Nov. 12, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

OXFORD, Ohio – The Miami women’s basketball team opens the 2008-09 season with a trip to Eastern Illinois Friday. Game time is scheduled for 8 p.m. (EST) from Lantz Arena. The game can be heard on the Miami Sports Network, which can be found at this link Miami Sports Network.

STORYLINES

1. LET’S GET IT STARTED: The Miami RedHawks return to the court for their first regular season game since the NCAA Tournament in March. Miami travels to Charleston, Ill. for an 8 p.m. game against the preseason pick to win the Ohio Valley Conference, the Eastern Illinois Panthers.

2. BLEND THE OLD AND THE NEW: One of the early keys to the season will be how the returning players and the new players mesh. Seven players return from last season’s MAC Tournament Championship squad and they will be joined by seven newcomers. One of those newcomers is not so new, as senior forward Jaclyn Leininger (Winona Lake, Ind.) makes her return after missing last season with an injury. Her return will settle the post position, which is adjusting to the loss of last season’s rebounding leader Laura Markwood to graduation.

3. HAWKS IN SEASON OPENERS: This is the start of the 35th season of women’s basketball at Miami. In their previous 34 season openers, the RedHawks are 17-17. They dropped last year’s opener to nationally ranked Notre Dame 98-50 in the first round of the WNIT. The last time Miami won its season opener was during the 2006-07 season when it defeated Cleveland State 86-84 in Cleveland. This will be the fourth straight season the RedHawks have opened on the road. Miami last opened at home during the 2004-05 season when it defeated Indiana State 62-59.

REVIEWING THE EXHIBITION GAME: Seniors Stephanie Ford (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Jenna Schone (Pickerington, Ohio) tallied 19 and 18 points, respectively, as the Miami RedHawks scored 47 points in the second half to rally from a one-point halftime deficit and post an 81-69 exhibition win over the Hoosier Lady Stars at Millett Hall Sunday. Ten different players scored in Miami’s only exhibition game before the regular season.

Miami shot 44.0 percent from the field, including half its three-point attempts (5-for-10), and held the visitors to just 35.8 percent from the field.

“With seven new players, it was good to get them in uniform and get the early season jitters out,” said head coach Maria Fantanarosa. “Our upperclassmen played smart and our freshman came out better than expected.”

The RedHawks started the game with a flurry as Courtney Reed (Andrews, Ind.) found Ashleigh Brown (Delaware, Ohio) for a backdoor layup on the very first possession. That was followed by a Schone three-point basket that gave Miami a 5-0 lead. After a 16-4 run by the Lady Stars put the RedHawks down, 16-9, a layup by Rachael Hencke and three straight baskets by Ford pulled Miami to within one at 18-17. The first half continued to follow that pattern, as the Lady Stars would push the lead up to around seven, only to see the RedHawks close it back down to within one. Miami finally took the lead with 28 seconds remaining in the half on an Ashley Hawkins jumper, but a Kelsey Corbin buzzer beater gave the Hoosier Lady Stars the 35-34 lead at the break.

Freshman Maggie Boyer (Lebanon, Ind.) scored her first basket in the second half, a three-pointer with 16:01 left that tied the score at 42. With the score tied at 49, Schone hit a three-point basket that would give the RedHawks a lead that they would never relinquish. Ford scored eight points in a 45 second stretch to help give Miami a 60-50 lead. The Lady Stars got as close as eight at 71-63 with 2:40 left, but a 10-6 closing run by the RedHawks finished up the 81-69 win.

In addition to Ford and Schone’s strong performances, Reed, Hencke and Hawkins each scored eight points. Hawkins led the team with seven assists, and Brown led a balanced rebounding effort with five caroms. The RedHawks outrebounded the Lady Stars 41-40.

ABOUT EASTERN ILLINOIS: Eastern Illinois went 19-13 last season and 11-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference. It advanced to the OVC Championship game before falling to Murray State in the finals. The Panthers return virtually their entire team intact, as 11-of-12 letterwinners return, including all five starters. The only player lost was Jessica Huffman, who was their first guard off the bench. The top player is senior forward Rachel Galligan. Last season, she was the only player on Eastern Illinois to average double figures with 18.5 points per game. She also led the team in rebounding with 6.6 boards per game. The Panthers’ top guard is junior Dominique Sims. Last season she averaged 9.2 points and 4.9 reboundes per game.

SERIES HISTORY: This will be the fourth meeting all-time between Miami and Eastern Illinois. The previous three all occurred in the 1980’s and were won by the Panthers. Their last meeting came during head coach Maria Fantanarosa’s senior season when Eastern Illinois defeated the RedHawks 63-59 in the consolation game of the Amana-Hawkeye Classic in Iowa City, Iowa.

MIAMI VS. OVC: The RedHawks are 6-13 all-time against the 11 schools that currently make up the Ohio Valley Conference. Eight of those games have come against Eastern Kentucky, which Miami holds a 2-6 record against. The RedHawks are 2-1 vs. Morehead State, 2-0 vs. Austin Peay, 0-1 vs. Tennessee Tech, 0-2 vs. Murray State and 0-3 vs. Eastern Illinois.

Miami has never faced Jacksonville State, Southeast Missouri State, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, Tennessee State or Tennessee-Martin.

UP NEXT FOR REDHAWKS: Miami will have eight days off before its next game, the home opener at Millett Hall against IPFW on Saturday, Nov. 22 at noon.