NORTHWESTERN (2-1, 0-0 Big Ten) at VALPARAISO (2-2, 0-0 Mid-Con)

WHEN: Wednesday, November 30, 2005, 7:05 p.m. CST.

WHERE: Athletics-Recreation Center (5,000), Valparaiso, Ind.

RADIO: WVUR (95.1-FM-Valparaiso) and on the internet at www.valpo.edu/athletics. Andrew Hansen and Joey Favata will call all of the action.

TV: None.

THE COACHES: Valparaiso is led by Keith Freeman, who is in his 18th season of coaching, and 12th with the Crusaders. He is 324-177 overall and 195-130 at Valpo. Northwestern is led by Beth Combs, who is 51-71 in her 5th season overall and 7-26 in her 2nd season with the Wildcats.

SERIES RECORD: Valparaiso and Northwestern are meeting for the first time ever on the basketball court.

Valparaiso returns to the Athletics-Recreation Center for the first time in nearly two weeks on Wednesday night as the Crusaders entertain Northwestern. Valpo is looking to rebound from a 58-44 loss at Xavier (Ohio) in the championship game of the National City Bank Xavier Invitational last Saturday.

MYERS EARNS MID-CON HONOR: Carrie Myers has been named the Mid-Continent Conference co-Player of the Week after averaging 19.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game at the Xavier Invitational. She scored 23 points in the win against Kent State while grabbing a career-high eight rebounds. Myers added 16 points in the loss to Xavier.

BRAUN AMONG VALPO'S ALL-TIME BEST REBOUNDERS: Tamra Braun may be only a junior, but she has moved into 20th place on Valparaiso's career rebounding charts. She has 400 career boards, just two shy of Darcie Miller (1992-1996) for 19th place all-time.

WHO MADE THIS SCHEDULE?: Northwestern is the fifth straight opponent that the Crusaders are facing that will have a winning record at the time of competition. Valpo's next three opponents (Ball State, Central Michigan, and Purdue) are also currently over the .500 mark. The schedule has helped the Crusaders' RPI though, according to Rich Kern. Valpo is currently 55th with a 2-2 record.

THE STARTING FIVE IS???: Valparaiso has utilized three different starting line-ups in the first four games this season. This comes after the Crusaders had 16 different starting combinations in 28 games last year.

BRAUN IS DOUBLE-TROUBLE: Tamra Braun posted her tenth career double-double on Friday afternoon in the Crusaders' double-overtime win against Kent State. She posted 12 points and 11 rebounds one game after she registered 14 points and grabbed ten rebounds while shooting 6-of-10 from the floor at Bradley.

NORTHWESTERN NOTES: Northwestern is closing out a three-game road trip as the Wildcats come to Valparaiso fresh off of an 81-78 victory at Illinois-Chicago on Saturday afternoon.

The Wildcats, picked 11th in the Big Ten, are led by forward Ifeoma Okonkwo. The senior is averaging 23.0 points and 10.7 rebounds per game while shooting 70% (28-of-40) from the floor. She scored a career-high 31 points in the win over the Flames on Saturday and capped off the double-double with 12 rebounds.

A.J. Glasauer is adding 19.7 points and 5.7 assists per contest for Northwestern. The junior is also shooting well from the floor at 48.9% while connecting on 84.6% from the free throw line. She had a double-double, 17 points and ten assists, at Illinois-Chicago.

As a team, Northwestern enters the game shooting 49.7% from the field and 76.2% from the free throw line. The Wildcats are also averaging 79.3 points per contest.

Northwestern is a young team, with just two seniors and one junior on the roster of 11 players.