Nov. 23, 2002

Final Stats

EAST LANSING, Mich.--Miami University's women's basketball team struggled out of the gates but found its touch down the stretch, rolling to a 77-54 defeat of Valparaiso University in its first contest of the 2002-03 campaign. The win was the Red and White's first season-opening victory in three seasons and set the RedHawks up for a meeting with Michigan State at 2 p.m. Sunday in the championship game of the Spartan Chevrolet Classic.

After a dismal first 10 minutes of play, Miami, which hit just four of its first 18 shots found itself with a slim 10-9 advantage. From there, both teams picked up the pace, with the RedHawks looking inside to forwards Kim Lancaster (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton) and Jana Butler (Findlay, Ohio/Liberty-Benton), who helped propel the Red and White to a 37-30 halftime lead. Miami hit an impressive 12 of its last 17 shots, led by Lancaster, who contributed 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting, and Butler, who tallied nine points on 4-of-5 shooting.

Miami took control early in the second half and was never really challenged again. A Valparaiso free throw at 16:49 closed the RedHawks' advantage to five points, 41-36, but 3-pointers by Heather Cusick (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo) and Melanie Kozlowski (Parma, Ohio/Holy Name) fueled a 12-1 Miami run that the Crusaders could not recover from. A 3-point field goal from freshman Cindi Merrill (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) with under four minutes to play pushed the Miami advantage to a game-high 27 points.

The RedHawks shot 54 percent from the field in the second half and committed just 12 turnovers for the game, while restricting Valparaiso to a 33 percent field goal percentage and forcing 17 Crusader miscues. The win was Miami's first in a season opener since it defeated Hampton, 81-80, to start the 1998-99 campaign.

Leading Miami were Lancaster and Butler, who contributed 15 points and nine rebounds apiece. Cusick, who tallied just two points in the first half, led Miami in the second half and tallied 13 points and eight assists for the game. Also tallying in double digits for the RedHawks were Kozlowski and Merrill, who poured in 12 and 11, respectively.

"We were getting shots early in the game, but they weren't falling," Head Coach Maria Fantanarosa said. "The positive of that was that we never stopped executing. I have to give our post players a lot of credit. Every one of them contributed, and it was important that we out-rebounded them."

The RedHawks return to action Sunday at 2 p.m. when they face host Michigan State, which defeated Fresno State, 82-68. Miami is in search of its first tournament title since it prevailed at the Northwestern Invitational in 1999.

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