University of Indianapolis Athletics

Complete release  (.pdf)

GAME 1
St. Catharine (0-3)
at Indianapolis (0-0)
Nicosn Hall
11/15/08, 3 pm

Live stats: www.sidearmstats.com/uindy/wbball/xlive.htm
Audio: wicr.uindy.edu
Radio: WICR 88.7 FM

On Tap:  The 11th-ranked UIndy women’s basketball team begins its quest for a third straight NCAA appearance Sunday by playing hosts to Saint Catharine College in the 2009-10 season opener. 

About St. Catharine:  Members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the Mid-South Conference, the Saint Catharine Patriots are coming off a 12-18 season, including a 2-10 mark in the MSC last year.

The veteran roster sports nine upperclassmen and five seniors.  Erin Rogers represents the Patriots top returning scorer, as the senior guard scored nearly 500 points last season while averaging 16.4 points per contest.  Senior Courtney Milam chipped in 13.4 ppg 5.4 rpg last season, while Danielle Brown led the squad in rebounds (6.4 rpg) and blocks (1.2 bpg).

St. Catharine (0-3) has already played three games heading into the weekend and will host Walsh University Saturday before facing the Hounds Sunday.

For Openers:  Indianapolis is 16-8 in season-opening games since starting Division II play in 1982-83, while current head coach LeAnn Freeland is two-for-two in season openers at UIndy.  Both of her wins marked the beginning of lengthy win streaks, as the Hounds went on to win each of their first 11 games in Freeland’s rookie year - a program record to start a season - before running off eight in a row to start the 2008-09 campaign.

Exhibits A, B, & C:  The Greyhounds went 1-2 in their three exhibition games, all against Division I opponents.  UIndy earned a double-digit win over Valparaiso before dropping a pair of games to highly-ranked foes in Notre Dame and Xavier.

Indianapolis traveled to Valpo Nov. 1 and walked away with a 67-56 win.  UIndy grabbed the lead midway through the first half, led by as many as 19 early in the second, and fended off a Crusader comeback effort in the closing minutes.

The Greyhounds came up on the short end in their second exhibition result, picking up a 97-53 loss at Notre Dame Tuesday, Nov. 3.  The Irish, who are ranked fourth in the D-I Associated Press Preseason Top 25 Poll, established big advantages in turnover margin (-18) and rebounding margin (+14) on the way to the blowout win.

The game was the very first at newly-renovated Purcel Pavilion while  the official attendance of 7,508 set new Notre Dame women’s basketball record for an exhibition contest.

Xavier, Division I’s 11th-ranked team, used a defensive first-half as a springboard to a 76-48 victory over visiting UIndy Saturday, Nov. 7.  XU held the Hounds to just a dozen first-half points to aid in the win.

The Hounds had a much better second half, however.  Though they did not shoot the ball particularly well, connecting on 21.1 percent for the game, the Greyhounds forced 11 of Xavier’s 18 turnovers in the final 20 minutes, as the Hounds were out-scored by just four, 40-36, in the latter period.

Head Coach LeAnn Freeland:  After compiling a 24-10 mark in 2008-09, Coach Freeland enters her third season at UIndy sporting a 46-18 career record, good for a .719 winning percentage, the highest in program history.
 
Freeland has guided UIndy to back-to-back NCAA berths, including its first-ever NCAA Sweet 16 appearance last year.  In one of the tourney’s toughest regions, the Greyhounds took down a pair of top-10 teams at the 2009 Big Dance (No. 3 Hillsdale & No. 9 Quincy) before falling to 69-52 to 22nd-ranked Michigan Tech in the Midwest Regional final.

In her rookie year, Freeland won her very first game as head coach and didn’t stop winning through the first 11 contests, setting a program record for most wins to start a season. The Greyhounds finished the season with 13 conference victories and a trip to the GLVC Tournament semifinals.

A week later, in UIndy’s first NCAA appearance since 2005 and sixth overall, Freeland’s inaugural campaign ended in a one-point, first-round loss to eventual national champion and fellow GLVC-member Northern Kentucky.

Tournament Run:  The 2008-09 UIndy women’s basketball team earned two upset wins at the NCAA Tournament to become the first squad in program history to win two games in the regional bracket.  The Hounds earned the seventh seed at the eight-team regional and collected wins versus a pair of top-ten schools in No. 3 Hillsdale and ninth-ranked Quincy.  Indianapolis faced a third straight top 25 team in the Midwest Regional final, as No. 22 Michigan Tech downed the Greyhounds 69-52 to advance to the Elite Eight.

Clutch Performer:  All-GLVC guard Jessica Canary had quite the NCAA Tournament in 2009.  The junior from Coatesville, Ind. nailed a game-winning triple with 3.7 ticks on the clock to beat third-ranked Hillsdale 73-72.  She followed that up with a career-high 33-point effort in a 74-64 win against No. 9 Quincy.  The lofty point total marked the highest ever by a Greyhound in NCAA Tournament play.

Poll Position:  UIndy’s postseason run earned it a No. 24 ranking in the final  USA Today/ESPN Division II women’s basketball poll.  The Greyhounds cracked the top 25 in the first poll of 2009 to earn its first national ranking since Jan. 12, 2005, but after later peaking at No. 19, the Hounds fell out of the rankings until the season’s final poll.  The Greyhounds’ highest ranking in the poll (since 1996-97) was seventh back on Mar. 12, 2003.

The Hounds come into the current season ranked 11th in the USA Today/ESPN Preseason D-II Coaches’ Poll.  In addition, they appear in the top ten in the 2009-10 Women’s Division II Bulletin Preseason Poll as the country’s fourth-ranked squad.

1,000-Point Club:  Two Greyhounds are on pace to crack 1,000 career points early next season.  Senior Jessica Canary (975 points) and junior Samantha  Meissel (958) should reach the milestone within the first few games of the 2009-2010 campaign, and after doing so, will become the program’s 17th and 18th members of the 1,000 point club.  As the highest scoring tandem in the GLVC last season, the two combined to score 33.1 points per contest, the highest combined total by UIndy’s top two scorers since 1994-95.

Hounds on Radio:  Once again, the Greyhounds will be broadcast live on WICR 88.7 FM.  Join the crew as they bring you all the play-by-play action.  You can also catch the Greyhounds on the Internet via live streaming.  Get details at http://wicr.uindy.edu.

Hounds on the Web:  Get all the up-to-date information on the Greyhounds anytime, day or night at http://athletics.uindy.edu.  The official home of Greyhound athletics, you can find rosters, schedules, statistics, news, media information, weekly releases and real-time stats during all home games.