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Nov. 27, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

OXFORD, Ohio – Miami University hits the road for the first time since the season opener, as it travels to Winston-Salem, N.C. to take on Wake Forest Saturday for a noon game.

VERSATILITY: Having players who can play many positions can be a huge bonus for a team and is often the difference between winning and losing. With guards Maggie Boyer, Briana Dunlap and Michelle Oswalt all missing the La Salle game with various injuries, forwards Ashleigh Brown and Jaclyn Leininger spent considerable time playing on the wing. Both responded well with Brown scoring a career high 16 points in 35 minutes, shooting 8-for-10 from the field. Leininger provided seven points and brought down 10 rebounds. This versatility allowed head coach Maria Fantanarosa to play a rotation of 10 players, despite the fact that six of them are natural forwards. The RedHawk depth eventually wore down the Explorers and forced them into 20 turnovers.

BCS BUSTERS: Wake Forest is in the ACC, one of six conferences that make up the Bowl Championship Series. Fairly or not, wins over schools from those conferences are looking upon strongly when it comes to end of season rankings. Miami last defeated a BCS team when they beat Michigan 84-74 on Dec. 6, 2006.

LAST GAME: The RedHawks defeated La Salle 63-50 in their last game on Tuesday. Ashleigh Brown was the star of the game with a career high 16 points on 8-for-10 shooting. Jenna Schone also had a strong game, finishing with 15. Jaclyn Leininger played well on the glass, despite having to play some guard for Miami to compensate for injures. She finished with 10 rebounds. The RedHawks shot 46 percent for the game. The key stretch in game came early in the second half. Having jumped to an 11 point lead early in the period, Miami endured a 12-4 run by the Explorers that pulled La Salle to within three at 38-35 with 14:57 remaining. Schone followed with back-to-back shots that helped push the lead back to double digits and put the game away.

ABOUT WAKE FOREST: Wake Forest is 4-0 on the season. It won both of its games this week, defeating Winston-Salem State 76-38 on Monday, Nov. 24, and followed it up with a 75-67 win at Charlotte on Wednesday, Nov. 26. Playing in the ultra-competitive ACC, the Demon Deacons were 15-15 overall season and 2-14 in conference. They return four starters and 10 letterwinners from last year’s team. Leading the way for Wake Forest so far is sophomore forward Brittany Waters. She is averaging 12.5 points per game, despite playing only 17.8 minutes per game on average.

SERIES HISTORY: This is the second meeting all-time between the RedHawks and Demon Deacons. Wake Forest defeated Miami 67-61 in the consolation game of the Northwestern Invitational on Dec. 3, 2005. Cindi Merrill led the RedHawks with 21 points, and Jaclyn Leininger contributed 19 points in the loss.

MIAMI VS. ACC: The RedHawks are 3-9 overall against the ACC. All three wins have come against Boston College, as Miami is 3-0 all-time against the Eagles. The RedHawks have dropped two games each to Clemson and Florida State and fallen in their only meeting to Duke, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.

Miami has never faced Maryland, Miami (FL), North Carolina State and Virginia.

UP NEXT FOR REDHAWKS: The RedHawks will make the short trip to Wright State next Tuesday for a 7 p.m. game, before traveling to Colorado Springs, Colo. and the United States Air Force Academy to participate in the first of two holiday tournaments this year on Dec. 5-6. The RedHawks face Texas Pan-American in the opener of the tournament on Dec. 5, with the host Falcons taking on North Carolina Central. The consolation and championship games are on Dec. 6.