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Feb. 11, 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 130-86 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 108-82 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 Flames Featuring the top "one-two" punch in the Horizon League, the University of Illinois-Chicago comes to town tied with UWM for second place with a 13-9 overall mark and 7-4 league record. Seniors LaKesha Williams and Jaysie Chambers star as the "one-two" combo with WIlliams getting things done from the outside while Chambers operates on the interior. A quick 5-6 guard, Williams leads UIC and is second in the league with a 19.0 ppg scoring average. Meanwhile Chambers, a 6-2 center, averages 14.5 points and a league-high 11.0 rebounds per contest. The Flames come into tonight's game red-hot, having won five of their last six games and six of their last eight. UIC won the first meeting between the two schools with relative ease, defeating the Panthers 84-73 on Jan. 9 in Chicago. In that game UIC shot 53.6% from the floor while holding UWM to 41.9% shooting and 24 turnovers.

Last Time Out -- First Half Outburst Propels Panthers Despite a gimmick defense imployed by Cleveland State head coach Duffy Burns, UWM sprinted out to a 17-point halftime lead en route to an 88-81 win in Cleveland. The Panthers scored 48 points in the first half, the most points scored by UWM in the first half this season. Cleveland State quickly made things interesting in the second half, however, storming back to take a three-point lead with nine minutes remaining. The two teams traded baskets and leads for the next few minutes before Milwaukee once again burned the Vikings with wide-open looks created by continual double-teams to Maria Viall. Viall, who had a player standing in front and behind her the entire game, got the last laugh when her first career three-pointer put the Panthers up for good with 7:58 left to go. The win was the sixth straight within the Horizon League and fifth consecutive road victory.

Three In A Row For UWM For the first time in 2002-03 the UWM women's basketball team can lay claim to a "prolonged" winning streak. No, the Panthers current three-game winning streak won't get national headlines but its a million miles from where the team stood in December. With wins over Loyola, Detroit, and Cleveland State, UWM boasts its first three-game streak since defeating Cleveland State, Detroit, and Youngstown State in February of last season. Furthermore, UWM has won five of its last six contests and six of its last eight over the last month.

Rollin ... Rollin ... Rollin While the current three-game overall winning streak is notable, the way the Panthers have been controlling Horizon League opponents is what's impressive. After Saturday's 88-81 win at Cleveland State, Milwaukee will enter tonight's game riding a five-game league winning streak. After starting conference play 2-4, the Panthers have reeled off five straight league tilts to move from seventh in the league standings to a current second place tie.

Balance Is Key To Success Memo to the Horizon League, the 2002-03 UWM Panthers are more than just a two-player show. While Maria Viall and Jessica Wilhite are clearly the premeir names in the Panther starting lineup, the emergence of the rest of the supporting cast is what has helped turn the season around. During the current five-game Horizon win streak, Milwaukee has four different players averaging in double-figures. In addition to Viall's 21.2 ppg and Wilhite's 12.6 ppg, sophomore Kimberly Becker is adding 12.4 points per contest while freshman Nichole Drummond is adding 10.4 during the stretch. The fifth starter, freshman Anne Witte, is averaging 6.0 points per game during the run while leading the team in assists (17) and steals (7).

Twin Towers--The Other Half While the exploits of junior Maria Viall are well-known throughout the Horizon League, its the "other" half of the UWM twin towers inside that has begun to make a name for herself. Sophomore forward Kimberly Becker nearly singlehandedly beat CSU on Saturday, scoring a career-high 28 points on 12-of-19 shooting while dishing out a career-best five assists. Over the last eight games Becker has averaged 13.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 0.5 blocks on the team, all second-best on the squad while shooting a team-high 61.1% from the floor.

Repeat Performance If 16.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game for a second-place team were good enough for Horizon League Player of the Year honors last season, what exactly is in store for UWM junior center Maria Viall this season. The reigning League POY is enjoying an even better season in 2002-03 and is the odds on favorite to win the award again. Viall, who boasts averages of 18.1 points, 10.1 boards, and 1.9 blocks per game, has really dominated the opposition of late. Over the last five games, all wins, No. 24 is averaging 21.2 points, and 15.0 rebounds while connecting on 59.5% of her shots from the floor.

Great Night With Molly O'Brien Anne Witte has had her share of big games. Nichole Drummond has emerged as a Newcomer of the Year candidate. Now, the third member of UWM's outstanding freshmen class has made her mark on the program thanks to an impressive weekend. Forward Molly O'Brien had a bit of a coming out party this weekend, scoring 23 points in the two road victories. The 5-10 O'Brien started things off with seven points in Thursday's victory over Detroit, before erupting for a career-high 16 tallies versus CSU. O'Brien, who became the first UWM player since Angie Wenzel last season to score more than 15 points off the bench, connected on 8-of-12 shots from the field to go along with four assists in the win.

Drummond Moves To Top Of The Class A relative unknown when Horizon League play began back in December, UWM's Nichole Drummond has made a strong push for not only Horizon League All-Newcomer team honors, but for the league Newcomer of the Year award as well. The 5-10 forward currently leads all Horizon newcomers with 9.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in league only contests. Furthermore, No. 22 has added 2.5 assists per game in league play while ranking second on the squad with 15 steals in 11 games.

Record Breaker--Kind Of With a free throw in the last minute at Cleveland State, senior guard Jessica Wilhite became UWM's all-time leading scorer on the Division I level. Wilhite, who now has 1,386 points, surpassed 1997 MCC Player of the Year and current Director of Operations Jen Greger as the school's all-time Division I scoring leader. Wilhite currently sits in fourth place on the school's all-time scoring list, just 111 points away from third place all-time.

Panther Quick Hits UWM has outrebounded the oppisition 18 times this season ... The Panthers are 11-1 when outshooting the opposition ... UWM leads the league with a +8.4 rebound margin.