March 3, 2003

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REDHAWKS TRY TO CLINCH MAC EAST VERSUS MARSHALL: Miami University's women's basketball team closes out its 2002-03 regular-season schedule and bids farewell to a remarkable trio of seniors at 7 p.m. Tuesday night when it hosts Marshall University with serious regular-season and post-season implications on the line.

Miami, which already owns a share of the MAC East title, can clinch the division championship and No. 2 seed outright with a defeat of Marshall Tuesday night. With a Miami loss, however, the winner of Buffalo and Kent State, who play in Buffalo Tuesday night, would clinch a share of the division title and could possibly take the No. 2 seed from the RedHawks via the MAC's seeding tiebreakers.

Awaiting the Red and White is a Marshall team that is putting it all together at the right time, winning four of its last five games and rising to the occasion versus the league's elite teams. Already this season, the Thundering Herd owns victories over Ball State, Kent State and Buffalo, who are all competing for first-round byes.

Coached by second-year mentor Royce Chadwick, Marshall is the most dominant rebounding team in the league and ranks among the top defenses in the MAC. Sophomore Sikeetha Shepard-Hall leads the Herd, averaging 14.0 points per game. Preseason All-MAC selection Ida Dotson is pouring in 11.8 ppg for the Herd and junior Catie Knable is leading the MAC in rebounding, tallying 7.5 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. Marshall ranks second in the MAC in field goal percentage defense (.386) and has allowed a meager 59.6 ppg over its last five outings.

REDHAWKS BID FAREWELL TO SENIOR TRIO: Prior to Miami's contest with Marshall Tuesday night, the RedHawks will bid farewell to a senior class that has played an essential role in the rebuilding of the RedHawk program over the past four seasons. Seniors Jana Butler, Heather Cusick and Beth Roederer have all played leading roles in the Miami program since arriving on campus. Over the past three seasons, they have combined to play in 325 of a possible 336 games and made a combined 225 starts. Butler, Cusick and Roederer have seen Miami compile an impressive record of 68-45 (.602), including three consecutive MAC Quarterfinal berths and back-to-back MAC Semifinal appearances.

SERIES HISTORY: Tuesday's meeting marks the 15th clash between the RedHawks and Thundering Herd, with Miami maintaining a 12-2 series advantage. Marshall, which joined the MAC for the 1997-98 campaign, won the teams' first meeting as MAC rivals on Jan. 21, 1998, but has not won since. Miami currently rides an 11-game winning streak during which it has defeated Marshall by an average of more than 15 points per game. No current member of Miami's roster has ever lost to the Thundering Herd, and Head Coach Maria Fantanarosa owns a perfect 9-0 mark against Marshall. The RedHawks own a 5-2 series edge over the Herd in Millett Hall.

THE LAST MEETING-Miami 72, Marshall 53 (Jan. 20, 2003): Miami overcame a Marshall comeback midway through the contest and finished strong to defeat the Herd, 72-53, in the first game of what would become a three-game winning streak. The RedHawks seized a commanding 25-9 lead out of the gates, but Marshall rallied over the rest of the half and trailed just 33-27 going into the locker room. With just 10:03 remaining in the game, Marshall closed to its closest point at 41-40. Heather Cusick keyed a RedHawk run over the next two minutes, netting eight of Miami's next 11 points and pushing the advantage back to double digits. The RedHawks continued to press their advantage from there, holding the Herd without a field goal over the final 7:57 of the game and claiming its 11th straight defeat of the Thundering Herd. Cusick led Miami with 14 points, six assists and four steals.

LOOKING AHEAD: With the regular-season completed, Miami looks ahead to the Mid-American Conference Tournament. With a win over Marshall, Miami would lock up the No. 2 seed and go directly to Cleveland, where it would face the winner of the No. 7/No. 10 match-up at 5:30 p.m. March 12 in Gund Arena. If the RedHawks lose and fall out of the No.2 seed, they would host a first-round MAC Tournament game at 2 p.m. on March 8.

MILLETT MAGIC: The magic of Miami's home court seems to have faded a bit this season. The RedHawks have won 21 of their last 29 contests in Millett Hall but are just 5-5 this season. Last year, Miami finished at 10-3 in Millett Hall overall and 6-2 in league play, closing the season with seven consecutive home wins. The RedHawks are 34-12 (.739) at home over the past four seasons and had won 12 consecutive home games versus MAC East opponents until a Feb. 8 loss to Kent State. The Red and White is attempting to avoid its first losing home record in more than a decade (1991-92).

FOLLOWING THROUGH: Under head coach Maria Fantanarosa, Miami has made a point of finishing strong. Over the four seasons leading up to this year, the RedHawks have posted a 24-13 (.649) record in the months of February and March. This season, Miami finished the month of February with a 5-2 record and on a five-game winning streak but started the month of March with its first regular-season loss under Fantanarosa. The RedHawks have never lost their last regular-season game under Fantanarosa.

THE VIEW FROM ON TOP: Down to its final regular-season contest, Miami has placed itself in a position it has not known since the start of divisional play in 1997-98-in first-place in the MAC East in the month of March. In fact, Miami has not been poised atop a MAC race this late in the season since its last MAC regular-season championship in 1989-90. Since its last MAC title, Miami has never been closer than two games behind the league or East Division championship in the final standings. Since starting MAC play during the 1981-82 campaign, Miami has claimed a total of three MAC regular-season titles, including the first two in 1981-82 and 1982-83. Since its quick start, however, Miami has raised just one championship banner in the last 18 years, including its current drought of 11 years.

MAC MATH: Already guaranteed at least a share of the MAC East title, Miami is within one win of clinching sole possession of the MAC East Championship. Currently a game in front of both Buffalo and Kent State, Miami can win the East outright by defeating Marshall. The RedHawks can do no better than the No. 2 seed in the MAC Tournament but has clinched at least a home game for the first round of the MAC Tournament. If Miami loses Tuesday, it can still secure the No. 2 seed for the tournament if Buffalo defeats Kent State and Northern Illinois knocks off Western Michigan in other MAC action.

BYE, BYE, REDHAWKS: After hosting first-round MAC Tournament games in each of the past three seasons, Miami is on the verge of earning its first postseason bye since the MAC Tournament expanded to include all 13 teams. With one more win, the RedHawks can pave their way directly to the MAC Quarterfinals in Cleveland on March 12 by earning the No. 2 seed-the top three seeds earn first-round byes.

A FINE LINE: The difference between winning and losing has been a fine line indeed for Miami's 2002-03 women's basketball team. Through 26 games this season, 12 of Miami's games have been decided by five points or less and 17 have been decided by 10 points or fewer, with all 17 coming down to the final minutes. The RedHawks have forged a 9-8 record in games decided by 10 or fewer points. Miami also has been working its share of overtime, posting a 3-2 record in games that have taken an extra period. Miami's five overtime games this season are a program single-season record.

Excluding Miami's convincing win over Ohio last Wednesday, the RedHawks last nine games have especially illustrated just how fine the line can be. In posting a 6-3 mark that began with a Jan. 25 win at Buffalo, the average margin was a mere 4.9 points per game.

TAKING ON THE WORLD: Though Miami's 5-6 non-conference record marked Miami's first sub .500 out-of-league record in four seasons, head coach Maria Fantanarosa stuck with her theory of using the non-conference schedule to prepare the team for league play. Eight of Miami's non-conference opponents rate among the top 135 of 324 NCAA D-I women's basketball programs, according to the March 2 RPI.com rankings, while the average RPI of Miami's 11 out-of-conference foes is a solid 103.1. The average RPI of the 11 teams that have defeated the RedHawks this season is an even more impressive 90.4. Miami is ranked No. 128 in the RPI and No. 112 in the Sagarin ratings. A breakdown of Miami's opponents in the RPI and Sagarin ratings is on the right.

CHARITY CASES: One of the keys for Miami in league play, whether winning or losing, has been its performance from the free throw line. Through 10 league wins, Miami has averaged 20.9 trips to the free throw line and connected on an impressive 77 percent of its efforts. Versus Central Michigan (Feb. 19), Miami set a team single-game record by burying 20-of-21 (.952) free throws-the highest percentage ever by a Miami team with at least 20 attempts. On the contrary, Miami has only made and average of 13.2 trips to the line in league losses, connecting on 71 percent of those efforts. Miami

Leading the way are three RedHawks who are shooting close to or better than 80 percent from the line since the start of league play. Colleen Day has hit an impressive 47-of-54 (.870) charity tosses in league play, while Beth Roederer is hitting .885 (23-of-26) and Heather Cusick (39-of-49) is connecting on .796. Since the start of MAC play, Miami has shot .756 from the line, improving its free throw percentage by nearly 50 percent.

OFFENSE WINS: When the offense is working, everything is working for Miami. Aside from overtime losses at Kentucky and Ball State, Miami is 13-1 this season when scoring at least 70 points and 11-1 when outshooting or matching the opposition from the field. On the flip side, Miami is 1-8 when scoring less than 70 points and 4-10 when being outshot from the field. The RedHawks are averaging 77.7 ppg and shooting 45 percent from the floor and 36 percent from the 3-point arc in their 15 wins.

Excluding overtime losses to Ball State and Kentucky, in which it tallied 94 and 102 points, respectively, Miami is averaging just 60.9 points and shooting 36 percent from the floor in its remaining nine losses.

POLISHING THE GLASS: An important theme Saturday, as in most of the RedHawks' wins this season, is rebounding. Miami, which is averaging 38.9 rebounds per game, ranks third in the MAC in rebounding and fourth in rebounding margin (+1.3). The RedHawks are especially strong on the offensive glass, grabbing 14.6 offensive boards a contest and ranking second in the league. Miami, which is getting nearly 20 percent of its offense from second-chance points, owns an 11-3 record when outrebounding the opposition and just a 4-8 mark when being tied or outrebounded. Marshall enters Saturday's game leading the MAC in rebounding (43.0), offensive rebounding (16.2) and rebounding margin (+7.4).