Women's Basketball 2/21/2004 12:00:00 AM Canisius College Athletics

Women's Basketball Hosts Loyola on Senior Day

<#IMAGE:3#>Game No. 26 Canisius (15-10, 10-6 MAAC) vs. Loyola (11-13, 7-8 MAAC) Date and Time: Sunday, Feb. 22, 2004 - 2:05 p.m. Site: Koessler Athletic Center (2,176) - Buffalo, N.Y. Broadcast Information: www.GoGriffs.com (Joe Clifford, play-by-play)

Today The Canisius College women's basketball team closes out the home portion of the 2003-04 schedule when Loyola comes to the Koessler Athletic Center on Senior Day. Prior to the start of today's game, the women's basketball team will honor seniors Jenel Stevens and Lonnie Brown who are making their final home appearances. The Griffs are 2-3 on Senior Day under head coach Mike Decillis after last year's 81-68 win over Loyola here in the KAC. This will also be the final home game for Decillis, who is retiring after this season after coaching for 25 years, with the last six seasons being spent as the head coach at Canisius. Canisius is coming off an 82-56 win Friday night over Rider in the Koessler Center. Becky Zak scored a game-high 17 points and dished out eight assists in the winning effort, which saw every Griff player on the roster score at least one point. Loyola enters today's contest with an 11-13 overall record and 7-8 conference mark. The Greyhounds lost at Niagara 73-59 Friday night. Loyola has drooped two in a row and enters today's game in sixth place in the MAAC. Loyola has not won in Buffalo since the 1999-00 season.

Quick Hits Ten of Canisius' 25 games this season have been decided by 15 points or more, with Canisius going 5-5 in those contests...

The Griffs posted their 10th MAAC win of the season with the win over Rider Friday night, tying the school record for conference wins in a season. The 1998-99 team finished the year 10-8 in conference play... 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... Canisius is 12-1 this season when leading at the half and 2-9 when trailing at the intermission... The Griffs are 12-2 this year when out rebounding its opponents... In five of the team's 10 losses this season, Canisius has scored 59 points or less and in seven of the team's 15 wins the Griffs have held their opponents under 60 points.

Scouting Loyola Loyola is led offensively by sophomore Katie Scherle, who enters the game averaging 11.5 points per game. Scherle, who was named the HSBC/MAAC Rookie of the Year last season, also leads the Greyhounds in rebounding with six boards per game. Lauren Troupe averages 10.8 points per game while teammates Lindsay Cobb and Krystle Harrington chip in 7.6 points per game apiece. As a team, Loyola is averaging 59.5 points per game which ranks ninth in the conference. Loyola's defense is ranked in the MAAC's Top-5 as the Greyhounds only allow opponents to score an average of 61.2 points per game. Loyola has not allowed a team to score more than 76 points all season, with Maryland and Canisius each posting 76 points in their meetings with Loyola.

Series History Loyola holds a 17-16 advantage in the all-time series after posting an 88-76 win in the Reitz Arena Jan. 16. Canisius has won the last four meetings between these two schools in the Koessler Athletic Center. This is the second consecutive season the Greyhounds have been in town for Canisius' Senior Day, and the third year in a row where the Greyhounds were in Buffalo for the Griffs' final home weekend.

Head Coach Mike Decillis 76-92; .452 (6th Year); Native of Irvington, N.J. Became the third Canisius coach in program history to post 75 wins Feb. 14, and the second 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.

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.

In the National Numbers Senior Jenel Stevens ranks 81st in the nation in scoring average with her 16.8 points per game and ranks 25th in the country in rebounds per game, pulling down an average of 10 per contest. Sophomore guard Becky Zak ranks 35th in the nation in assists average with 5.4 per contest, while fellow sophomore Cheri Wittlieb ranks 46th nationally in three-point field goal percentage, shooting 37.6 percent from behind the three-point arc. As a team, the Blue and Gold ranks 50th in the nation in scoring average with 70.5 points per game and 72nd in the country in assists per game, dishing out an average of 15 helpers per contest.

From the Training Room Canisius will be without freshmen Jess Starkey (back) for the rest of the year. The freshman guard injured herself in preseason workouts and has not dressed for a game this season.

From Way Down Town In the last three Canisius games, the Blue and Gold have fired 79 three-pointers, draining 40. In the win over Rider Friday night, Canisius knocked down a season-high 11 three-balls, two short of the program record 13 set last season against Stetson. The sophomore tandem of Cheri Wittlieb (9-for-19, 47.4 percent) and Becky Zak (9-for-26, 34.6 percent) lead the way for the Blue and Gold from three-point land during those games.

Friendly Confines The Griffs own an all-time mark of 185-84 (.688) 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.

Canisius Milestones Senior Jenel Stevens became the fifth player in program history to reach the 1,500 career point plateau with her 11 points in the win over Rider Feb. 20. Stevens needs 19 more points to pass former Griff player and current Siena head coach Gina Castelli, for fourth place on the all-time in scoring chart... Stevens became the fourth player in program history to reach the 800 career rebound milestone with her team-high 13 rebounds in the win at Fairfield Feb. 14... Senior Lonnie Brown has started in 55-straight games after not starting a single game in her freshman and sophomore seasons... Brown needs 64 more points to become the 15th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark for her career and passed the 600 rebound mark in her career with eight boards at Fairfield Feb. 14... The Golden Griffins need six 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... Sophomore Jess Steeves has played in all 54 games in her two seasons at Canisius.

Double-Double The Fun Canisius players have posted 20 double-doubles this season, going 10-5 in those games. Senior Jenel Stevens had a team-high 22 points and 12 boards for her 34th career double-double in the team's loss at Iona Monday night.

National Recognition for #21 Senior Jenel Stevens has been honored as one of 30 candidates for the 2003-04 Bayer Advantage Senior CLASS Award, presented annually to the top male and female NCAA Division I Player of the Year. Stevens is the only female player from a MAAC school to receive this honor. The award was launched during the 2001-02 season in response to the recent trend of college basketball players leaving school early to turn professional. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the award was developed to honor seniors for completing their collegiate athletic eligibility. Past winners of this award are Juan Dixon (Maryland) and David West (Xavier) on the male side and Sue Bird (Connecticut) and LaToya Thomas (Mississippi State) on the women's side. A national media committee will select 10 finalists in February, with the female winner being announced at the 2004 Women's Final Four in New Orleans.

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

Preseason Poll Canisius was picked to finish sixth in the MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.

Step Right Up The Wendy's Kid's Day crowd Jan. 6, 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.

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. The junior guard recorded her first collegiate points in the team's win over Iona Jan. 26, when she scored three points in three minutes of action.

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.

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.

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.

Griffs on the Tube The Golden Griffins are set to appear on the Empire Sports Network Feb. 29, at Niagara, This will be the first regular season game the Griffs have played on television since the 2001-02 season when the Griffs and Purple Eagles were televised on Adelphia 13 in the Buffalo area.

On the Air Thirteen Canisius regular season games will air on the Internet at www.GoGriffs.com this season. Canisius College senior Joe Clifford will call the play-by-play for all remaining home games and the Feb. 29, game at Niagara.

What's On Tap Canisius will close out the regular season with a road game at rival Niagara Sunday, Feb. 29. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on tape delay on the Empire Sports Network at 4 p.m. Niagara has won four straight over the Griffs, including the first meeting between these two schools this season, a 73-70 win Feb. 11, in the Koessler Athletic Center.

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Players Mentioned

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

#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

#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