Women's Basketball 1/8/2004 12:00:00 AM Canisius College Athletics

Women's Basketball Set to Host Fairfield Friday Night

Game No. 12 Canisius College (5-6, 0-2 MAAC) vs. Fairfield (3-9, 1-1 MAAC) Date and Time: Friday, Jan. 9, 2004 - 7:00 p.m. Site: Koessler Athletic Center (2,176) - Buffalo, N.Y. Broadcast Information: www.GoGriffs.com (Jay Moran, play-by-play)

Tonight The Canisius College women's basketball team returns to conference action tonight with a home game against Fairfield University. Canisius is in the midst of a two-game winning streak after beating Colgate 63-47 Tuesday afternoon in the Koessler Athletic Center, the team's first two-game winning streak of the season. The Golden Griffins are 0-2 in MAAC play this season after losing at Marist Dec. 5, and at Siena Dec. 7. The last time Canisius opened MAAC play with three-straight losses was the 2000-01 season, when Canisius went 0-6 before winning a conference game at home against Niagara. Fairfield enters the game on a four-game losing streak after falling to Siena Jan. 5. Fairfield is 1-1 in conference play, with the win coming at home over Manhattan Dec. 4. Fairfield was picked to win the conference in the MAAC Preseason Poll.

Quick Hits Canisius held Colgate to 47 points in the win Jan. 6, the first time the Griffs have held an opponent under 50 points since Jan. 23, 2000, when Canisius beat conference rival Marist 82-45 in Poughkeepsie, N.Y... The Jan. 6, crowd of 1,465 was the largest crowd to see a Canisius College women's basketball game at the Koessler Athletic Center. The previous attendance record was 708, which was set Jan. 8, 1984 when the Blue and Gold played host to Charleston... Canisius is 4-0 this season when leading at the half and 0-6 when trailing at the intermission... The Griffs are 5-1 this year when out rebounding its opponents... In five of the team's six losses this season, Canisius has scored 59 points or less and in three of the team's five wins the Griffs have held their opponents under 60 points... Last season Canisius snapped a seven-game losing streak to Fairfield with an 82-79 overtime win in the Arena at Harbor Yard Feb. 23. The win was the team's first overtime victory under head coach Mike Decillis.

Scouting the Stags Fairfield enters tonight's game on a four-game losing streak after losing to conference rival Siena Jan. 5, at home. The Stags have lost six of their last eight games by an average of 6.5 points per game. Senior Schrene Isidora is leading the way offensively for the Stags with her 11.4 points per game scoring average. Janelle McManus is chipping in 8.8 points and 3.3 assists per contest, while junior Cathy Dash is the team's top rebounder, pulling down 5.8 boards per outing. Head coach Dianne Nolan is in her 25th season as the head coach of Fairfield's women's program and has collected 411 career wins on the Stags' bench. Nolan picked up her 400th career win at Fairfield in the Stags' 75-71 win over Canisius Jan. 17, 2003 in the Koessler Athletic Center.

Series History Tonight marks the 32nd time these two schools have met on the hardwood, with Fairfield holding a 21-10 advantage. Last season these two teams split the season series, with both teams posting wins on the road. The Griffs' 82-79 overtime win at Fairfield snapped Canisius' seven-game losing streak in the series and was the first overtime win for the Blue and Gold under Mike Decillis. The last time Canisius beat Fairfield at home was Dec. 5, 1999, when the Griffs posted a 73-72 win in Buffalo, N.Y.

From the Training Room Freshmen Jess Starkey will be out of action this afternoon. Starkey has yet to dress for the Griffs after injuring her back in preseason workouts. Fellow freshman Abby Radunske will also be out of action today with a foot injury. She has missed the team's last two games after seeing action in the first nine games of the season. Friendly Confines The Griffs own an all-time mark of 180-82 (.687) 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 66-88; .429 (6th Year); Native of Irvington, N.J. Became the second Canisius coach to be on the bench for 150-career games Dec. 19, 2003. 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 500 million web addresses.
Canisius Milestones Senior Jenel Stevens enters the game with 1,261-career points and is ranked seventh all-time on the school's scoring list. She needs 149 more points to pass Anne Brocker for sixth place on the chart... Senior Lonnie Brown has started in 41-straight games after not starting a single game in her freshman and sophomore seasons... Brown needs 274 more points to become the 15th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark for her career... The Golden Griffins need 14 more wins to reach the 400-win mark as a program... Head coach Mike Decillis coached in his 150th game on the Canisius bench Dec. 19, making him just the second coach in program history to reach that mark. Former women's basketball coach and current Canisius softball coach Mike Rappl coached in 187 basketball games from 1986-93.

From the Hard to Believe File In Canisius' 65-45 loss at California Dec. 21, the Golden Griffins went to the free-throw line just twice, going 0-for-2 on the day. That marks just the second time in program history that the team has not made a free-throw in a game. The only other time that happened was in a home loss to conference rival Siena Jan. 24, 1981. The Griffs were 0-for-2 from the charity stripe in that loss as well.

On the Road Again Canisius played 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 traveled 9,382 miles from Nov. 21-Dec. 30.

Double-Double The Fun Canisius players have posted seven double-doubles this season, going 2-2 in those games, The last Canisius double-double came Dec. 28, at South Florida when senior Jenel Stevens scored 18 points and pulled down a season-high 16 boards in the losing effort.

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.

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. She was also named Preseason First Team All-MAAC for the second-straight year.

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 Nov. 21.

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 Twelve Canisius regular season games will air on the Internet at www.GoGriffs.com this season. All three home games this week will be broadcast live by the “Voice of the Griffs” Jay Moran.

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 closed out the 2003-04 portion of their non-conference schedule with a 5-4 record after beating Colgate Jan. 6. The Griffs played eight-straight non-conference games away from the Koessler Athletic Center, with two games being played at a neutral site. The meetings with North Texas, San Francisco and California were the first in program history.

Replay Senior guard Jenel Stevens led all scorer's with a game-high 21 points to help lead the Canisius College Golden Griffins to a 63-47 win over Colgate University Jan. 6, on Wendy's Kid's Day in the Koessler Athletic Center. Three other Canisius players posted double-digits in the scoring column as the Blue and Gold moved to 5-6 overall with the win in their final non-conference game of the season. Sophomore Becky Zak scored 11 points and dished out seven assists, while Lonnie Brown and Cheri Wittlieb added 10 points apiece in the winning effort. Canisius and Colgate were tied at 30-30 at the intermission, but the Griffs responded with a 15-2 run in the first 5:00 of the second half to pull away from the Raiders. Canisius shot 43.5 percent from the field, while holding Colgate to just 28.4 percent from the field and 17.6 percent from three-point land. The win was Canisius' second-straight victory, the first time this year the team has posted back-to-back wins. The Kid's Day crowd of 1,465 set a new record for a women's game at the Koessler Athletic Center, breaking the old mark of 708 set Jan. 8, 1984.

What's On Tap The Golden Griffins will close out a three-game home stand with a conference match-up against Saint Peter's Jan. 11, in the Koessler Athletic Center. Last season the Blue and Gold posted two wins over Saint Peter's for the first time in program history after scoring wins in Jersey City, N.J., and in the quarterfinal round of the 2003 MAAC Tournament. Canisius' road win over Saint Peter's was just the third in the program's history. The Griffs have not beaten the Peahens in Buffalo, N.Y., since the 1998-99 season when the Blue and Gold posted a 75-62 win in the Koessler Athletic Center.

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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

#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

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

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

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