Women's Basketball Weekly Release #15

Feb. 20, 2006

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

Horizon League Player of the Week

Nicole Soulis, UW-Green Bay
Junior Forward * Green Bay, Wis.
Soulis helped the Phoenix clinch its seventh-straight 20-win season with 19, 23 and 27 points in a trio of outings last week. In the win over Detroit Saturday, Soulis enjoyed one of the best all-around performance of her collegiate career with 27 points, 10 rebounds and career-high totals of five assists and six blocks. For the week, she averaged 23.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.7 blocks and 2.3 steals per game.

Other Top Performances for the Week Ending February 19

Lade Akande, Butler
Freshman Forward/Center * Robinson, Ill.
Akande had the best two-game stretch of her Butler career, averaging 25.0 points per game on 61 percent shooting as the Bulldogs split a pair of Horizon League contests. Akande poured in 26 points in Thursday's win over Loyola, scoring just two points short of her career-high in only 25 minutes of action. The six-foot-one post player then registered the sixth double-double of the season with game-highs of 24 points and 11 rebounds in Saturday's loss at UIC.

Dominique Butler, Cleveland State
Freshman Guard * Milwaukee, Wis.
Butler nearly averaged a double-double to lead the Vikings to a split last week. On Monday against Youngstown, she came close to a triple-double, posting 12 points, a career-high eight steals and seven rebounds. Her theft total tied for the fifth-best mark in school history. Butler then followed up with her first career double-double, notching 14 points and a career-high 10 rebounds to lead CSU past Loyola. On the week, she averaged 13.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 5.0 steals.

Krystal Hugelier, UIC
Junior Guard * Elmhurst, Ill.
Hugelier averaged 16 points for UIC last week. The guard returned to the court after missing four games due to a concussion she suffered versus Detroit on January 26 in Chicago. Hugelier knocked down nine points, including one trey while shooting 100 percent (four-of-four) from the line and grabbed two assists against Wright State.

Marquise Hanser, Loyola
Junior Guard * Ft. Mitchell, Ky.
Hanser had another solid week for the Ramblers, averaging 17.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.5 steals per contest in two games. After drilling three three-pointers in a home loss to Butler, Hanser put together one of her best all-around games of the season against Cleveland State, finishing with 24 points, six rebounds, four assists and a career-best five steals.

Monique Godfrey, Youngstown State
Freshman Guard * East Cleveland, Ohio
Godfrey led the Penguins to a 1-2 record last week with 12.7 points per game and shot 62.5 percent from the floor. Godfrey posted back-to-back career highs last week 15 points against Cleveland State and 18 points against UW-Green Bay. Against the Phoenix, Godfrey connected on 7-of-12 from the floor and made a career-high four 3-pointers.

Traci Edwards, UW-Milwaukee
Freshman Center * Menasha, Wis.
Edwards averaged 12.7 points, 11.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. She added blocked five shots on the week. Monday, she scored 12 points and pulled down 21 rebounds to help UWM to its first sweep of UWGB since 1996-97. She also had 15 points, eight boards against Detroit and 11 points, six boards against Youngstown.

Brittney Whiteside, Wright State
Junior Guard * Columbus, Ohio
Whiteside had 21 points and eight rebounds to go with five steals in the Raiders' victory over UIC on Thursday night.

Horizon League News and Notes
THIS WEEK IN THE HORIZON LEAGUE: This week wraps up the regular-season schedule for the Horizon League with eight games on the slate. To kick off the week, Cleveland State heads to Wright State in Monday night's only game. Four more games are scheduled for Thursday with UW-Milwaukee playing at UIC, UW-Green Bay on the road at Wright State, Cleveland State goes to Butler and Loyola makes the trip to Youngstown State. Saturday closes the 2005-06 regular season as three games take place: Detroit welcomes UIC to Calihan Hall, UW-Green Bay finishes at Butler and UW-Milwaukee rounds out the Chicago road swing at Loyola.

LEADERS AT A GLANCE:
Points per game - Nicole Soulis, UWGB - 18.7
Rebounds per game - Traci Edwards, UWM - 10.4
Assists per game - Jackie Closser, Butler - 5.38
Steals per game - Dominique Butler, CSU - 2.80
Blocks per game - Traci Edwards, UWM - 1.52
Field-goal percentage - Traci Edwards, UWM - 59.1
Free-throw percentage - Marquise Hanser, Loyola - 88.4
Three-point percentage - Katie Solner, Detroit - 50.0
Assist / Turnover ratio - Jackie Closser, Butler - 1.93

Butler Bulldogs (13-12; 8-6)
LAST WEEK: The Bulldogs split a pair of contests in Chicago last week. On Thursday night, Butler downed Loyola 82-69 behind Lade Akande's 26 points in 25 minutes. Saturday the Bulldogs ran into a hot-shooting UIC team (51.6 percent) and fell 85-66.

THREES ARE WILD: Junior Jackie Closser now has 172 career three-pointers, breaking Butler's career mark of 167 (Debbie Benziger, 1995-98). Closser also broke her own season-single trey standard with 70 bombs through the team's first 25 games, breaking the previous mark she set with 67 treys one year ago.

HAMILTON ALSO CAN SCORE FROM DOWNTOWN: Junior Ellen Hamilton ranked second in the nation in three-point accuracy as of Tuesday (Feb. 14). Hamilton entered the week with a .480 mark and actually bettered the mark by shooting four-of-eight from long range in the team's two games.

CAREER-BEST FOR FREEMAN: Sophomore Cassie Freeman shattered her career-high with 18 points Thursday against Loyola. Freeman shot seven-of-10 from the field, including three-of-three from behind the arc.

Cleveland State Vikings (4-21; 2-12)
LAST WEEK: Cleveland State split its two contests last week. On Monday night, the Vikings were ousted by Youngstown State 72-54 despite Dominique Butler's League-best eight steals. CSU faced Loyola on Saturday afternoon and picked up a 71-62 victory at the Wolstein Center.

383 AND COUNTING: Cleveland State heads into this week having made a three-point field goal in 383 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.

MARTIN DROPS NUMBER 1,000: Senior Erin Martin became the 19th player in school history to score 1,000 career points, doing so in style on Monday against Youngstown State with 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. She is the first Viking to tally 1,000 points since Ashley Schrock and Shannon Sword both did so within a two-week span in 2003-04. The Canfield, Ohio native ranks among the top-10 in the Cleveland State annals in steals (8th-193), three-point field goals (8th-108), free throws made (9th-246) and games started (8th-84).

Detroit Titans (11-15; 8-7)
LAST WEEK: Detroit was swept on the Wisconsin road swing last week. The Titans went to Milwaukee on Thursday and dropped a 69-55 decision before behind handed a 71-58 loss to UW-Green Bay at the Phoenix Sports Center on Saturday.

PASQUINZO MOVING UP THE CHARTS: With 57 three-pointers, Lindsey Pasquinzo already has the fifth most threes in a season for a Titan. The most is the 1987-88 season where Daphne Smith had 73. Pasquinzo had 69 last season, the second-best total, and her .426 shooting percentage was the best mark in Titans' history.

RECORDS AREN'T SAFE: Both Katie Solner and Caitie Goddard are threatening to break Pasquinzo's percentage mark for three-point accuracy, Solner is at .500 and Goddard is at .462.

SCORING FROM EVERYWHERE: Seven different Titans have led the team in scoring this year: Pasquinzo (nine times), Solner (five), Goddard (three), Shawanna Stubblefield (three) Kelly Jaskot (two), Joanna Cooper (one) and Kandace Evans (one).

UIC Flames (13-12; 9-5)
LAST WEEK: UIC went 1-1 last week. On Thursday the Flames traveled to Dayton, Ohio and fell to Wright State 68-53. UIC bounced back on Saturday with a 85-66 win over Butler to take over sole possession of third place in the League standings.

THE BEST IN THE LEAGUE: The Flames have found success on defense this season with League-best in opponents' three-point accuracy (.298) and the second-best mark in steals per contest in the circuit with an average of 11.32 thefts. UIC also has the most assists per game (17.1).

10 OR MORE FOR GRANT: Junior LaShonda Grant has scored in double figures in her last 12 games, the longest active streak in the Horizon League. The last time Grant failed to hit twin digits was on Jan. 5 against Cleveland State when she notched eight points. The junior guard has notched 10 or more points in 20 of the team's 25 games.

Loyola Ramblers (3-22; 3-11)
LAST WEEK: Loyola dropped both of its games last week. The Ramblers hosted Butler on Thursday evening and were pinned with a 82-69 loss. On Saturday, Loyola made the trip to Cleveland State only to have the Vikings come away with a 71-62 win.

HITTING THE FREE ONES: Loyola paces the League at the free-throw stripe, hitting 74.4 percent of its attempts. In conference play, the Ramblers have slightly bettered their performance with a 74.8 conversion rate at the 15-foot line. Junior Marquise Hanser tops the team with a League-leading 88.4 percent rate from the line.

STEPPING UP IN LEAGUE PLAY: Senior Danielle Lonie and junior Jenna Real have picked up the pace in League play this season. Lonie has improved from 7.6 points per game in non-conference play to a 14.1 per game average in conference, while Real has improved from 8.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per contest in non-League play to 12.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game against Horizon League competition.

UW-Green Bay Phoenix (20-5; 12-2)
LAST WEEK: UW-Green Bay went 2-1 in League play last week. The week opened with a 65-55 defeat at the hands of UW-Milwaukee. It was the first time since 1996-97 the Panthers swept the Phoenix in a season series. UW-Green Bay bounced back with home wins over Youngstown State, 81-69, on Thursday and Detroit, 71-58, on Saturday.

WINNING LEAGUE GAMES ON THE ROAD: UW-Green Bay's loss on Monday night against UW-Milwaukee snapped a 13-game road winning streak in League play. The streak stretched over the last three seasons.

20 WINS, AGAIN: UW-Green Bay's earned its 19th 20-win season in program history and seventh-straight under head coach Kevin Borseth with its victory over Detroit on Saturday. The Phoenix also clinched a Horizon League tournament quarterfinal home game and will hold either the #1 or #2 seed in the event pending the outcome of this week's games.

WINNING FOR MANY, MANY YEARS: In the Monday, Jan. 23 edition of USA Today, UW-Green Bay was recognized for having the third-longest streak of winning seasons in women's college basketball. Behind only Tennessee (34) and Louisiana Tech (31), the Phoenix have been over .500 for the past 28 seasons and have already secured its 29th-straight.

UW-Milwaukee Panthers (17-8; 12-2)
LAST WEEK: UW-Milwaukee picked up three victories last week to stay in a tie with UW-Green Bay for the top spot in the League standings. The Panthers started the week with a 65-55 victory over the Phoenix on Monday evening. UW-Milwaukee then ousted Detroit 69-55 on Thursday and finished the week with a 67-44 victory over Youngstown State on Saturday.

A GOOD TIME TO GET HOT: UW-Milwaukee has won seven-straight games, tying the fourth-longest winning streak in school history. It has also won 12 of 13 in 2006.

PLAYING A LITTLE DEFENSE: The Panthers allowed just 44 points against Youngstown State Saturday, the Panthers' best defensive scoring output of the season. For the week, UWM allowed just 51.3 points per game and won all three games by at least 10 points.

FOURNIER SWATS THE PENGUINS: Freshman Katie Fournier blocked five shots against Youngstown State Saturday, the second-best total in UWM's Division I history. Maria Viall was the last Panther to block five shots in a game Dec. 28, 2002. The school record is six, set by Viall earlier that season.

Wright State Raiders (11-14; 7-7)
LAST WEEK: Wright State downed UIC 85-66 in its only game last week. The Raiders were led by Brittney Whiteside's 21 points and eight rebounds.

ITS BEEN A GOOD FEBRUARY FOR WHITESIDE: Junior Brittney Whiteside became the 14th member of the 1000-point club February 7 at Ohio State. In five February games so far, Whiteside is averaging a near double-double of 18.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per contest. She also has 22 assists, including nine at Cleveland State on Feb. 2 in nearly recording a triple-double (17 points, 12 rebounds, nine assists).

65 GETS IT DONE: 65 seems to be the magic number for the Raiders as they are 11-4 when they score 65 or more points, but 0-10 when they fail to reach that mark. WSU's has scored 80 points twice this season, marking its highest point total of the season.

Youngstown State Penguins (7-19; 3-12)
LAST WEEK: Youngstown State went 1-2 last week. The week opened on a high note with a 72-54 victory over Cleveland State on Monday. The Penguins then made the tough trip north to take on the Wisconsin teams. YSU fell to UW-Green Bay 81-69 on Thursday and then were downed by UW-Milwaukee 67-44 on Saturday.

FROM BEYOND THE ARC: Junior Kristy Gaudiose moved into 10th place on the YSU single-season three-point list with 53. She also needs three more to become the 10th player in school history to make 100 three-pointers during a career.

SCHLOEMP GETTING IT DONE: Sophomore Jessica Schloemp averaged 8.7 rebounds per game last week and ranks third in the Horizon League with 6.9 rebounds per game for the season.