Women's Basketball Weekly Release #5

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Dec. 12, 2005

Horizon League Player of the Week

Nicole Soulis, UW-Green Bay
Junior * Forward * Green Bay, Wis.
Soulis led the Phoenix to a 1-1 week on the road, as she averaged 20.5 points per game on the week with a pair of game-high scoring efforts. Against Illinois State, Soulis scored 22 points and added a team-high nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Two days later against No. 11 DePaul, Soulis led all scorers with 19 points on eight-of-13 shooting, including two-of-three at the three-point arc.

Other Top Performances for the Week Ending December 11

Molly O'Brien, UW-Milwaukee
Senior * Forward * Columbus, Wis.
O'Brien filled out the stat sheet in helping the Panthers to a 77-65 win over Northern Michigan in their only game last week. She scored 15 points and narrowly missed a double-double with nine boards. She also tallied a game-high five steals and five assists.

Mandy Mennella, Loyola
Senior * Guard * Hoffman Estates, Ill.
Mennella recorded the second double-double of her career on Saturday, pouring in a season-best 22 points to go with 10 rebounds against Indiana State. Mennella, who missed the first three games this season recovering from injury, had her best game of the year against the Sycamores, drilling five three-pointers en route to a six-of-nine performance from the floor and knocking down all five of her free-throw attempts.

Jackie Closser, Butler
Junior * Guard * Alexandria, Ind.
Closser rebounded from a concussion that forced her to sit out Wednesday's game at Miami (Ohio) with a career-high 22 points against Ball State Saturday. Closser shot six-of-10 from the field, including four-of-seven from three-point range, while playing the entire 40 minutes.

Omega Harrington, Cleveland State
Senior * Guard * Indianapolis, Ind.
Harrington led the Vikings in scoring all three games last week, averaging 13.0 points. She scored 11 against Central Michigan, 12 at Dayton and capped off the week with 16 points versus Western Michigan, tying her career-high with four three-pointers.

Rhea Mays, Wright State
Senior * Guard * Detroit, Mich.
Mays scored 16 points, including four three-pointers on Friday night at Dayton. She also went seven-of-14 from the field on Sunday, scoring 15 points with three assists and three steals at Toledo.

Lindsey Pasquinzo, Detroit
Senior * Guard * Shelby Twp., Mich.
Pasquinzo scored a team-high 16 points in Saturday's loss to Kentucky. She shot six-of-11 against the Wildcats, including three-for-six from long distance.

LaShonda Grant, UIC
Junior * Guard * Chicago, Ill.
Grant led the Flames last week, scoring 18 points versus Northern Iowa at home. The junior hit four-of-six three-pointers, had four assists and two steals along with five rebounds. Grant shot 63.6 (seven-of-11) percent from the field.

League News and Notes
WELCOME NEWCOMERS: Butler and UW-Milwaukee have gotten considerable production from newcomers during the first few weeks of the 2005-06 season. The Bulldogs have received contributions from freshmen Lade Akande, Candyce Brown, Candace Jones, while transfer Carla Gheorge is just warming up. The four newcomers have had 41.9 percent of the points, 41.6 percent of the rebounds, 36.0 percent of the assists and 73.7 percent of the blocks for the Bulldogs. The Panthers have seen eight different newcomers contribute: freshmen Traci Edwards, Kim Wypiszynski, Emily Markert, Katie Fournier, Tiffany Morton and Turquoise McCain along with transfers Meredith Onson and Aubri Rote. The eight have combined for 49.8 percent of the team's points, 43.0 percent of the boards, 37.7 percent of the assists and 75.8 percent of the blocks this season.

HANSER LIKES DOUBLE FIGURES: Loyola's junior guard Marquise Hanser has posted double-digit points in all eight of the team's games this season. She has registered four games of 20 or more points, with the last coming Saturday against Indiana State. The Ft. Mitchell, Ky., native leads the League in scoring, averaging 19.4 points per game.

Butler
BULLDOGS LIKE DOUBLE FIGURES: Five players scored in double figures for Butler in Wednesday's game at Miami (Ohio). That is only the second time that has happened during Beth Couture's tenure (2002-present) at Butler. Freshman guard Candace Jones led the way with 17, junior guard Ellen Hamilton had 13, senior forward Stephanie Boeke scored 10, while junior forward Carla Gheorge and sophomore Candace Bain chipped in 12 apiece. The only other time a Couture-coached team accomplished the feat was Jan. 7, 2003 against Detroit.

FRESHMAN GETTING IT GOING: Candace Jones' 17 points against Miami (Ohio) were a career high for the freshman in the first start of her Butler career. On the season, Jones is averaging 5.7 points, 27 rebounds and 2.3 assists per contest.

Cleveland State
366 AND COUNTING: Cleveland State knocked down 20 triples last week to extend its three-point field-goal streak to 366 consecutive games. The last time the Vikings failed to drain at least one triple was against Cincinnati on Dec. 17, 1992. The streak is the third-best in NCAA history and the longest active run.

MARTIN FILLING THE STATS: Senior guard Erin Martin nearly tallied her first career triple-double on Sunday against Western Michigan, finishing with 12 points, nine rebounds and a career-high-tying eight assists. On the season, Martin is averaging 8.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game.

Detroit
96 TO GO: With 16 points in Saturday's loss to Kentucky, senior guard Lindsey Pasquinzo has 904 points for her career. Pasquinzo needs 96 more points to become the 15th Titan with 1,000 career points.

HERE THE TITANS COME, LAS VEGAS: The Duel in the Desert Tournament represents the first time the Titans have traveled to the state of Nevada since Dec. 21, 1990. The Titans lost that game 15 years ago, 71-62, against SMU in another UNLV tournament.

UIC
RINALDI DOING HER THING: Sophomore center Nicole Rinaldi had a stellar performance versus Northern Iowa, putting up 14 points, six rebounds, three blocks and two steals. On the season, Rinaldi is averaging 6.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per outing.

TIME FOR MEXICO: The Flames fly to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, to take part in the Fun In The Sun Shootout on December 18-19. The Flames kick off tournament action against Missouri State at 8 p.m. on December 18. UIC then plays either Mount St. Mary's or Oral Roberts on Monday, Dec. 19 at 9 p.m.

Loyola
FINDING THE SCORING TOUCH: Not only were Loyola's 80 points against the Sycamores a season-high, the total obliterated its previous high of 57 recorded against both Illinois State and Dayton.

HANSER KEEPS THE PACE: Junior guard Marquise Hanser continued to impress last week. The Horizon League's leading scorer poured in a game-high 25 points, tying her career-high, on 9-of-18 shooting against Indiana State. Hanser also added five rebounds, all on the offensive end, four assists and three blocked shots.

UW-Green Bay
LIMIT THE TURNOVERS: The Phoenix posted one of its best games turnover-wise against Illinois State on Dec. 8, as the team committed just nine miscues in the contest, including only two in the second half. The five UW-Green Bay starters played 168 of the team's 200 minutes in the game and had just four turnovers.

POPP INTO THE STARTING LINEUP: Junior guard Amanda Popp had a solid week in her first two appearances in the starting lineup, replacing senior forward Amy Fieck, who is hampered by chronic knee pain. Popp averaged 10.5 points per game and shot 9-for-18 from the field.

UW-Milwaukee
AND ONE: Through eight games, the Panthers have drawn contact on 18 baskets and converted the ensuing free-throw 14 times. Against Northern Michigan, UWM was four-of-five in such cases. Freshman center Traci Edwards leads the team with eight three-point plays on 10 attempts.

EDWARDS LOOKING IMPRESSIVE: Traci Edwards posted her third double-double of the season in Sunday afternoon's win over Northern Michigan. She has scored in double figures in her last seven games, all starts. Since entering the starting lineup, Edwards has averaged 17.4 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game.

Wright State
OFF THE BENCH: WSU's reserves accounted for 43 of the 66 points in Saturday's setback at Toledo, led by sophomore guard Ana Marisa Perez and senior forward Tyanda Hammock with 17 each.

TOUGH FIRST HALVES: The 38-31 halftime advantage at Toledo on Saturday marked the first time this season the Raiders led at the break. For the season, Wright State has been outscored in the first half 234-193. The second stanza has been a different story for the Raiders, leading their opponents 250-229.

Youngstown State
DISHING THE BALL: Sophomore guard Lauren Branson is just 10 assists shy of reaching 200 for her career. She has notched 31 helpers this year, good for 3.9 per game and a tie for third place in the loop.

FINDING THE RANGE: Junior guard Kristy Gaudiose drilled four three-pointers last week and now has 54 career treys. Gaudiose needs just 23 more to move into 10th place on the YSU all-time three-point list.