Butler Takes On League Leader Loyola

Jan. 8, 2003

Notes on Loyola

* The Ramblers enter the game against Butler as one of the hottest teams in the Horizon League. After starting out the season 1-8, Loyola (6-8) has won its last five games, including going 3-0 to begin league play. The Ramblers have captured wins over Horizon League foes UW-Milwaukee (66-57), Youngstown State (84-63) and Wright State (61-57).

* Ciara Henderson (14.0 ppg) and Sarah Hamilton (11.1 ppg) are each averaging double figures in scoring for the Ramblers. Henderson also leads the league in 3-point field goals made (2.54 pg), while teammate Maggie Toczylowski ranks sixth in rebounding with 6.4 boards per game.

* The Ramblers return eight letterwinners, including four starters from last season's 15-14 team. Loyola, which was 8-8 in league action last season, was picked to finish third in the league's preseason poll.

*At the helm of the Rambler squad is head coach Mary Helen Walker who is in her fourth season with the team. Walker currently holds a 35-63 overall record at Loyola.

History Lesson: Butler leads the overall series against Loyola, 27-13. The two teams each captured home court victories last season against each other, as Loyola won the first round 73-51, while Butler claimed an 81-73 victory at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Ramblers were Butler's only league win last season.

Ousted In Overtime: Detroit's Caitie Goddard scored seven points in overtime to lead the Titans to an 84-79 overtime win against Butler on Tuesday evening in Calihan Hall. Goddard had scored only two points prior to overtime, but hit a three-pointer and went four-for-four from the line to lift Detroit to 4-9 overall and 2-1 in Horizon League action. Butler, which failed to score a field goal in overtime, dropped to 3-9, and 1-1 against league foes.

A Balanced Attack: For the first time all season, the Bulldogs had five players record double-figures in scoring in a single game. Cortney Urquhart led the Bulldogs with 17 points, just one shy of her career high. Nancy Bowden (14), Stephanie Boeke (13), Jessica Monaco (11) and Dionne Goodwin (10) also tallied double digits in scoring.

Double Duty: Sophomore Cortney Urquhart tallied the Bulldogs' fifth double-double of the season with a 17-point, 12-rebound performance against the Titans. Angel Mason has also recorded a pair of double-doubles for Butler, while Nancy Bowden has one under her belt this season as well.

Season Highs: Several players recorded season highs in Butler's overtime battle against Detroit. Freshmen Stephanie Boeke and Jessica Monaco, who combined for 17 of the team's first 22 points, posted new scoring highs. Boeke finished with 13 points, while Monaco turned in 11. Junior Dionne Goodwin recorded 10 points and seven rebounds against the Titans, both of which were season highs and Cortney Urquhart's 17 points also marked a season-best for the 6-2 center.

League Honors: Nancy Bowden became the first Butler women's basketball player to be named the Horizon League Player of the Week since Kelly Kuhn was honored during the 2000-01 season. During the week of Dec. 30, Bowden scored 20 points, two shy of her career-high, and set a new career-high with seven steals to go along with five assists in the Bulldogs' loss to Eastern Michigan. The 5-2 floor leader then recorded 16 points, including a 9-of-10 performance from the free throw line, five assists and four rebounds in Butler's 69-63 win over UIC in the Bulldogs' league opener. She averaged 18 points, five assists and 3.5 rebounds in the two games for the Bulldogs.

Dousing The Flames: 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.

A Strong Start; Butler's win over the Flames gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 record in the Horizon League, marking the first time since the 1999-00 season that Butler had won its league opener. The Bulldogs did not capture its first win in Horizon League play last season until Feb. 14, after Butler began league play with an 0-13 record.

Pryor Pours It On: Junior Lisa Pryor poured in a game-high 17 points against UIC. She also added a career-high six assists to her totals.

At Home In Hinkle: The Bulldogs' win against UIC also snapped a five-game homecourt losing streak. Butler is now 1-5 in Hinkle Fieldhouse this season.

Showing Improvement: The Bulldogs, which are now 3-9 overall and 1-1 in the Horizon League, have already tied their overall and league win totals from last year. Butler finished 3-26 and 1-15 during the 2001-02 campaign.

She's Baaaack: Sophomore Christine Cox returned to action on Saturday against UIC, after nursing a foot injury for the first ten games this season. Cox recorded one rebound in her brief stint against the Flames. The 6-3 center played in 20 games last season and averaged 1.5 points and 1.8 rebounds while on the court.

Assisting The Team: Lisa Pryor led Butler in assists against UIC, marking the first time all season that junior guard Nancy Bowden had not topped the team in that category.

Line 'Em Up: Sophomore Cortney Urquhart is the lone Butler player to have started in all 12 games this season. Nancy Bowden has started in 11 of the team's affairs, while no other player has appeared in the starting lineup more than seven times. Head coach Beth Couture has seven different starting lineups throughout the season.

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. Mason has two double-doubles on the season, while Nancy Bowden and Cortney Urquhart have recorded one apiece.

Top Dog: Nancy Bowden leads the Horizon League with 6.9 assists per game, nearly two assists better than the player ranked second. Bowden also ranks first in steals per game (3.18) and ranks second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.84).

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 7.2 points or more. Angel Mason and Nancy Bowden are leading the team with 11.0 points per game, followed by Cortney Urquhart (10.3 ppg), Lisa Pryor (9.8 ppg), Tiffany Smith (7.5 ppg) and Stephanie Boeke (7.2 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 missed the first ten games this season due to an injury to her foot.

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: Eight different players have recorded double-figure scoring outings for the Bulldogs. Nancy Bowden and Cortney Urquhart have each recorded eight double figure scoring outings, followed by Angel Mason (7), Lisa Pryor (6), Tiffany Smith (4) and Stephanie Boeke (3), Dionne Goodwin (1) and Jessica Monaco (1).

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.

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.

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.

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.

Up Next: The Bulldogs will host Wright State on Thursday (Jan. 15) in a 7 p.m. battle before traveling to Youngstown State the following Saturday for a 1 p.m. meeting.