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March 6, 2004

MILWAUKEE -

Tournament Final Four Comes To Klotsche

Thanks to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's quarterfinal win over Illinois-Chicago on Thursday (March 4), the "Final Four" of the 2004 Horizon League women's basketball tournament will take place at UWM's Klotsche Center. The tournament semifinals will tipoff Sunday (March 7) at 2:00 p.m. when No. 1 seed UW-Green Bay plays No. 5 seed Butler. Then, at 4:30 p.m., UWM, the No. 2 seed will welcome the tourney's No. 3 seed Detroit in the second semifinal. The winner of the two semifinals will meet Monday (March 8) for the league title. The championship game is set for 6:00 p.m. and can be seen live on WMLW-TV in Milwaukee. UWM's semifinal game and potential championship game appearance can be heard live on WMCS 1290-AM. Dan Pfeifer will call the play-by-play with former UWM standout Holly Tamm providing color commentary.

UWM Coasts To Quarterfinal Win

The UWM women's hoops team, and Maria Viall in particular, made sure the remainder of the 2004 Horizon League women's basketball tournament would be played in Milwaukee thanks to a 72-59 win over Illinois-Chicago. The Panthers, who fell behind just twice in the game's first four minutes, went on a 15-4 run midway through the first half to grab a 19-9 lead. UWM extended the lead to 14, 33-19, with 5:27 to play in the half before cruising to a 10-point halftime bulge. The Panthers continued to push in the second half en route to a game-best 18-point lead on three different occasions. UIC was able to cut the lead under ten points just once the remainder of the game as UWM advances to the semifinals of the Horizon League Tournament for the first time in three seasons. Viall ended the game with 22 points and 19 rebounds while Nichole Drummond added 14 points thanks to eight-for-eight free throw shooting. Krystal Hugelier led UIC with 14 points while Dejeanette Flournoy added 12 points and seven boards.

Scouting the Titans

The Titans of the University of Detroit Mercy come into the Horizon League semifinals as arguably the hottest team going. Thanks to a 74-62 win over Loyola in Thursday's quarterfinals, the Titans will enter Sunday's game in the midst of a five-game winning streak. UDM is currently 14-13 overall despite having to forfeit two games this year for using an ineligible player. Senior center Nicole Anaejionu really turned it on in the second-half of the season en route to Second-Team All-Horizon League honors. Anaejionu leads UDM in scoring and rebounding with 11.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game. Sharpshooting guard Lindsay Pasquinzo also averages double figures with 10.0 ppg and a team-high 35 three-pointers made. UDM features the league's best defense with a 55.4 ppg scoring defense and 35.6% opponent field goal percentage. Shooting is one area that plagues UDM as the Titans shoot just 39.3% from the floor and 27.6% from three-point land. Detroit is coached by first-year mentor and longtime Titan men's assistant MIckey Barrett. Detroit leads the all-time series between the two schools 13-12 but UWM has won three straight, including two last minute victories this season.

Rebounding Machine

Since Maria Viall owns basically every University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee rebounding record it seems only fitting that she extend her dominace over to the Horizon League record book. Viall, the league's leading rebounder at 10.7 caroms per game, tied the Horizon League Tournament record for rebounds in a game with 19 boards on Thursday. Viall, who needs just 11 more rebounds to set the all-time tournament record for boards in a tourney, grabbed seven offensive and 12 defensive caroms versus the Flames. With 299 rebounds this season Viall now owns the top two spots on UWM's single-season rebound chart as well as rebounds per game (10.7) and the top spot on the single-game list with 21 last season.

Home Court Advantage???

While playing at home is certainly a plus for UWM this 2003-04 postseason, having home court advantage for the league tournament has not been an indicator of past success. Including UW-Green Bay last season, only two host institutions have won the league tournament on its home floor. UWGB, who went 3-0 en route to the 2003 title and the 1995 Northern Illinois squad which posted a 3-0 mark at Chick Evans Fieldhouse in DeKalb, are the only two Horizon League/MCC teams to hold serve at home. Four other teams, Butler in 1998, Green Bay in 1997 and 1996 and Xavier in 1992, hosted the tournament but lost in the championship game. Following UWM's win on Thursday the host schools boast a 18-12 record all-time in the 15 years of postseason play.

UWM's Magic Number: 65

It won't be easy versus the Horizon League's stingiest defense, but if the UWM women's basketball team can score 65 points or more versus Detroit on Sunday, you have to like its chances to advance. Milwaukee is 10-1 on the year when scoring at least 65 points and have won nine straight games when reaching the magical plateau. However, the Titans of UDM have allowed 65 or more points just three times this season and are 1-2 in those contests. If you want to extend the numbers a bit each way, UWM is 13-5 when scoring at least 60 points in a game and 7-1 when reaching the 70-point marker.

Panther Tournament History

With a convincing 72-59 win over UIC on Thursday, the UWM women's hoops team certainly got the monkey off its back when it comes to the Horizon League Tournament. Thursday's victory snapped UWM's quarterfinal losing streak at two while improving its all-time tourney record to 5-7. The Panthers, who went 3-0 en route to the program's only tournament title and NCAA berth in 2001, also won a first-round game in 1997 with a 79-61 victory over Cleveland State. Including this season, Milwaukee has entered the Horizon League tournament as the No. 2 seed four different times and are now 4-2 all-time as the seed, including the 2001 championship run. With Thursday's victory UWM head coach Sandy Botham imporved to 5-6 all-time in the Horizon League Tournament.

UWM's Cardiac Kids

Give the 2003-04 UWM women's hoops team this, it certainly has a flair for the dramatic. Following last Monday's two-point win over UW-Green Bay, the Panthers have now played 12 games that have been decided by five or fewer points this season while owning a 7-5 mark in those contests. Furthermore, of those 12 games many of those have come down to the final possession. In addition to Maria Viall's game winner versus CSU here are a few other "nailbiting finishes": Nichole Drummond hits a game-winning three-pointer with 19 seconds left versus Detroit on Jan. 29. Viall hits two free throws with no time remaining to send the Loyola game to overtime on Jan. 10. Kiley Johnson misses a potential game-tying three-pointer versus Marquette on Jan. 6. UWM hits four free throws in the final minute and sees a last gasp three-ball fall short at Detroit on Feb. 7.

Dominating The Glass

There is absolutely no denying that the UWM women's hoops team does one thing better than any team in the Horizon League. That thing, rebounding. UWM owns a +7.3 rebound margin this season, good for 17th-best in the country. That margin, which improves to +10.4 in Horizon League play, has been cushioned by some impressive rebounding games. In the first meeting UWM-UWGB meeting, the Panthers outrebounded the Phoenix by 31 boards, the second biggest margin in school history. Milwaukee followed that up two weeks later with a +30 showing over IPFW, which included a school-record 63 total rebounds. UWM has outrebounded the opposition 18 times this season and is just 3-4 when getting outboarded in a game. Senior center Maria Viall leads the league with 10.4 rebounds per game which is also good for 16th nationally.

Maria, Maria

If there was every any doubt about where UWM senior Maria Viall stood among the great players in Horiozn League history there shouldn't be any now. The center from Waukesha was named the 2003-04 League Player of the Year on Monday along with First-Team All-League and All-Defensive Team accolades. Viall, who was named the POY as a sophomore in 2001-02, joins Notre Dame's Karen Robinson (1989-91) as the only dual Player of the Year winners in league history. Furthermore, with three straight First-Team All-League nods, Viall became just the third play in league history to earn first-team honors three straight seasons. No. 24 finished the regular season leading the Horizon League in scoring (18.4 ppg), rebounding (10.7 ppg), field goal percentage (53.0%) while placing fourth in blocked shots (1.15 bpg) and eighth in free throw percentage (72.3%).

Shining Down The Stretch

Talk about peaking at the right time. Following a 20-point loss at UW-Green Bay on January 26th, the fortunes for the UWM women's hoops team didn't look great. The Panthers owned a 7-10 overall record and a 3-3 mark in the Horizon League with tough games up ahead. However, something started to click from that day forward as the Panthers have won ten of their last eleven games to improve to 17-11 overall and a second-place Horizon League finish and 12-4 mark. Defense has been the name of the game during the stretch as UWM has help opponents to 58.2 points per game and 38.3% shooting from the field. Meanwhile, UWM has averaged 63.7 ppg to go with a +10.2 rebound margin. Senior center Maria Viall has continued her dominant play, averaging 19.1 points and 10.5 rebounds per game during the stretch while sophomore forward Nichole Drummond boasts 10.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game in the ten contests.

Lovin' Life At Home

Familiar rims. A normal schedule. No bus rides. Good old fashioned dorm food. Whatever it is, the UWM women's hoops squad has played some impressive basketball at home this season. Entering the semifinal game versus Detroit UWM is 11-1 at home while boasting a current nine-game home court winning streak. The Panthers have outscored the opposition 66.4 to 57.4 at home this year with their only blemish a 58-55 loss to crosstown rival and Top 50 team, Marquette. UWM has shot 41.9% from the floor and 72.2% from the free throw line in the friendly confines while holding the opposition to 38.6% marksmanship from the floor and 64.7% shooting from the charity stripe. Furthermore, Milwaukee has lived at the line at home this year, connecting on 174 free throw makes while holding the visitors to just 166 total free throw attempts.

Home Court Dominance

You hear coaches talk about it all the time. You see the truly successful programs do it all the time. And, thankfully for UWM, that thing, winning at home, has become commonplace in recent years. During the Sandy Botham era homecourt domination has become a staple of the program. In the eight-year Botham tenure, Milwaukee boasts a 52-9 home record versus Horizon League opponents, good for an 85.0% winning percentage. That number has even increased recently as UWM has won 92.1% (35 of 39) home games versus leagu foes in the last five seasons. Including this season, UWM has gone undefeated at home three times in Horizon League play, going 8-0 this season and 7-0 in both 2000-01 and 1999-2000.

Freshman Floor General Out For The Year

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.