Women's Basketball Will Square Off With UW-Milwaukee In 2002 Horizon League Quarterfinals On Thursday
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Feb. 25, 2002 Chicago, Ill. - The UW-Milwaukee Panthers women's basketball team is hearing footsteps creeping behind them. Those footsteps happen to belong to the University of Illinois at Chicago women's basketball squad. Despite dropping both contests to UW-Milwaukee during the season, the Flames have performed valiantly, only to fall just short. The Panthers swept the season series over UIC with a 67-62 victory over the Flames at home, followed by a 75-66 win at the UIC Pavilion. In both games, the Panthers were able to hold off late rallies by UIC to secure the victory. Second-seed UW-Milwaukee (20-7, 14-2) and #7 seed UIC (14-14, 6-10) will be back at it again as they will square off in the Horizon League Quarterfinals on Thursday at 1:00 PM at the Gentile Center located on the campus of Loyola University. In order for the Flames to be successful, they will have to keep the inside-outside combo of guard Jessica Wilhite and center Maria Viall in check. Wilhite, the Horizon League Preseason Player of the year, enters Thursday's contest averaging 12.7 points per game and is shooting 33 percent from beyond the three-point arc. Viall, who led UW-Milwaukee in scoring in both games against the Flames, is averaging 16.8 points per contest and 6.9 boards. The Panthers will also have their hands full with the Flames' offense as UIC has three different players that are in the Horizon League's top 20 in scoring. Junior forward Jaysie Chambers leads the way for UIC as she is pouring in 12.1 points per game, including 7.0 rebounds. Junior guard LeKesha Williams (10.7 ppg) and senior forward Stesha Rhodes (10.2) should also be forces to reckon with. Rhodes led UIC in scoring in both games against UW-Milwaukee as she is averaging 15 points a game against the Panthers.
In other tournament action, #9 Butler and #8 Wright State open the championship with a play-in game on Wednesday, February 27th, at 7:00 PM. The winner will then advance to meet top-seeded UW-Green Bay in the third quarterfinal game on Thursday at 5:30 PM. Following UIC's contest against UW-Milwaukee, #3 Detroit and #6 Cleveland State will square off at 3:00 PM. Fourth-seeded Loyola and #5 Youngstown State will finish out Thursday's quarterfinal round at 7:30 PM. On Friday, semifinal action starts at 6:00 PM, followed by the second contest at 8:30 PM. The championship game will then be decided on Sunday at 2:00 PM.
Wednesday, February 27 #8 Wright State vs. #9 Butler, 7:00 PM Thursday, February 28 #2 UW-Milwaukee vs. #7 UIC, 1:00 PM #3 Detroit vs. #6 Cleveland State, 3:00 PM #1 UW-Green Bay vs. #8/#9 winner, 5:30 PM #4 Loyola vs. #5 Youngstown State, 7:30 PM Friday, March 1 Semifinal #1 - #7/#2 Winner vs. #3/#6 Winner, 6:00 PM Semifinal #2 - #8/#9 or #1 vs. #4/#5 Winner, 8:30 PM Sunday, March 3 Championship Game, 2:00 PM For more information regarding UIC's quarterfinal matchup, check out the early edition of game notes. |
