with 15 against Ohio. In addition, the Vikings had a season-low 13 turnovers against the Bobcats.

Junior guard Dominique Butler hit 9 of her 10 (.900) shots at Miami (Ohio), which was the second best field goal percentage in school-history for a single-game. It trails only the 10-of-11 (.909) performance by Amy Dirkson in 1997.

CSU has had a different leading scorer in five of its six games this season.

CSU is in the midst of a five-game road trip. The Vikings will play their next four games on the road. The next CSU home contest is not until Dec. 29 against American at 3:00 p.m.

This week, the Vikings will head to IUPUI on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m.

Detroit
The Titans played two road games this past weekend falling at Northern Iowa 62-35 on Friday and then dropping a 65-42 decision to Iowa on Sunday.The two losses this past week dropped the Titans to 0-6 on the year. The last time UDM started the season 0-6 was during the 1989-90 season.

Senior center India Bruster tied for a game-high 10 rebounds against the Panthers. She also matched her career-best of six blocks. Bruster then collected five blocks and a game-high four steals in the Titans loss to Iowa.

Junior guard Sandi Brown paced UDM with 10 points on 5-of-11 shooting against the Hawkeyes.

The Titans will wrap-up its four-game road stretch at Toledo on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. Detroit will then play in its first home game since Nov. 14 against Albany on Dec. 8 at 1:30 p.m.

Green Bay
The Phoenix (3-2) opened the week with a 76-54 victory at home over Northern Illinois on Wednesday. Green Bay concluded the week by dropping a 60-48 decision at home against in-state rival Marquette.

The Phoenix is averaging 22.4 turnovers per game of its opponents, thanks to 10.8 steals per game.

Against Northern Illinois, Green Bay forced 35 turnovers, the most miscues by a Green Bay foe since the 2001-02 season. In the loss against Marquette, Green Bay forced 24 turnovers.

Green Bay's 20 steals versus NIU tied for 10th-best in team history and the most by a Horizon League squad this season. Freshman guard Celeste Hoewisch set a personal best with five steals, while senior guard Kayla Groh matched her career-high with four thefts.

After going two seasons as a starter without surpassing 17 points in a game, junior guard Rachel Porath has posted back-to-back 20-point efforts against Northern Illinois and Missouri State (Nov. 17). Porath is Green Bay's leader in scoring with 14.2 points per game.

Green Bay returns to action on Wednesday as it welcomes Kansas State to the Kress Center at 8:00 p.m.

Loyola
The Ramblers opened the week with a 82-51 loss to Illinois State on Thursday. LU concluded the week with a 70-52 loss to Eastern Illinois to fall to 1-6 on the year.

LU's junior forward Cierra Thurman averaged 8.5 points per game off the bench this past week. Thurman hit all five of her shots from the floor en route to tying her career-high with 11 points on Saturday at Eastern Illinois.

Loyola has shot under 40 percent in four of its last five games and hit just 40 of 114 (.351) from the floor in its two games last week.The Ramblers return to action on Wednesday as they face off against Bradley at home for 8:00 p.m. tipoff. LU concludes the week as it will travel to cross-town rival DePaul at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Milwaukee
The Panthers dropped a 73-70 opened last week with a 73-70 loss at home againist Miami (Fla.). UWM rebounded from the loss with a 77-51 triumph over Central Connecticut State to move to 2-3 on the year.

UWM's loss to Miami (Fla.) handed the Panthers their defeat of the year. The last two UWM losses have been by a total of four points.

UWM hit 12 three-pointers at Central Connecticut State, which tied for the fourth-most in a game in school history.

Milwaukee scored 51 points and shot 60.7 percent in the second half at CCSU. The last time UWM shot over 60 percent in a half was back on March 1, 2007 when the Panthers connected at a 66.7 percent clip in the second half against UIC. That was also the last time UWM topped 50 points in a half.

Senior guard Aubri Rote is 42-for-85 (.494) on three-point attempts for her career. Her shooting percentage is a school record.

UIC
The Flames went 0-2 this past week with. UIC began the week with a 74-35 loss on the road against No. 17/21 DePaul on Thursday. The Flames concluded the week on Sunday by dropping a 69-57 decision on the road against Illinois to slip to 3-4 overall.

Sophomore guard Briana Hinkle led UIC with 11.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game last week. Hinkle also owned a team-high .440 field goal percentage and totaled a team-best four steals. Sophomore guard Jessie Miller averaged 10.0 points per game and also drained three treys against Illinois.

UIC continues its road slate on Saturday in a match up against Western Michigan at 3:30 p.m. before heading to Cancun, Mexico for the Caribbean Challenge on Dec. 17-18.

Valparaiso
In their lone game last week, the Crusaders (2-5) defeated Ball State 64-55 at home in the State Farm Hoosier Classic.

Valpo is 6-2 all-time in the State Farm Hoosier Classic, which is tied with Indiana State for the best all-time record in the classic. With the victory, Valpo has now won seven straight at the ARC dating back to last year. Valpo has also won six of its last seven home openers.

Junior guard Agnieszka Kulaga had 18 points against BSU, including 11 of Valpo's first 15 points.

The Crusaders return to action on Saturday at 2:35 p.m. as they welcome North Texas.

Wright State
The Raiders (2-5) defeated Canisius 57-40 to claim their second-straight win of the season on Saturday.

Wright State shot just 29 percent from the field for the game, but held Canisius to only 21 percent and 18 percent in the second half.

The 40 points are the lowest total given up by WSU since the Raiders closed out last year's regular season with a 47-40 decision over Youngstown State on March 3.

Senior forward Whitney Lewis led the way for the Raiders with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds while sophomore guard Kanisha Ward also had 15 points, all coming in the second half, along with seven steals and six rebounds.

Wright State faces its second ACC team of the season on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. as the Raiders visit Wake Forest.

Youngstown State
The Penguins went 2-0 this past week with wins over Toledo (55-48) on Thursday and Saint Francis (Pa.) (58-57) on Saturday.

YSU enters the week at 3-3 having won three consecutive games for the first time since winning the last three games of the 2004-05 regular season.

Senior guard Jessica Schloemp extended her consecutive-games-played streak to 79.

Senior guard Lauren Branson dished out six assists and now has 352 career assists. She needs 25 more to move into sixth place on the YSU all-time list and 48 more to become the sixth player in school history to tally 400 assists in a career.

Youngstown State will host two games at home this week as it welcomes Central Michigan on Wednesday at 5:15 p.m. and Miami (Ohio) on Saturday at 2:05 p.m.