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Jan. 25, 2004

MILWAUKEE -

Part One Of Wisconsin Showdown

The only two Horizon League teams to appear in the NCAA Tournament in the 2000's will square off Monday (Jan. 26) as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee will head north to face the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in women's basketball action. The Panthers of UWM earned the Horizon League's automatic NCAA berth in 2000-01 while UWGB claimed the honor in 1999-00, 2001-02 and 2002-03. The contest will mark the 52nd meeting between the two school's with the Phoenix owning a 37-14 advantage, including each of the last four. Monday's game will begin at 7:00 p.m. at the Phoenix Sports Center on the Green Bay campus. The action can be heard live on WMCS 1290-AM as Dan Pfeifer and Bret Seymour call the action. UWM will enter the game 7-9 overall and 4-2 in the Horizon League as UWGB sports an 11-6 and 5-2 mark.

Overtime Not Enough As UWM Falls In Indy

A strong second-half effort went for naught as the UWM women's hoops team dropped a tough, 67-61 overtime decision at Butler University on Saturday (Jan. 24). The Panthers, who committed 27 turnovers and shot just 36.7% from the floor, overcame an eight-point halftime deficit and missed a last second shot to win the game in regulation. The homestanding Bulldogs then dominated play in overtime, outscoring the visitors 16-10 to post the six-point win. Milwaukee shot 50.0% in the second half to overcome the eight-point deficit while outrebounding Butler 52-29 on the game. Maria Viall posted her seventh "double-double" of the year with 14 points and 15 rebounds. Reserve guard Jackie Closser burned UWM for 20 points, thanks to five three-point buckets. With the UWM loss, the two teams split the regular season series.

Scouting the Phoenix

Despite being hampered by the injury bug in 2003-04, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay women's basketball team is still among the elite units in the Horizon League. The Phoenix, who lost post players Tiffany Mor and Natalie Yudt to season-ending knee injuries early in the year, still own the best overall record in the league at 11-6 while their 5-2 league ledger is good for third place, just one-game off the lead. Junior transfer Abby Scharlow paces the GB offensive attack as she leads the squad in scoring (15.4 ppg), assists (4.7 apg), and three-point shooting (35 threes). Freshman Nicole Soulis, a leading candidate for Newcomer of the Year honors, has been a force as well, as evidenced by her 12.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg, and 1.5 bpg averages. The Phoenix will enter Monday's game having won 37 consecutive Horizon League home games. The last UWGB home league loss came Feb. 21, 1997, when UWM posted a 58-41 victory. The Phoenix are coached by sixth-year mentor Kevin Borseth, who owns a 125-45 record at the school.

Road Skid Ends In Dayton

It took eight games, but the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's hoops squad notched its first road win of the 2003-04 season with a 69-61 victory at Wright State University on Thursday (Jan. 22). After trailing 2-0 the Panthers led the rest of the way, with WSU cutting the lead to six, on just one occasion in the second half. Sophomore Nichole Drummond continued her offensive outburst, leading UWM with 17 points to go with seven rebounds. Maria Viall added 15 points, eight boards and two blocks. Kimberly Becker contributed 12 points and seven assists while Molly O'Brien added eight markers, ten caroms, and five assists. Jeanette Woodberry led all players with 20 points while Brittney Whiteside added 16 points and seven steals. The win marked UWM's 10th straight versus the Raiders.

Down To The Wire

Close games appear to be the norm more than the exception for the UWM women's hoops squad in 2003-04. Of the 16 games UWM has played this season, nine have ended in overtime or produced final margins of five-points or less. In Horizon League games, four of the six games have gone down to the wire. Unfortunately, things haven't gone Milwaukee's way in the close games, as evidenced by a 3-6 record in such contests. The Cardiac Kids haven't given themselves much room for error of late as five of the last six games have gone to overtime or have been decided by five points or less. Following Saturday's 67-61 OT loss at Butler, UWM is 1-1 this season in overtime games and 4-6 in the Sandy Botham era in extra time.

Panthers Turn To Glass Cleaners

In a continuation of last season, the 2003-04 Panther hoops unit is absolutely dominating Horizon League opponents on both the offensive and defensive glass. On the season, UWM owns a league-best +3.8 rebound margin, but that number has grown exponentially in league action. Through six conference games Milwaukee has grabbed 261 total rebounds to 189 for the opposition, good for a +12.0 league-leading margin. While the Panthers are clearly owning the defensive boards, it's the offensive glass where UWM is really excelling. Milwaukee has grabbed 101 offensive rebounds in the five games to just 567O-boards for the opponents. Furthermore, UWM has held the opposition to just 122 defensive rebounds, just 21 more than Milwaukee has offensive boards. In Saturday's game versus Butler, Milwaukee grabbed a season-high 52 rebounds while posting a season's best +23 rebound margin.

Road of Horrors for UWM

Playing on the road is never easy. Throw in a young lineup and an extremely tough non-conference schedule and winning on the road got even tougher for the UWM women's basketball squad. And, despite its first road win of the season on Thursday, the Panthers have still been a Jekyll and Hyde team on the road. In nine road games this season, UWM is 1-8 while being outscored an average of 67.7 to 58.6. The Panthers are shooting just 39.1% from the field away from Milwaukee and just 27.6% from three-point land. Furthermore, Milwaukee has allowed opponents to shoot 43.8% from the floor on the road and 38.4% from downtown.

Witte Becomes Deep Threat

Don't look now, but UWM's Anne Witte is establishing herself as one of the premeir long-range shooters in the Horizon League. The sophomore from Mukwonago sits second on the team with 19 longballs on the season while placing sixth in league only games with 1.83 trifectas per contest. Witte has really dialed in of late, nailing at least one three-pointer in seven straight games while connecting on 12-of-25 (48.0%) during the stretch. Witte, who ranks as UWM's all-time leader in career free throw shooting, has drilled 42 three-ball's in her two-year career while shooting 36.7% from the arc.

Giving But Not Taking Away

What has been a problem all season just hit alarming proportions during UWM's recent road trip. That problem: Turnovers. The Panthers, who sit last in the Horizon League in turnovers with 21.8, are also last in the loop in turnover margin at -4.38. While the rate of turnovers are slightly down in league play (21.3 per game), things got worse in a pair of games at Wright State and Butler as Milwaukee committed 60 turnovers in the two games, which led to 35 steals by the opposition. The Panthers committed 33 miscues versus Wright State, second only to the 36 versus DePaul in the season-opener, before delivering 27 turnovers at Butler on Saturday. Conversely, Milwaukee has created just 17.4 turnovers by the opposition this season.

Injury Bug Bites Freshman Leader

Reality sure can bite. Just ask UWM point guard Aubrey Hampton. The freshman floor general had been playing some of the best basketball of her young career before a knee injury more than likely ended her rookie season in the Horizon League. Hampton, who leads the Panthers in assists (3.5 per game) and free throw shooting (80.8), was averaging 10.0 points and 2.5 rebounds per game in Horizon League play before being hurt. The fearless Hampton injured her right knee on a drive to the basket versus Cleveland State and will miss the rest of the year with a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in the knee. Sophomore Anne Witte will slide into the starting point guard role for the time being with junior Kerri St. Aubin providing backup support.

Walk-Ons Make Their Mark

Persistence certainly paid off for a pair of UWM walk-ons on Saturday. Kerri St. Aubin and Megan Rogers, a pair of true walk-ons to the Panther women's hoops team, provided a huge spark to the Milwaukee offensive attack versus Butler and their efforts nearly propelled the squad to a come-from-behind road win. St. Aubin, the starting goalkeeper on UWM's four-time defending league champion soccer team, played a career-high 23 minutes and scored five points to go with a career-best four rebounds and three assists. Rogers, who had played just one minute in the last five games, scored five points, including her first career three-pointer and a game-tying lefthanded layup in the final minute. The freshman from Madison also added four rebounds and two assists in her eight minutes of playing time.

Maria Moves On Up

With each passing game, not only does Maria Viall solidify her place as the potential Horizon League Player of the Year, she also creeps up the all-time UWM and Horizon League statistical charts. The senior, who currently sits second in the league in scoring and rebounding in 2003-04, recently moved into second place on the school's all-time scoring list. Viall, who has 1,626 points in her career, needs just 205 points to break the all-time scoring mark of 1,830 set by Jaci Clark (1979-83). At her current pace of 18.0 points per game, Viall would break the mark in the season's final regular season game, Jan. 28 at Youngstown State. Furthermore, Viall already owns two UWM career records, thanks to 151 blocked shots and a .550 field goal percentage. The Waukesha-native is currently fifth all-time in the Horizon League in scoring while sitting fifth in blocked shots and seventh in rebounding.

League Tourney Comes To Milwaukee

On the heels of the hugely successful 2003 Horizon League Men's Basketball Tournament, the 2004 Horizon League Women's Tournament will look for similar excitement when it comes to Milwaukee in March. The tourney, which is scheduled for March 2-8 at the Klotsche Center, has changed formats from the previous years. The four quarterfinal games on March 4 will be held at the campuses of the top four seeds. If UWM is a top four seed and it wins it's quarterfinal game then the two semifinal battles and championship match will move to Milwaukee on Sunday, March 7 and Monday, March 8.

Coach Botham--Live And In Stereo

Exposure for UWM women's basketball coach Sandy Botham has increased exponentially this season. In addition to adding a slate of 20-plus games on either radio, television or the internet, coach Botham will also star in her own coaches show on both the radio and TV. The first of ten Sandy Botham TV shows will air Saturday night on Channel 41 in Milwaukee. The show, which will be hosted by CBS 58 Sports Director Rock Rote, will run every Saturday night during the season. Furthermore, Botham will be featured in her own radio show beginning Wednesday, January 28th. The show will be hosted by Dan Pfeifer, the voice of UWM women's basketball and will air on WMCS 1290-AM. All shows will take place live in the Gasthaus in the basement of the UWM student union and will run from 6:00 to 6:30 p.m.

Dear Diary

For those that really want to get to know UWM All-America Candidate Maria Viall, nows your chance. The Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year has been selected by ESPN.com to keep a diary throughout the 2003-04 season. Viall will share her thoughts on the team, classes, life on the road, and what its like as a Division I women's basketball player. The Waukesha-native will report twice a month to the women's basketball section of the national sports website. Viall's fourth diary entry, which talks about her time at home during the Holiday sason and the squad's "secret santa" get together, is now online. Fans can read each diary by clicking on the Women's College Basketball Link from the ESPN.com homepage.