Women's Basketball Championship Release #1

Feb. 28, 2006

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

Tournament Preview
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee claimed the top seed for the 2006 Horizon League Women's Basketball Championship after edging regular-season co-champion University of Wisconsin-Green Bay with a sweep of the regular-season series.

The tournament is scheduled to begin on Tuesday (Feb. 28) with (#8 seed) Loyola University Chicago hosting (#9 seed) Cleveland State University. Quarterfinal action will take place at campus sites on Wednesday and Thursday (Mar. 1 & 2) before moving to a set location for the semifinals and championship game on Sunday and Monday (Mar. 5 & 6). Youngstown State University possesses the hosting rights for the final two rounds if the Penguins move past their quarterfinal match-up with UW-Green Bay. If YSU fails to advance, the highest remaining seed will host the final two rounds.

The quarterfinals will begin when (#4 seed) Butler University hosts University of Detroit Mercy at 7 p.m. (Eastern time) on Wednesday at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The game will be played on Wednesday due to a speech by former President George Bush on the Butler campus on Thursday. Thursday's slate of three games will all begin at 8 p.m. (Eastern time): (#1 seed) UW-Milwaukee welcomes the winner of the Loyola-Cleveland State contest to the Klotsche Center, (#7 seed) Youngstown State makes the trip to (#2 seed) UW-Green Bay and (#6 seed) Wright State University will play at (#3 seed) University of Illinois at Chicago.

Tournament Tidbits
(Things you might not know about the Horizon League Championship)

The top seed has won 10 of the 17 League Championships, including seven of the last nine.

The #2 seed has won six times, last by UW-Milwaukee in 2001. The #4 seed is the lowest and only other seed that has emerged victorious in League summits with Northern Illinois capturing the title in 1995.

A #7 seed has reached the finals on two different occasions (Cleveland State in 2000 and Detroit in 2003).

UW-Green Bay has reached the final game in each of the last 10 tournaments. The Phoenix has captured the title in seven of those years (1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005).

UW-Milwaukee's Jessica Wilhite holds the tournament single-game scoring record with 36 points versus UW-Green Bay in 2001.

UW-Green Bay's 28 tournament victories are the most by any school, followed by Detroit with 17 and Butler with 15.

Cleveland State, Wright State, Youngstown State, UIC and Loyola are all looking for their first League Championship.

In League tournament history, only one game has gone more than one overtime session. Cleveland State needed two extra periods to defeat Wright State 72-68 in the semifinals in 2000.

The top two teams have met in the finals nine times (1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2001) in 17 seasons overall.

Only Notre Dame's Krissi Davis (1989 and 1991) has won tournament Most Valuable Player honors more than once.

Tournament anniversaries:
Five-year (2001) -- UW-Milwaukee 77, UW-Green Bay 62
Ten-year (1996) -- Butler 56, UW-Green Bay 53
15-year (1991) -- Notre Dame 62, Butler 52