SVSU's Burkhardt And Hillsdale's Cezat Named GLIAC Women's Basketball North and South Division "Players of the Week", Respectively

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Bay City, Mich. -- Saginaw Valley State University sophomore forward Brittany Burkhardt (West Bloomfield, Mich./Walled Lake Central) and Hillsdale College senior forward Katie Cezat (Plymouth, Mich./Canton) were named GLIAC Women's Basketball North and South Division "Players of the Week", respectively it was announced by the league office.

North Division "Player of the Week":
Brittany Burkhardt - Saginaw Valley State
(So, F, 6-0, West Bloomfield, Mich. / Walled Lake Central)

Saginaw Valley State University women’s basketball player Brittany Burkhardt helped lead the Cardinals to a victory over Grand Valley State on February 21 by knocking down 24 points and grabbing nine rebounds against the Lakers. In SVSU’s first game of the week, Burkhardt recorded a double-double by scoring 19 points and pulling-down 15 rebounds against the Bulldogs of Ferris State on February 19. For the week, Burkhardt averaged 21.5 points per game and 12 rebounds per game.

North Division Honor Roll: Teghan Thelen - FS, Kara Crawford - GV, Shelle Rochon - LS, Katie Wysocky - MT, Kelsey Deacon - NM.

2008-09 Players of the Week: (11/18) T. Thelen- FS; (11/25) E. Veach- GV; (12/1) J. Guay- FS; (12/8) D. Danen- MT; (12/15) J. Armstrong- LS; (12/22) K. Wysocky- MT; (1/5) D. Danen - MT; (1/12) K. Deacon - NM; (1/19) J. Padin- GV; (1/26) S. Stream- MT; (2/2) K. Wysocky- MT; (2/9) J. Armstong- LS (2/16) A. Fleming- FS.

South Division "Player of the Week":
Katie Cezat - Hillsdale
(Sr, F, 6-0, Plymouth, Mich./Canton)

Senior forward Katie Cezat averaged 31 points and 19.5 rebounds per game last week, as the Chargers went 1-1 in the Upper Peninsula. In Thursday’s game at Northern Michigan, she broke her own single-season school record for points, finishing with 32 points and 21 rebounds, her fourth 30-point, 20-rebound game of the season. Saturday, she led Hillsdale to a 98-91 win at Michigan Tech, getting 30 points and 18 rebounds, 21 of those points coming in the second half. Her scoring helped the Chargers put up 59 points in the second half vs. a Huskies team that gave up an average of 56 points per game. Cezat also became just the fourth player in school history to get more than 1,500 points in a career over the weekend.

South Division Honor Roll: Betsy Morrison - AU, Laura Bardall - UF, Megan Starnes - NU, Brittany Smith - WS

2008-09 Players of the Week: (11/18) K. Cezat- HC; (11/25) A. Mihalic- UF; (12/1) K. Cezat- HC; (12/8) M. Fletcher- TU; (12/15) K. Cezat- HC; (12/22) K. Cezat- HC; (1/5) M. Starnes - NU; (1/12) K. Cezat - HC; (1/19) J. Ostergren- NU; (1/26) K. Cezat- HC; (2/2) K. Cezat- HC; (2/9) K. Cezat- HC (2/16) K. Cezat- HC.

-- GLIAC Women's Basketball Weekly Notes --

Ashland – The Eagles made the most of what they had winning both of their games this past weekend. First, AU beat Wayne State, 87-75 in the Eagles last home game of the season. AU then defeated Northwood at Quicken Loans Arena, 74-68. Against the Warriors, the Eagles used Senior Night to showcase their five seniors and their ability to play well. The fabulous five stepped onto the Kates Gymansium court to play their final home game of the season against Wayne State on Thursday (2/19). It was the first time the five players had started in the same game. The seniors combined for 61 points and 32 rebounds in the 87-75 victory over the Warriors. Lisa Graue put on a performance for the home crowd with 12 points, 12 rebounds, four steals and seven assists. It marked her second double-double of the season. Senior Betsy Morrison scored 18 points, leaving her 60 shy of the 1,000 point mark, and grabbed five rebounds. Senior Jessica Minch earned the start, scoring 14 points and grabbing six rebounds. Senior Lynsey Warren scored 10 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had four assists. Senior Alethea Lamberson finished out the scoring for the seniors with seven points. In the Northwood game, it was Morrison who led the way. She led all players in the game with 27 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Morrison had 19 points in the second half. AU outscored the ‘Wolves, 41-36 in the final 20 minutes. Ashland’s next game comes on Thursday (Feb. 26) at Findlay.

Ferris State - The Ferris State University women’s basketball squad has had some close games with Lake Superior State in recent memory and Saturday’s (Feb. 21) GLIAC tilt between the two teams inside FSU’s Jim Wink Arena was certainly no different…The Bulldogs posted a 69-66 triumph over the Lakers…Teghan Thelen tallied a team-high 21 points in her final home game and added both five rebounds and five assists. Meanwhile, Jenna Guay chipped in with 12 points, nine rebounds, three blocked shots and two assists. Ashley Fleming closed out the home portion of her career with a double-double effort as she had 11 points and 10 rebounds…On Thursday night, Ferris cruised to an 81-69 league triumph over visiting Saginaw Valley State on “Pink Wave Night” at Wink Arena…FSU had three players reach double-figure scoring versus SVSU. Junior center Andrea Clancy led the way with a team-high 13 points and six rebounds. Both senior guard Teghan Thelen and sophomore guard Chelsea Simonetti chipped in with 10 points apiece…Ferris State hits the road for its final two regular-season contests next week. The Bulldogs visit Northwood on Thursday, Feb. 26, starting at 6 p.m. (EST). FSU then travels to Wayne State Saturday, Feb. 28, to wrap up the regular-season with tipoff set for 1 p.m. (EST).

Findlay – The Oilers split a pair of games in the Upper Peninsula last week, losing 84-47 at nationally ranked Michigan Tech and winning 76-71 at Northern Michigan…The Oilers are still in contention for their first GLIAC Tournament appearance since the 2000-01 campaign…Freshman guard Laura Bardall led the Oilers during the week by averaging 21.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game…In the Oilers win over Northern Michigan, Bardall scored a career-high 24 points which included a 16-of-17 showing from the free throw line…Her 16 makes from the charity stripe gives her a share of the individual game record at UF...Junior guard Audra Mihalic has scored 931 career points and is looking to become the 17th player to reach 1,000 in a career at UF…Junior guard Maggie Gompers is chasing the school record for three point makes in a season… Thus far, Gompers has drilled 66 three point tries on the season and is staring down Kelly Murray who set the record for most made triples with 78 during the 1987-88 campaign.

Grand Valley State – The Lakers tallied a 1-1 week at GVSU Fieldhouse Arena, pushing their home record to 11-3 on the season. GVSU has alternated wins and losses in its seven contests after owning a 12-game win streak earlier in the season…freshman point guard Jasmine Padin made five three-pointers and scored a game-high 23 points on Thursday against Lake Superior State. Against Saginaw Valley State on Saturday, both senior Kim Wyngaard and sophomore Kara Crawford tallied career-highs in points. Wyngaard notched 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting and recorded a career-best five steals. Crawford was 10-of-14 from the floor and scored 20 points…after making a season-best 14 three-pointers against Lake Superior State on Thursday and shooting 50.0 percent from beyond the arc, the Lakers shot 3-of-28 from downtown in the loss to the Cardinals…GVSU heads out on the road to Wayne State and Northwood to wrap up its regular season schedule this weekend. The Lakers are 6-4 on the road this season.

Hillsdale – The Hillsdale College women’s basketball team picked up its most important win of the season Saturday, winning at Michigan Tech for the first time in seven years, 98-91…Senior Katie Eckinger scored a career-high 20 points for Hillsdale in the game…Junior guard Brooke Knight also set a career-high in scoring with 20 points…Knight made a basket from five feet behind the half-court stripe at the first half buzzer Saturday, her first points of the game…Senior Katie Cezat broke her own single-season scoring record Thursday night at Northern Michigan…She now has 711 points this season, breaking the record she set in 2007-08…Cezat now owns the single-season points, rebounds, blocked shots, field goals made and free throws made records in school history…The win Saturday at Michigan Tech was the first for the Chargers since Jan. 10, 2002…Hillsdale set a school record for fewest turnovers in a game with three on Saturday at Michigan Tech…The previous record was nine…Hillsdale moved into first place in the Midwest Regional Rankings last week…The Chargers and Huskies are now tied for first overall in the GLIAC, although currently, Michigan Tech owns the tiebreaker edge over Hillsdale based on MTU’s two wins over Grand Valley State…Hillsdale will celebrate senior day on Saturday with its home game against Ashland…The Chargers also clinched their second consecutive GLIAC South Division championship with Saturday’s win.

Lake Superior State – LSSU heads into the final week of the regular season in a three-way tie for seventh place in the GLIAC with Findlay and Northern Michigan, and the Lakers close out the regular season at home Saturday against the Wildcats. Earlier this season, LSSU won 71-58 at NMU. The Lakers also play host to Michigan Tech on Thursday. They lost 74-56 at Houghton on Jan. 24… Sophomore guard Shelle Rochon came off the bench to make 5-of-7 three-pointers and score 21 points during the Lakers’ 69-66 loss at Grand Valley on Thursday. Rochon has averaged 15.8 points per game in four games against GVSU spanning the last two seasons. She is scoring 5.6 ppg this season…Senior forward Jaclyn Armstrong averaged 18.5 points and 8.0 rebounds last week, while senior center Alyssa VanderWal contributed 9.5 points, 12.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocked shots per game. VanderWal totaled 16 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots while playing in her hometown. It was her ninth double double of the season…Armstrong, who is the league’s No. 2 scorer averaging 17.9 ppg, has averaged 21.2 ppg in her last six games.

Michigan Tech – Michigan Tech clinched the program’s ninth GLIAC Championship with Thursday’s (Feb. 19) win over Findlay. The Huskies have won two consecutive North Division titles. They also have the inside track on home court advantage for the entire GLIAC Tournament, which they’ve won four times in school history . Junior Sarah Stream became the 18th player in Michigan Tech history to score 1,000 points in Saturday’s (Feb. 21) game vs. Hillsdale. The 5-7 guard tallied a career-high 24 points in the contest to run her career point total to 1,023. Katie Wysocky moved into second place all-time on Tech’s rebounding chart during last Thursday’s (Feb. 19) win over Findlay. The 6-0 junior forward has 735 career rebounds and trails only former All-American Dawn Zarling (866 rebounds) on the list. Wysocky also notched a career high with 27 points vs. Hillsdale . Michigan Tech is now 2-1 vs. ranked opponents in 2008-09 after a 98-91 loss to Hillsdale last Saturday (Feb. 21) . Tech has reached the 20-win plateau for the 13th time in the program’s 34 years of history. It’s the third 20-win seasons for sixth-year head coach John Barnes.

Northern Michigan – The Northern Michigan University women’s basketball team hits the road this week for its final two regular season games against Saginaw Valley Thursday and Lake Superior State Saturday…Last week the Wildcats defeated Hillsdale off an intentional missed free throw and then lost to Findlay…Kelsey Deacon, with a team-high 23 points, hit the game-winner against the Chargers as Steffani Stoeger missed the free throw…Stoeger tied a career high with 27 points against the Oilers Saturday…Deacon is the lone ‘Cat averaging double-figures in the scoring column with 16.1 ppg…Deacon also leads the team in assists (76).

Northwood – Northwood went 1-1 last week, defeating Tiffin 62-54 before dropping a 74-68 contest against Ashland…the Timberwolves are now 19-6 overall, 14-6 in the GLIAC…Northwood’s 19 victories are the most in school history as a Division II school, breaking last year’s record of 18…the overall school record of 20 was set when the school was competing in the NAIA…NU is currently tied for third in the GLIAC Standings heading into the final week of the regular season…the Timberwolves control their own destiny to earn the third seed for the tournament…Megan Starnes led Northwood for the week by averaging 16.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game…she is currently seventh in school history with 1,186 points and fifth in rebounding with 670 boards…the Timberwolves were sixth in last week’s Great Lakes regional rankings…Northwood hosts Ferris State and Grand Valley State to round out the regular season this week.

Saginaw Valley State – Saginaw Valley split this week’s games, first losing at Ferris State on February 19, 81-69, and then knocking off rival Grand Valley on February 21, 71-65. Sophomore forward Brittany Burkhardt led the Cardinals with 19 points and 15 rebounds against Ferris State, and then again against Grand Valley State when she scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds. The Cardinals now have a 3-22 record overall and are 2-18 in the GLIAC as they head into the last week of action on their home court. First up is Northern Michigan on Thursday, and then the season finale against Michigan Tech on Saturday.

Tiffin – Leanne Lucius led the team with 14.5 ppg along with 6 rebounds per game but joined the Dragons in struggling from the three point arc. Lucius went 0-for-8 from three point, while the Dragons collectively went 7 for 38 (.184)…Megan Fletcher was also in double figures in scoring, averaging 10 ppg…Mandy Jaeb averaged 9 ppg while Kylene Spiegel was at 8.5 ppg…Holly Focke also continued her solid play in the paint, averaging 7.5 ppg and leading the team in rebounding with 8.5 rebounds per game.

Wayne State – Wayne State recorded its second GLIAC road win of the season last Saturday to finish with a 2-9 away mark…the two league road wins are the fewest since the 2004-05 team went 1-8…the Warriors are 3-6 at home heading into this week’s contests at the Matthaei vs. Grand Valley and Ferris State … WSU lost at both schools last month by a combined 10 points…senior Chastidy Miller (White Lake, Mich./Waterford Kettering) scored 22 points last week increasing her career total to 1,169, which ranks seventh all-time at WSU…freshman Felicia Thomas (Kalamazoo, Mich./Central) had her first two double-digit scoring efforts last week with 12 at Ashland and 11 at Tiffin…junior Brittany Smith (Milwaukee, Wis./Riverside) nearly had back-to-back double-doubles with 17 points and 14 rebounds at AU, along with 18 points and a game-high eight rebounds at TU.