ST. PAUL, Minn. - Paul Fessler, head coach of the Concordia women's basketball program, has announced that two student-athletes will join the Golden Bear squad from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Maurika Hickman and Jineen Williams completed their sophomore seasons for the Panthers and will bring the talent and experience of Division I basketball to the Concordia backcourt in 2009-10.
Maurika Hickman is a 5-6 guard originally from Minneapolis and a graduate of Minneapolis North High School. In her two seasons at UW-Milwaukee, Hickman played in 43 games, averaging 5.8 points per game. She brings talent from beyond the three-point arc, hitting 47 triples in her time as a Panther. She set a freshman record with a team-leading 42.9 three-point percentage in 2007-08, the fourth-best long range average in school history. Hickman scored in double figures 12 times at UWM, seeing career high scoring performances against Youngstown State in back-to-back seasons. She had 14 points against Youngstown on Feb. 9, 2008 and 13 points against the same opponent on Jan. 8, 2009. Hickman finished with 249 points, 35 assists and 7 steals with the Panthers.
Hickman was a two-time All-State honoree for Minneapolis North High School. She averaged 21 points, 6.5 assists and three steals per game as a senior. Hickman completed her career with the Lady Polars with 1,348 points and 324 assists. She was named the 2005 Minnesota AAU Player of the Year, competing for the Minnesota Stars.
"Maurika has a point guard mentality to go with an excellent three-point shot," said CU head coach, Paul Fessler. "We recruited her out of high school and are excited to have her back home. She will help us pick up the tempo of the game as we try to improve our team speed."
Jineen Williams is a 5-8 guard from Racine, Wis. and a graduate of Case High School. She appeared in 50 games and made 21 starts for UW-Milwaukee during her two years of competition. Williams reached a career high 16 points and made it a first double-double with 11 rebounds against Wisconsin on Dec. 2, 2008. She recorded double figures in her first collegite game played, dropping in 13 points at Chicago State on Nov. 9, 2007. Williams started the 2008-09 season as one of the Panthers leading scorers, reaching double figures in the majority of the games played during the first half of the schedule. In two seasons at UW-Milwaukee, Williams averaged 5.7 points per game with 285 total points scored. She had 163 rebounds (3.3 rpg), 101 assists and 42 steals.
A four-year high school letterwinner for basketball, Williams was named All-State as a senior by both the Associated Press and WBCA. She averaged 15.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 4.0 steals per game as a senior, leading the county in scoring (tied), assists and steals. Williams was named conference Player of the Year as a senior and earned All-Conference honors three times. She was deemed All-Area Second Team and All-County. Her senior season capped an illustrious campaign in which she averaged 16.6 ppg as a sophomore and 15.4 ppg and 7.4 rpg as a junior.
"Jineen is a very athletic and talented guard who was the ability to create shots and make her teammates better," said Fessler. "She will be an exciting player to watch in the open floor."
