Marquette University Athletics
Women's Hoops Puts Perfect League Mark On The Line
1/18/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 18, 2000
MILWAUKEE -
COMING UP The Marquette women's basketball team (13-3, 5-0) takes a four-game winning streak into this week's action against a pair of Conference USA National Division foes. The Golden Eagles host UAB in the Milwaukee Arena on Thu., Jan. 20, at 7 p.m. (CT). Marquette then goes south to Memphis on Sun., Jan. 23, to face the Lady Tigers in Memphis' Elma Roane Fieldhouse at 3 p.m. Both UAB and Memphis are tied with nationally-ranked Tulane for the top spot in the National Division.
ABOUT MARQUETTE After a pair of road victories last weekend lifted Marquette's record above .500 away from home, the Golden Eagles face the C-USA "split" weekend (one home game, one road game) with a 5-0 league mark. Marquette currently has a two-game advantage over its closest competitors in C-USA and can match its longest winning streak of the season with a pair of victories this weekend. Having earned one victory against each of their American Division rivals, the Golden Eagles see their first National Division rivals this weekend.
Marquette is currently shooting 41% from the field, 30% from behind the arc and 67% from the free throw line. Marquette?s opponents have converted 38% 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 4.7 points per game, 67.6-62.5, and are outrebounding their opponents by 1.5 rebounds per game, 40.9-39.4.
Marquette has been giving opponents something to think about lately: After starting the same lineup for 38 straight games dating back to the first game of the 1998-99 season, the Golden Eagles have trotted out six different lineups in the past seven contests. The lineup against UNC Charlotte this past Sunday - G- Kiesha Oliver and Kristi Johnson, F - Lisa Oldenburg and Ebony Williams, C- Abbie Willenborg - accounts for 77% of the points (51.9 ppg) and 63% of the rebounds (25.8 rpg) this season. Sarah Zawodny (Beavercreek, Ohio / Chaminade-Julienne) made the first start of her career last Friday at Saint Louis.
Oldenburg paces Marquette with 16.9 points, 1.6 blocks and 2.5 steals per game, and shoots 58% from the field. Willenborg grabs 9.1 rebounds per game. Johnson shoots 38% from behind the three-point arc and 74% from the line, while dishing out 3.3 assists per contest.
ABOUT UAB After opening the league slate with a pair of losses, coach Jeannie Milling's Lady Blazers have bounced back to win their last three C-USA contests. UAB got past Houston 84-80 in overtime and stopped South Florida 68-55 at home this past weekend. The Blazers are now 11-5 overall and are tied for the top spot in the National Division with a 3-2 league mark.
The potent inside-outside sister combination of Deanna Jackson and Lisa Jackson lead the way for UAB. Deanna, a 6-2 sophomore forward, paces UAB with 17.6 points and a league-leading 12.7 rebounds per game. Lisa, a 5-9 senior guard, adds 11.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and a team-leading 3.1 assists per game. Freshman center Michelle Smith and junior guard Mia Thrash also average double-digits with 10.4 points per game each.
Milling is in her 13th season as head coach in Birmingham, where she has compiled a 206-157 (.567) mark. In 23 seasons overall as a head coach, she is 367-267 (.579).
Marquette leads the all-time series with UAB 7-5 and won last year's contest 61-48 in the Milwaukee Auditorium. Abbie Willenborg led Marquette with 25 points and 15 rebounds in the win, while Regiena Brown had 12 points and 10 boards to lead the Lady Blazers.
ABOUT MEMPHIS Head coach Joye-Lee McNelis' Lady Tigers are tied with UAB and Tulane atop the C-USA American Division standings with a 3-2 league mark. Following a pair of home victories last weekend, Memphis is now 9-7 overall. The Lady Tigers defeated Houston 69-48 on Sun., Jan. 16, in their most recent outing.
With Memphis' nine victories this season, McNelis now has a nine-year mark of 158-96 (.622) as head coach of the Lady Tigers. Her career record is the same.
After sitting out the first semester following her transfer from Ole Miss, 6-0 forward Tiffany Adkins is now leading Memphis with 11.1 points per game. She is shooting 50% from the field and 71% from the line while also averaging 5.7 rebounds and 2.6 steals per contest. Melissa Abraham, a physical 5-11 forward, leads the Lady Tigers with 6.5 rebounds per game, while 5-8 senior point guard Yolanda Reed adds 9.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.6 steals per contest.
Marquette owns a 12-5 lead in the all-time series with a Memphis. The Golden Eagles scored two of those victories a year ago, when Marquette downed Memphis 69-51 in the Bradley Center during the regular season and earning a 74-69 victory in the C-USA Tournament quarterfinals in New Orleans. Lisa Oldenburg averaged 22.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in the pair of games, while Memphis All-American Tamika Whitmore, now playing for the WNBA's New York Liberty, posted 27 points and 8.5 rebounds in the two contests.
LAST WEEK
Marquette 64, Saint Louis 50
Abbie Willenborg scored 17 points and hauled down 14 rebounds to power Marquette to a 64-50 victory over Saint Louis on Fri., Jan. 14. Marquette stayed as the only unbeaten team in Conference USA action after Cincinnati defeated Tulane.
Marquette jumped out to a quick 12-2 lead but the Billikens battled back with a 13-6 run to close to 18-15 with 11 minutes left in the first half. MU's Kristi Johnson hit a jumper to ignite a 9-0 run to push the Golden Eagle advantage to 27-15 with 6:54 remaining in the first half. Marquette cruised to a 33-22 margin at intermission.
Willenborg scored the first six points of the second half as Marquette claimed a 39-22 lead. The Billikens responded with a 16-5 run to close the gap to 44-38 with 10:58 left in the game. Once again, Kristi Johnson hit a crucial 3-pointer which sparked a 13-0 Marquette run as the Golden Eagles seized control of the game with their biggest lead of the night, 57-38.
Marquette held the Billikens to a season-low 27.3 percent shooting from the field and held a 57-45 advantage on the boards. The Golden Eagles took advantage of their strong inside game and outscored Saint Louis 43-20 in the paint.
Heidi Bowman (Piercy, Calif. / South Fork) added 11 points for Marquette while Lisa Oldenburg scored 10 points and tallied nine rebounds. For Saint Louis, Bridget Beckmann paced the Billikens with 11 points while Mandy Lueking chipped in 10 points. Christan Shelton contributed nine points and pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds.
Marquette improved to 12-3 overall, 4-0 in C-USA. Saint Louis fell to 8-7, 1-3 in C-USA.
Marquette 62, UNC Charlotte 59
Heidi Bowman's three-pointer with 23 seconds left proved to be the difference, as the Marquette women's basketball team downed American Division rival UNC Charlotte 62-59 on Sun., Jan. 16, in Halton Arena. Lisa Oldenburg's 32-point effort propelled the Golden Eagles, who improved to 13-3, 5-0. UNC Charlotte, which was led by Jameka Jones' 20 points, fell to 7-9, 2-3.
"As we've been saying, it's always difficult to play on the road, especially with this concluding our first conference trip," Marquette head coach Terri Mitchell said. "UNC Charlotte is much improved, and we thought we may have some match-up problems because they are very athletic. But our experience in tight games like this showed through and Heidi came up big."
The Golden Eagles jumped out to a 7-0 lead, but would never extend the lead past that margin as an athletic 49er squad continued to stay within striking distance. While only one other Golden Eagle besides Oldenburg and Willenborg could get on the board in the opening frame, UNC Charlotte kept Marquette off balance by spreading the ball around. Senior Jameka Jones paced the Niners with 11 first-half points, with Claire Mollison and Tonika Smith each adding six. Marquette owned the lead for all but the last minute of the half by relying on Oldenburg and Willenborg, who tossed in 14 and 10, respectively. After trailing the first 19 minutes, UNC Charlotte took a 29-27 lead into the break following two Tonya Phifer free throws with one second remaining.
UNC Charlotte built a four-point lead early in the second half, but Marquette started chipping away, as Oldenburg continued to find success. The 6-2 senior went 15-22 from the field and also grabbed eight rebounds. However, it was when Kristi Johnson and Kiesha Oliver were incorporated into the Marquette offense that the Golden Eagles re-gained the lead. Johnson hit a pair of threes as Marquette built an eight-point lead. The scrappy Niners fought back with some late drives by Jones and Tonika Smith, who tallied 14 points on the day, and knotted the score at 59-59 on two more Phifer free throws. Bowman hit a wide-open three on the next possession as the UNC Charlotte defense concentrated on Oldenburg and Willenborg, who notched her seventh double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Bowman, whose first-half three-pointer in the first half was her only other field goal of the game, hit nothing but net from the left wing. Mollison's three-point attempt as the buzzer sounded was long and Marquette stayed perfect in C-USA.
"Lisa and Abbie were outstanding for us again today," Mitchell said. "Lisa was in a groove on the offensive end and seemed to come up with a basket every time we needed one. And both of them made a difference on defense."
Bowman had eight points off the bench for Marquette, which had a 37-29 advantage on the boards. The Golden Eagles limited the 49ers to 39% shooting from the field.
IN THE POLLS Marquette was not ranked in either the USA Today / Coaches' Poll or the AP Poll this week, but was among the top teams receiving votes in both polls.
Several Marquette opponents did receive national recognition this week: Notre Dame is #5 by the AP and is #6 by the coaches, while C-USA foe Tulane dropped to #20 in the coaches' poll and to #21 in the AP poll. Arkansas State and Drake are receiving votes in both polls, while Louisville is getting votes in the AP poll.
HEAD COACH TERRI MITCHELL Now in her fourth season as head coach, Terri Mitchell is 77-28 (.733) at the helm of the Golden Eagles. Marquette's 13 wins this season make Mitchell the first head coach in the program's history to earn 10 wins or more in each of her first four 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.
ER Freshman forward Rachel Klug (Cedar Grove, Wis. / Cedar Grove) will be out for another one-three weeks while rehabilitating a torn meniscus in her right knee. She had missed the past three games while resting the knee, but arthroscopic surgery on Mon., Jan. 11, revealed the tear.
SOLID GOLDENBURG Oldenburg (West Allis, Wis. / Hale) went 15-22 from the field and tallied a game-high 32 points to help the Golden Eagles get past UNC Charlotte. The 6-2 forward also grabbed eight rebounds against the 49ers. She tallied 10 points, nine boards and three blocked shots at Saint Louis. Oldenburg leads Marquette with 16.9 points, 1.6 blocks and 2.5 steals per game, and a 58% field goal percentage. She also is converting 72% of her free throws. Her 42-point performance against Pacific on Nov. 26 is the second-highest single-game point total on the Division I level this season (Jackie Stiles, Southwest Missouri - 43 points).
Oldenburg is currently fifth on the all-time Marquette career scoring list with 1,454 points. She is seventh among Marquette's career rebounding leaders with 743 boards. She needs three more rebounds to move into sixth place.
THROWING BOWS Bowman (Piercy, Calif. / South Fork) has rebounded from a slow start to the season with some strong play after the holiday break. She started at shooting guard for the third straight game at Saint Louis and tallied 11 points, five rebounds and three assists. She came off the bench against UNC Charlotte to hit the game-winning three-pointer with under half a minute left in regulation. The 6-0 junior had eight points, four rebounds and a game-high five assists against the 49ers.
Bowman sat out this past summer while rehabilitating a sore back and is still playing her way back into shape, but she is averaging 8.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.
WILLEN' AND ABLE Willenborg registered her sixth and seventh double-doubles of the season this past weekend. With Sarah Zawodny in the lineup at Saint Louis, Willenborg made her first start of the season at power forwarded. The 6-2 senior pounded her way to 17 points and 11 rebounds in continuing her outstanding career play against the Billikens. She came back to notch 12 points and 10 rebounds on Sunday against UNC Charlotte. Conference USA's all-time leading rebounder, Willenborg is currently averaging 15.6 points and a team-high 9.1 rebounds per game. She is shooting 43% from the field and 73% from the line and also averages 1.9 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.5 steals per contest.
Willenborg (Arlington Heights, Ill. / Hersey) became the third player in the history of the Marquette women's basketball program to reach the 1,000-point/1,000 rebound milestone after she surpassed 1,000 career rebounds against DePaul on Dec. 30. The senior joined MU alumnae Julie Sievers and Christine Kennedy, and now has 1,601 points and 1,044 rebounds. Willenborg is in fourth place among Marquette's all-time career scoring leaders and is in third on the career rebounding list. She needs nine more points to move into third place on the scoring chart.
STAT PACK Several Golden Eagles were ranked among the statistical league leaders coming into this week. Abbie Willenborg is ninth in scoring (15.6 ppg), fourth in rebounding (9.1 rpg), eighth in field goal percentage (43%), 10th in free throw percentage (73%), and fifth in blocked shots (1.3 bpg). Lisa Oldenburg is second in the league in field goal percentage (58%), is seventh in scoring (16.9 ppg), tenth in rebounding (7.3), 12th in free throw shooting (72%), fifth in steals (2.5 spg) and second in blocked shots (1.6). Kristi Johnson is ninth in assists (3.3 apg), third in three-point field goal percentage (38%), fifth in three-point field goals made (1.8 3FGpg) and fifth in assist/turnover ratio (1.43). Kiesha Oliver is tied for 11th in blocked shots (0.75 bpg) and Heidi Bowman is tied for 14th in three-point field goals made (1.13 3FGpg).
As a team, Marquette is third in scoring defense (62.5 ppg), fifth in free throw percentage (67%), fifth in field goal percentage (41%), second in field goal percentage defense (38%), second in three-point field goal percentage defense (27%), first in blocked shots (5.3 bpg) and fourth in assists (15.1 apg).
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 5-10 minutes before the scheduled tip-off on most dates.
The following games will be carried by WJYI: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: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. Midwest Sports Channel will pick up FOX Sports Net's broadcast of the Golden Eagles' final game of the regular season, at DePaul on Sat., Feb. 26, at 11 a.m. Midwest Sports Channel also will air the South Florida contest at the Milwaukee Arena on Fri., Jan. 28, at 7 p.m.
QUOTING TERRI MITCHELL: "After getting through the first swing of our American Division schedule, we're extremely happy with a 5-0 record. However, we know there are a lot of games, all of them in the league, left.
"We'll get our first look at the National Division this weekend and it will be quite a challenge. UAB has shown that it is going to make a run for the conference title this season. The Blazers are a balanced team who feature a Player of the Year candidate in Deanna Jackson. Memphis has a strong tradition and is always tough to play, especially at its own fieldhouse. They have some huge wins already and I expect them to be in the league title picture again."
FOR MORE INFORMATION Contact Marquette assistant sports information director Josh Sutter at (414) 288-6980 or at: joshua.sutter@marquette.edu
