Bulldogs Host UIC In Horizon League Opener

Jan. 2, 2003

Notes on UIC

* The Butler women's basketball team (2-8) will open up the Horizon League portion of its schedule by hosting UIC on Saturday (Jan. 4) in a 2 p.m. contest. The Flames are currently 7-5 overall, and are 1-1 in league action after dropping a 78-59 decision to nationally-ranked UW-Green Bay in their league opener and defeating Wright State 82-66 at home Thursday evening.

* Senior LeKesha Williams enters Saturday's contest as UIC's top scorer and the No. 2 scorer in the league with 18.7 points per game. Classmate Jaysie Chambers is also posting double figures in scoring with 13.6 points per game, and leads the league with 9.5 rebounds per game. As a team, the Flames rank in the top three of the league in turnover margin, steals, offensive rebounds, scoring margin, scoring defense and field goal percentage defense.

* First year head coach Lisa Ryckbosch is at the helm of the UIC squad. Ryckbosch, who played collegiate ball at Loyola, was the associate head coach at DePaul for ten years prior to taking over at UIC.

History Lesson: Butler leads the overall series against UIC, 14-8, but the Flames have won the last three meetings. Last season, UIC swept Butler, winning 83-76 at the UIC Pavilion and 60-51 at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

A Look At The League: UW-Green Bay (9-2) and UIC (7-5) are currently the only two teams in the Horizon League with an overall record above .500. No other team in the league has won more than four games thus far. UIC, which finished last season with a 15-15 overall record and a 7-7 mark in league action, was picked to finish fifth in the league this season. Butler, which has only won four league games in the last two seasons combined, was picked to finish eighth in the league.

Last Time Out: After holding a slim 35-33 halftime edge, Eastern Michigan used a 11-0 run midway through the second half to claim a 79-62 non-conference win over the Butler women's basketball team on Monday evening at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Nancy Bowden led the Bulldogs, which shot a dismal 37 percent from the field, with 20 points. Cortney Urquhart chipped in 13 points and seven rebounds and Lisa Pryor added 12 points.

Not Going To Miss The MAC: Butler's 79-62 loss to Eastern Michigan marked the third straight game that the Bulldogs had falling to a Mid-American Conference member. The Bulldogs dropped a 86-75 decision to Western Michigan on Dec. 14 and then fell to Miami (Ohio) 72-61 on Dec. 28.

Getting It Done On Both Ends: Junior Nancy Bowden got the job done on both ends of the court against Eastern Michigan. The 5-2 guard scored a season-high 20 points, which included a career-best three treys. Bowden also added a career-high seven steals and five assists to her totals.

Not So Friendly Confines: The Bulldogs hope to snap their five-game losing streak when they host the Flames. Butler is also hoping to capture its first win at Hinkle Fieldhouse, as the squad is 0-5 this season while playing at home.

Line 'Em Up: Sophomore Cortney Urquhart is the lone Butler player to have started in all ten games this season. Nancy Bowden has started in nine of the team's affairs, while no other player has appeared in the starting lineup more than six times. Head coach Beth Couture has five different starting lineups throughout the season.

Stop Thief!: The Bulldogs currently rank third in the league in steals, recording 10.50 per game. Three Butler players have set new career highs in steals recently, as Tiffany Smith tallied six steals and Lisa Pryor posted five steals against Miami (Ohio), while Nancy Bowden's seven steals against Eastern Michigan was also a new career-best.

A Cold Day At Hinkle: The Bulldogs turned in their worst shooting performance of the season against Miami, shooting 33.3 percent from the field on the game. Butler's 15.8 percent (3-19) clip from long range against the RedHawks also marked a season-low.

Leading Lady: For the fifth time this season, redshirt sophomore Angel Mason led the Bulldogs in scoring. Mason recorded 15 points against Miami, to boost her season average to a team-leading 13.4 points per game.

Double Duty: Sophomore Angel Mason tallied Butler's fourth double-double of the season, as she scored 15 points and pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds against Western Michigan.

Top Dog: Nancy Bowden leads the Horizon League with 7.4 assists per game, nearly three assists better than the player ranked second. Bowden also ranks first in steals per game (3.40) and ranks second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.76).

Assisting The Team: Nancy Bowden has led the Bulldogs in assists in all ten games this season, and has recorded a pair of double-figure assist outings.

All-Tourney Honors: Sophomore Angel Mason was named to the Fresno State Classic all-tournament team for her efforts on the court. Mason scored a team-high 17 points off the bench in Butler's loss to the Lady Racers. Fresno State captured the Tournament title with a ten-point win over San Diego State in the championship bout.

Balancing Act: The Bulldogs boast a balanced offensive attack as six players are averaging 6.8 points or more. Angel Mason is leading the team with 12.6 points per game, followed by Nancy Bowden (10.2 ppg), Lisa Pryor (9.5 ppg), Cortney Urquhart (9.5 ppg), Tiffany Smith (7.7 ppg) and Stephanie Boeke (6.8 ppg).

Injury Prone: For the second consecutive year, the Bulldogs have again been plagued by numerous injuries. Sophomore guard/forward Maria Marchesano will miss the next 1-2 weeks due to a stress fracture in her foot. Freshman Nikki Budgake missed the first five games due to excessive bruising within her knee capsule. Fellow freshman Jessica Monaco was sidelined for the first four games this season with an ACL sprain and sophomore Christine Cox, who missed several games last season due to discomfort in her feet, is still nursing the same injuries.

Missing Maria: Sophomore forward Maria Marchesano's absence on the court is something the Bulldogs have missed for the last seven games. Marchesano put up some impressive numbers from long range during her rookie season. The 5-10 forward set school records for three-pointers in a single-game (7) and season (64) and averaged 10.1 points per game in Horizon League action. She was named to the 2001-02 Horizon League All-Newcomer team.

Winning Ways: One of first year head coach Beth Couture's long-term goals is to renew the winning tradition of the Butler women's basketball team and she certainly took a step in the right direction on Nov. 25 when the Bulldogs captured a 59-57 win over Illinois State. The triumph over the Redbirds marked the earliest first-game win since the 1999-00 campaign. Since then, Butler had started out 0-2 (2000-01) and 0-6 (2002-03).

A Dozen Does It: Junior guard Nancy Bowden recorded 12 points to go along with 12 assists against Bradley. Her 12 assists were a career-high, surpassing her old mark of eight, and ranks in a fifth-place tie on Butler's single-game list.

Doubling Over: Six different players have recorded double-figure scoring outings for the Bulldogs. Angel Mason leads the team with seven double-figure scoring games, followed by Nancy Bowden (6), Cortney Urquhart (6), Lisa Pryor (5), Tiffany Smith (3) and Stephanie Boeke (2).

New Faces: While the 2002-03 Butler women's basketball team returns 10 letterwinners to the court, including four starters, there will be a noticeable difference on the sidelines this season - first year head coach Beth Couture and her staff. Couture is no stranger to success, as she posted 11 winning seasons as the head coach at Presbyterian College, a Division II program in Clinton, S.C. There, she helped her team to three straight conference regular season and tournament titles and earned the conference's Coach of the Year honors on four occasions. Her demand for excellence filters down through her coaching staff, which includes Seph Hatley (Pfeiffer '94), Gene Hill (Coker College '97) and Monica Claridge (St. Joseph's '00).

Trading Spaces: In effort to give the Bulldogs more of a boost in the post positions, head coach Beth Couture moved sophomore Angel Mason and senior Colleen Munro-Leighton to the frontcourt positions this season.

PreSeason Prediction: Junior Nancy Bowden was named to the preseason All-Horizon League Second Team, after being named to the All-Defensive team last year. The Bulldogs were picked to finish eighth in the nine-team conference. UW-Green Bay, which won both the regular season and the tournament last year, was predicted to finish first, followed by UW-Milwaukee, Loyola, Cleveland State, UIC, Youngstown State, Detroit. Wright State rounded out the poll in ninth place.

Young Guns: The 2002-03 roster boasts a trio of talented freshmen. Stephanie Boeke will challenge the upperclassmen for playing time at the guard position, while Jessica Monaco and Nikki Budgake's presence in the post will be welcome additions. Boeke, a 5-10 guard, was a two-time all-conference selection at Minster High School. Monaco, a 5-10 walk-on, averaged 14.4 points and 7.0 rebounds at Saratoga Springs High School in New York. Budgake is a 6-3 center from North Canton, Ohio, who was a Kodak All-American nominee and was named to the Ohio High School All-Star team as a senior..

D, D, Defense: Bowling Green's 54-point output against Butler was the least amount of points allowed by the Bulldogs since their 65-51 win over William & Mary in the Colorado Thanksgiving Classic during the 2000-01 campaign. The game against the Falcons also marked the second time this season the Bulldogs have held their opponent to under 60 points, as they defeated Illinois State 59-57.

An 'A' For Effort: While redshirt freshman Jessica Monaco's line of 3.2 points and 1.7 rebounds per game might not seem impressive, it is the effort she puts forth and the intangibles that she gives the Bulldogs that has placed her in the starting lineup for the last three games. After missing the first four Butler games due to a knee injury, Monaco has been a factor in the Bulldogs' frontcourt ever since.

A Look Ahead: First year head coach Beth Couture took the first step in her attempt to renew the winning tradition of the Butler women's basketball program by signing three highly-touted recruits. Ellen Hamilton and Jackie Closser, both Indiana Junior All-Stars, along with Ashley Brenden, a prep standout from Bloomington, Minn., each signed the National Letter of Intent and will be the newest members of the 2003-04 roster.

Watch Out For The Bulldogs: Two of Butler's home games are televised locally by WTBU. Butler fans will get to watch the Bulldogs take on UW-Green Bay (Jan. 23) and Loyola (Feb. 13). Nearly all of the Butler women's basketball home games will be broadcast on the internet this season, in addition to several of the Bulldogs' away games. Log onto www.butlersports.com to listen to Butler telecommunication students broadcast the games.

Smart Cookie: Colleen Munro-Leighton, Butler's lone upperclassman last season, was one of 95 Butler student-athletes named to the Horizon League Academic Honor Roll. This marked the second straight year that the chemistry major had received such honors.

Up Next: The Butler women's basketball team will take to the road next week to battle it out against Detroit (Jan. 7) and Loyola (Jan. 9). Detroit currently holds an identical 2-8 record as the Bulldogs, while Loyola stands at 3-8 overall and 1-0 in the Horizon League after defeating UW-Milwaukee in its league opener.