Women's Basketball Weekly Release #7
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Horizon League Player of the Week
Brittney Whiteside, Wright State, Sophomore, Guard, Columbus, Ohio/Mifflin
Whiteside led the Raiders with 18 points and 11 rebounds in a 60-59 victory over Butler in overtime on Dec. 29. She posted nine points and eight rebounds during the final nine minutes of regulation and in overtime after sitting out eight minutes due to a leg injury. This marks her fourth double-double of season.
Other Top Performers
Jackie Closser, Butler, Sophomore, Guard, Alexandria, Ind./Monroe
Closser led the Bulldogs with 15 points and eight rebounds in last Wednesday's overtime loss at Wright State. Closser, the league's most prolific three-point shooter, hit three treys on the night, never leaving the floor in the 45 minutes of play. For the season, Closser leads the Bulldogs with a scoring average of 11.5 and a 46 percent three-point accuracy.
Lindsey Pasquinzo, Detroit, Junior, Guard, Shelby Township, Mich./Utica
Pasquinzo added another chapter to her impressive 2004-05 resume last week as she led the Titans to a come-from-behind 67-43 triumph over Youngstown State in the squad's Horizon League opener. Pouring in a game-high 15 points, she also pulled down a team-best eight rebounds all while connecting on 60 percent (6-of-10) of her shots from the field. She tickled the twines at a 60 percent clip from beyond the arc as she added three triples in five attempts to up her three-point shooting mark to better than 48 percent (.483) for the year. Pasquinzo is currently leading the team in scoring (15.0), field goal percentage (.477), triples (29), free-throw percentage (.800), offensive rebounds (14) and steals (21). She is now seven triples from moving into third place in school history and has scored in double figures in nine of Detroit's first 11 tilts this season.
Abby Scharlow, UW-Green Bay, Senior, Guard, New Albany, Ind./New Albany
Scharlow aided the Phoenix to its 17th consecutive win in a conference opener Dec. 30 with her team-high 15 points in UW-Green Bay's 63-46 road win against UW-Milwaukee. Scharlow nailed two three-pointers early in the second half to boost a 17-4 run to tip off the stanza and give the Phoenix the lead for good.
Jen Perugini, Youngstown State, Senior, Forward, Sault Saint Marie, Ontario/St. Mary's
Perugini averaged 12.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game last week. She shot 43.5 percent from the field and posted 17 points against Xavier on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor.
Notes and Quotes
Butler Bulldogs (5-6, 0-1)
Butler begins a three-game homestand Monday when Horizon League foe UW-Milwaukee comes to Indianapolis. The Bulldogs also welcome preseason league favorite UW-Green Bay Saturday as the second half of a men's/women's doubleheader at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Butler went 20-of-26 from the free throw line in Wednesday's loss to Wright State, good for 77 percent.
Sophomore Jackie Closser has played all 45 minutes in both of the Bulldogs' overtime games this season.
Cleveland State Vikings (1-10, 0-1)
Cleveland State plays two of three games this week at home, its only contests in the Convocation Center in a 10-game span.
Senior forward Jill Barnbrook has been one of the Vikings' leading offensive threats the last five games. During that span she is averaging11.8 points and 3.8 rebounds while shooting 57.5 percent from the floor(23-40) in 22 minutes of action off the bench. The South Bend, Ind. native had scored just six points in CSU's first six games.
The Vikings are 1-10 for the second time in three seasons. In 2002-03, CSU recovered nicely, coming within a couple last-second free throws from advancing to the league championship game.
Detroit Titans (3-8, 1-0)
The Titans face a challenging week ahead as the squad will have three road games in six days, beginning at Loyola on Monday (Jan. 3).
In search of its first road win of the year, Detroit will tangle with the Ramblers (Jan. 3), IPFW (Jan. 5) and Cleveland State (Jan. 8).
With their victory over Youngstown State, the Titans are now 13-6 all-time in Horizon League home openers and 12-7 in conference openers regardless of location.
Detroit will enter its date at Loyola with a 9-9 mark in league road openers. The number is deceptive as the Red, White and Blue are 6-4 in the last 10 road lidlifters.
UIC (3-9, 0-1)
After taking a 10-day break, the Flames will be back in action to face Cleveland State on Jan. 3 at the CSU Convocation Center. UIC will head home to host Youngstown State three days later.
Loyola Ramblers (4-8, 1-0)
After taking last week off, the Ramblers return to action with a busy week at the Gentile Center. Loyola will host Detroit on Jan. 3, UW-Green Bay on Jan. 6 and UW-Milwaukee on Jan. 8
UW-Green Bay Phoenix (9-2, 1-0)
UW-Green Bay has a busy schedule ahead this week, as the Phoenix will face three Horizon League opponents in a six-day span. The Phoenix starts the series at home against Wright State Monday night before traveling to Loyola Jan. 6 and Butler Jan. 8.In the first half against UW-Milwaukee Dec. 30, the Phoenix offense struggled, as the squad committed seven turnovers in the first 20 minutes and aiding in part to a two-point deficit at the break. But UW-Green Bay took care of the ball in the second half, as the team miscued just three times to finish with 10 for the game. UW-Green Bay currently ranks in the top five in the NCAA with its 12.5 turnovers per game.
UW-Green Bay struggled from long range in the first half against its instate rival Dec. 30, but a barrage of threes from a pair of seniors boosted the Phoenix in the second stanza. Tricia Grassell went 3-for-4 in the first four minutes of the second half from long range while classmate Abby Scharlow tallied a pair of threes of her own to ignite a 17-4 run over the opening six minutes of the second half.
The Phoenix defense stepped up big in its win over UW-Milwaukee Dec. 30, as the team gave up a season-low 27.5 percent shooting to the Panthers. UW-Green Bay held the Panthers without a field goal for an 11-minute stretch in the second half and gave up just eight points in the paint on the evening.
UW-Milwaukee Panthers (3-7, 0-1)
The Panthers opened Horizon League play with a 63-46 loss to UW-Green Bay on Dec. 30. Next up on the slate for UW-Milwaukee is a trip to Hinkle Fieldhouse where UWM will take on Butler on Jan. 3. Later in the week, the Panthers will head to Chicago to face Loyola on Jan. 8.
Wright State Raiders (7-5, 1-0)
The decision over Butler was the first overtime win for the Raiders in three chances this season and the first for WSU in a regular-season game since defeating Loyola 87-82 in double overtime on Feb. 11, 1999, ending a five-game winless streak in such contests. Wright State defeated Youngstown State in overtime last season, but that came in the first round of the Horizon League Tournament.
The Butler win also was the first time that WSU had won a conference opener since defeating UIC to open the 1991-92 campaign in the North Star Conference.
The Raiders had two players record double-doubles against Butler as Brittney Whiteside had 18 points and 11 rebounds and Whitney Lewis 15 points and 11 boards. It is the second time this season Wright State has had two post double-doubles in the same game as Whiteside and Jeanette Woodberry each had one against IPFW.
It is a week of doubleheaders for the Raiders as both the men's and women's teams are at UW-Green Bay Monday, both host Cleveland State on Thursday and both are at home on Saturday with the women taking on Youngstown State.
Youngstown State Penguins (6-6, 1-1)
Jen Perugini needs just 10 more points to become the 16th player in school history to score 1,000 points during her career.
Freshman Lauren Branson scored a career-high 12 points and dished out five assists against Xavier. Her 67 assists already ranks as the sixth-highest freshman assists total in school history.
