March 7, 2001

CHICAGO-UWM coach Sandy Botham received MCC Coach of the Year honors Wednesday night at the MCC Championship banquet hosted by the University of Illinois-Chicago.

Milwaukee ended the regular season as co-champions of the league with UW-Green Bay, but several Panthers were recognized for their individual efforts. Sophomore guard Jessica Wilhite was named to the MCC All-Conference first team, senior forward Nicole Luchsinger was named to the MCC All-Defensive team, and freshman center Maria Viall was selected to the MCC All-Newcomer team.

UW-Green Bay's Mandy Stowe received MCC Player of the Year honors as well as the MCC Newcomer of the Year award.

The MCC banquet precedes the conference tournament, as #2-seed UWM will kick off the MCC Championship against #7-seed Wright State on Thursday at 1 p.m. If UWM wins, it advances to the semifinal game on Friday at 5 p.m. against the winner of the #3 Detroit-#6 Loyola quarterfinal. If Milwaukee wins again, it will play in the MCC championship game on Saturday at 5 p.m.

The Panthers wrapped up their regular-season with a 74-52 smashing against Wright State last Sunday. UWM also defeated the Raiders earlier in the season at home, 72-59, on Feb. 1.

In last Sunday's game, UWM's balanced attack help the Panthers coast to victory over the Raiders. Luchsinger led the Panthers with 15 points, while Viall added 13 points and junior guard Holly Tamm added 12.

Tamm scored all of her points in the first half on 4-of-4 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 at the line. UWM shot 50 percent from the field while Wright State shot 42 percent.

Here is a look at how both teams match up based on their regular season statistics:

                         UWM	Wright State
Points/Game		68.4	61.3
Points Allowed		64.7	70.9
Field Goal %		.400	.380
Opp. Field Goal %	.436	.482
3-pt FG %		.332	.302
Opp. 3-pt FG %		.315	.352
Rebounds		34.7	33.0
Opp. Rebounds		33.9	36.1
Assists			15.8	11.9
Opp. Assists		14.6	14.5
Turnovers		17.3	15.7
Opp. Turnovers		20.2	16.7
Steals			10.2	6.9
Opp. Steals		7.4	7.2
Blocks			2.7	1.1
Opp. Blocks		3.5	2.8