Jan. 4, 2003
INDIANAPOLIS - After holding a 64-40 lead with ten minutes remaining, the Butler women's basketball team withstood an amazing 23-5 Illinois-Chicago run down the stretch to claim a 69-63 win in its Horizon League opener on Saturday afternoon at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The win, which is Butler's first at home this season, snaps a five-game losing streak for the Bulldogs and improves the team's record to 3-8 overall. The Flames fall to 7-6 and 1-2 in league action.
The win also ties Butler's win total from last season, both overall and in league play, as the Bulldogs finished 3-26 overall and 1-15 in league action during the 2001-02 campaign.
Lisa Pryor led four Butler players in double-figure scoring with 17 points, just one point shy of her career high. She also added a career-high six assists to her totals. Nancy Bowden finished with 16 points, Cortney Urquhart recorded 12 points and eight rebounds and Tiffany Smith chipped in 10 points. Freshman Jessica Monaco added seven points and a team-best nine rebounds, both of which were career-highs, off the bench.
Butler added to it's 44-32 halftime lead by going on an 8-0 run early in the second stanza to take a 52-37 lead with 15:28 remaining. Five straight points by Pryor just minutes later boosted the Bulldogs' advantage to 64-40, its largest lead of the game, with under ten minutes left to play.
But, then it was the Flames who turned up the heat, scoring 21 straight points over the next nine minutes. Bowden put a halt to the Bulldogs scoring drought by connecting on the back-end of a two-shot foul with forty-five seconds remaining to give Butler a 65-61 edge. Tina Thompson's jumper at 0:30 pulled UIC to within two at 65-63, but Pryor and Monaco each hit a pair of free throws in the final seconds to give Butler a 1-0 start in the Horizon League.
"We are really excited to get a win at home in front of our fans," said first-year head coach Beth Couture. "I am proud of them bouncing back from our last game (a 79-62 loss to Eastern Michigan), and I think we learned a lot about ourselves as a team today."
Butler trailed early, 8-7, but then got back on top quickly with a three-pointer from Tiffany Smith. Urquhart's layup at 3:14 gave the Bulldogs' their first double-digit lead at 34-24, and then a pair of free throws from Bowden with one second remaining in the half sent Butler into the locker room with a 14-point halftime lead.
LeKesha Williams led the Flames with 15 points and Jaysie Chambers finished with the game's lone double-double, tallying 14 points and 13 rebounds.
After shooting 50 percent in the first half, the Bulldogs shot a dismal 27.3 percent in the final 20 minutes, connecting on just six field goals. UIC, which held a 42-38 rebounding edge, shot 39.7 percent on the game.
Butler's game against UIC concludes a four-game homestand for the Bulldogs, as they will take to the road next week to battle it out against Horizon League foes Detroit (Jan. 7) and Loyola (Jan. 9).