UW-Green Bay preseason favorite in women's basketball poll
Oct. 11, 2006
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INDIANAPOLIS -- With all five starters returning from last year's 23-7 squad, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay women's basketball team sits atop the Horizon League's official preseason poll, the League office announced Wednesday (Oct. 11).
The Phoenix has won or shared the regular-season crown in each of the last nine seasons, taking home the League championship seven times during the stretch. Head coach Kevin Borseth's team received 22 of 27 first-place votes and 234 of a possible 243 points in the survey of League coaches, sports information directors and media members.
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the 2006 Horizon League Champion, follows UW-Green Bay in the poll with the Panthers collecting three first-place votes and 198 points. UWM stands ahead of Butler University (192 points) and the University of Illinois at Chicago (185) both of which earned one first-place nod. Wright State University (132) and Loyola University Chicago (83) place fifth and sixth in the canvass, respectively, while Youngstown State University (72), University of Detroit Mercy (63) and Cleveland State University (56) round out the poll.
UW-Green Bay went 14-2 in the League last year in tying for the 2005-06 regular-season championship with UW-Milwaukee. The Phoenix was ousted in the semifinals of the Horizon League Championship by UIC, 74-62, marking the first time in ten years the team failed to make it to the championship game. This season, Borseth returns all five starters and looks to return his team to the NCAA Tournament.
Leading the charge for the Phoenix in 2006-07 will be reigning Horizon League Player of the Year Nicole Soulis, who averaged a League-best 18.4 points per game a year ago. She also finished among the loop's leaders in blocked shots per game (1.47 - second), field-goal percentage (.515 - third) and rebounding (6.8 - fourth). Soulis is joined by fellow senior Natalie Berglin, a Second-Team All-League selection last year. Berglin placed third in the League in assists per game (4.67) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.82).
UW-Milwaukee broke the school record for wins in a season (22) and consecutive victories (12) en route to a share of the League title and the number one seed at the League Championship for the first time ever. The Panthers also made their second NCAA appearance in school history, defeating UIC, 71-63, in the championship game. Returning in the middle for UWM is sophomore center Traci Edwards, the 2005-06 Newcomer of the Year and a First-Team All-League honoree. Edwards took the circuit by storm last season, leading everyone in rebounding (10.0), field-goal percentage (.599) and blocks per game (1.58).
Butler returns most of its fire power from last season, with 94.5 percent of its scoring, 81.7 percent of its rebounding and 83.2 of its assists coming back in 2006-07. Senior Jackie Closser and sophomore Lade Akande led the attack for the Bulldogs in 2005-06 with Closser leading the League in assists per game (5.21) and three-pointers made (84), while Akande placed third in scoring (16.2 points per game) and second in rebounding (8.0 rebounds per game).
UIC rounds out the top four in the preseason poll a year after making its first appearance in the Horizon League championship game. Senior LaShonda Grant returns as the top scorer from a season ago, pouring in 15.1 points-per-game (sixth in the League).
Two-time First-Team All-League choice Brittney Whiteside leads Wright State in the fifth spot in the preseason outlook. The senior guard averaged 13.9 points per game, 6.5 rebounds per game and 2.14 steals per game in 2005-06.
The League's second-leading scorer from a year ago, Marquise Hanser (17.2 points per contest) heads the sixth-slotted Loyola squad. Second-year head coach Shannon Reidy enters the season with six newcomers on the Rambler roster, all Chicagoland products.
At number seven, Youngstown State looks to a new set of players to score this season as only 39.1 percent of last season's scoring returns. Detroit faces a similar challenge in the eighth position, with only 18.6 percent of the scoring and 18.9 percent of the assists from last year's team returning. The Titans need to replace their top six scoring options and four of their starters from 2005-06. Rounding out the poll is Cleveland State with sophomore Dominique Butler leading the attack. Butler, an All-Newcomer Team performer last year, averaged 10.4 points and a League-best 2.86 steals per game.
The 2006-07 season opens Nov. 10 with five teams in action, while the 72-game League schedule begins on Dec. 29. The 2007 Horizon League Championship gets underway Mar. 5 when the number-eight seed hosts the ninth seed. Quarterfinal action is slated for Mar. 7, with the higher seeds hosting at campus sites. The four semifinal teams will then travel to the home of the highest remaining seed for the semifinals (Mar. 9) and championship game (Mar. 11).
