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Western finishes road trip at Centenary

February 27, 2008 on 8:05 pm | In Athletics |

SHREVEPORT, La. - The Western Illinois women’s basketball team will conclude a two-game road swing, Monday, January 21 when it faces Centenary at 7 p.m. at the Gold Dome in Shreveport, La.

About Centenary
The Ladies are currently 3-13 overall and 0-6 in The Summit League after a 59-45 loss to IUPUI, Saturday, January 19.

Centenary has struggled since it lost Cierra Bush to injury December 5, 2007. She was averaging 16 points and 7.4 rebounds per game for the Ladies, who have gone 1-7 since her injury.

Anne Farrell and Ashley Jackson are the team’s current leading scorer’s, averaging 10 points per game. Farrell adds 6.7 rebounds while shooting 53.1% (78-147) from the floor. Jackson is also a strong shooter, with a 44.1 (52-118) shooting percentage.

As a team Centenary shoots 40.8 (353-865) percent from the floor, but has problems with turnovers. The Ladies are averaging 24 turnovers per game, while only forcing their opponents into 14.

The Westerwinds (8-9, 6-0 The Summit League) will put their top three-point shooting percentage in the league up against Centenary’s three-point shooting defense. The Ladies only allow their opponents to average 27.9 percent from beyond the arc.

Against the Ladies
Last season Western saw key performances by juniors Nicole Myers and Amanda Walker, and seniors Stephanie Lovingood and Gina Hugelier.

Myers recorded a career-high 16 points in the Westerwinds victory in Shreveport and added six more at Western Hall. Walker totaled 22 points in the series, while Hugelier added 19. Lovingood tallied 18 points in two games and added 13 rebounds in each game.

The Series
Western has been victorious in all eight of the meetings with Centenary since the series began during the 2003-04 campaign. This is one of four series that Western owns an overall advantage in against conference opponents heading into the 2007-08 season.

Crane Approaching Milestone
With the Westerwinds 60-46 victory against Oral Roberts, Saturday, January 19, head coach Leslie Crane moved one step closer to her 100th win in league play. Crane now has a 99-43 record against conference opponents and is the winningest active coach in the conference. Only Keith Freeman from Valparaiso (135-69) recorded more wins against league teams when the Crusaders were members of the conference.

Summit League Honors Davenport
Junior Katy Davenport earned her first Summit League Player of the Week honor after helping Western to a 5-0 record in The Summit League with wins over North Dakota State and South Dakota State over the weekend.

The Manhattan, Kan., native averaged 16 points in the two games, including scoring a career-high 23 against the Jackrabbits. She also grabbed eight rebounds against the Jacks and averaged six on the week. She scored 10 points to spark a 16-4 run in the first half against SDSU.

This is the second-straight player of the week honor for the Westerwinds as Hugelier earned co-Player of the Week honors for January 8.

Hot Shooting Weekend
The Westerwinds recorded some of their best shooting percentages last weekend in their victories over North Dakota State and South Dakota State.

In the 72-67 victory over the Bison, Western recorded a season-best 51.9 (28-54) shooting percentage from the field. The Westerwinds followed that performance with a 49% mark, including a season-high 71.4 (5-7) shooting percentage from beyond the arc.

Among the Nations Best (as of January 17)
Western ranks in the top-100 in the country in five statistical categories. Western is ranked 44th in the nation and leads the league in three-point field goal percentage. The Westerwinds have connected on 36.4 percent of their shots from beyond the arc.

Western is also ranked 45th in personal fouls (15.3), 53rd in free throw percentage (73.2), 91st in turnovers (17.2), and 97th in scoring defense (60.9).

Lovingood is 70th in the country with her 8.6 rebounds per game.

Hugelier is 90th on the nation charts this week because of her 81.1 free-throw percentage.

Walker is the only other Western player on the national charts. She is ranked fifth in assist/turnover ratio (2.74).

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.

A link to the live stats for this Saturday’s game is 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. Stats are being provided by Centenary Sports Information.

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

Up Next
Western will return home for the longest home-stand of the 2007-08 season when it plays four games on Waste Management Court at Western Hall. The streak begins with a match-up against 2005-06 Mid-Continent Conference regular season champions, Oakland. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m., Saturday, January 26.

Western Quick Sets
This is only the third season since Leslie Crane took over the helm in 1998-99 that Western has started conference play with at least six-straight victories…the Westerwinds started the 2004-05 season with 10-consecutive league victories and followed that up with seven straight in 2005-06…Hugelier tallied her second double-double of the season with her 19 points and 10 rebounds against Oral Roberts.
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