Milwaukee picked to win 2007-08 women's basketball regular-season title

Oct. 10, 2007

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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team will begin the 2007-08 campaign as the preseason favorite to win the Horizon League regular-season title following a season that saw UWM finish with a 10-6 mark in League play.

Since the 1999-2000 campaign, UWM has finished no lower than fourth in the Horizon League. In 2006, the Panthers captured their second League tournament championship. Head coach Sandy Botham's squad received 13 of 28 first-place votes and 253 of a possible 280 points in the survey of League coaches, sports information directors and media members.

The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, the 2006-07 regular season and tournament champion, follows Milwaukee in the poll with the Phoenix collecting nine first-place votes and 244 points. Butler University (238 points) and the University of Illinois-Chicago (176 points) finished third and fourth, respectively. In addition, Butler received five first-place votes, while UIC earned one first-place nod. Valparaiso University (152 points), Youngstown State University (118 points), Wright State University (104 points), Cleveland State University (102 points), the University of Detroit Mercy (78 points) and Loyola University (75 points) round out the poll.

The Panthers opened League play last year by winning seven of their first nine League contests and closed out League play by winning their final two games. UWM was ousted in the semifinals of the Horizon League championship by eventual tournament winner Green Bay. This season Botham returns four starters and nine letterwinners from last year's squad.

Leading the charge for the Panthers in 2007-08 will be All-Horizon League First Team member Traci Edwards. The Milwaukee center finished her sophomore campaign with a scoring average of 20.5 points and 9.4 rebounds per game to lead the League a year ago. Edwards became just the third player League history to win both scoring and rebounding titles in the same season.

First-year Green Bay head coach Matt Bollant replaces 2007 Horizon League Coach of the Year Kevin Borseth and will look to guide the Phoenix to their 10th-straight regular-season title. Green Bay will have to replace three graduated seniors from the 2006-07 squad, including 2007 Horizon League Player of the Year Nicole Soulis. The Phoenix return their starting guards in junior Rachel Porath and senior Kayla Groh. Both players started in 32 games a year ago and will look to lead a team with seven freshmen on its roster. Porath topped the League charts in three-point field-goal percentage as she shot at a clip of 43.8.

Butler returns three starters from last year's 16-15 team that finished in a second-place tie in League play with UIC. Junior center Lade Akande and sophomore forward Susan Lester return to the squad after averaging 14.1 and 9.6 points per game, respectively. In Akande received All-Horizon League Second Team honors, while Lester was named to the All-Newcomer Team.

UIC rounds out the top four in the preseason poll a year after making its first appearance in school history in the WNIT. The Flames return two starters this season, including guard Jessie Miller, who was selected to the Horizon League All-Newcomer Team following her freshman campaign.

Valparaiso will make its Horizon League debut this year after posting a 20-win season for the fifth time in program history. The Crusaders feature a schedule that will place them against 10 teams that participated in postseason play in 2007. Junior forward Sarah Ott and junior guard Agnieszka Kulaga return this season after starting in 28 and 24 games, respectively.

Youngstown State welcomes back all five starters from last season's team, including senior guard Heather Karner, who led the squad in scoring at 10.9 points per game and was named to the Horizon League All-Newcomer Team in her first season with the Penguins.

Wright State begins the season seventh and returns three starters from a year ago. Senior forward Whitney Lewis is the top returning scorer from last year's team as she averaged 11.4 points per game.

At number eight, Cleveland State returns three starters highlighted by Horizon League Newcomer of the Year sophomore guard Kailey Klein. Klein averaged a team-best 11.0 points per game in 29 games last season with her average jumping to 16.3 points per game in League play. The Vikings also return junior guard Dominique Butler, who led the League in steals (1.85 spg) for the second-straight year as she was named to the Horizon League All-Defensive Team.

Detroit and Loyola round out the preseason poll at nine and 10, respectively. The Titans welcome back all five starters from 2006-07, including senior forward Joyce Massey, who averaged 14.9 points per game en route to All-Horizon League Second Team honors. The Ramblers return three starters with sophomore Maggie McCloskey leading the way. McCloskey, an All-Newcomer Team performer last year, averaged 11.5 points per game and 13.4 points per game in League play.

The League will announce its preseason All-League men's and women's teams on Thursday (Oct. 11).