Horizon League Women's Basketball Release #8
Dec. 24, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format 
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Green Bay junior guard Rachel Porath was tabbed as the Horizon League Women's Basketball Player of the Week for the second consecutive week after she averaged 18.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in a 2-0 week.
Player of the Week
Rachel Porath, Green Bay
Jr. * G * Luxemburg, Wis.
Green Bay's Rachel Porath collected her second straight Horizon League Player of the Week honor and the third of her career after she helped the Phoenix to wins over Arizona and North Dakota State. In two games, Porath averaged 18.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Against Arizona, Porath scored a career-best 21 points in Green Bay's 81-59 win over the Wildcats on Thursday. The junior guard then followed up with a team-best 16 points against North Dakota State on Saturday. In addition, Porath just missed a double-double with nine rebounds.
Other Top Performances for the Week Ending December 23
Susan Lester, Butler
So. * F/C * Anderson, Ind.
Lester led the Bulldogs to their ninth win of the year and seventh straigtht as they defeated IPFW 70-55 on Thursday, scoring a game-high 21 points. In addition, Lester added 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the year and the 12th of her career.
Kailey Klein, Cleveland State
So. * G * Cherry, Ill.
Klein led the Vikings to a pair of wins last week, as she averaged 20.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. In a 64-54 win at Niagara on Monday, Klein scored a game-high 22 points, grabbed eight boards and dished out two assists. She then came back in Friday's 60-34 win at Colgate to finish with a game-high 19 points, eight rebounds and two steals.
Chanica Hall, Detroit
So. * G * Minneapolis, Minn.
Hall led the Titans in scoring average with 14.5 points per game. The UDM sophomore opened the week as she scored seven points in a 55-40 loss at home to Toledo. on Tuesday. She then followed that performance with a career-high 22 points at IPFW on Saturday.
Elyse VanBogaert, Loyola
So. * F * Elburn, Ill.
VanBogaert averaged 24.0 ppg and 8.0 rpg while shooting 67 percent from the floor in two games this past week as Loyola lost to Memphis (86-79) on Thursday and got past Texas-Pan American (67-59) on Friday at the Florida Gulf Coast Holiday Classic in Fort Myers, Fla.
Ashley Tomzik, UIC
Fr. * G * Park Ridge, Ill.
Despite falling in both games at the 2007 Caribbean Classic in Cancún, Mexico last week, Tomzik shot a team-best 62.5 percent from the field and was 3-for-4 (75 percent) from beyond the arc. Tomzik was also 3-for-3 from the field (8 points) and 2-for-2 from the line versus LSU on Tuesday. Against Southern Miss on Wednesday, the freshman was 2-for-5 from the field and drained one three-pointer to finish with five points. In addition, Tomzik totaled three assists and had two steals against the Golden Eagles.
Launa Hochstetler, Valparaiso
Jr. * G * Berlin, Ohio
Hochstetler set career highs with nine rebounds and eight assists against Saint Xavier in a 76-57 win over Saint Xavier on Saturday and her two steals were Valpo's lone swipes on the day. The junior guard also scored 12 points as she connected on 4-of-8 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the line.
Shey Peddy, Wright State
Fr. * G * Boston, Mass.
In WSU's lone game of the week, Peddy scored 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting, including the game-winning shot as the Raiders downed Evansville 71-70 on Friday. The freshman guard also pulled down eight rebounds and dished out five assists.
Tiara Scott, Youngstown State
Jr. * F * Denver, Colo.
Scott led the Penguins to a 1-1 week and averaged a double-double with 16.5 points and 14 rebounds per game. Scott led the Penguins with 25 points and 21 rebounds in a 74-56 win over Akron on Friday. She became the first player to record at least 20 rebounds since Jen Perugini posted 20 boards on Jan. 20, 2005. It was also Scott's first career double-double. She also tallied eight rebounds against Ohio State on Wednesday.
News From Around the League
Butler
The Bulldogs (9-1) defeated IPFW 70-55 on Friday at home in their only game of the week.
Butler's 9-1 start to the season is the programs' best eight-game record since the 1990-91 squad opened with a 10-1 record. A win over Ball State on Dec. 29 would tie the team for the best start in the last 26 seasons (1981-82 team went 14-1).
The Bulldogs came just one rebound shy of having three double-doubles against IPFW on Dec. 20. Sophomore forward Susan Lester (21 points, 10 rebounds) tallied her third of the year and junior center Lade Akande (15, 10) notched her first, while junior guard Candace Jones (15, 9) came just short of her second of the season.
After averaging just 58.6 points per game through the first five games of the year, the Bulldogs have turned up the offense in the last five by averaging 76.6 points per contest. Meanwhile, Butler has allowed its opponents less than five more points per game on average (56.8 to 61.6) for a 15.0 point scoring edge.
Cleveland State
The Vikings went 2-0 this past week as they posted wins over Niagara on Monday (64-54) and Colgate on Friday (60-34).
Cleveland State completed its five-game roadtrip with a 3-2 record and improved to 3-3 on the road this season. The Vikings came into the season with a combined 4-40 mark away from the Wolstein Center over the last three seasons.
CSU is 5-5 after 10 games, marking the best start since the 2001-02 team was also 5-5 after 10 games.
Senior guard Brittany Korth, who is averaging 12.8 points per game in five CSU wins, has moved into sixth place on the all-time three point field goals list with 126. Korth is four shy of taking over fifth place.
The 34 points allowed at Colgate on Friday represented the best defensive effort by a Viking squad since a 62-24 victory over Ashland on Feb. 8, 1983 and was the second-lowest point total allowed against a Division I opponent in the 35-year history of the program - bettered only in a 58-27 win at Toledo on Jan. 6, 1979.
The Vikings return to action on Dec. 29 when it hosts American at 3:00 p.m. It will be the Vikings first home game since a 70-59 loss to Ohio on Nov. 27.
Detroit
The Titans went 1-1 this past week. UDM opened the week, with a 55-40 setback at home against Toledo on Tuesday, but rebounded with a victory over IPFW (62-52) on Friday to capture its first road win of the season.
Junior guard Zemora Davis paced Detroit with 10 points after a 5-of-11 showing at the line against Toledo. Sophomore guard Chanica Hall poured in a career-high 22 points in the Titans' win, which included a 9-of-13 showing at the line. Senior forward India Bruster grabbed a game-high 12 boards to post double-digits in rebounds for the third time this season.
Detroit set a few season-highs against IPFW in free throws made with 18 and rebounds with 47. UDM maintained its flawless record against the Mastodons as the Titans are now 4-0 all-time against IPFW.
The Titans do not return to the court until Jan. 3 when they open up League play at home against Green Bay at 7 p.m.
Green Bay
The Phoenix (7-3) posted a pair of home wins this past week as it defeated Arizona (81-59) on Thursday and downed North Dakota State (66-52) on Saturday.
Junior center Lavesa Glover had Green Bay's first double-double of the season Saturday against North Dakota State as she tallied career highs of 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Junior guard Kati Harty matched her career high in points in just the first 10 minutes of Green Bay's game against Arizona. Harty drilled her first six shots of the game, including a trio of three-pointers. Harty would add another three-pointer in the second half to boost her career-best to 18 points.
Green Bay concludes non-conference action Dec. 29 at Southern Illinois.
Loyola
The Ramblers (2-9) went 1-1 this past week while competing in the Florida Gulf Coast Classic in Fort Myers, Fla.
Loyola opened the event on Thursday and fell to Memphis 86-79. LU rebounded with a 67-59 win over Texas Pan-American on Friday.
Sophomore guard Maggie McCloskey averaged 20.0 points per game in LU's two contests. McCloskey buried seven three-pointers for 21 points against Memphis and hit five more from downtown against Texas-Pan American, finishing with 19 points in the win.After shooting under 40 percent in five straight games, Loyola was on target last week as it hit at a clip of 51.5 percent in the two games.
Sophomore guard Keisha Collins handed out 16 assists in the two games including nine dimes in the win over Texas-Pan American. Collins opened tournament play with a 15-point, six-rebound, seven-assist effort against Memphis.
Loyola is idle until opening Horizon League play on January 3 at Cleveland State.
Milwaukee
The Panthers dropped to 3-6 on the year following a 67-64 loss at home against North Dakota State on Thursday.
UWM has yet to win at home this season. Despite being winless at home, the Panthers have dropped three of their last four games on their home court by a combined total of seven points.
Junior center Traci Edwards led the way with 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Junior guard Turquoise McCain tallied her first double-double of the year as she scored 12 points and pulled down 10 rebounds.
UWM returns to the court at 8 p.m. on Friday against Cardinal Stritch.
UIC
The Flames (3-7) went 0-2 last week falling to No. 8/8 LSU (86-44) and Southern Mississippi (79-55) while competing in the Caribbean Classic in Cancún, Mexico.
UIC totaled 14 steals, 22 assists and 30 rebounds in two games against LSU and Southern Miss.
Sophomore guard Jessie Miller scored 21 points in the two games. Sophomore center Cassie Johnson and freshman guard Ashley Tomzik each notched 13 points in the two contests.
UIC returns after the Holiday break to host Bucknell for the first time in school history on Friday, at 7:00 p.m.
Valparaiso
The Crusaders (5-6) captured their fifth win in the last six games as it defeated Saint Xavier 76-57 on Saturday at home.
With the win at home, Valpo has won 10 straight at the ARC. Junior guard Agnieszka Kulaga tied a career-high with 26 points against Saint Xavier. Junior forward Aimee Litka had career bests of 19 points and eight boards in the win.
Valpo finished the 2007 calendar year with a 20-10 record from Jan.-Dec.
Valpo begins its inaugural Horizon League slate on Jan. 5 at 2:35 p.m. at home.
Wright State
In their only game of the week, the Raiders (3-8) defeated Evansville 71-70 on Friday at home.
WSU's game against UE featured 10 ties and 13 lead changes, the final lead change came in the closing seconds thanks to a buzzer-beating jumper by freshman guard Shey Peddy.
All five Wright State starters scored nine or more points, led by Peddy's 16 points along with eight rebounds and five assists. Freshman guard LaShawna Thomas also scored 16 while senior forward Whitney Lewis had 15 along with eight rebounds and senior forward Sierra Crayton added 12.
Wright State will be off for nearly two weeks before opening the 2008 and Horizon League portion of its schedule on Jan. 3, against preseason favorite Milwaukee at the Nutter Center.
Youngstown State
The Penguins (5-6) dropped an 84-50 decision to Ohio State on Wednesday, but rebounded on Friday against Akron as they claimed a 74-56 victory.
Senior forward Jessica Schloemp extended her consecutive games played streak to 84.
With a season-high nine assists against Akron, senior guard Lauren Branson moved into sixth place (377) on the YSU career assists list. She also needs just 23 more to become the sixth player in school history to tally 400 assists in a career.
Senior guard Heather Karner, who scored a season-high 24 points against Akron, has scored in double figures in eight of 11 games and has tallied at least 20 points twice this season.
YSU needs just two more victories to match last season's win total.
The Penguins return to action on Jan. 3 at home against UIC. The game will tipoff at 5:15 p.m.
