Women's Basketball Weekly Release #7

Dec. 27, 2005

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Horizon League Player of the Week

Lade Akande, Butler
Freshman * Forward/Center * Robinson, Ill.
Akande led Butler to a pair of come-from-behind wins at Hinkle Fieldhouse, averaging 16.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in the Bulldogs' 2-0 week. She registered the third double-double of her young career with a team-high 21 points and 12 rebounds against Evansville Monday. The freshman is tied for the League-lead in rebounding (8.0), while ranking second in blocks per game (1.9) and 13th in scoring (12.0).

Other Top Performances for the Week Ending December 25

Chrissy Dizon, UIC
Senior * Guard * Chicago, Ill.
Dizon had a total of 22 points, 16 boards, 11 assists and seven steals in UIC's 1-1 week. She chipped in eight points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals in UIC's close 64-60 loss to Missouri State on December 19. Dizon leads the league in assists per game (5.2), places fifth in rebounding (5.7) and ties for ninth in scoring (12.9).

Kristy Gaudiose, Youngstown State
Junior * Guard * Poland, Ohio
Gaudiose led the Penguins with 18 points and 7.5 rebounds per game last week. The five-foot-seven guard, who leads YSU with 10.1 points per game, scored a career-high 20 points against Akron and posted her first career double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds against Coppin State.

Jenna Real, Loyola
Junior * Forward * Elgin, Ill.
Real had a career-night against Northern Kentucky, putting up 26 points and nine rebounds in the contest. She shot seven-of-10 from the floor and 12-of-13 from the charity stripe. In the Ramblers' other contest, Real notched eight points, four rebounds and two steals.

Ashlee Russo, Youngstown State
Senior * Guard * Boardman, Ohio
Russo led the Penguins to a 2-0 record last week by averaging 17.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. She also shot 53.8 percent from the floor, 60 percent from 3-point range and 90 percent from the free throw line. Against Akron, Russo scored a career-high 14 points then posted a new career high with 21 points later in the week against Coppin State.

Brittney Whiteside, Wright State
Junior * Guard * Columbus, Ohio
Whiteside put up 14 points and eight rebounds in the Raiders' loss to Seton Hall. She shot five-of-14 from the field in 33 minutes of play. On the season, Whiteside is averaging 13.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.

Horizon League News and Notes
ON TAP: The League schedule kicks off this week with seven conference games. The first round of games on Thursday will see Youngstown State travel to Butler, Detroit host UW-Milwaukee and defending League Champion UW-Green Bay head to Loyola. In Saturday's matchups, UW-Green Bay will finish its Chicago road swing playing at UIC, Detroit will take to the road against Cleveland State, Youngstown State will visit Wright State and UW-Milwaukee will host Butler.

A WEEK FOR TOP PERFORMANCES: During last week's play, several individuals turned in season-high performances. Loyola junior forward Jenna Real tied the League's top point total with 26 points at Northern Kentucky Thursday night. In other action that night, Cleveland State junior forward Nicole Thomas grabbed a League-best 13 boards against Ohio. Another season-high was posted in blocks by Butler freshman Lade Akande, who swatted six shots in Butler's Monday night contest againstEvansville.

HITTING THE TARGET: UW-Green Bay put together one of its best offensive outputs in team history, as the squad shot 65.5 percent from the field and 70.6 percent from three-point range on the way to its 103-point output against Lewis Dec. 17. The team's shooting efforts came up among the best in the NCAA this season. The 70.6 mark from behind the arc is the second highest three-point percentage in the NCAA this season. Leading the charge for the Phoenix was junior forward Nicole Soulis (eight-of-12) and junior guard Natalie Berglin (six-of-seven).

Butler Bulldogs (4-5; 0-0)
HAMILTON LIKES THE SECOND STANZA: Junior Ellen Hamilton scored 18 points, all in the second half, as Butler overcame a 17-point, second-half deficit to defeat UMBC Thursday.

RANKING AMONG THE NATION'S BEST: Butler entered last week ranked third in the nation in three-point percentage (.434) and eighth in three-pointers per game (7.9). Butler didn't do much to disappoint last week, hitting 17 treys on 42 percent accuracy in the two games.

DOING IT FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE: Butler hit 21-of-22 free throw attempts Thursday against UMBC with junior Carla Gheorghe going a perfect four-of-four. Butler paces the loop in free-throw accuracy, shooting 74.0 percent from the foul line.

Cleveland State Vikings (2-8; 0-0)
BACK IN ACTION: Cleveland State takes a short break for the holidays before returning to the court for a pair of games this week. The Vikings will host Robert Morris on Wednesday, Dec. 28 in their final non-conference tilt of the season. CSU then caps off its three-game, year-ending homestand when Detroit comes to the Wolstein Center on Saturday, Dec. 31 to begin Horizon League play.

368 AND COUNTING: Cleveland State heads into this week having knocked down a three-point field goal in 368 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 second-best in NCAA history and the longest active run. CSU moved past Appalachian State (367) last week and now trails only Louisville (394) in NCAA annals.

Detroit Titans (3-8; 0-0)
COMING UP FOR THE TITANS: After an intense pre-conference schedule, Detroit will begin League play on Thursday night when the Titans host UW-Milwaukee. Detroit then travels to Cleveland State for a Saturday afternoon matinee against the Vikings.

65 TO GO: With 25 points in the Titan's last two contests, senior guard Lindsey Pasquinzo has 935 points for her career. Pasquinzo needs 65 more points to become the 15th Detroit player with 1,000 career points.

DRAINING THE TREYS: Through the first 11 games of 2005-06, the Titans pace the league in three-point field goals made. Detroit is averaging 8.09 threes per game. Their high-water mark was 12 against Jackson State on Dec. 18.

UIC Flames (4-7; 0-0)
COMING UP FOR UIC: UIC has a slow week with one game on the ledger. The Flames will open up conference play by hosting the 2004-05 Horizon League Champion UW-Green Bay Phoenix at the UIC Pavilion on Saturday night.

FLAMES DOWN IN MEXICO: UIC rolled past Mount St. Mary's, 83-67, to clinch third-place at the Fun in the Sun Shootout. Five Flames scored in double-digits with junior and all-tournament recipient, LaShonda Grant, leading the way with 17 points and five steals. Senior guard Chrissy Dizon chipped in 14 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and five steals. Freshman Ashley Hluska picked up a career-high 12 points, junior Kelly True added 15 points and junior Krystal Hugelier knocked down 14 points on the night.

Loyola Ramblers (0-11; 0-0)
LOOKING AHEAD: Loyola will open up conference play with quite the challenge when defending League Champion UW-Green Bay rolls into town Thursday evening. UW-Green Bay owns the best overall record in the loop at 6-3 and has posted a record of 17-0 in conference openers since joining Division I.

HITTING THE GLASS: Through Sunday's games, Loyola is the only team in the Horizon League with a positive rebounding margin. In 11 contests, the Ramblers have pulled down 383 boards to their opponents 378. Senior forward Danielle Lonie and freshman Jana Lucas are tied for the team-lead with 5.3 rebounds per contest.

UW-Green Bay Phoenix (6-3; 0-0)
LOOKING TO DEFEND LAST YEAR'S CHAMPIONSHIP: UW-Green Bay will tip off the 2005-06 Horizon League slate this week with a pair of road contests in the Windy City. The Phoenix own an undefeated mark in conference openers since joining Division I, including a 4-0 mark in North Star Conference from 1989-92, a 2-0 record in Mid-Continent Conference and going a perfect 11-0 since joining the Horizon League in 1995.

RACKING UP THE VICTORIES: Since joining the Horizon League in 1994-95, UW-Green Bay has amassed 141 league victories, a total that ranks third behind inaugural-League members Detroit (152) and Butler (148). The Phoenix has averaged nearly 13 wins a season against Horizon League challengers.

UW-Milwaukee Panthers (4-6; 0-0)
HEADING INTO CONFERENCE PLAY: UW-Milwaukee has two tough League games on the schedule this week. The Panthers will travel to Detroit on Thursday before hosting Butler on Saturday afternoon.

FRESHMEN PACING THE PANTHERS: Freshman guard Emily Markert had a career-high 15 points against Marquette on Dec. 18 and was the third freshman to lead the team in scoring this season. A freshman has led or shared team-high honors in nine of the team's 10 games this season.

O'BRIEN FINDING SUCCESS: Senior forward Molly O'Brien posted a double-double on Dec. 18, her second, and UWM's sixth, of the season. The Panthers have had one in each of their last three games, their second three-game streak of double-double performances this season.

Wright State Raiders (4-6; 0-0)
THIS MAYS IS FINDING HER WAY: Senior guard Rhea Mays has had the hot hand lately, averaging 15 points per game over the last five contests after averaging 7.8 points through the first five games of the season.

TOUGH NIGHT FOR WRIGHT: Wright State set season lows in field goals (18), three-pointers made (1) and blocked shots (0) as the Raiders shot just 30 percent in falling to Seton Hall in their only action last week. It was also just the second game all year that WSU never had the lead in, the first being the season opener at Virginia.

NOTHING LIKE THE FIRST TIME: Sophomore forward Sierra Crayton made her first collegiate three-point attempt a memorable one as she banked in a 30-footer as time expired to give the Raiders a 77-74 win over Ball State on Dec. 18 at the Nutter Center.

Youngstown State Penguins (4-7; 0-0)
DISHING THE ROCK: With five assists against Coppin State, sophomore guard Lauren Branson eclipsed the 200 career assist mark and now has 203 career assists in 39 career games for an average of 5.2 career average.

RACKING UP SOME WINS: Youngstown State is coming off its best week of 2005-06. The Penguins posted a 58-50 victory over Akron on Monday and then followed that by downing Coppin State, 69-62, Wednesday evening.

PLAYING THE `D': The Penguins lead the League in opponents points per game, allowing only 65.1 per contest. YSU has held its opponents to 62 or fewer points in six of the Penguins' 11 contests this season.