Women's Basketball 11/29/2003 12:00:00 AM Canisius College Athletics

Women's Basketball Meets Hofstra at the Binghamton Tournament

Game No. 3 Canisius College (1-1) vs. Hofstra (1-2) Date and Time: Sunday, Nov. 30, 2003 - 1:00 p.m. Site: West Gymnasium (2,275) - Vestal, N.Y. Broadcast Information: None

Today Canisius will square off with the Hofstra Pride in the consolation game of the Binghamton/Time Warner Classic in Vestal, N.Y. The Golden Griffins suffered their first loss of the season yesterday with an 81-79 loss to North Texas in the tournament's first game. The Griffs trailed by as many as 19 points in the second half before using a 21-10 run in the first 8:47 of the second half and cut the Lady Eagles' lead to just one with 6:32 left in regulation time. The Pride fell to Binghamton 64-44 in the nightcap.

Quick Hits Sophomore guard Becky Zak was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Week Nov. 24, after scoring a career-high 18 points and dishing out a career-best 10 assists in the Griffs' 79-57 win over cross-town rival Buffalo Nov. 21. Zak was also credited with a career-high six rebounds as she played 37 minutes in her first college start... This is the second consecutive season where a Canisius player has earned the conference's Player of the Week honor; last season Jenel Stevens was named the Player of the Week after averaging 25 points in two wins to open the year... This will mark the fifth time Canisius has met Hofstra on the hardwood with two of the previous four meetings coming in a tournament setting.

Scouting Hostra The Pride enters the contest with a 1-2 record after losing to Binghamton Saturday afternoon... Guard Cigi McCollin leads the way for the Pride, averaging 12.3 points per contest, highlighted by her 16 point effort in a loss to nationally-ranked North Carolina Nov. 23... The loss to Binghamton was Hofstra's 14th straight road loss... Hofstra sophomore Darby Burke is in her first season with the Pride after sitting out all of last season. The 5-foot-9 guard from Baltimore, Md., played her freshman season at Canisius College.

Series History Canisius holds a 3-1 series lead in the all-time series between these two schools. The last time these two schools met was during the 1990-91 season in the Canisius Tournament. The Blue and Gold has won three-straight over Hofstra.

In-Season Tourney Time This marks the 10th-straight season the Golden Griffins have taken part in an in-season tournament. Last season, Canisius took home the tournament title of the 2002 Eastern Michigan/Eagle Classic in Ypsilanti, Mich. By winning the team championship, Canisius became the first team other than Eastern Michigan to win the event, and Jenel Stevens became the first player to be named MVP who was not on the Eastern Michigan roster. Under Decillis, Canisius has taken part in six in-season tournaments, going 5-8 overall. All-time, Canisius is 52-50 at in-season tournaments, including Saturday's loss to North Texas.

From the Training Room Freshmen Jackie Richards and Jess Starkey will not dress for this weekend's games. Richards is still rehabbing from knee surgery from last December, while Starkey is rehabbing a back injury which she suffered in the fall.

Friendly Confines The Griffs own an all-time mark of 179-82 (.686) in the Koessler Athletic Center. The Dec. 6, 2002, game against Saint Peter's in the KAC was the 250th contest the women's program has played in the on-campus facility. The KAC underwent a $1.3 million facelift over the past three years, which includes adding reserved seating and bringing the capacity to 2,176.

Head Coach Mike Decillis 62-83; .428 (6th Year); Native of Irvington, N.J. Became the fourth coach in Canisius women's history to reach 50-career wins on the Griffs' bench. Won his first game as the Canisius head coach Nov. 27, 1998, a 92-90 win over Cornell. Won his overtime game as the Griffs' head coach Feb. 23, 2003 at Fairfield by an 82-79 score. Was named the seventh head coach in program history July 20, 1998. Prior to coming to Canisius, Mike spent 14 seasons as the head coach at Nazareth College in Pittsford, N.Y., where he compiled a 253-129 record, making him the winningest coach in the history of Nazareth College athletics, a title he still holds. In the summer of 2003, Decillis was in the first induction class to the Ocean County (N.J.) Sports Hall of Fame.

One Last Go-Round Prior to the start of the 2003-04 season, head coach Mike Decillis announced that his sixth season at the helm of the women's program at Canisius will be his last. Decillis has been coaching since 1970 and is in his 24th year as a college basketball coach.

Since Decillis Has Been Coaching... When Decillis got his start in the coaching ranks at Trumansburg (N.Y.) High School, Richard Nixon was the President of the United States. Through his career, there have been seven different presidents in the White House When Decillis took over the women's team at Nazareth College in 1984, only three players on the current Canisius roster were born. When Decillis came to Canisius in 1998, there were just 5 million web sites on the Internet. Today there are over 90 million web addresses.

Top Honors for Stevens Jenel Stevens became the first player in program history to be honored as the 2003-04 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Year at the conference's annual Media Day in the Theater at Madison Square Garden. Stevens led the league last year with her 20.5 points per game scoring average, while pulling down a career-high 10.1 rebounds per contest. The 5-foot-9 senior scored 20 or more points in 18 of Canisius' last 32 games (dating back to last season). She was also named Preseason First Team All-MAAC for the second-straight year.

No Longer a Freshman Sophomores Cheri Wittlieb and Jess Steeves were the only two freshmen on last season's roster to play in all 30 games. Wittlieb averaged 9.4 points per game after shooting 36.4 percent from three-point land and was named to the HSBC/MAAC All-Rookie Team by the league's 10 coaches. She was the first Golden Griffin player to receive this honor since Shauna Geronzin was honored after her rookie season in Blue and Gold. Steeves scored her first collegiate start in the team's win over Buffalo, and posted a career-high nine points in the win over the Bulls before reaching that mark again with nine points in a loss to North Texas Nov. 29.
Canisius Milestones Senior Jenel Stevens started her 50th career game Nov. 21, at Buffalo... Stevens moved into 13th place on the school's all-time scoring list with her 21 points at Buffalo... She needs just 55 points to move into the program's Top-10... Stevens pulled down her 600th career rebound in the loss to North Texas Nov. 29, and needs two more boards to move into 10th all-time in the program's history... The Golden Griffins need 18 more wins to reach the 400-win mark in program history... Senior Lonnie Brown has started in 32-straight games dating back to last season after not starting a single game in her freshman and sophomore seasons... She also needs 370 more points to reach the 1,000-point mark for her career.

On the Road Again Canisius will play 10-straight games away from the Koessler Athletic Center to start this season, which is the longest road stretch in program history. The previous record for games on the road was eight-straight, set during the 1985-86 season. In all, the Griffs will travel 9,382 miles from Nov. 21-Dec. 30. Double-Double The Fun Since the start of the 2002-03 season, Canisius has won 15 of its last 18 games when at least one player is credited with a double-double. Senior Jenel Stevens was credited with her 22nd career double-double Nov. 29, with 14 points and 14 rebounds in a loss to North Texas.

Preseason Poll Canisius was picked to finish sixth in the MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. Senior guard Jenel Stevens was selected as the Preseason Player of the Year and was also named first-team All-MAAC for the second year in a row.

Hoak Knows Hoops Junior Aileen Hoak joined the women's basketball team as a walk-on this season, and is the only junior on this year's roster. She is also the only two-sport athlete on the team. Hoak joined the basketball team in October, while still participating for the cross-country. She took top individual honors at the Little Three event Oct. 18, and posted the top individual finish for the Griffs at the MAAC Championships Oct. 31. Hoak has not played basketball since high school, where she a four-year letterwinner at Nardin Academy.

Not Easy Being Green This season, Canisius has 11 players on its active roster. Eight of those players are either freshmen or sophomores. As a team, the Griffs had a total of 278 games worth of college basketball experience entering the season opener at the University at Buffalo.

Griffs on the Tube The Golden Griffins are set to appear on television Feb. 29, at Niagara. This will be the first time the Blue and Gold has played a TV game during the regular season since the 2001-02 season when the Griffs played Niagara in the Gallagher Center. Last year Canisius played one televised game, the MAAC Semifinal game against Manhattan.

On the Air Nine Canisius regular season games will air on the Internet at www.GoGriffs.com this season. Canisius College student Joe Clifford will call play-by-play for the third-straight year. The Griffs will return to the airwaves Jan. 24, 2004, when Siena College comes to the Koessler Athletic Center for a MAAC game.

Captains Seniors Jenel Stevens and Lonnie Brown and sophomore Cheri Wittlieb have been selected as this year's captains.
Canisius Signs Five Head coach Mike Decillis has announced that Nia Capuano (Moon Township, Pa.), Mary Kathryn LaFave (Lakeport, Mich.), Mere Mullins (Binghamton, N.Y.), Katie Thorner (Sarnia, Ont.) and JJ Williams (Lansing, N.Y.) have all signed their National Letters of Intent during the NCAA's early signing period. Capuano is entering her senior season at Moon Area High School. She was a co-captain on last season's team that posted a school-record 26 wins en route to an appearance in the PIAA's Elite 8. LaFave is a 5-foot-10 guard from Port Huron, Mich. She average better than 15 points a game and was recently named the Macomb Area Conference Most Valuable Player. Mullins is a 6-foot guard who has been named all-conference in her last two seasons, while Thorner is a five-time letterwinner and three-time captain for her Northern High School squad. Williams will play in the post for the Blue and Gold and is an AAU teammate of Mullins.

Oh Canada This year's roster includes three Canadian-born players. Freshmen Abby Radunske (New Hamburg, Ont.), Jessie Lamparski (Hamilton, Ont.) and Megan Lyte (Midhurst, Ont.) all come to the Griffs after growing up north of the border.

Family Ties Freshman Abby Radunske is a big Edmonton Oilers fan, especially after the National Hockey League franchise drafted her older brother Brock in the third round (79th overall) in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. Brock is currently a junior left winger at Michigan State University.

Connecticut Connection Sophomore Jess Steeves and freshman Jess Starkey are both natives of Connecticut and were teammates before coming to Canisius. Both players played on the Connecticut Storm AAU team while in high school.

Non-Conference Schedule Canisius will play nine non-conference games this season. The Griffs will play eight of those nine games away from the Koessler Athletic Center in Buffalo, N.Y. The team will play a non-conference game against Hofstra in the Binghamton Tournament and will host Colgate in the home opener Jan. 6, 2004. This will be the first time Canisius has played non-conference opponents North Texas, San Francisco and California.

Last Time Out North Texas University was able to hold on late in the game thanks to four-straight made free-throws to secure an 81-79 win over Canisius College in the first game of the Binghamton/Time Warner Classic in Vestal, N.Y. The win improved the Lady Eagles to 3-1 overall, while Canisius fell to 1-1 with the loss. Sophomores Cheri Wittlieb and Becky Zak each scored a team-high 16 points in the losing effort. Senior Jenel Stevens was credited with her 22nd career double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds, while fellow senior Lonnie Brown chipped in 11 points and 10 boards in the losing effort. Canisius trailed by 12 points at the intermission after North Texas shot 41.9 percent from the field and 60 percent from three-point land in the game's first 20 minutes, while holding the Blue and Gold to 38.7 percent from the field prior to the half. Canisius opened the second half with a 21-10 run in the first 8:47 to cut into the lead, and tied the game at 68-68 after Stevens hit two free-throws with 5:00 left in regulation. Canisius sophomore Jess Steeves tied a career-high with nine points for the second-straight contest, while freshman Jessie Lamparski came off the bench and scored a career-high eight points in 16 minutes of action.

On Tap For the Griffs The Golden Griffins will open the conference portion of their schedule next weekend at Marist and Siena Dec. 5-7. Canisius went 1-1 last season against Marist, with each team winning on the road. The Griffs have lost seven-straight to the Saints, the program's longest current losing streak to a conference foe.

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Players Mentioned

#32 Lonnie Brown: F; 5' 10"; Senior

#23 Jessie Lamparski: G; 5' 9"; Freshman

#44 Megan Lyte: F; 6' 0"; Freshman

#11 Abby Radunske: G/F; 5' 11"; Freshman

#25 Jackie Richards: F/C; 6' 1"; Sophomore

#15 Jess Starkey: G; 5' 5"; Freshman

#24 Cheri Wittlieb: G; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#20 Becky Zak: G; 5' 6"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#32 Lonnie Brown
: 5' 10"; Senior
: F

#23 Jessie Lamparski
: 5' 9"; Freshman
: G

#44 Megan Lyte
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: F

#11 Abby Radunske
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: G/F

#25 Jackie Richards
: 6' 1"; Sophomore
: F/C

#15 Jess Starkey
: 5' 5"; Freshman
: G

#24 Cheri Wittlieb
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: G

#20 Becky Zak
: 5' 6"; Sophomore
: G