Issued: February 22, 2003

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT PREVIEW

Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Women's Basketball Tournament
Monday, February 24; Wednesday, February 26; Saturday, March 1

First Round Pairings - Monday, February 24

#8 UW-River Falls (10-14, 4-12 WIAC) at #1 UW-Eau Claire (24-1, 16-0 WIAC)

#7 UW-La Crosse (11-14, 5-11 WIAC) at #2 UW-Stevens Point (21-4, 13-3 WIAC)

#6 UW-Whitewater (11-13, 5-11 WIAC) at #3 UW-Oshkosh (20-5, 11-5 WIAC)

#5 UW-Platteville (15-10, 8-8 WIAC) at #4 UW-Stout (18-7, 10-6 WIAC)

Semifinals - Wednesday, February 26

The River Falls-Eau Claire winner faces the Platteville-Stout winner Wednesday at the highest seed.

The La Crosse-Stevens Point winner faces the Whitewater-Oshkosh winner Wednesday at the highest seed.

Championship - Saturday, March 1

8/1 vs. 5/4 winner vs. the 7/2 vs. 6/3 winner at the highest seed

River Falls vs. Eau Claire
Monday, February 24 - 7 pm
Zorn Arena, Eau Claire
Doors open at 6 pm
Tickets

    Reserved - $7

    Adults - $6

    UWEC Faculty/Staff - $6

    Seniors - $4

    Youths - $3

    Students (High School & College) - $3

This is the fifth year of the WIAC women's basketball tournament and the No. 1 seed has won the previous four championships.

1999: #1 Oshkosh beat #2 Eau Claire, 79-60

2000: #1 Eau Claire beat #2 Oshkosh, 56-45

2001: #1 Eau Claire beat #7 Platteville, 78-76

2002: #1 Stout beat #3 Oshkosh, 90-71

Eau Claire is the No. 1 seed for the third time in five years. The Blugolds previously were

1999: #2

2000: #1

2001: #1

2002: #4

2003: #1

The only time the No. 8 seed has won a WIAC tournament game was in 1999 and 2000 when No. 8 beat No. 9 in the playin game.

Eau Claire beat River Falls twice this year

57-41 on Jan. 8 at Eau Claire

60-47 on Feb. 8 at River Falls

With its two wins this year, Eau Claire leads the all-time series against River Falls, 37-23, and has won six straight, 11 of the last 12, 16 of the last 18 and 23 of the last 26 against the Falcons.

Eau Claire and River Falls have played twice previously in the WIAC tournament:

1999: #2 Eau Claire beat #6 River Falls, 88-77 in the semifinals

2001: #1 Eau Claire beat #4 River Falls, 70-54, in the semifinals

Third-year Eau Claire coach Tonja Englund owns a 66-14 record (.825 winning percentage) since taking over for Lisa Stone, who posted a 277-59 record (.824 winning percentage) in 12 years as the head coach before leaving for the head job at Division I Drake University.

The Blugolds became only the fifth team to go through a conference schedule unbeaten since the conference went to a 16-game double round robin format beginning with the 1985-86 season. The previous unbeaten champs were Eau Claire (1999-00), Oshkosh (1997-98 and 1995-96) and Whitewater (1985-86).

The Blugolds have won 15 games in succession since their only loss of the season, a 73-59 decision to South Dakota State, currently the No. 4-ranked team in NCAA Division II. The Blugolds have won all 12 of their home games this year. River Falls was just 4-8 in road games and only 1-7 in conference road games. River Falls has lost 9 of its last 10 games with its only win coming against Superior which went winless in the WIAC.

The Blugolds are currently the No. 1-ranked team in the NCAA's Central Region and are ranked No. 4 nationally in the most recent d3hoops.com poll and No. 4 in the most recent WBCA (Women's Basketball Coaches Association) poll.

Only seven of 17 players on the roster hail from more than an hour's drive of Eau Claire.

Three players are from the two public high schools in Eau Claire (Joanna Leafblad, Molly Menard, Emilee Planert). Moving out from Eau Claire, there is representation from Chippewa Falls (Becca Spaeth), Fall Creek (Kristi Channing), Cadott (Janel Soppeland), Gilmanton (Rachel Becker), Stanley (Brooke Wozniak) and Hudson (Emily Anderson, Megan Hanson). Even the seven that are more than an hour are all within six hours: La Crosse (Katie Murphy), North Branch, MN (Kelly Lines), Osceola (Jenny Wolter), St. Michael, MN (Liz VanDrasek), Appleton (Kelly Guay), Brillion (Laura Tamm) and Rock Island, IL (Toya Banks).

The Blugolds' average winning margin is 18 points with 14 wins by 16 or more points. The Blugolds have escaped four opponents by less than five points with two in the 6-10 range and four more victories in the 11 to 15 range. The two most telling stats are shooting percentage and rebounding. The Blugolds are outshooting their opponents, 46.3 to 37.1 percent, and outrebounding them by 11.3 per game.

Eight Blugolds have scored in double figures this year: Kristi Channing (20), Becca Spaeth (17), Janel Soppeland (12), Brooke Wozniak (6), Emilee Planert (5) plus 1 each for Emily Anderson, Katie Murphy and Toya Banks. Only three have reached double digits in rebounding: Brooke Wozniak (14), Kristi Channing (4) and Becca Spaeth (3). The same three have the only double-doubles: Brooke Wozniak (4), Kristi Channing (3) and Becca Spaeth (1).

Four players have led the team in scoring: Kristi Channing (13 times), Becca Spaeth (8), Janel Soppeland (5) and Emily Planert (1). Channing was the leading scorer in the final four games of the season during which time she has averaged 20.5 per game.

Four players have been the rebounding leader: Brooke Wozniak (15 times), Becca Spaeth (7), Kristi Channing (3) and Janel Soppeland (1). Wozniak has been the leading rebounder in the last nine games during which time she has averaged 12.6 per game.

The Blugolds top scoring efforts this year included 31 and 30 by Channing in the two games against Whitewater, 28 by Planert in the second game against Stout, 26 by Soppeland in the Thanksgiving Showcase game against Northwestern and 25 by Spaeth in the first game against Stout. The top rebounding efforts were both by Wozniak with 19 in the second meeting against La Crosse and 15 in the second game against Platteville.