Matt Durisko

Women's Basketball 11/11/2019 4:25:00 PM Bob Shreve, Sports Information Director

Women's Basketball Debuts at Home vs. Lake Erie

Senior guard/forward Bridgette Shaffer

Edinboro opens the 2019-20 season hosting Lake Erie. The Storm have already played a pair of games, opening the season this past weekend in the GLIAC/G-MAC Challenge. Playing at home, the Storm lost on Friday to Ferris State, 85-64, then suffered a 62-55 setback to Wayne State on Saturday.
Edinboro enters the 2019-20 campaign with high expectations. The Fighting Scots finished the 2018-19 campaign with a 20-9 record under first-year head coach Callie Wheeler. The former Edinboro standout led Edinboro to a ninth straight 20-win season and a PSAC Tournament berth for the tenth straight year. Edinboro would qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season. The Fighting Scots are picked to finish third in the highly-competitive PSAC West in the coaches' preseason poll, and are among Teams to Watch in the D2Bulletin Preseason Poll.
The Fighting Scots lost three 1,000-point scorers from last year's squad. Combined, the trio accounted for 3,880 points. But Wheeler does welcome back a pair of starters, including All-American Michaela Barnes. The 5'6" guard is also a 1,000-point scorer, entering the season ranked 17^th in career scoring with 1,282 points. The senior was an honorable mention WBCA Division II All-American, along with honorable mention Division II Bulletin All-American honors. She was also a first team All-PSAC West selection and is a two-time All-PSAC West selection and the 2017 PSAC West Freshman of the Year. A year ago, Barnes averaged a team-leading 21.0 ppg., ranking fourth in the PSAC and 15^th in Division II. She scored 609 points, the fourth-highest season total. Barnes led the PSAC in free throw percentage (85.7 percent) and was fourth in the conference in field goal percentage (52.1 pct.).
Bridgette Shaffer started 24 games a year ago, averaging 7.8 ppg. and 6.6 rpg. The latter figure was second on the team. The 5'10" senior made 49-of-118 3-pointers.
Edinboro welcomes back Cheniya Sharpe after the 5'11" redshirt senior sat out the 2018-19 season with an injury. When healthy, she is a ferocious rebounder, averaging 7.2 rpg. in 17 minutes in 2017-18.
Other returnees include 5'8" sophomore Monica Brown , 5'10" sophomore Lillian Young, and 5'7" redshirt junior Abbey Antolic. While none provided huge statistics a year ago, all brought plenty of energy while helping Edinboro win 20 games.
Wheeler is excited about the prospect of seven newcomers, several of whom are expected to make immediate contributions. In the frontcourt, D'Rae Tullock is a 6'2" senior who last played at Arkansas Tech in 2016-17, averaging 5.4 ppg. and 3.0 rpg. in 25 contests. She's joined up front by 6'3" Maggie Gilbert, a transfer from Southeastern. The native of England helped Southeastern to the NAIA Division II National Championship game last year.
Madison Amalia joined the Fighting Scots a year ago in January after transferring from St. Thomas Aquinas. A 5'5" junior, she has quickly earned Wheeler's trust at point guard and looks to see plenty of action. Highly-regarded freshman Rana Elhusseini from Michigan is also in the picture at point guard.
Edinboro opens the season with four home contests in the first five games before heading out on the road for five straight contests. The Fighting Scots return to the court on Wednesday, November 20 playing at Daemen.

ON THE RADIO/VIDEO

The Edinboro-Lake Erie game can be heard on WFSE-FM 88.9, with Diondre Johnson and Kishan Fisher providing the commentary. In addition, the game will be streamed live on Stretch Internet and Edinboronow.com as part of the PSAC Network. All men's and women's basketball games will be streamed live through Stretch Internet.

ALL-TIME SERIES vs. LAKE ERIE

First Meeting

HEAD COACH
Callie Wheeler (Edinboro '06) – 20-9, 2nd Year

Callie Wheeler was named Edinboro's fifth head coach on May 23, 2018, replacing long-time head coach Stan Swank. The former Edinboro standout served as Swank's assistant coach for the previous 11 years before assuming the head coaching duties. Edinboro enjoyed great success during Wheeler's 11 seasons at Swank's side, posting a 239-86 record in her 11 seasons on the bench. In her first season as head coach, she led Edinboro to a 20-9 record, the ninth straight 20-win campaign. The Fighting Scots made the PSAC Tournament for the tenth straight season and earned a berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament for the second straight year.
Edinboro would post a pair of upsets over nationally-ranked California(Pa.), 99-92 at McComb Fieldhouse when the Vulcans were ranked 12^th, and a month later by a 62-61 margin at Cal, when the Vulcans were ranked 17^th. Edinboro would suffer a hard-fought 83-71 defeat to ninth-ranked Virginia State in the NCAA Atlantic regional.
Any doubts of Wheeler's ability to take over as head coach were alleviated when Wheeler filled in for a pair of games in late January 2018. With Swank away from the team for his father's funeral, Wheeler guided the Fighting Scots to a 74-52 win at Slippery Rock, followed by a 73-54 victory over a Mercyhurst team, which had defeated California (Pa.) in its previous game.
Wheeler played for the Fighting Scots from 2002-06, and ranks as one of the all-time greatest players in Edinboro history. She became Edinboro's sixth Kodak/WBCA All-American as she earned honorable mention All-American honors. That capped a brilliant senior season in which she was named the PSAC West Athlete of the Year and was a first-team All-PSAC West selection. In addition, she was selected as the Nancy Acker Award winner in 2006.
The 5'5" guard finished as Edinboro's second-leading scorer at 12.5 ppg. as a senior, and also added 5.1 rpg. More importantly, she set a school record with 249 assists while turning the ball over just 89 times. She led the PSAC in both assists and steals, finishing with 95 in the latter category.
Edinboro had had just one triple-double in its history prior to 2005-06 when Wheeler accomplished the fete twice. The first came against Seton Hill (20 points, 11 rebounds, 14 assists), followed by 29 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in her final home appearance vs. Shippensburg.
As a junior, Wheeler earned second-team All-PSAC West accolades, after averaging 10.4 ppg. and handing out 225 assists, along with recording 91 steals. The assists rank third all-time. She led the Fighting Scots to a 21-10 record that season, along with the team's first berth in the NCAA Division II Playoffs since 1998.
While not taking over as the starter until her junior season, Wheeler concluded her career with 682 assists, despite missing the final seven games of the 2003-04 campaign due to an injury. That figure is second all-time in the PSAC. In addition, Wheeler finished with 283 career steals, a figure which ranks fourth all-time at Edinboro. She fell just shy of reaching 1,000 points for her career, finishing with 932.
The Iorfido name (Wheeler's maiden name) is well known in Edinboro Athletics, where her family has had quite an impact. Her father, Rich, was a standout linebacker for the Edinboro football team from 1970-72 and was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame in April 2007. Callie joined her father as a member of the Edinboro Hall of Fame in October 2016. Younger sister Mandie was a standout catcher on the softball team, and a two-time All-PSAC West performer.

SCOUTING LAKE ERIE

Lake Erie is 0-2 after opening the season this past weekend in the GLIAC/G-MAC Challenge. The Storm went 0-2 while playing at home, suffering an 85-64 loss to Ferris State, then falling to Wayne State, 62-55. The Storm posted an 11-16 record a year ago.
Breanna Bauer was a bright spot for first-year head coach Kenzie Perttu. The 6'0" junior scored 26 points against Wayne State. A year ago, she averaged 8.8 ppg. and 5.1 rpg. Josie Chaddock led Lake Erie in scoring (13.5 ppg.), assists (106), and steals (60) a year ago. Farrah Benner added 11.1 ppg. and made 68-of-194 3-pointers.

NEXT FOR THE FIGHTING SCOTS: Wednesday, November 20 at Daemen – 6:00 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

#14 Abbey Antolic: G/F; 5' 7"; Redshirt Sophomore

#2 Michaela Barnes: G; 5' 5"; Junior

#1 Bridgette Shaffer: G/F; 5' 8"; Redshirt Junior

#11 Cheniya Sharpe: F; 5' 11"; Senior

#3 Monica Brown: G; 5' 7"; Freshman

#10 Lilly Young: G/F; 5' 10"; Freshman

#0 Rana Elhusseini: G; 5' 3"; Freshman

#21 Madison Amalia: G; 5' 5"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#14 Abbey Antolic
: 5' 7"; Redshirt Sophomore
: G/F

#2 Michaela Barnes
: 5' 5"; Junior
: G

#1 Bridgette Shaffer
: 5' 8"; Redshirt Junior
: G/F

#11 Cheniya Sharpe
: 5' 11"; Senior
: F

#3 Monica Brown
: 5' 7"; Freshman
: G

#10 Lilly Young
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: G/F

#0 Rana Elhusseini
: 5' 3"; Freshman
: G

#21 Madison Amalia
: 5' 5"; Junior
: G

Edinboro University Athletics

Scoreboard

Scoreboard

Women's Basketball Debuts at Home vs. Lake Erie

Players Mentioned

#14 Abbey Antolic

#2 Michaela Barnes

#1 Bridgette Shaffer

#11 Cheniya Sharpe

#3 Monica Brown

#10 Lilly Young

#0 Rana Elhusseini

#21 Madison Amalia

Players Mentioned

#14 Abbey Antolic

#2 Michaela Barnes

#1 Bridgette Shaffer

#11 Cheniya Sharpe

#3 Monica Brown

#10 Lilly Young

#0 Rana Elhusseini

#21 Madison Amalia