CENTENARY (3-13, 1-4 Mid-Con) at VALPARAISO (10-8, 5-2 Mid-Con)

WHEN: Monday, January 26, 2004, 7:05 p.m. CST.

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

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

TV: Comcast Cablevision Ch. 43-tape delay. Dick Harlan will handle the play-by-play, while Paul Curtis will provide color commentary. The game will air on Thursday, January 29 at 7 p.m.

THE COACHES: Valparaiso is led by Keith Freeman, who is in his 16th season of coaching, and 10th with the Crusaders. He is 294-161 overall and 165-114 at Valpo. Centenary is led by David Winkler, who is 20-52 in his 3rd season overall and with the Ladies.

SERIES RECORD: This marks the first meeting ever between Valparaiso and Centenary.

Valparaiso looks to extend its three-game win streak on Monday evening as the Crusaders entertain Centenary. The Brown and Gold is coming off of a 73-63 win over Southern Utah on Saturday night.

STANGLER HAS CAREER HIGH: Jenna Stangler was nearly flawless in the first half of Saturday's game making 8-of-9 shots from the floor. The junior ended the night with a career-high 26 points and eight rebounds.

BECHTOLD PROVIDES SPARK OFF THE BENCH: Lauren Bechtold came off of the bench and scored a season-high 11 points in 16 minutes of action against the Thunderbirds. She also tied a career-best with six assists and grabbed a pair of rebounds.

VALPO TAKES CARE OF THE BALL: The Crusaders currently rank 17th in the nation in turnovers per game according to the January 20 NCAA rankings. Valpo has turned the ball over just 14.4 times per game on the season.

HAMMEL SCORES SEASON HIGH: Suzy Hammel notched a season-high 22 points, including four three-pointers, last Monday evening at IUPUI. The senior made 8-of-12 total field goal attempts. Hammel currently ranks 28th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage, shooting 40.9% from beyond the arc.

HOME SWEET HOME: Valpo has won five straight games at the Athletics-Recreation Center this season, and is 12-1 at the ARC over the last 13 games dating back to last season. The Brown and Gold has won nine straight home Mid-Con games.

HAMMEL CLOSES IN ON A PAIR OF MARKS: Suzie Hammel needs just 27 points to become the tenth Crusader ever to reach 1,000 for her career. She also needs just four three-pointers to move into second place alone on the Mid-Con's career triples chart.

CENTENARY NOTES: Centenary returns to the hardwood this evening after a week's rest. The Ladies have dropped four straight contests, the latest a narrow 68-67 setback at Oral Roberts last Monday night.

Tonight marks the middle game of a three-game road trip for Centenary, which will conclude at Western Illinois on Saturday afternoon.

Alexis Pettway leads the Ladies offensively, scoring 14.6 points per game. A 53.1% shooter from the floor, the senior also is grabbing a team-high 8.5 rebounds per game. Over half of Pettway's boards (4.4) have come on the offensive end this season.

Julie Danieles is Centenary's second leading scorer, posting 9.2 points per night. She has stepped up her game during Mid-Continent Conference action though, scoring 10.8 per contest.

The Ladies are looking for their first road victory of the season, having dropped all eight games on opponents courts this season and have dropped 16 straight dating back to last year.