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Feb. 4, 2003

The Sandy Botham File A 1988 Notre Dame graduate, Sandy Botham is in her seventh season at the helm of the UWM women's hoops program. The two-time MCC/Horizon League Coach of the Year owns a 128-86 career mark, good for a .601 winning percentage. The second-winningest coach in school history and the all-time leader in Division I victories, Botham is 106-82 in her six-plus seasons in Milwaukee. Last season, Botham led UWM to its first 20-win season in the school's ten-year Division I history. Botham's teams have posted a 60-28 record in Horizon League play over the years, including regular season and tournament titles in 2000-01. Assisting Botham on the sidelines are first year assistants Joe Conroy, Lea Robinson, and Nicole Luchsinger with 1997 Midwestern Collegiate Conference Player of the Year Jen Greger serving as Director of Basketball Operations.

Scouting The Titans After losing a bulk of offense from a year ago, Detroit has been a bit of a surprise team that currently sits in second place in the Horizon League standings with a 5-3 mark, to go with a 7-12 overall record. The Titans enter tonight's game winners of two straight and three of their last four. UDM features a balanced offensive attack with five players averaging 6.0 points per game or better. Junior forward Lori Wild leads the team in scoring at 10.8 ppg and is second on the squad with 5.5 rebounds per contest. Wild's production in league play has increased to 13.4 ppg while the Titans as a whole average 65.8 points per game in league play. Freshman Caitie Goddard is the lone outside threat for head coach Anne Rexford, as she leads the team with 22 three-pointers made.

Working Overtime Tonight's contest will mark the second of the season, home-and-home series and UWM will look to even the score at a game apiece. Detroit spoiled the Panthers Horizon League home opener on Jan. 2, taking a 66-57 victory in Milwaukee. UDM outscored UWM 10-1 in the overtime frame to claim its league opener and drop the Panthers to 0-2. Sara Crum led the Titans with 16 points while Nicole Anaejionu added 15 markers. Anne Witte led Milwaukee with 11 points while junior Teri Huff added 10. The win gave Detroit a 13-9 lead in the all-time series and helped break Milwaukee's three-game winning streak in the head-to-head matchups.

Slow Climb Towards The Top While the route may not have been as direct as UWM women's basketball coach Sandy Botham would have liked, her 2002-03 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee hoops squad is making a steady climb up the Horizon League ladder. The Panthers, who started the league season 0-2 and in last place, now sit at 5-4 overall and tied with UIC for third place in the standings. With a win tonight, UWM would tie Detroit at 6-4 in league play and sit in a second-place tie. The Panthers, who currently boast a three-game Horizon League winning streak, have not been that high in the standings since finishing the 2001-02 season second overall with a 13-3 record.

A Quick Glance--The Horizon League Race We are just over the halfway point of the 2002-03 Horizon League Race and two words come to mind: jumbled mess. Here is what is known; UW-Green Bay is in the driver's seat with an 8-1 record. Youngstown State and Butler bring up the rear with 2-6 and 2-7 records, respectively. After that, only one game in the win column separates second place, Detroit at 5-3, and seventh place, Cleveland State at 4-5. Including tonight's game versus UDM, MIlwaukee has one more game left with 5-4 UIC, 4-4 Wright State, and 4-5 Cleveland State, to go along with a road-trip at UWGB and home contests versus Youngstown State and Butler.

Lovin' Life On The Road Who says playing on the road is tough? After dropping its first two road Horizon League games at Loyola and Illinois-Chicago, Milwaukee has now won three consecutive conference road games heading into tonight's showdown at Calihan Hall. In the three games, a 79-59 win at Youngstown, State, a 76-65 defeat of Wright State, and a 70-62 win at Butler, the Panthers have outscored the opposition by 13.0 points per game. UWM is shooting 45.1% in the three games while holding the opposition to 34.4% accuracy from the field. The Panthers have made 57 free throws to the home teams' 41 while winning the rebounding battle by a remarkable 49.3 to 28.7 per game edge.

Comeback Kids Do It Again While heading into the halftime lockerroom trailing isn't exactly a recipe for success, it certainly has worked for UWM in its last three wins. Milwaukee defeated Youngstown State, Wright State, and Butler despite trailing at the half in all three games. In the three first halves, UWM got outscored a combined 106-86 while shooting just 39.1% from the floor and 27.2% from the three-point line to go with 13 free throws made and 49 turnovers. The Panthers second half turnaround included a 128-77 scoring margin, 49.4% shooting, 36.8% from downtown while making 37 free throws and committing just 22 turnovers.

Viall's Vision Is "20/20" To most players a game with 20+ points and 20+ rebounds would be considered a career night. But for UWM junior center Maria Viall, it's just another day at the office. Viall, who posted the league's first "20-20" with 28 points and 21 rebounds at Wright State on Jan. 25, accomplished the feat again on Saturday, this time torching Loyola for 27 points and 21 rebounds. The rebound numbers are good for tops among the UWM single-game rebound list. The 6-3 Viall is currently the only player in Division I basketball to post two "20-20" games this season.

Maria-Maria: Miss Double-Double Recently the question isn't, "Will Maria Viall get a double-double?", it's "how impressive will her double-double be?" Thanks to her record-setting 27-point, 21-rebound performance versus Loyola, No. 24 has now posted four consecutive double-doubles to run her season total to eight. Over the last four games, Viall has averaged 25.0 points and 16.3 rebounds per outing to go with 66.7% shooting from the field and 71.4% accuracy from the free throw line. On the season, Viall leads the league in blocked shots and field goal percentage while sitting second in rebounding and third in scoring. On a national level, the junior center is 21st in rebounding, 23rd in field goal percentage, and 34th in scoring.

Wilhite Provides Backcourt Stability While junior center Maria Viall has received most of the limelight of late, UWM senior guard Jessica Wilhite has quietly been playing consistent basketball of late. The senior sharpshooter has elevated her game in recent weeks, and continues to be the Panther's best perimeter player. Over the last eight games, Wilhite is averaging 12.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.3 assists all while shooting the ball better than she has all season. No. 15 has drilled 43.6% (34-78) of her field goals, 42.3% (22-52) from three-point land, and 92.8% (13-14) from the free throw line during the stretch.

Panther Quick Hits UWM continues to lead the league in rebounding margin at +8.0 per game, which jumps to +14.3 in league play ... The Panthers set a school-record with a +33 rebound margin at Youngstown State on Jan. 11 ... Freshman Nichole Drummond has averaged 8.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.5 assists since being inserted into the starting lineup on Jan. 2 ... UWM is averaging 72.8 points per game in the nine victories and 59.4 in the eleven defeats ... Milwaukee is 9-1 on the season when shooting for a higher field goal percentage than the opposition but 0-10 in game when getting outshot ... Senior Antoinette Gregory is the only player with more assists (54) than turnovers (44) on the season.