VALPARAISO (11-10, 6-4 Mid-Con) at CENTENARY (3-16, 1-7 Mid-Con)

WHEN: Saturday, February 7, 2004, 7:30 p.m. CST.

WHERE: Gold Dome (3,000), Shreveport, La.

RADIO: WVUR (95.1-FM), Valparaiso, Ind. Andrew Stem will handle the play-by-play with Steve Rhodes providing the color commentary.

TV: None

THE COACHES: Valparaiso is led by Keith Freeman, who is in his 16th season of coaching, and 10th with the Crusaders. He is 295-163 overall and 166-116 at Valpo. Centenary is led by David Winkler, who is 20-55 in his 3rd season overall and with the Ladies.

SERIES RECORD: Valparaiso leads the all-time series with Centenary 1-0.

LAST MEETING: Valpo downed the Ladies 66-49 at the ARC back on January 26. The Crusaders raced out to a 48-16 lead at intermission on the way to the victory. Suzie Hammel led the Crusaders with 20 points, while Jenna Stangler added 15 points and nine rebounds. Julie Danieles led Centenary with 14 points, while Alexis Pettway and Holli Wilkins added ten each.

Valparaiso will look return to the victory column on Saturday evening as the Crusaders make their first-ever trip to Shreveport, La. to battle Centenary. The Brown and Gold have dropped back-to-back games, but look to rebound against the Ladies, a team they defeated just two weeks ago.

HAMMEL BECOMES 10th CRUSADER TO REACH 1,000: Suzie Hammel scored midway through the first half on Monday night at Western Illinois to become the tenth Crusader in school history to reach the 1,000 point plateau. She currently has tallied 1,007 points.

AFTER ALL THEY ARE FREE: Valpo had made its free throws count since the beginning of Mid-Con play. The Crusaders are shooting 73.7% from the line during conference action, and have made 132 free throws, one more than their opponents have even attempted. Valpo went 19-of-22 (86.4%) from the charity stripe at Western Illinois.

VALPO AMONG NATION'S BEST: The Crusaders currently rank 14th in the nation in turnovers per game according to the February 3 NCAA rankings. Valpo has turned the ball over just 14.5 times per game. Individually, Suzie Hammel is 21st in the country in three-point percentage (42.1%), while ranking 32nd in threes per game (2.5).

NO SET LINE-UP: Due to the numerous injuries and illnesses the Crusaders have suffered this season, not one player has started all 21 games for the Brown and Gold. In fact, only Suzie Hammel and Katie Boone have started 20 of the games. There are only five players total that have seen action in all 21 contests.

BOONE LEADS MID-CON IN ASSIST/TURNOVER RATIO: Katie Boone currently leads the Mid-Continent Conference with a 2.17 assist-to-turnover ratio. The junior point guard is averaging 4.6 assists per game, third best in the league, while committing just 2.1 turnovers per contest.

CENTENARY NOTES: Centenary has dropped seven straight contests, all Mid-Continent Conference games, since opening league play with a victory over Chicago State. The Ladies are coming off of a 66-60 loss at home to IUPUI on Monday night.

Alexis Pettway leads Centenary in scoring and rebounding on the year. The senior is averaging 13.9 points and 7.8 boards per contest, ranking in the top-seven in the Mid-Con in both categories.

Julie Danieles has contributed to the scoring column for Centenary since league play began, averaging 9.4 points per Mid-Con game. Lindsay Way came off of the bench on Monday night to post 17 points and nine boards for the Ladies.

The Ladies have posted a 3-5 record at home this season, with most of their struggles coming on the road. They are currently in the midst of a four-game homestand and will host Western Illinois on Monday night.

Centenary is shooting just 62.0% from the free throw line on the season.