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Western finishes home stand against South Dakota State

February 13, 2008 on 9:55 pm | In Athletics |

MACOMB, Ill. - The Western Illinois women’s basketball team concludes a two-game home stand when South Dakota State makes its first appearance on Waste Management Court at Western Hall, Monday, January 14. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

About South Dakota State
The Jacks improved to 11-5 overall and 4-1 in The Summit League after a 56-46 victory over IUPUI, Saturday, January 12 in Indianapolis. The win was the fifth straight for South Dakota State since December 29, 2007 when it defeated Northern Iowa, 63-53, in Brookings, S.D. The Jacks’ lone conference loss this season came at the hands of Oral Roberts, 67-57, in Tulsa, Okla. (12/08/07).

South Dakota State has three players averaging double-digit points and three with more than nine. The team’s leading scorer and rebounder is Jennifer Warkenthien. Warkenthien nets 13.3 points and grabs 7.1 rebounds per game, while averaging 45.3% (43-95) from the field.

Maria Boever and Kristin Rotert are the next two in the points column, with 12.6 and 10.7 points per game. Boever owns the highest shooting percentage on the team (minimum of 10 shots attempted) as she has hit 74-of-145 (51.0%) shots this season.

As a team South Dakota State is shooting 40.1% (366-912), with only two of the 13 members on the team that have seen action recording a shooting percentage below 30%.

The Jacks may be out-scoring their opponents by 6.3 points per game, but they are allowing them a 42.3 shooting percentage.

South Dakota State leads the conference and would be ranked 12th in the nation with its 7.4 three-point shots per game. The Jacks are still in the process of reclassifying as a NCAA Division I school so their stats do not get ranked. Rotert would be among the top-50 in the country with her 40.9 three-point shooting percentage and 2.4 trey’s per game.

The Series
This will be the first meeting in school history between Western and South Dakota State. The Jacks are one of four teams that the Westerwinds had not faced before the start of the 2007-08 campaign. The other three teams are Robert Morris (W, 77-63), North Dakota State (W, 72-67) and IPFW.

Hugelier Honored
Senior Gina Hugelier has been strong for Western since the beginning of December and was recognized as The Summit League’s co-Player of the Week, January 8.

The Elmhurst, Ill., native averaged 16.3 points and 8.3 rebounds in the three games, including a season-high 23 points against Southern Utah. Hugelier was 15-of-16 from the free throw line and shot 40 percent from behind the arc. She is now 21-of-22 from the line in three Summit League games and Western is a perfect 3-0 in league play, a tie for first with Oral Roberts.

The senior earned her first player of the week honor for the 2007-08 season and the second of her career. She was co-player of the week with Lisa Bue from NDSU.

Season Setting Night
The Westerwinds set or tied three season highs in their, 72-67, victory over North Dakota State, Saturday, January 12. Western recorded a season-best 51.9 (28-54) shooting percentage, while holding the Bison to 37.7% (26-69) shooting.

The team also combined to tie season highs in the assists (21) and blocks (5) columns.

Six individual players also set season or career bests in the win. Senior Stephanie Lovingood led the way with two career bests. The Peoria, Ill., native tied a career high with four assists and set a new career best with 10 field goals made on her way to tie a season high with 20 points.

Junior Sarah Miller recorded just her third double-digit point total (10) of the season while setting a season high with five field goals made.

Among the Nations Best (as of January 10)
Western ranks 78th in the nation and leads the league in three-point field goal percentage. The Westerwinds have connected on 34.8 percent of their shots from beyond the arc. Western is also ranked 42nd in personal fouls (15.2/game), 52nd in free throw percentage (73.2), and 99th in scoring defense (60.6).

Lovingood moved up to 37th in the country with her 9.4 rebounds per game. She also leads the conference in offensive rebounds per game (3.73).

Hugelier is 66th on the nation charts this week because of her 83.1 free-throw percentage.

Junior Amanda Walker is the only other Western player on the national charts. She is ranked eighth is assist/turnover ratio (2.53).

On the Airwaves
This season all games can be heard live on WIUS 88.3 FM and on the internet at www.wiuathletics.com. Links to each broadcast are available on the women’s basketball “Schedule/Results” page. Click on the speaker to link to the broadcast. Play-by-play is provided by Ryan Thomas, while color commentary is added by Nick McCay.

All of Western’s home games have live stats available through www.wiuathletics.com. A link is provided on the women’s basketball “Schedule/Results” page. Click on the No. 1 to connect to the live stats.

All home and conference road games are broadcast through Summit TV (www.thesummitleague.org).

New Teams; New Conference
On June 1, 2007 the Mid-Continent Conference officially changed its name to The Summit League. The conference name change also included the loss of Valparaiso University as a league member and the addition of IPFW, North Dakota State, and South Dakota State.

The addition of the new teams is set to increase the competitiveness among Summit League schools and in the Division I basketball ranks. Two of the new additions ended the 2006-07 season with RPI in the top 150 and above the top Mid-Con team (Oral Roberts-169). South Dakota State finished the year 25-6, with an RPI of 45, while North Dakota State had an RPI of 139 after finishing 14-11.

Up Next
Western returns to the road for next weekend’s Summit League action. The Westerwinds first stop in Tulsa, Okla. to face Oral Roberts, Saturday, January 19 before heading to Shreveport, La., to play Centenary, Monday, January 21.

Western Quick Sets
Lovingood tallied 16 of her 20 points in the first half of play against the Bison…Hugelier had a career-high five assists…Western held the Bison’s leading scorer (Lisa Bue) to just 10 points…Lovingood was one of four players for the Westerwinds in double-digits…Walker added 13, while sophomore Jordon O’Brien and Miller each garnered 10…Walker set a season high with five free throws made…junior Nicole Myers tied two season highs, blocks (1) and steals (1)…junior Katy Davenport was the last member of the 2007-08 roster to set a career high for the night with her .667 (4-6) shooting percentage…Western trailed its opponent heading into the locker room at the half and came back to win for the third-straight game.
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