VALPARAISO (12-10, 5-4 Mid-Con) at CHICAGO STATE (9-13, 5-5 Mid-Con)

WHEN: Monday, February 17, 2003, 7 p.m.

WHERE: Jacoby Dickens Center (2,500), Chicago, Ill.

RADIO: WVUR (95.1-FM), Valparaiso. Andy Viano will provide the play-by-play, with Phil Morris adding the color commentary.

TV: None.

THE COACHES: Valparaiso is led by Keith Freeman, who is in his 15th season of coaching, and 9th with the Crusaders. He is 278-150 overall and 149-103 with Valpo. Chicago State is led by Cheryl Littlejohn, who is 49-112 in her 6th season overall and 20-31 in her 2nd season with the Cougars.

SERIES RECORD: Valparaiso leads the overall series with Chicago State 28-1. The Crusaders have won the last five meetings between the two schools.

LAST MEETING: Valpo defeated Chicago State 66-50 at the ARC on Jan. 18. Meredith Baugher led three Crusaders in double-figures with 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Jeanette Gray and Kathryn Knoester added 14 points each. Marverly Nettles and Krisey Sanders led Chicago State with 14 points each.

The Valparaiso Crusaders will look to snap their two-game losing streak on Monday evening as the Brown and Gold conclude their three-game road trip at Chicago State. Valpo is coming off of a 68-62 defeat at Southern Utah on Saturday.

LOOKING FOR 150: Head coach Keith Freeman shoots for his 150th victory at the helm of the Brown and Gold against Chicago State. Freeman, in his 9th season with the Crusaders, began his career during the 1994-1995 season and has averaged over 17 wins per year over his first eight at Valpo.

GRAY APPROACHES 700: Senior Jeanette Gray has moved into third place on Valpo's all-time rebounding list. Her 696 career rebounds leave her just four shy of becoming the third player in Valpo history to record 700 boards. She needs seven rebounds to move into second place all-time for the Crusaders. Her 13 rebounds at Southern Utah moved her into the top-ten all-time in Mid-Continent Conference history.

HAMMEL MOVES UP SINGLE SEASON CHARTS: Suzie Hammel's 49 three-point field goals rank her ninth on Valpo's single season list. With three more makes, she will move into seventh place. The junior's 146 attempts are the ninth most in Crusader history.

SHARING THE WEALTH: Valparaiso is one of just seven schools in the country that have had five different players score 20 or more points in a game this season. Meredith Baugher (twice), Jeanette Gray (twice), Suzie Hammel (twice), Jamie Gutowski, and Kathryn Knoester have all done it for the Brown and Gold. Austin Peay, Eastern Kentucky, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, South Florida, and Wisconsin-Green Bay are the only other schools to have five different players tally 20+ points in a game.

IT'S BEEN AWHILE & VALPO WANTS IT TO BE LONGER: Valparaiso is trying to avoid a third straight loss for the first time this season. The last time the Crusaders dropped three straight contests was Nov. 20, 2001 when Valpo fell to Purdue. The loss was the fourth straight for the Brown and Gold, two of which ended the 2000-2001 season.

CHICAGO STATE NOTES: Chicago State enters tonight's contest looking to snap a two-game losing skid after falling 74-63 at home to league-leader Western Illinois on Saturday afternoon. The Cougars have won four of their last seven games overall.

The Cougars are playing without their leading scorer, Krisey Sanders, who injured her knee against Oral Roberts. Sanders was averaging 11. 6 points per game, 5.3 rebounds per contest, and 5.9 assists per night, all team highs.

Kafayat Davis is averaging 10.4 points per game for Chicago State, the only other player in double-figures.

Marverly Nettles is tallying 9.5 ppg on the season, but has stepped up during Mid-Con play, scoring 14.2 per game. She is a 79.3% free throw shooter on the year and was a perfect 12-of-12 from the charity stripe on Saturday against Western Illinois. Nettles scored a game-high 22 points against the Westerwinds and had a team-high seven boards.

Chicago State will wrap-up their home schedule on Saturday afternoon, hosting Southern Utah.

DOWN THE ROAD: Valparaiso will return to the Athletics-Recreation Center on Saturday afternoon to begin a brief two-game homestand that will conclude the home portion of the Crusaders schedule. Tip-off against IUPUI is slated for 2:05 p.m. Valpo will then entertain Oakland on Monday evening in their final home game. The Senior Night game begins at 7:05 p.m. March 1 the Crusaders begin their final road weekend of the year with a 2:05 p.m. contest at Oral Roberts.