Women's Basketball Weekly Release #9

Jan. 2, 2007

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Player of the Week

Traci Edwards, UW-Milwaukee - Watch
Sophomore * Center * Menasha, Wis.
Edwards averaged 23 points and 15 rebounds in leading the Panthers to their first 2-0 League start since 2003-04. She had double-doubles in both games and went 16-of-21 from the free throw line on the week. Against UIC on Saturday, she scored 28 points and grabbed 20 rebounds. It was her second career 20/20 game and the fourth in UWM's Division I history. She posted 18 points and 10 boards against Loyola on Thursday, adding two blocks and a six-of-six performance from the charity stripe.

Other Top Performances from the Week Ending Dec. 31

Lade Akande, Butler
Sophomore * Center * Robinson, Ill.
Akande had a solid week for the Bulldogs, averaging 19.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. She notched her ninth-career double-double at Cleveland State on Thursday, tying her career high of 28 points on eight-of-18 shooting while adding 10 rebounds. She also set a career-high with 12 free throws made and blocked a season-best four shots. She followed up that performance with 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting and a team-best seven rebounds at Youngstown State on Saturday.

Kailey Klein, Cleveland State
Freshman * Guard * Cherry, Ill.
Klein exploded for 39 points in a pair of games for the Vikings. On Thursday against Butler, she scored 21 points off the bench, going 10-for-12 from the free throw line, while adding seven rebounds and a career-high four steals. The performance earned the freshman her first career start on Saturday versus Wright State, and she responded by scoring 16 of her game-high 18 points in the final 20 minutes to help CSU recover from a halftime deficit for just the second time this year.

Joyce Massey, Detroit
Junior * Guard * Detroit, Mich.
Massey led Detroit in scoring in both games this weekend. She notched her third double-double of season against Virginia Tech with 20 points and 11 rebounds in the championship game of the Lady Luck Classic.

Nikki Grobbecker, UIC
Sophomore * Center * Stratford, Ontario
Grobbecker averaged 12 points and 5.5 rebounds in UIC's opening weekend in Horizon League action. Grobbecker shot 81.8 percent (nine-for-11) from the field and 75 percent (six-for-eight) from the free throw line. The center also added three swipes on the weekend.

Maggie McCloskey, Loyola
Freshman * Guard * Riverside, Ill.
McCloskey turned in a pair of clutch performances last week, averaging 20 points and five assists while knocking down 10 three-pointers in a pair of tough road losses in Wisconsin. She put on a record-setting show on Saturday afternoon in Green Bay, tying a school record with eight three-pointers. McCloskey buried six treys in the first half, and scored 22 of her career-high 28 in the opening period, and her eight trifectas for the game tied Mary Just's single-game record set back on Feb. 1, 1988.

Nicole Soulis, UW-Green Bay
Senior * Forward * Green Bay, Wis.
Soulis got the Horizon League season off to a hot start last week as she averaged 27 points per game in two home wins. Versus Loyola on Saturday, Soulis posted the first 30-point game for a Phoenix player in eight seasons as she poured in 32 points on 13-of-15 shooting. Against UIC on Thursday, Soulis led the Phoenix with 22 points, including 13 in the second half. For the week, Soulis shot 69.0 percent from the field (20-of-29) and 12-of-13 from the free throw line. She also had six blocks, including four against UIC.

Brittney Whiteside, Wright State
Senior * Guard * Columbus, Ohio
Whiteside posted her first double-double of the season at Youngstown State on Thursday with 19 points and 15 rebounds while handing out three assists. She followed that with 14 points, including a career-high four three-pointers, on Saturday at Cleveland State to go along with six rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Heather Karner, Youngstown State
Junior * Guard * St. Louis, Mo.
Karner led the Penguins in scoring in both Horizon League games over the weekend. Karner scored 14 points against Wright State and 16 against Butler.

Horizon League News & Notes

UW-Green Bay (10-3; 2-0 HL)
It was more of the same for the Phoenix when League play began last week as the team extended its winning streak to seven games with victories over UIC (59-47) and Loyola (87-71). The two wins gave UW-Green Bay its first undefeated month of December since 1980-81.

Against the Flames on Thursday, UWGB got off to a slow start, finding the net on only nine of its 31 shot attempts (.290) in the opening period. The second half was a different story as the team shot 10-of-23 (.435) from the floor. Defense was a constant for the Phoenix against UIC, holding the Flames to just 26.7 percent (16-of-60) shooting on the night.

In UW-Green Bay's second game last week it was all about offense as the team combined with Loyola for 100 points in the first half. After allowing the Ramblers to convert on 65.5 percent of their shot attempts in the first stanza, the Phoenix picked up the defense and held LU to 32 percent shooting in half number two. UWGB forced 23 turnovers in the contest compared to the eight that the team committed.

Preseason Player of the Year Nicole Soulis lived up to her billing in week one by averaging 27 points. She was the only player to reach double digits against UIC, pouring in 22 points on seven-of-14 shooting. She also had nine rebounds and four blocks in the contest. Soulis then put in a career performance with 32 points against the Ramblers, making 13-of-15 shots from the floor. With the 54 points, the 6-foot-2 forward now sits in eighth place on the Horizon League's all-time scoring list (1,610).

As a team, UWGB leads the Horizon League in scoring offense (74.4 ppg.), scoring defense (62.5 ppg.), scoring margin (+11.8), free-throw percentage (.777), field-goal percentage (.456), three-point field goal percentage (.363), assists (16.08 apg.), turnover margin (+4.92) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.32).

Individually, the top two free-throw shooters reside on the UWGB roster in Soulis (.854) and junior Kayla Groh (.837). Soulis also paces the loop in scoring (18.3 markers per contest) and blocked shots (1.54 blocks per game), while senior Natalie Berglin leads all in assists (4.85 apg.) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.86).

The starting five for the Phoenix can all be found in the top 30 of the League's scoring chart as Berglin (10.5 - 12th), Groh (10.3 - 13th), sophomore Rachel Porath (9.9 - 15th) and senior Amanda Popp (7.8 - 27th) trail Soulis on the list.

UW-Green Bay looks to continue its winning ways with a road game at Detroit on Thursday this week.

UW-Milwaukee (6-9; 2-0 HL)
UWM got the League schedule off to a good start, picking up wins over Loyola (73-72) and UIC (86-79) to start 2-0 in loop play for only the fifth time in program history.

Milwaukee led for much of the contest against Loyola, but after a 14-2 run by the Ramblers over a 6:19 stretch late in the second half the Panthers' trailed 72-70 with 1:16 on the clock. Senior Megan Rogers stepped up for UW-Milwaukee and buried a game-winning three-pointer with just 4.2 seconds remaining in the contest. Rogers finished with a season-high 17 points on seven-of-10 shooting. Sophomore Aubri Rote also found the net often in the contest as she poured in a career-best 14 points off the bench.

The Panthers were engaged in an offensive battle in Saturday's contest against the Flames. After going into halftime up 29-22, both teams caught fire in the second half and scored 57 points apiece. UWM shot 60.0 percent (15-of-25) after the break, including five-of-nine from long range. For the game, the team had its highest offensive output since a 90-87 double-overtime victory against Southeastern Missouri State on Nov. 25, 2005.

Player of the Week sophomore Traci Edwards led the Panther offense in both games, picking up her fifth and sixth double-doubles of 2006-07. She turned in 18 points and 10 assists against LU on Thursday and followed that up with her second career 20/20 game (28 points, 20 rebounds) against UIC on Saturday. For the year, the 6-foot-2 center leads the League in rebounding (9.5), while placing second in scoring (17.8) and field-goal percentage (.580).

As a team, Milwaukee is the only Horizon League team to have a positive rebounding margin (+2.1) after the 2006 portion of this year's schedule. The team also places second in assists per game (15.47), and third in free-throw percentage (.724), three-point percentage (.343) and field-goal percentage (.426).

The Panthers travel to Detroit on Saturday to take on the Titans in their only game of the week.

Butler (5-8; 2-0 HL)
Butler enters the week looking for its first 3-0 start to the League portion of its schedule since 1999-2000 after posting winning decisions over Cleveland State (66-57) and Youngstown State (80-56) last week.

Sophomore Lade Akande led the Bulldogs with career-high tying 28 points and 10 rebounds versus CSU on Thursday night. She was joined in double figures by senior Jackie Closser, who finished the game with 17 points on four-of-six shooting. BU came out of the gates slowly in the contest, shooting only 28.6 percent during the first frame, but then found the offensive touch and converted on 47.6 percent (10-of-21) of its shots during the final half.

Against Youngstown State, all five starters tallied double digits with sophomore transfer Tara Miller's 17 points leading the way. Miller, who has averaged 12.5 points in four contest with the team, made six-of-10 shots and three-of-six from three-point land. The team also had a much more consistent shooting night and finished the game with a season-best 51.8 field-goal percentage (29-of-56).

BU's defense has picked up the pace as the team's last three opponents have failed to score 60 points.

With a lay-up with 11:27 remaining in the Cleveland State contest, senior Ellen Hamilton became the 18th player in Butler history to score 1,000 points in her career. Hamilton is the second Bulldog to hit the milestone this year as Closser became the 17th player in program history to do so last week.

The Bulldogs continued to produce from three-point territory in their two games last week, pushing their League-best mark to 7.46 three-pointers made per contest.

BU continues the conference schedule this week at Wright State on Saturday afternoon.

Cleveland State (4-11; 1-1 HL)
The Vikings split in the opening week of conference play with a 66-57 loss to Butler on Thursday and a 60-47 victory over Wright State on Saturday.

Despite committing a season-low 10 turnovers, CSU couldn't find the shooting touch against the Bulldogs. The team shot 26.5 percent (18-of-68) in the contest, including a 20.0 percent (seven-of-35) mark in the second half. Freshman Kailey Klein made an impact in her first League action and scored 21 points to go along with her seven rebounds and four steals.

Klein paced the offense again against the Raiders with 18 points and the Vikings overcame a halftime deficit for just the second time this season. A big part of the second-half success was the team's shooting as CSU posted a 43.3 percent (13-of-30) conversion rate from the floor and connecting on all 14 free-throw attempts in the period.

With seven triples last week, the Vikings extended their NCAA record for consecutive games with a three-point field goal to 401. The last time that CSU failed to drain at least one three-pointer in a game was a 78-55 loss at Cincinnati on Dec. 17, 1992.

Since surrendering a season-high 100 points in a loss at Virginia on Dec. 16, the Vikings have clamped down on defense, allowing just 50.0 a game en route to going 2-1. Cleveland State's three opponents have made just 30.2 percent of their field goal attempts (51-169) during that span.

Sophomore center Stephanie Youdath continues to make her presence felt in the paint. She swatted a career-high seven shots in the victory over WSU and has 25 blocks in 10 games this season.

The Vikings look for the first win of the season away from the Wolstein Center in Chicago this week with contests against UIC (Thursday) and Loyola (Saturday).

Wright State (3-10; 1-1 HL)
WSU went 1-1 in week one of League play as the team knocked off Youngstown State 57-52 on Thursday before falling 60-47 at Cleveland State on Saturday afternoon.

The senior class did most of the work for the Raiders last week by scoring 74 of the team's 104 points. Brittney Whiteside tallied team-high scoring honors in both outings with 19 points against YSU and 14 points against CSU. She also chipped in 15 rebounds against the Penguins for her first double-double of the campaign. Tyanda Hammock found double digits in both contests at 11 and 10 points, while Steph Comisar had 13 at Youngstown State and seven more in Cleveland.

The Raiders forced YSU into 20 turnovers in the first game of the week and converted those turnovers into 17 points. Against the Vikings, the offense sputtered as the team shot just 32.1 percent from the field. Whiteside did turn in a career day from three-point territory with four treys in the contest. After making just 12 three-pointers in her first three seasons, the 5-foot-8 guard already has 12 in nine games this season.

Wright State welcomes Butler to the Nutter Center this weekend for a Saturday afternoon affair.

UIC (6-8; 0-2 HL)
UIC tipped-off the League slate with a pair of tough contests in Wisconsin. The Flames fell to UW-Green Bay 59-47 on Thursday, and then were ousted 86-79 by UW-Milwaukee on Saturday.

The defense came to play against the Phoenix, holding the preseason favorites to season lows of 59 points and 35.2 percent shooting. Sophomore Nikki Grobbecker also had a career day for the Flames with a collegiate-best 17 points along with 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.

It was the offense's turn on Saturday afternoon as the team shot 45.7 percent from the field, including 57.9 percent in the second stanza. UWM kept pace though and poured in 53.3 percent of its shots in the game en route to the victory. Senior LaShonda Grant eclipsed the 20-point plateau for the second time in 2006-07 with 22 points in the game. She drained eight-of-16 shots and three-of-seven from distance.

UIC posted a +14 turnover margin against the Panthers thanks in large part to 14 steals, including five by senior Krystal Hugelier. The team is first in the League in steals on the season with 10.64 per outing. Four players from the squad place in the conference's top 10 in the category.

The team stays home this week and hosts Cleveland State on Thursday and Youngstown State on Saturday.

Youngstown State (2-10; 0-2 HL)
It was a tough first week of conference action for the Penguins as they dropped decisions to Wright State (57-52) and Butler (80-56) last week.

YSU had three players average double digits for the week with junior Heather Karner's 15 markers per outing putting her slightly ahead of sophomores Velissa Vaughn (11 ppg.) and Monique Godfrey (10 ppg.).

Karner drained a team-best six triples in the two contests and she now ties for the League lead with an average of 2.42. She also played solid defense and finds herself atop the loop's steals chart with 2.0 per game.

The two losses last week push Youngstown State's losing streak against Division I opponents to eight games. The team has not ousted a D-I foe since defeating Buffalo on Nov. 21.

The `Guins look to start off the New Year on the right foot as the team travels to Chicago to face Loyola on Thursday and UIC on Saturday.

Loyola (1-11; 0-2 HL)
Loyola was pinned with two tough road losses last week in Wisconsin as UW-Milwaukee hit a last-second three pointer for a 73-72 victory on Thursday before UW-Green Bay topped the Ramblers 87-71 on Saturday.

The team battled back in Milwaukee with a 14-2 run over a 6:19 stretch late in the second half, but the door was left open and the Panthers' Megan Rogers stepped in and knocked down a trey with 4.2 seconds on the clock to seal the Ramblers' fate. Seniors Marquise Hanser (19) and Emily Ponder (18) along with freshmen Jennifer Juergens (14) and Maggie McCloskey (12) scored in double digits for LU. The team also forced UWM into a season-best 21 turnovers in the contest.

McCloskey entered the Phoenix Sports Center for the first time in her collegiate career on Saturday and instantly found it to her liking. The freshman buried eight three pointers and a career-high 28 points in the loss. Hanser also found posted 10-plus points again with 17 in the game and now sits just three points shy of 1,000 for her career. Loyola did test the preseason favorite Phoenix in the contest as they shot a season-best 50.0 percent from the field in the game.

The Ramblers continue through the League schedule with Youngstown State and Cleveland State making the trip to the Gentile Center this week.

Detroit (3-10; 0-0 HL)
Detroit, the only team not to begin the circuit slate last week, spent the week in Blacksburg, Va., in the Lady Luck Classic. The Titans made it to the championship game of the tournament with a 54-50 victory over New Hampshire in the first game, but then were ousted by host Virginia Tech, 71-57, for the title.

Against New Hampshire, UDM shot better than 40 percent from the floor for just the second time in 2006-07. The offense was led by junior Joyce Massey's 12 points, while sophomore Katy Dunlop was the only other player in double figures at 10 points. Junior India Bruster grabbed a game-high nine boards, while sophomore Sandi Brown helped the cause with nine points and four steals.

In their first championship game of an in-season tournament since 1999, the Titans were unable to beat the Hokies. Massey once again paced the offensive attack with 20 points to go along with 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the year. No other player scored in double figures, but Bruster cleaned up the glass again with nine rebounds.

This week UDM hosts the Wisconsin schools in its first loop action of 2006-07. UW-Green Bay visits Calihan Hall on Thursday and UW-Milwaukee makes the trip on Saturday.

Valparaiso (5-7; Joins HL in 2007-08)
The Crusaders downed Saint Francis (Ind.), 60-46, in the club's only game last week.

Senior Betsy Rietema surpassed the 1,000 point mark in her career with 13 points against the Cougars. Classmate Tamra Braun equaled Rietema's output while adding 10 rebounds for her sixth double-double in the team's last seven games. Carrie Myers chipped in 12 points with all of her shot attempts coming from behind the arc (four-of-11 shooting).

Braun ranks first in the Mid-Continent Conference in field-goal percentage (.568), second in blocks (1.58) and third in rebounding (8.4). As a team, Valpo leads all Mid-Con teams in three-point field-goal percentage (.386) and three-pointers made (6.33). Leading the three-point attack is senior Carrie Myers, who has drained 35-of-81 attempts (.432).

The Crusaders host Huntington in their final non-conference match-up. The team then travels to Oral Roberts to tip-off the Mid-Con schedule.