Markita Barnes
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Panthers Host Michigan Tech In Exhibition Opener
Milwaukee prepares for 2008-09 season with first preseason game Thursday
Game #EX1 • Nov. 6 • 7 p.m.
Michigan Tech @ Milwaukee
Exhibition
Milwaukee, Wis. • Klotsche Center (5,000)
Internet: Live Stats, Audio
Radio: AM 920 The Wolf (Scott Warras)
TV: None
• Complete Release in PDF Format 
MILWAUKEE, Wis. (Nov. 4, 2008) - After almost three weeks of practice, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball hits the floor in its first exhibition game of the season, hosting Michigan Tech Thursday at the Klotsche Center at 7 p.m.
Panthers Third In Preseason Poll
Milwaukee was picked third in the Horizon League preseason poll of league coaches, sports information directors and media. The Panthers received two first-place votes and tallied 240 points, just one point back of second-place Wright State (241 points), which garnered one first-place vote. Two-time defending regular season champion Green Bay topped the list with 24 first-place votes and 284 total points.
More Preseason Picks
Senior Traci Edwards was selected as the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year for the second-straight season. As a junior, she led the league with 20.6 points and 9.7 rebounds per game and became the fourth UWM league player of the year. She is looking to become just the second player in league history to be named to the all-league first team four times.
About The Huskies
Michigan Tech is coming off a 23-8 record, regular season and tournament titles in the GLIAC and an NCAA Tournament bid last season. The Huskies enter this season with three starters back and a No. 7 preseason ranking in the Division II Bulletin Preseason Poll. Katie Wysocky leads three returners that averaged over 10 points per game. She was the third player in school history to tally more than 500 points in a season and averaged 16.1 for the year.
Series History
The Panthers and Huskies have never met in the preseason or regular season, while UWM has faced six other GLIAC teams. Milwaukee was 9-13 against current conference teams before going Division I in 1990-91 and owns a win over Northern Michigan during the 2005-06 season.
Exhibition Play
UWM is coming off a perfect 2-0 record last season in exhibition play with a 102-25 win over Beloit and a 76-47 win over Wisconsin AAU. Against Beloit, all 14 players that dressed played at least 11 minutes, but none more than 16. Traci Edwards led the way with 24 points and eight rebounds. Lindsay Laur was a perfect 9-of-9 from the field on the way to a game-high 23 points in the win over AAU.
Chasing Records
Senior Traci Edwards has spent much of her career breaking a number of school records, but she is on the verge of her biggest yet. She enters her senior season just 114 points shy of Maria Viall's career school scoring record (1,867). Edwards is currently third behind Viall and Jaci Clark (1,830), but could be the first Panther in school history, male or female, to crack the 2,000-point plateau. Also in her sights is Viall's Division I rebounding record of 971. Edwards has 895 after three seasons and will likely join Clark as the only 1,000-point/1,000-rebound women in school history. According to the latest released reports, only 124 women's players in NCAA history, in any division, have reached the milestone. She would also be the first from a Horizon League or Wisconsin school to do so.
More Elite Company
Edwards has the chance to put an emphatic stamp on an already impressive career, even with an "average" season by her standards. Along with chasing various hallowed school records, she is also in range of league records for career scoring (2,018), free throws made (538) and even player of the week awards (9). She already holds the school free throw mark for a career with 528 and has been named the player of the week seven times.
More Than Just Numbers
Last season, Traci Edwards became the first player in league history to lead the league in scoring and rebounding in the same season twice, as well as the second to lead the league in rebounding three times and scoring in back-to-back seasons. In 2008-09, she will look to join some similar groups as she is looking to become the first league player to lead the league in scoring three times in a career or rebounding four times. Edwards will also be shooting for a fourth-straight all-league first team honor, which only one player has ever done, as well as a repeat league player of the year award, something only four players have done. She has also been named to the league's all-tournament team three times, while only one player has ever done it four times.
Approaching 200
Sandy Botham enters the 2008-09 season just three wins shy of 200 in her career at Milwaukee. In 12 years at the helm of the UWM program, she has compiled a 197-149 record. In her 13-year coaching career, Botham has a mark of 219-153.
Back In Black & Gold
The Panthers will have the luxury of a wealth of experience this season, as 12 letterwinners return. Heading the list is senior Traci Edwards, the 2008 Horizon League Player of the Year. Three more seniors are back, including Turquoise McCain, a league all-defensive team selection last season, Katie Fournier and Markita Barnes. The squad also boasts two juniors, including starter Jodie McClain, and five sophomores, four of which saw extended minutes throughout the season and three that started games.
But What That Means...
Milwaukee's 12 returning players accounted for 81 percent of its scoring last season, a figure that includes eight of the team's top nine scorers. On the glass, even a larger percentage will be back in 2008-09, as 83.4 percent of UWM's rebounds are also back. If that weren't enough, the experience level of the team has also risen. Returning players have combined for 486 games played in a Panther uniform, including 240 starts. That is a rather sizable increase over last season's already impressive numbers (362 games/177 starts).
Welcome To Milwaukee
With 12 letterwinners returning from last season, there is little room for new faces. But, head coach Sandy Botham and her staff have added three players for the upcoming season including freshman post players Danielle Jorgenson and Amanda Viehauser. Ashley Imperiale also joined the team as a transfer, most recently from UW-LaCrosse. Jorgenson is 6-foot-3 and hails from La Crosse, Wis., where she was an all-state first-team selection and two-time area player of the year. Freguson hails from Minneapolis, Minn., and was all-state honorable mention twice. Meanwhile, Imperiale is a 5-foot-11 guard out of nearby Greendale, Wis. She transferred to UWM after the fall semester last season from UW-La Crosse. Imperiale should be eligible after the fall semester and have sophomore eligibility.
Close, But No Cigar
The Panthers will be working on closing games out this season. Last season, they lost nine games by three points or less. The nine losses came by a combined 17 points. Milwaukee was 2-9 in games decided by five points or less.
Lining Up The 2008-09 Schedule
The Panthers continue to challenge themselves in the non-league season and their 2008-09 schedule is no different. UWM will play as many as 10 games against teams that advanced to the post-season in 2008, including WNIT Champion Marquette. The Panthers and Golden Eagles resume their series after a respite last season. Milwaukee will also face Wisconsin and Illinois from the Big Ten, as well as Washington State from the Pacific 10. The Illini and Evansville highlight the home schedule as 20-game winners and WNIT participants.
League Success
The Panthers are looking to continue a strong tradition of success in the Horizon League in 2008-09. Milwaukee has finished second-or-better in the league standings in eight of the last nine seasons and are 104-37 in league games since 1999-2000. UWM has won league titles in 2001 and 2006.
Home Sweet Home
The Klotsche Center remains a difficult place for visiting teams to succeed. In 12 years under Sandy Botham, the Panthers are 106-49 at home. The Panthers went 9-7 at home last season and are just two seasons removed from a school-record 13-3 home campaign in 2005-06. In league play, those numbers are even better as Milwaukee boasts a 74-19 home record. That number has gotten a boost lately, as the Panthers have won 59 of their last 71 home league games over the last nine seasons. UWM has also posted three perfect home league years, going 8-0 in 2003-04 and 7-0 in both 1999-2000 and 2000-01.
Panthers On The Air
For the second-straight season, every Panther game will be carried live on AM920 WOKY. The station is also be the home of the Sandy Botham Radio Show, while both the show and every game will be available live at uwmpanthers.com. Scott Warras returns for his third season as the voice of UWM women's basketball and the host of the Sandy Botham Radio show.
Be Sure To Watch
While the games remain to be set in stone, the Panthers will continue to get television coverage in the Milwaukee area. As many as six games could be carried live on Time Warner Sports channel 32 and then be replayed on the station afterwards. Also, every league game will be available to watch online through the Horizon League Network (www.horizonleaguenetwork.tv). Time Warner Sports will also be the home of the Sandy Botham TV show.
Up Next
The Panthers close out the exhibition season Sunday, hosting Dubuque at 4 p.m. The regular season kicks off Nov. 15-16 at the Wolfpack Invitational. UWM takes on host North Carolina State Saturday at 11 a.m.
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