Women's Basketball Weekly Release #1

Nov. 8, 2006

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UW-Green Bay Preseason Favorite in Women's Basketball Poll

Team (2005-06 Record) - Pts.
1. UW-Green Bay (23-7, 14-2 HL) - 234 (22)
2. UW-Milwaukee (22-9, 14-2) - 198 (3)
3. Butler (15-14, 9-7) - 192 (1)
4. UIC (16-14, 10-6) - 185 (1)
5. Wright State (12-16, 8-8) - 132
6. Loyola (4-25, 3-13) - 83
7. Youngstown State (8-20, 4-12) - 72
8. Detroit (11-17,8-8) - 63
9. Cleveland State (4-24, 2-14) - 56

UW-Green Bay's Soulis Heads Women's Basketball Preseason All-League Teams

First-Team
Player, Team
Nicole Soulis $ *, UW-Green Bay
Lade Akande ^, Butler
Jackie Closser *, Butler
Traci Edwards *, UW-Milwaukee
LaShonda Grant ^, UIC

Second-Team
Player, Team
Natalie Berglin ^, UW-Green Bay
Dominique Butler, Cleveland State
Marquise Hanser ^, Loyola
Meredith Onson, UW-Milwaukee
Brittney Whiteside *, Wright State

$ - Preseason Player of the Year
* - First-Team All-League in 2005-06
^ - Second-Team All-League in 2005-06


Horizon League Notes and Preview

Entering the New Season, Several Teams Have Sights Set on League Title
UW-Milwaukee captured the Horizon League title in 2006 with a 71-63 victory over UIC in the championship game. The crown, the Panthers' first since 2001, snapped a four-year run by co-regular season champion UW-Green Bay. The rest of the League has to battle the two Wisconsin schools as the loop's title has rested in the state of Wisconsin for the last nine seasons. In the 2006-07 preseason poll, UW-Green Bay, Butler and UIC all present threats to the Panthers as they look to defend their title.

Panthers Have Tough Road to Repeat with Two Starters to Replace
The Panthers posted a 22-9 record overall with a 14-2 mark in conference action a year ago. The Panthers slipped past Butler in the semifinals last season with a last-second layup by Molly O'Brien and then went on to knock off UIC in the championship game, 71-63. Their season ended in Chicago in the first-round of the NCAA Tournament as Michigan State handed the Panthers a 65-46 loss.

UW-Milwaukee returns three starters this season, but loses First-Team All-League selection Nichole Drummond and All-Tournament Team honoree O'Brien. Drummond and O'Brien accounted for 22.3 points and 10 rebounds per contest last year.

Traci Edwards, the League's Newcomer of the Year last season, looks to improve upon her rookie campaign in which she finished with a spot on the First Team All-League and the MVP award at the conference tourney. Edwards paced the League in rebounding (10.0 per game), blocks (1.58 per contest) and field-goal percentage (.599), while placing fourth in scoring (16.1 ppg.). She had 15 double-doubles, including two games of 20 or more rebounds. Also returning will be starting point guard Meredith Onson. An All-Newcomer choice in 2005-06, Onson had a strong season after transferring from Boston University, leading the team in assists with 3.2 per game while chipping in 7.2 points per contest.

Phoenix Plans for Return to NCAA Tournament After Being Picked First in Preseason Poll
UW-Green Bay will look to bounce back and reclaim the League title this season with all five starters returning. The Phoenix fell in the semifinals to UIC, 74-62, but earned a trip to the WNIT with its 23-7 overall (14-2 HL) record. As a team, UWGB ranked second in the country in fewest turnovers per game (12.5) and seventh in three-point field goals made per game (7.4).

Reigning Player of the Year Nicole Soulis is primed to have a stellar senior season after claiming the League's scoring title (18.4 ppg.) and finishing fourth in rebounding (6.8 rpg.) as a junior. Classmate Natalie Berglin, a member of the All-League Second Team, returns at the point and will look to build upon her 14.3 points-per-game and 4.7 assists-per-game averages. The other returning starters include senior Amanda Popp, junior Kayla Groh and sophomore Rachel Porath. Popp placed fourth in loop in field-goal percentage (.515) and fifth in three-point field-goal percentage (.440) a year ago, while Porath was a member of the All-Newcomer squad.

Flames Come Close Last Year, Look for More in 2006-07
Tournament runner-up UIC is coming off an exciting year in which the team knocked off UW-Green Bay in the semifinals of the League championship. The Flames will have to replace the leadership of graduated point guard Chrissy Dizon, who averaged 12.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game last season. UIC will look to continue its strong defense that paced the loop in opponents' three-point percentage (.312) and steals per game (11.33).

Senior LaShonda Grant returns as the Flames' leading scorer in 2005-06. She averaged 15.1 points per game and turned it on at the end of the year with a 21.8 points-per-game average over the last five games. Her 30 points in the semifinals was the second-highest total in the loop a year ago. Fellow senior Krystal Hugelier will also return with her 10.8 points-per-contest average from last season.

Bulldogs Return with Most of Last Season's Scoring Threats
Butler comes into '06-07 with four returning starters and the top five scorers from last season's squad back. As a team, BU had the touch from outside, knocking down three-pointers at the fourth-highest rate in the nation (7.7 per game) and also ranking fourth with a 39.3 percent success rate.

Preseason First-Team All-League selections Lade Akande and Jackie Closser return as the top scorers from last year's squad. Akande, an All-Newcomer honoree as a freshman, averaged 16.2 points and 8.0 rebounds per contest -- good for third and second in the circuit, respectively. Closser looks to progress in her senior season as she poured in 15.1 points per game and handed out a League-best 5.21 assists per appearance. Closser and classmate Ellen Hamilton were lethal from behind the arc a year ago, averaging a combined 5.38 treys per outing. The Bulldogs have to replace the 4.4 points, 6.3 rebounds plus 3.1 assists per contest as well as the hustle and guidance of forward Stephanie Boeke.

Titans Need New Leaders to Emerage
UDM will have to replace its top six scorers and 81.4 percent (53.4 points per game) of its scoring from last year's team. As a team, the Titans ranked sixth in the nation in three-point field goals per game with a rate of 7.6, but only 52 of the team's 213 treys were made by players on the 2006-07 club. The scoring load will now fall to juniors Kandace Evans and Katy Dunlop, who averaged 4.9 and 2.5 points respectively last season. Lauren Yurgens, the one returning starter, will be the only senior on this year's squad.

Raiders, Whiteside aim high in `06-07
Two-time First-Team All-League choice Brittney Whiteside leads Wright State into action this year. An All-Defensive Team honoree in each of her first three seasons, the senior guard will look to improve her team-best marks in scoring (13.9 points per game), rebounding (6.5 rebounds per game) and assists (3.0 assists per game). Also coming back for the Raiders is junior forward Whitney Lewis, who averaged 10.3 points and 6.1 boards per contest in '05-06. The WSU defense swatted a League-best 3.79 blocks per contest, while holding opponents to a 31.6 percent conversion rate from behind the arc, second in the loop.

Penguins Need to Replace Last Year's Top Scorers
Youngstown State claimed the loop's number-seven seed last year with a 4-12 mark. The Penguins have lost three of their top four scorers and an average of 29.7 points per game. The team will now look in the direction of junior Jessica Schloemp and sophomore Monique Godfrey to pick up some of the scoring in 2006-07. Schloemp averaged 9.0 points and 7.1 rebounds a year ago. She showed signs of brilliance with two games of 19 rebounds and four double-doubles. Godfrey, a point guard last season, will move to the shooting guard for YSU. She will look to continue her late-season success, netting an average of 13 points per game during the last five contests.

Reidy Looks for Changes in Second Year with Ramblers
Head coach Shannon Reidy enters her second team at Loyola with her top two scorers from '05-06 back, along with six newcomers. Marquise Hanser, a Second-Team All-League honoree in 2005-06, was the circuit's second-leading scorer at 17.2 points per game, supplementing her 4.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists. Fellow senior Jenna Real also returns this season after netting 11.9 points and grabbing 5.6 boards per contest a year ago. She set the loop's single-game point high with 31 against Cleveland State in the opening round of the League Championship.

Vikings' Underclassmen to Take Reigns
Five freshmen enter the mix at Cleveland State as the team looks to improve upon its 4-24 record (2-14 in the League) in 2005-06. All-Newcomer and All-Defensive team selection Dominique Butler returns to the club and hopes to build on her freshman campaign in which she led the League in steals. Her 2.86 thefts per contest ranked her 20th in the nation. Butler also led the Vikings in points per game (10.9) in conference play.

Crusaders Due to Arrive in 2007-08
Competing in the Mid-Continent Conference this season, Valparaiso will officially join the Horizon League in 2007-08. The Crusaders are coming off of a 16-13 year with a 9-7 mark in the Mid-Con. The top three scorers from last year's team return in Betsy Rietema, Tamra Braun and Carrie Myers. Rietema tallied 13.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per contest in earning Second-Team All-Mid-Con honors, while Braun averaged 12.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.55 blocks en route to a First-Team All-Mid-Con selection. The tandem is seen on Valpo's career charts with Rietema's 232 made free throws standings sixth and Braun placing second in blocks (143) and ninth in rebounds (604).

2005-06 All-League Teams Return Almost Completely Intact
Overall, the 2005-06 year primed the League for an exciting '06-07 campaign as eight of the ten members of the All-League Teams will return to their teams -- the only losses being UWM's Nichole Drummond (First Team) and UIC's Chrissy Dizon (Second Team). Only Detroit (Lindsey Pasquinzo) and Cleveland State (Omega Harrington) will have to replace their top scorer.

Freshmen Did it Last Season
The 2005-06 campaign featured breakout seasons for several freshmen. UW-Milwaukee's Traci Edwards led the League in rebounds (10.0), field-goal percentage (59.9) and blocked shots (1.58). In addition to her First-Team All-League selection, she was named the Newcomer of the Year and the Horizon League Tournament MVP. Butler's Lade Akande was third in the circuit in scoring (18.4), while placing second in rebounds (8.0) and third in blocked shots (1.41). The 6-foot-1 forward/center earned Second-Team All-League, All-Newcomer Team honors and a spot on the All-Tournament Team. Cleveland State's Dominique Butler came on strong at the end of the season, earning a spot on the Newcomer squad and the All-Defensive Team after averaging 14 points and 8.1 rebounds over her final eight games.

Ranked Among the Nation's Best
The Horizon League was known for its three-point prowess in 2005-06 with three teams placing in the top ten in the nation in three-point field goals per contest. Butler led the charge finishing fourth with an average of 7.7 triples per contest, while Detroit (7.6, sixth) and UW-Green Bay (7.4, seventh) trailed by percentage points. The Bulldogs had 3.0 of those three pointers come from the hand of Jackie Closser, good for the sixth-highest rate in the country. Classmate Ellen Hamilton chipped in with 2.4 triples per game and at the fourth-best percentage, knocking down 46.6 percent of her shots from behind the arc.

Phoenix Coach Ranks with the Best in the Country
UW-Green Bay head coach Kevin Borseth ranks 18th among active Division I coaches in winning percentage. Borseth, who coached previously at Michigan Tech, has amassed a 412-155 (.727) record in 19 years. In eight seasons on the sidelines in Green Bay, Wis., he is 187-58 for a .763 percentage.