Nov. 18, 2004
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Briefly
The LMU women's basketball team opens its season at the Nugget Classic, hosted by the University of Nevada in Reno, NV. The Lions will face Colorado in the first round of the tournament, and either Nevada or Cal State Fullerton in the second game on Saturday.
About LMU
The Lions return nine letterwinners and two starters from last season's NCAA Tournament team. LMU set a variety of school records last year, finishing 24-6 overall, and winning its first conference title with a 13-1 record in WCC play. The Lions are coming off of two exhibition losses to Love and Basketball and Play Mode All Stars. Both exhibition teams featured players from the WNBA.
Scouting Colorado
The Buffaloes finished the 2003-04 season with a 22-8 record, and in third place in the Big 12 Conference with an 11-5 record. The Buffs advanced to the second round of the 2003-04 NCAA Tournament before falling to UC Santa Barbara. Colorado returns six letterwinners and one starter from that team. Veronica Johns-Richardson is the lone starter returning after averaging 7.5 points and 2.7 rebounds as a junior. Johns-Richardson played a majority of her minutes at forward last year, but is expected to move back to point guard this season. Ceal Berry is in her 22nd season as head coach of Colorado, accumulating a 418-223 at CU. Colorado went 2-0 in its two exhibition games, defeating Fort Lewis and South Dakota.
Scouting Nevada
The Wolfpack finished the 2003-04 season with a 3-26 record, with a 2-16 record in the WAC. Nevada returns six letterwinners, losing three, and all six players started games last season. UNR welcomes six newcomers this season. April Bankston is UNR's leading returning scorer who averaged 10.4 points anad 5.3 rebounds last season. Kim Gervasoni is in her second year as the Wolfpack head coach. Nevada went 1-1 in its two exhibition games, beating Bay Area Pro-Am before falling to Chico State.
Scouting Cal State Fullerton
The Titans are the fourth team in the tournament. CSUF had a 9-20 record last season, tying for fifth place in the Big West with a 8-10 record. The Titans are led by Charlee Underwood, who averaged 9.1 and 2.8 rebounds per game a year ago. The Titans and Lions will face off on November 30th, when LMU travels to Orange County for a 7:00pm tipoff.
Exhibition Games
LMU played each exhibition opponent close in the first half, but both teams pulled away in the second half to hand LMU two defeats. With several newcomers, the Lions got a chance to give several of their freshman. Amanda DeCoud started both games at point guard, averaging 30 minutes of action per game and scoring 7 points per game. Valerie Ogoke was LMU's fourth leading scorer in the games, averaging 5.5 points per game. Bronwyn Evans averaged 19 minutes per game, and Nicole Thompson saw action in both games.
The Series
LMU has faced Colorado just once before. The Lions defeated the Buffs, 82-72, in Boulder in 2000. LMU and Nevada have faced off nine times before, with the Wolfpack holding a 7-2 advantage. The last time the two schools played was in 1991, with LMU earning the 82-75 win. The Lions and Titans have played nine times, with Cal State Fullerton holding the 5-4 advantage, however the Lions have won the last four meetings, including a 66-40 win in 2003.
Top Turnaround
LMU was listed as the seventh-best turnaround team in the nation after rebounding to a 24-6 record last season following 2002-03's 14-15 record.
Wilhoit Named Region 8 Coach of the Year
LMU Head Coach Julie Wilhoit has been named Russell Athletic/WBCA Regional Coach of the Year for Region 8, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association announced. Wilhoit earned the coaching honor after posting one of the top turnaround seasons in the nation and leading LMU women's basketball to its first NCAA tournament appearance. Wilhoit, the Region 8 Coach of the Year, represents head coaches from the Pac-10, Big West, and West Coast Conferences. She, along with the other seven regional winners, advanced as a national finalist for the NCAA Division I Russell Athletic/WBCA Coach of the Year.
Mission Accomplished
LMU made history on March 7, 2004. The Lions won the program's first WCC Tournament Championship with a 61-58 win over Gonzaga in the title game at the Leavey Center. With the conference title, the Lions capped an incredible run in the West Coast Conference, winning their 15th straight game. The Lions, who had not lost in over two months, earned the WCC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Lions (24-5) were led by tournament MVP Adrianne Slaughter. The senior had 14 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Regular season MVP Kate Murray had a game-high 19 points while adding eight rebounds. Rachael Ziemann was the third Lion in double figures with 10. As was the case the entire WCC Tournament, the game went down to the wire. With the game tied at the half, 30-30, the Lions started the half on a 7-0 run as they led the entire second frame. The Lions took a five-point lead on a lay-up by Mary Turner with 33 seconds remaining, 60-55. However, Gonzaga, who was the last team to beat the Lions, would not go away as they cut the lead to a pair on a three-pointer by Ashley Burke. Murray would hit the second of two free throws to push the lead back to three, 61-58, with 17 seconds left. Burke led Gonzaga (18-11) with 18 points. Gonzaga would get the ball down the court and missed a five-footer with four seconds on the clock. The Zags, who outrebounded the Lions 38-32, would have more chance after a deadball rebound. The Lions' defense proved big once again as Gonzaga could not get off a shot as the ball rolled across the floor as the buzzer sounded. It was a defensive battle from the beginning, with both teams combining for just nine attempted shots through almost the first five minutes of play. LMU scored four of its first ten points on a solid free-throw effort, as seniors Adrianne Slaughter and Jasmin Matthews each sank two of two early in the first. But the Lions knew it would take more than just free throws to build a sizeable lead, as they went on a 14-4 run through the middle of the first half. Sophomore Rachael Ziemann, who entered the game with a combined 43 points in her three career WCC Tournament games, led the run hitting back-to-back three points shots. Rachael Ziemann continued to stay hot throughout the first, hitting four-of-four from the field and two-for-two from behind the three-point arc to lead the Lions' first half fifty percent field goal shooting. But the Zags chipped away at the Lions's lead by capitalizing on free throws, as Gonzaga sank seven of eight in the final six minutes. At the half, Ziemann led all scorers with ten, as the Lions and Zags were tied at 30. LMU's bench out-scored Gonzaga's 14-4 in the first. LMU came roaring out of the locker room, scoring the second half's first seven points. Slaughter started the run with a fade-away jumper. Senior Raelen Self found Bianca Ziemann on a fastbreak, and Ziemann laid the ball in over the front of the rim. Murray sealed the 7-0 run with her first three-pointer of the game. Junior Jacquelyn Woods completed a three-point play, when she was fouled on a hard drive to the hoop and made the basket and free throw. The Lions maintained a five-point lead at 42-36 through the first five minutes of the second half when Mary Turner hit one of two free throws. Gonzaga pulled within three with just under twelve minutes left to play when Shannon Mathews was fouled shooting a three-pointer and connected on all three free throws. She would score eight straight points for the Zags, but Turner, Bianca Ziemann, and Murray each scored to keep the Lions up 51-47. With just under five minutes to play, Self drove the open lane and dished to Slaughter, who put her fifth field goal of the game and the 56-51 lead to set-up the finish.
Lions' Audio Network
Thanks to an agreement with Yahoo! Sports, more than 150 LMU games will be aired live via the Internet throughout this season. Every women's basketball game is broadcast over the internet on LMULions.com thanks to the Yahoo! Sports agreement. Patrick Duggan and Angela Kiel will be calling the action on the games. Adding to the quality of the broadcast, Yahoo! Sports will bring its state-of-the-art technology to the Lions' Audio Network. To ensure the best product for our listeners, the Yahoo! Sports partnership is a subscription-based program. Live programming is a hallmark of every major athletics program in the country and LMU's commitment is an example to student-athletes and fans of our efforts to Build Champions!
The Wilhoit File
Julie Wilhoit, now a three-time WCC Coach of the Year recipient and last year's Region 8 Coach of the Year, is in her 10th season at the helm of the women's basketball program at LMU. She led the Lions to back-to-back winning seasons in 2000 and 2001 while entering the 2004-05 season with an impressive 30-9 record in Gersten Pavilion since 2000. Under her direction, LMU set new school records for single-season overall wins (21) and single-season conference wins (10) in 2000-01. Last year's squad broke each of those records again, finishing regular season play with 22 wins and WCC play with 13. She led the Lions to a 24-6 overall record, a 13-1 mark in conference play, to their first appearance in the WCC regular season and tournament championships and to their first ever NCAA Tournament game that year. She was the first LMU women's basketball coach to earn the WCC's top coaching nod in 1999-00, the first to have earned it in consecutive seasons at LMU and only the second coach in WCC history to garner the award in two straight years. She was named the fourth head coach in the program's history on June 30, 1995. Wilhoit came to LMU after a two-year stint at the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford. In February, Wilhoit was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame of her alma mater, Marian College (Indianapolis, Ind.). With the Lions, she enters the 2004-05 season with a 236-210 (.530) overall record.
