Women's Basketball Back In Milwaukee

Nov. 30, 1999

MILWAUKEE -

COMING UP Head coach Terri Mitchell's Marquette women's basketball team (3-1) looks to extend its current two-game winning streak with a string of four straight games in Milwaukee. The Golden Eagles open that stretch with a "road" game against crosstown rival UW-Milwaukee on Wed., Dec. 1, at 7 p.m. (CT).

Marquette then opens a three-game homestand on Sat., Dec. 4, hosting Dayton in the Milwaukee Arena at 1 p.m. MU moves across the street to the Bradley Center on Mon., Dec. 6, to host Brigham Young in a 7 p.m. contest.

UW-MILWAUKEE AT A GLANCE The Panthers are off to a 2-1 start following a Nov. 28 road win at Northern Illinois. UW-Milwaukee utilized a balanced attack, featuring three players in double figures, in downing the Huskies 62-57 in that outing. The Panthers are led by All-MCC candidate Darryl Schaffeld, a 5-8 senior guard who is averaging 9.7 points and 2.7 rebounds per contest. Junior Janelle Jonason is leading the team with 5.7 rebounds per game and adds 7.0 points per game.

Head coach Sandy Botham, a 1988 graduate of Notre Dame, 44-41 (.517) in four years at UWM. Her career mark as a head coach is 66-45 (.595). She is 0-3 against Marquette. The Panthers own an 18-14 series lead over Marquette, but the Golden Eagles have scored the last three wins, including a 74-48 victory in the Milwaukee Arena last season. All five Marquette starters reached double figures in that game, while UWM was led by Corrin Von Wald's 16 points.

DAYTON AT A GLANCE After a 54-51 loss at San Diego State this past Saturday, coach Jaci Clark's Flyers are now 2-3. Dayton opened the season with an impressive, two-point loss to defending national-champion Purdue and has wins over Wright State and Wyoming. In her second season at Dayton, Clark is 13-20 (.394). She has a nine-year record of 148-85 (.635) as a head coach.

Senior guard Christi Hester has come back from an injury-plagued junior campaign to pace the Flyers with a 15.2 points per game scoring average. She also leads the team with 2.8 assists per contest and pulls down 3.2 rebounds per game. Junior center RaeLynn McIntosh adds 9.2 points and a team-best 7.0 rebounds per game.

Marquette has a slight 11-10 lead in the all-time series with the Flyers. The Golden Eagles came out on top in Dayton last year, as Abbie Willenborg's 30-point, 13-rebound performance staked MU to a 68-59 win. Current senior Janette Jaques led Dayton with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

The Flyers host Cincinnati on Wed., Dec. 1, before arriving in Milwaukee.

BRIGHAM YOUNG AT A GLANCE The Cougars head into this week with a 3-0 mark, but start a grueling stretch of seven road games this weekend with a pair of contests at the Kansas Tournament (Dec. 3-4). BYU last played on Nov. 26, when the Cougars downed Gonzaga 77-58 in Provo, Utah. As she has in all three games this season, 6-3 senior center Jill Adams led the way to victory with 15 points and 13 rebounds. She is averaging 15.7 points, 11.7 points and 5.7 assists per game while shooting 61% from the field.

Coach Trent Shippen is in his third year at BYU and has a 34-27 (.557) record during that time. He has a six-year head coaching mark of 105-53 (.665).

In the only previous meeting between the schools, BYU defeated Marquette 108-96 in the championship game of MU's WarriorFest on Nov. 23, 1991, in Milwaukee.

LAST WEEK

Marquette 86, Pacific 81 (ot) - OSU Classic Game #1

Lisa Oldenburg tallied 42 points, an all-time Marquette high against a Division I foe, as the Marquette women's basketball team got past a feisty Pacific squad 86-81 in overtime in the first game of the OSU Classic in Gill Coliseum on Fri., Nov. 26. The 42 points was also a tournament record and it helped the Golden Eagles improve to 2-1 on the young season. Pacific falls to 1-1.

"Lisa was just outstanding for us tonight," Marquette head coach Terri Mitchell said. "Obviously the 42 points is huge, but her all-around game was just as impressive. She's a senior captain and she looked like one tonight. She kept her composure when we were down and kept the team's spirits up. Shooting 17-21 from the field will help you think positively."

Oldenburg's career outing was almost wasted, as Marquette trailed by eight with under four minutes left. However, as they had for the entire second half, the Golden Eagles turned up the defensive intensity, holding Pacific to one point in the last 3:55. Oldenburg's traditional three-point play actually put Marquette up one with 35 seconds left, but Dolinda Meeker made the first of two free throws to knot the score. Kiesha Oliver's running one-hander in the lane as the clock expired was long, sending the teams to the extra session.

"As I've said before, we've got an experienced squad that knows what to do in pressure situations," Mitchell said. "I'm not saying we were looking forward to overtime, but we knew what we had to do and we buckled down and did it."

The Golden Eagles showed that experience in the overtime, going 5-6 from the field and 7-8 from the line. Sophomore point Kristi Johnson drilled a three and went 3-4 from the charity stripe and Abbie Willenborg and Oldenburg combined to go 4-4 from the line. Oldenburg had eight of her 42 in the extra session to counter some late three-point bombing from Selena Ho and Eden Palacio.

"This was a thrilling Division I basketball game," Mitchell said. "It's a shame someone had to lose. Lisa had the big game for us, but we earned the win with a total team effort."

As with the first half of Marquette's Monday loss at Drake, the Golden Eagles squandered several early leads in the first half. After taking a 19-10 lead behind the hot hand of Oldenburg midway through the opening frame, MU saw the Tigers go on a 29-15 run to close the half.

Pacific got hot in the latter ten minutes of the half, with seniors Chante Guggia and Palacio leading the way with 10 and nine points, respectively. Oldenburg paced the Golden Eagles with 14 points and four boards.

Oldenburg scored 24 of Marquette's final 38 points, but fell one point short of Marquette's all-time career mark. Marquette's all-time leading scorer, Julie Sievers, tallied 43 points against Carthage College on Feb. 22, 1983. Oldenburg also grabbed six rebounds and had two blocks and two steals. Willenborg scored 12, grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and dished out a career-high six assists. Johnson had 11 points and five assists. Pacific had five players hit double figures, led by Palacio's 18 and 17 from Millie Kimpton.

Marquette 69, Oregon State 56 - OSU Classic Championship

The Marquette women's basketball team earned the title of the OSU Classic on Sat., Nov. 27, with a 69-56 victory over host Oregon State here in Gill Coliseum. Tournament MVP Lisa Oldenburg had 16 points, and Abbie Willenborg, who joined Oldenburg on the All-Tournament Team, led the way with 19 points. Marquette improved to 3-1 with the win and handed Oregon State (2-1) its first loss.

"We executed the game plan exactly like we wanted to tonight, and that will go a long way towards getting wins," Marquette head coach Terri Mitchell said. "It's tough to come out here, play back-to-back games and come away with the championship. Our bench really stepped up when we needed them and we came through at the (free throw) line."

The Golden Eagles overcame an inconsistent opening half to take a 32-29 lead into the intermission. Center Sissel Pierce staked the Beavers to a 17-9 lead midway through the first 20 minutes. After netting only five points yesterday, the 6-3 senior tallied 12 points in the first half. However, Marquette climbed back into the game by pounding the ball in to the familiar duo of seniors Lisa Oldenburg and Abbie Willenborg. The pair combined for 22 points and six boards in the opening frame. It was Kristi Johnson who gave MU the three-point halftime edge, though, hitting three free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt with 3.3 seconds left.

Marquette held a slight lead for a majority of the second half, as Kiesha Oliver came alive, hitting two three-pointers and collecting all 11 of her points after the break. The Golden Eagles started pulling away in the last eight minutes, as they took over the battle of the boards and went 18-23 from the charity stripe in the final 20 minutes. Marquette's last 14 points came from the line.

ABOUT MARQUETTE Marquette returns all five starters from a team that went 21-8 a year ago. The Golden Eagles earned a tie for the Conference USA regular-season championship, won more than 20 games for the third straight season, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season. At the NCAA Tournament, Marquette was awarded the #8 seed in the Midwest Region, its highest seed ever. However, the Golden Eagles fell to nationally-ranked Kansas 64-58 in the opening round at West Lafayette, Ind.

Marquette is currently shooting 40% from the field, 26% from behind the arc and 65% from the free throw line. Marquette?s opponents have converted 41% of their field goals, 27% of their attempts from three-point land and 68% of their free throws.

The Golden Eagles are out-scoring opponents by 0.5 points per game, 69.8-69.3, and are being edged by 4.5 rebounds per game, 44.8-40.3.

Head coach Terri Mitchell has started the same five players in the past 33 contests: G- Oliver and Johnson, F - Oldenburg and Heidi Bowman, C- Willenborg. The starters account for 87% of the points (60.6 ppg) and 64% of the rebounds (25.8 rpg) last season.

Conference USA Player of the Week Oldenburg paces the team with an 23.5 points per game average and is shooting 70% from the field, while Willenborg pulls down a team-high 8.0 boards per game. Johnson dishes out 3.8 assists per game.

IN THE POLLS Marquette was not ranked in either the USA Today / Coaches' Poll or the AP Poll this week, but was one of the top teams receiving votes in both polls.

Several Marquette opponents did receive national recognition this week: Notre Dame is #8 by the coaches and #11 by the AP, Wisconsin is tied for #25 by the AP and is receiving votes in the coaches' poll. Tulane, Arkansas State, BYU and Saint Louis are each receiving votes from the AP, while Tulane, Arkansas State and Louisville are getting votes in the coaches' poll.

HEAD COACH TERRI MITCHELL Now in her fourth season as head coach, Terri Mitchell is 67-26 (.720) at the helm of the Golden Eagles. Marquette's 21 wins last season made Mitchell the first head coach in the program's history to earn 10 wins or more in each of her first three seasons. She is also the first coach in the program's history to lead the team to a regular-season title, three-consecutive 20-win seasons and three straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

Mitchell was named the Conference USA Coach of the Year following the 1997-98 season after leading the Golden Eagles to a 22-7 mark and a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

In her debut season of 1996-97, Mitchell led Marquette to a 21-10 record, an 11.5 game turnaround from the Golden Eagles? 8-20 season the year before. The jump marked the largest improvement by a first-year head coach in NCAA Division I that year.

A 1989 graduate of Duquesne, where she was also a four-year letterwinner for the Duchesses? basketball team, Mitchell started her coaching career as a graduate assistant at Arizona State during the 1989-90 season. After a one-year stint as the Director of Camps and Promotions for Future Stars International, Mitchell came to Marquette as an assistant coach in 1991. She served as an assistant at the university until she was named head coach on June 6, 1996.

Mitchell is assisted by Tracey Tarkington, Jon Cain, Michelle Nason and special assistant Kelly Johnson.

SOLID GOLDENBURG Oldenburg (West Allis, Wis. / Hale) has had the hot hand for Marquette in the early part of the season. She was named the C-USA Player of the Week and the OSU Classic MVP after leading the Golden Eagles to the title of the Oregon State Tournament.

The 6-2 forward set a new OSU Classic record with 42 points in Marquette?s overtime victory over Pacific. That mark is also the highest single-game total against a Division I opponent in the history of the Marquette women?s basketball program and the second highest single-game total in the history of Conference USA. Oldenburg also grabbed six rebounds and had two blocks and two steals against the Tigers. In the championship game against host Oregon State, Oldenburg collected her first double-double of the season, with 16 points and 10 rebounds, in leading Marquette to a 69-56 win. She is now leading Marquette with a 23.5 points per game average, and also is turning in 7.0 rebounds, 4.5 steals and 2.0 blocks per contest.

Oldenburg is currently ninth on the all-time Marquette career scoring list, with 1,278 points. With 12 more points, she will move into eighth place. Oldenburg is eighth among Marquette's career rebounding leaders with 654 boards.

WILLEN' AND ABLE After a slow start to her senior campaign, Willenborg (Arlington Heights, Ill. / Hersey) was named to the OSU Classic All-Tournament Team after two solid performances in Corvallis. The 6-2 senior center tallied 12 points, seven rebounds and a career-high six assists in the victory over Pacific and came back with a game-high 19 points, eight rebounds and three blocks in the title game against Oregon State. On the season, Willenborg is averaging 14.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.0 blocks per game.

Willenborg is in sixth place among Marquette's all-time career scoring leaders and is in fifth on the career rebounding list. She currently has 1,410 points and 931 rebounds for her career.

IN THE LANE Sophomore point guard Johnson (Holmen, Wis. / Holmen) helped a dramatic Marquette turnaround at the free-throw line, going 12-13 at the tournament ? she averaged 10 points and 4.0 assists in the two games ? Oliver (Racine, Wis. / Park) scored all 11 of her points, and hit her first two three-pointers of the season, in the second half of the Oregon State victory ? freshman guard Rashida Gales (Burnsville, Minn. / Burnsville) scored the first points of her collegiate career against Oregon State ? Oldenburg also broke the tournament total points mark with 58 points ? Marquette continued its streak of consecutive games with a successful three-pointer (189) ? small forward Heidi Bowman (Piercy, Calif. / South Fork) aided the streak with a pair of threes against Oregon State.

GOLDEN EAGLES ON THE AIR Select Marquette women's basketball games will be broadcast live on the Marquette Basketball Radio Network by WJYI-1340 AM and WISN-1130 AM this season.

Kent Sommerfeld and Kareeda Chones will call all the action for at least 16 games this season, with at least two others being simulcast. WJYI will carry at least 14 games, with WISN airing at least four. Additional games from the postseason may be added.

The Golden Eagle Pregame Show will start approximately 15 minutes before the scheduled tip-off on most dates.

The following games will be carried by WJYI:

Dec. 1  at UW-Milwaukee 7 p.m.Dec. 6  BYU 7 p.m.Dec. 8  Wisconsin   7 p.m.Dec. 11 at Syracuse 1 p.m. (simulcast - tentative)Dec. 18 Arkansas State  7 p.m.Dec. 30 DePaul  7 p.m.Jan. 7  Louisville  10 p.m. (tape-delayed)Jan. 20 UAB 7 p.m.Jan. 28 South Florida   7 p.m.Feb. 3  at Southern Miss    7 p.m.Feb. 13 at Louisville   1 p.m.Feb. 18 UNC Charlotte   7 p.m.March 3-6   C-USA Tournament    TBA    The following games will be carried by WISN:Dec. 4  Dayton  1 p.m.Jan. 9  Cincinnati  2 p.m.Jan. 30 Houston 2 p.m.Feb. 20 Saint Louis 2 p.m.(The broadcast schedule is tentative and subject to change.)

The Golden Eagles will be featured on two nationally-televised games this season. Marquette's Sat., Feb. 5, game at Tulane will be aired by espn2 at 3 p.m. FOX Sports Net will carry the Golden Eagles' final game of the regular season, at DePaul on Sat., Feb. 26, at 11 a.m. Midwest Sports Channel will air the South Florida contest at the Milwaukee Arena on Fri., Jan. 28, at 7 p.m.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Contact Marquette assistant sports information director Josh Sutter at (414) 288-6980 or at: joshua.sutter@marquette.edu