Women's Basketball Weekly Release #10

Jan. 16, 2006

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

Horizon League Player of the Week

Ellen Hamilton, Butler
Junior Guard * Greenfield, Ind.
Hamilton posted a pair of 20-point performances coming off the bench last week, leading the Bulldogs to a split of two Horizon League contests. Hamilton scored a career-high 24 points in Butler's win at Wright State Saturday with six three-pointers. She added five rebounds in the contest. In Thursday's game against Detroit, Hamilton scored 21 points, highlighted by five treys. On the week, Hamilton shot 64 percent from the field, including 11-of-19 from behind the arc.

Other Top Performances for the Week Ending January 15

Nicole Soulis, UW-Green Bay
Junior Forward * Green Bay, Wis.Soulis led the Phoenix to a pair of road wins in league play last week, averaging 23.0 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. She posted her third double-double of the season at Cleveland State with a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds. In the win at Youngstown State, Soulis posted 25 points, nine rebounds and a career-high tying five steals.

Whitney Lewis, Wright State
Sophomore Forward * Lynchburg, Ohio
Lewis continued her strong play against Horizon League competition last week as she had matching 13-point, seven-rebound lines versus Loyola and Butler. She is averaging 13.4 points per game in five Horizon League contests after averaging just 8.7 in 10 non-league games.

Chrissy Dizon, UIC
Senior Guard * Chicago, Ill.
Dizon scored 20 points on seven-of-10 shooting in the Flames' 73-51 victory over cross-town rival Loyola on Saturday. The guard also posted three rebounds, three assists and two steals in the contest. She continued to climb the UIC career records list, moving into 10th in scoring (1,016) and fourth in assists (387) and steals (225).

Traci Edwards, UW-Milwaukee
Freshman Center * Menasha, Wis.
Edwards posted back-to-back double-doubles in leading the Panthers to a sweep on its trip to Ohio. She averaged 16.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.5 steals per outing, while shooting 68.8 percent from the field. At Youngstown State on Thursday, she scored 21 points and pulled down 13 rebounds in a 64-59 win. Two days later, Edwards scored 12 points and tied a career-best with 14 boards.

Joanna Cooper, Detroit
Senior Forward * Detroit, Mich.
Cooper set a career high with 17 points in the Titans' win over Butler on Thursday. She was the second leading rebounder in the game with five, while contributing three steals.

Marquise Hanser, Loyola
Junior Guard * Ft. Mitchell, Ky.
Hanser hit the 20-point mark for the seventh time this season with 20 points against Wright State Wednesday evening. For the week, Hanser averaged 15.5 points with three rebounds and three assists.

Horizon League News and Notes
ON TAP: The Horizon League is set for nine games in five days this week. In a special Martin Luther King, Jr. Day special, Detroit will host Wright State Monday afternoon. After an off-day Tuesday, Wednesday features the week's only non-conference matchup with UW-Milwaukee going to Northwestern, while Loyola will travel to Butler in League play. On Thursday, UIC will visit UW-Green Bay and Youngstown State will welcome Cleveland State to the Beeghly Center. Saturday's action will feature Youngstown State at Detroit, Wright State traveling to Chicago to take on Loyola and UIC rounding out the Wisconsin road swing at UW-Milwaukee. Wrapping up the week, Butler takes on UW-Green Bay at the Phoenix Sports Center in a game that will be televised on ESPNU.

COUTURE LOOKS FOR #300: Butler Head Coach Beth Couture is just one win shy of the 300-mark for her career after a 78-56 victory over Wright State Saturday afternoon. Couture has picked up seven victories this season and owns a 41-60 record in four seasons with the Bulldogs and a 299-177 mark overall.

LEAGUE LEADERS:
Points per game- Marquise Hanser, Loyola - 18.1
Rebounds per game - Traci Edwards, UW-Milwaukee - 9.3
Assists per game - Jackie Closser, Butler - 5.3
Blocks per game - Lade Akande, Butler - 1.9
Steals per game - Rhea Mays, Wright State - 2.9

Butler Bulldogs (7-8; 3-2)
LAST WEEK: The Bulldogs split a pair of contests last week. On Thursday night, Butler hosted Detroit at Hinkle Fieldhouse with the Titans just slipping by with a 71-69 victory. Saturday afternoon the Bulldogs hit the road and snapped their three-game losing skid with a 78-56 decision over Wright State.

DIALING IN FROM LONG DISTANCE: Butler netted a season-high (and Nutter Center record) 12 three-pointers Saturday at Wright State. Junior guard Jackie Closser had five of those, moving into second place on Butler's career list with 145.

FRESHMEN GETTING THE NOD: Butler started three freshmen in both of its contests this week, marking the first time that Beth Couture has done that in her four seasons in Indianapolis.

A WEEK FOR CAREER-HIGHS FOR BOEKE: Senior forward Stephanie Boeke posted career-highs of 11 rebounds and seven assists in Saturday's win over Wright State.

Cleveland State Vikings (3-13; 1-4)
LAST WEEK: Cleveland State faced a tough week hosting both of the Wisconsin schools. The Vikings dropped a 66-51 decision to UW-Green Bay on Thursday before UW-Milwaukee handed them a 68-53 loss Saturday afternoon.

HITTING FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE: The Vikings own the top free-throw percentage in League play, shooting 75.4 percent from the 15-foot line in five games. Leading the way for Cleveland State is senior Omega Harrington (6-of-6), while sophomore Brittany Korth and freshman Natalie Miller are both shooting 90 percent (9-of-10).

374 AND COUNTING: Cleveland State heads into this week having made a three-point field goal in 374 consecutive contests the longest active run in the nation and the second-longest streak ever. Louisville (394 games) ranks first all-time in NCAA annals, although the Cardinals had their streak come to an end during the 2004-05 campaign. The last time the Vikings failed to drain at least one three-pointer in a game was in a 78-55 loss at Cincinnati on Dec. 17, 1992.

Detroit Titans (6-10; 3-2)
LAST WEEK: Detroit picked up a big road victory in its only game last week. The Titans went to Hinkle Fieldhouse and handed Butler a 71-69 loss on Thursday.

THREE AND COUNTING: Detroit is on its first three-game winning streak in over a year. The last time the team won three-consecutive games was a stretch from Dec. 28, 2004 to Jan. 8, 2005 when the team picked up four in-a-row.

1,000-POINT CLUB: Senior guard Lindsey Pasquinzo is just 13 points shy of the 1,000-point mark with 987 points for her career.

COOPER SHOWS HER STUFF: Senior forward Joanna Cooper averaged just 4.5 points per game for her career coming into this season. In Detroit's last three contests, Cooper has scored 41 points (13.7).

UIC Flames (7-8; 3-1)
LAST WEEK: UIC set back Loyola, 73-51, Saturday afternoon at the UIC Pavilion in the Flames' only game of the week.

DIZON LEADING THE WAY: Senior guard Chrissy Dizon is the only Horizon League player to lead her team in scoring (13.6), rebounding (5.7) and assists per game (5.1). Last week, Dizon topped the 1,000-point mark in her career and moved into tenth-place on UIC's all-time scoring list.

NOTHING BUT NET: UIC shot 42.4 percent from the field and outrebounded the Ramblers 40-to-26 in Saturday's win. The Flames knocked down 8-of-14 from behind the arc in the second half, hitting five consecutive three-pointers.

UIC DOING IT WITH THE DEFENSE: The Flames' defense has put them in at the top of three statistical categories through last week's play. The team leads the League in opponents' field-goal percentage (.414), opponents' three-point percentage (.319) and steals per game (12.1).

Loyola Ramblers (1-15; 1-4)
LAST WEEK: Loyola dropped both of its game this week. The Ramblers started the week on Wednesday with a 80-55 setback at Wright State and finished with a 73-51 loss at UIC on Saturday.

HANSER KEEPS ON SCORING: Junior guard Marquise Hanser held her spot atop the League's scoring charts with 31 points in two games last week. Hanser is now averaging 18.1 points per game and has scored 20 or more seven times this season.

PICKING UP THE PACE: After averaging 54.3 points per game during non-conference play, Loyola is averaging 64.2 points per game in five Horizon League games and has three players, led by Hanser's 18.6 points per contest, averaging double figures in League play.

UW-Green Bay Phoenix (12-3; 5-0)
LAST WEEK: UW-Green Bay continued its hot play extending its unbeaten streak to seven games. The Phoenix completed a stretch of nine of 11 games on the road with a pair of road victories. UW-Green Bay topped Cleveland State 66-51 Thursday evening before knocking off Youngstown State 74-49 on Saturday afternoon.

QUITE A FEW W'S FOR COACH BORSETH: Thursday's win at Youngstown State was the 400th victory of UW-Green Bay head coach Kevin Borseth's 19-year career. Borseth ranks among the top-40 active coaches in the NCAA Division I for wins (401-151) and he ranks among the top-20 for winning percentage (.726).

TIME FOR THE PHOENIX TO GO HOME: After starting league play with four of its first five games on the road, UW-Green Bay will reap the benefits of a challenging early slate with seven of its final 11 league games at home.

UW-Milwaukee Panthers (7-8; 4-1)
LAST WEEK: UW-Milwaukee took to the road and swept its two League games last week. The Panthers got a scare from Youngstown State on Thursday night, but edged the Penguins 64-59. On Saturday, UW-Milwaukee took a 68-53 victory over Cleveland State.

STEPPING UP ON `D': The Panthers have stepped up their defensive efforts since entering League play. The team entered the League season allowing opponents to shoot 45.5 percent while surrendering 76.7 points per game. In five league games, UW-Milwaukee is allowing just 61.8 points and opponents are shooting 37.5 percent.

PANTHERS FINDING THEIR RANGE: After attempting eight and six three-pointers in their previous two games, UW-Milwaukee went 8-for-18 behind the arc Saturday afternoon at Cleveland State. The game was highlighted by freshman Emily Markert hitting her first three 3-point attempts and sophomore Meredith Onson banking in a contested 40-foot three as time expired at halftime.

Wright State Raiders (6-9; 2-3)
LAST WEEK: Wright State went 1-1 in its two games last week. The Raiders picked up an 80-55 victory over Loyola on Wednesday evening before dropping a 78-56 contest to hot-shooting Butler on Saturday afternoon.

MAYS FINDS HER WAY TO THE BUCKET: Senior Rhea Mays has stepped up her game since the start of December as she has averaged a team-best 12.9 points per game over the past 10 contests after averaging 7.8 points over the first five games. Over that stretch, she has scored in double figures all but once.

WINNING THE TURNOVER BATTLE: Since entering League play, Wright State is winning the turnover margin. In five games, the Raiders have posted a League-best +10.6 turnover margin with 63 turnovers to their opponents' 116.

Youngstown State Penguins (4-12; 0-5)
LAST WEEK: The Penguins went 0-2 in League play last week, dropping a 64-59 game to UW-Milwaukee on Thursday night and losing 74-49 to UW-Green Bay on Saturday.

TREYS FOR GAUDIOSE: Junior Kristy Gaudiose tied a career high with four three-pointers against UW-Green Bay last Saturday. Gaudiose now has 72 career treys and needs five more to move into 10th place on the YSU all-time three-point list.

HOME NICE FOR HOLMES: Senior Michelle Holmes averaged 11.5 points and six rebounds in two home games last week, shooting 53.3 percent (8-of-15) from the field.

PENGUINS LOOKING TO SNAP SKID: Youngstown State has not lost six-straight games since the 2003-04 season.