Dec. 7, 2004

MILWAUKEE -

Wisconsin Game Notes in PDF Format
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UWM vs. UW--The 18th Edition Wednesday night's game will mark the 18th time the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of Wisconsin have met in women's basketball action with the Badgers of UW holding a decisive 14-3 advantage in the series. In fact, Wisconsin has won the last six meetings in the series dating back to a 78-77 UWM win on Dec. 15, 1992. Milwaukee is 2-12 all-time in Madison and 0-2 all-time in the Kohl Center. Current head coach and Madison native Sandy Botham has yet to beat the Badgers in five tries. UW held off Milwaukee for a 54-49 victory last season.

Scouting Wisconsin Wisconsin enters Wednesday nights game with a 2-4 overall record, the same record as UWM. The Badgers have dropped four straight games after opening the season with home victories over IUPUI and Southern Illinois. UW fell at Marquette 78-64 on Dec. 1 while Milwaukee opened the season with an eight-point loss at MU. The Badgers have a solid offense that averages 71.3 points per game on 41.4% shooting. UW is outrebounding the opposition by 5.4 boards per contest but have turned the ball over 112 times in six games. Freshman phenom Jolene Anderson leads UW in scoring with 15.7 ppg while ranking second on the team with 29 assists and third with 5.8 boards per game. Senior guard Stephanie Rich and junior forward Jordan Wilson are averaging 10.2 points each with freshman Janese Banks averaging 9.2 ppg. The Badgers are coached by second-year mentor Lisa Stone who is 12-21 in her short time in Madison.

One For The Road The UWM women's basketball team ended a long-standing drought on Sunday thanks to a 69-64 victory over Oakland University in Rochester, Mich. The win snapped Milwaukee's 13-game losing streak in non-league road games, a streak that dated back to Dec. 31, 2001. UWM led for the majority of the game and took a 31-30 lead into the break. Oakland was able to grab the lead on two different occasions in the second half but an Anne Witte three-point play with 2:04 to play put the Panthers up for good. Milwaukee had four players in double-figures led by Kimberly Becker's 15 points. Nicole Piggott scored 17 points to lead Oakland. With the win UWM improved to 2-4 while OU fell to 4-3 on the year.

Panther Balancing Act Before the season started UWM head coach Sandy Botham knew she would need a wide variety of players to step up for her team to be successful. Never has this been more evident than in the Panthers' 69-64 victory over Oakland on Sunday. Four different players scored in double figures on the day, marking the first time this season and just the seventh time in the last three years UWM has accomplished the feat. Kimberly Becker led Milwaukee with 15 points, Aubrey Hampton added 13 while Teri Huff and Nichole Drummond added 10 each.

Turning Over The Turnover Battle Anyone who follows UWM women's basketball knows that the key statistic to look at is the turnover battle. If the Panthers keep the miscues under control, victories come. If things get out of hand, wins are hard to come by. Fortunately for Milwaukee the turnover problems of the last few years have gotten a little better of late. UWM committed just 18 turnovers in its 63-59 win over Columbia on Nov. 27 and just 15 miscues in Sunday's win. The Panthers are 2-0 on the season when commiting less than 20 turnovers in a game and 2-0 when commiting less TO's than the opposition. Conversely Milwaukee is 0-4 when losing the turnover battle.

Defense Does The Trick One key to Milwaukee's impressive road win was its play on the defensive end, UWM held Oakland to just 34.8% shooting from the floor and a dismal 17.8% (3-for-17) clip from three-point land. This from a team that came into the game shooting over 46% from the field and 44% from the three-point line. In Milwaukee's two victories it has forced the opposition to shoot a combined 39.4% from the field. UWM has held its opponents to under 40.0% shooting in three of six games thus far in 2004-05.

T-Huff Becomes T-Tough In the race for "most improved player" in 2004-05, it appears as if Teri Huff will be the runaway winner. The 5-10 forward is second on the in scoring with 13.2 points per game while hitting 55.7% of her shots from the floor. Huff, who came into the season with a 4.2 career average, scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds on Sunday for the second consecutive game and has scored in double-figures in all six contests this year. At the Seattle Times Husky Classic earlier this season Huff scored 33 points in two games at the Seattle Times Classic en route to All-Tournament honors. In the two games in the Emerald City, Huff hit 13-of-21 shots from the field to go with six rebounds, four assists and two steals. The Riverside High School grad scored a career-high 21 points in Saturday's 86-75 loss to the host Washington Huskies.

Witte Performs As Reserve With sophomore point guard Aubrey Hampton fully healthy this season, junior guard Anne Witte has been asked to come off the bench. Not only has Witte complied, but she has excelled in the role of late. On Sunday, the Mukwonago native scored six points, and grabbed six rebounds to go with three assists while also giving UWM the lead for good with an old-fashioned three-point play with 2:04 remaining. In the last two games Witte is averaging 7.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and one turnover in 20 minutes of playing time.

Hampton Heats Up After a rough start to the 2004-05 season, UWM sophomore point guard Aubrey Hampton has put up some polid performances of late. Versus Washington, Hampton scored 16 points on perfect four-of-four shooting from three-point land to go with five boards and three assists. Then, on Sunday, Hampton enjoyed probably her most well-rounded game as a collegian thanks to a 13-point, five-assist, four-rebound effort in the win. The 5-6 sparkplug is averaging 7.0 points per game on the year while connecting on a team-best 50.0% (10-of-20) from three-point territory.

The Next Best Thing There have been some quality basketball players don the Black and Gold of the UWM women's basketball program. Jen Greger, Jess Wilhite, Maria Viall. So far this season it looks as if Nichole Drummond will become the next go-to-person in the program. Drummond, who was named a preseason Second-Team All-Horizon League pick, leads the team in scoring at 13.5 ppg and sits second in blocks (3) and steals (8). No. 22 has scored in double-figures in five of six games thus far and is shooting 90.0% (18-of-20) from the free throw line and a career-best 43.5% (30-for-69) from the floor.

Hitting The Boards In the previous two seasons the UWM women's basketball team proved to be one of the best rebounding teams in the nation. Unfortunately, since the loss of four-time rebound champion Maria Viall the Panthers are struggling to compete on the boards in the early going. Milwaukee is being outrebounded 42.2 to 34.3 per game and have yet to outrebound an opponent this season. Much of the problem is coming on the defensive end as UWM is giving up an average of 16.5 offensive rebounds per game.

Bombs Away From Downtown With two-time league player of the year Maria Viall now gone, everyone knew the UWM women's basketball team had to change its approach. And, if the first six games of the 2004-05 season are any indication, the transition from an inside oriented team to a perimeter driven one is complete. Milwaukee has launched 118 three-pointers through the first four games, an average of 19.6 per contest. Last season Milwaukee averaged just 15.1 three-point attempts per contest while the 2002-03 squad attempted 13.4 threes per game. The 2004-05 squad is on pace to shatter the school-record of 530 three-point attempts and 18.9 shots per game. UWM has attempted over 20 three-point attempts in all but two games this year.

Women's Hoops Hits The Airwaves Fans that want to follow the 2004-05 UWM women's basketball team can do so in a variety of ways. For the first time in program history, fans can listen live to every single Milwaukee game via the Live Audio link on UWM's official athletic website, www.uwmpanthers.com. After Sunday's game every single road contest can be heard live on WMCS-AM 1290 with three more games set for a television. The UWM-Wisconsin game on Dec. 8 will be aired on Wisconsin Public Television while the Dec. 12 contest with Northwestern will be carried by WMLW-TV in Milwaukee. Lastly, the Milwaukee-UWGB Horizon League showdown will be aired live on Fox Sports North on Feb. 24.

Panthers Picked Near The Top The respect the rest of the Horizon League has for the UWM women's basketball program has become evident. The Panthers, who lost two-time league player of the year Maria Viall, were still picked to finish second in the league's preseason poll of coaches, media members, and league sports information directors. Defending champion UW-Green Bay was a nearly unanimous pick to win the league with UWM picked for second. Butler and Detroit were chosen for a third-place tie followed by Loyola and UIC. The three Ohio schools rounded out the league poll with Cleveland State picked seventh, Wright State eighth, and YSU ninth.

Strength of Schedule Sandy Botham has never been one to shy away from a challenge. And one look at the 2004-05 Milwaukee women's basketball schedule will prove this point rather quickly. A pair of UWM's non-conference foes appear in the national rankings, including No. 19 DePaul and Washington, which is receiving votes and sits 16th in the AP poll. Overall, Milwaukee will play eight non-league games away from home, including contests at intra-state foe Wisconsin before hosting two more Big Ten teams in Northwestern (Dec. 12) and Iowa (Dec. 28). Furthermore, Milwaukee opens up the league season with preseason favorite UW-Green Bay, which is also receiving votes in the national polls and is 28th in the ESPN/Coaches' Poll, on Dec. 30 before embarking on a tough road trip at Butler and Loyola after the UWGB game.

Welcome Newbies With the graduation of just one player last season UWM head coach Sandy Botham didn't have to do a whole lot of recruiting. However, thanks to one scholarship player and some walk-ons, Botham added four players to the mix in 2004-05. Junior college All-American Amanda Cook signed a letter of intent with Milwaukee last spring and should see time at both guard spots. A native of Oconto Falls, Cook led Carl Sandberg College to a 24-4 record after averaging 14.8 points, 6.8 assists, and 2.5 steals per game last season. In addition to Cook, the Panthers added three Wisconsin walk-ons in Emily Huss of Kaukauna, Elisha Hudson from Gratiot and Appleton's Meghan Klein. Cook was the only new player to see time at Marquette, picking up two points and a rebound in three minutes.

What's On Tap UWM's foray into the Big Ten Conference continues with a Sunday (Dec. 12) showdown with Northwestern. The game, which will be televised on WMLW, is UWM's 2004-05 home opener.