Thursday State Sports Briefs: UWGB looks to end Toledo's home winning streak

• UW-Green Bay Phoenix

UW-Green Bay Phoenix

Talk about it

TOLEDO, Ohio - The UW-Green Bay women's basketball team will try to end Toledo's 22-game home winning streak tonight. Green Bay is ranked 21st in the AP media poll at 7-0. The Phoenix are also ranked 16th in the new coaches' poll.

Toledo is 5-2 overall. The Rockets are ranked fifth in the Mid-Major Top-25 from College Insider.com. Toledo is 47-4 at home in three-plus seasons under coach Tricia Collup. Courtney Ingersoll averages a trio of three-pointers per game, tied for first in the Mid-American Conference. Green Bay will start freshman Megan Lukan at point guard for the first time tonight. Lukan averages around eight points, four rebounds, and three assists in a back-up role. She'll replace senior Hannah Quilling, who's averaging around five points, four assists, and two rebounds. Coach Matt Bollant says Lukan has earned the starting job with her performances in the last four games.

_____________________________________________________________

The University of Wisconsin women's basketball team will play at Kansas tonight in the Big Ten-Big 12 Challenge. The Badgers will try to even their 4-5 record -- but it won't be easy against a Kansas squad that's 7-1. Wisconsin lost a home overtime game to the Jayhawks by seven last year, in the inaugural Big Ten-Big 12 Challenge. Big Ten teams went 7-5 a year ago. This year, they're 4-4 against the Big 12 so far. Wisconsin is coming off a pair of victories over Boston College and Saint Louis. Senior Ashley Thomas played a career-high 39 minutes against Saint Louis on Monday night. She made 6-of-8 from the floor, and had a collegiate-high 14 points with seven rebounds. Also tonight, the UW-Milwaukee women play at top-ranked Baylor.

______________________________________________________________

The Marquette University women committed 37 turnovers last night in losing their Big East opener at Notre Dame, 95-42. Coach Terri Mitchell said she was embarrassed -- there was nothing positive could think of -- and this game would be quote, "etched in my memory for a very long time." The Fighting Irish scored 46 points off Marquette's miscues -- and 18 of the turnovers came on steals. Notre Dame made 7-of-13 from three-point-range -- and Irish coach Muffet McGraw said it helped open up the paint. Notre Dame scored 52 points inside. The Irish shot 58-percent, while holding Marquette to 36-percent. Kayla McBride scored 19 points for Notre Dame, which improved to 8-1 overall. Sarina Simmons had 14 for Marquette, which fell to 5-5. The Eagles will host Iona on Saturday.

_______________________________________________________________

Former University of Wisconsin men's center Brian Butch has agreed to sign a training camp contract with the NBA's New Orleans Hornets. It's a non-guaranteed arrangement. Butch will join other NBA players in reporting to camps for the first time tomorrow, following the five-month owners' lockout. Butch said several NBA teams expressed an interest in him. He played briefly for Denver last season before getting hurt. Butch is now with Bakersfield in the NBA's Developmental League. He's averaging 20 points and 12 rebounds in four games. Butch also helped represent the U.S. at this summer's Pan American Games.

________________________________________________________

The Big East Conference lost three men's basketball powerhouses when Syracuse, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia pulled out. But Marquette interim athletic director Mike Broeker says Houston, Southern Methodist, and Central Florida have all committed to improve their basketball programs. And while they cannot replace a Syracuse-quality school right now, Broeker says he's optimistic about the future. Meanwhile, He hopes the departures of Pitt, Syracuse, and the Mountaineers won't hurt Marquette's overall attendance at the Bradley Center. Broeker says he hopes people are coming to see the Eagles instead of the opponents -- and he's working with coach Buzz Williams to try and bring in more high-profile teams during the non-conference season in November and December. Central Florida, SMU, and Houston were admitted to the Big East yesterday for all sports. Boise State and San Diego State were added only football, which Marquette does not offer.

_________________________________________________________

Speaking of attendance, the University of Wisconsin men's basketball team won big on the floor, but not so big at the gate. For the first time in eight years, the Badgers did not sell out the Kohl Center last night. 17,076 tickets were sold for Wisconsin's in-state battle against UW-Green Bay -- ending a string of 143 consecutive sellouts. Bo Ryan's Badgers crushed the Phoenix 70-42. Meanwhile, tickets are still available for Saturday afternoon, when Wisconsin hosts Nevada-Las Vegas.

_________________________________________________________

Jordan Barclay of Carroll University in Waukesha is the women's swimming-and-diving performer of the week in the Midwest Conference. Barclay, a senior, won the 200-yard breast-stroke and the 200-individual medley at an invitational at Grinnell. Dylan Gray of Grinnel was named the league's top male swimmer.

_________________________________________________________

Ripon College kicker Jacob Gahart is one of 10 finalists for the Fred Mitchell Award. The honor goes to a place-kicker from any college division except the Bowl Sub-division. It recognizes talent on the field plus community service. Gahart, a junior, broke a Ripon school record with 15 field goals while missing only one. His longest was a team-record 54-yarder against Lawrence on November fifth, when he tied a school mark for the most field goals in a game with three. Gahart is a career development volunteer at Ripon College, and he helped with research that provided a better test for incoming freshmen as part of their summer orientation. He’s also a mentor to youngsters at Ripon Middle School. The winner of the Mitchell Award will be announced December 15th, and he’ll be honored at a banquet in Chicago on February 20th.

__________________________________________________________

Milwaukee Bucks’ reserve forward Jon Brockman says he’s healthy again, after having surgery in May to remove bone spurs from his left ankle. The 6-7 Brockman said he had some cartilage repaired – and he’s been doing rehab work ever since. In that sense, the five-month NBA lockout helped Brockman as he worked to get healthy and ready for the truncated 66-game regular season that begins the day after Christmas.

Tags: wisconsin sports, sports, proam