Bulldogs Continue Road Trip to UW-Green Bay Saturday

Jan. 9, 2004

WHAT'S ON TAP: Butler (4-9) enters today's game after suffering a tough loss at UW-Milwaukee Thursday. The Bulldogs fell to 1-2 in league play with the 64-59 defeat. UW-Green Bay (7-5) comes into today's game off a 71-68 win at Loyola Thursday. The Phoenix is 2-1 in league play, including a 69-53 win over the Bulldogs in Indianpolis a week ago.

BULLDOG UPDATE: The Bulldogs dropped a 64-59 decision Thursday at UW-Milwaukee. Freshman Ellen Hamilton scored a career-high 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting from long range to lead the Bulldogs. Senior Nancy Bowden had seven points and nine assists for Butler, which played without starter Dionne Goodwin. The senior forward suffered an ankle injury Jan. 3 and is questionable for today's game.

BREAKING DOWN UW-GREEN BAY: The Phoenix (7-5, 2-1) is led by junior guard Abby Scharlow, who put up 29 points at Loyola Thursday night. UW-Green Bay has lost two of their top returning players, in forwards Tiffany Mor and Natalie Yudt, to season-ending knee injuries this season. Nicole Soulis and Amy Fieck have filled the void in the paint.

AGAINST THE PHOENIX: Butler has dropped the last 13 match-ups against UW-Green Bay, including a 69-53 decision Jan. 3 in Indianapolis. Today's game is the 27th meeting between the two schools, with the Phoenix owning a 19-7 advantage. Butler's last win came Jan. 9, 1999, when the Bulldogs downed the Phoenix, 85-80, at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The two teams first met March 13, 1982, in the MAIAW Regional Tournament.

UW-GREEN BAY 69, BUTLER 53 (JAN. 3, 2004; INDIANAPOLIS, IND.): Nicole Soulis had career highs of 25 points and 11 rebounds as the Phoenix used 71 percent second-half shooting to overcame a three-point halftime deficit to defeat the Bulldogs, 69-53. Senior Nancy Bowden led Butler with 15 points and seven assists.

QUICK SHOTS: Junior Cortney Urquhart had a career-high seven steals in Thursday's loss at Milwaukee. The total was single-game season high for the Bulldogs...Freshman Ashley Brenden played a career-high 31 minutes Thursday, starting for the injured Dionne Goodwin. Hamilton's 28 minutes were also a career high...UW-Milwaukee shot 42 percent (25-60) Thursday, the lowest percentage by a Butler opponent this season.

WHY SETTLE FOR TWO WHEN YOU CAN HAVE THREE: Freshmen Jackie Closser and Ellen Hamilton have attempted a combined 118 shots this season, with 91 of those attempts coming from behind the arc. That's 77 percent of their attempts. For the season, Hamilton is knocking down 40 percent (23-57) of her bombs, while Closser hits 29 percent (10-34) of her shots from deep.

GIVE AND TAKE: Not only does senior Nancy Bowden lead the Horizon League in assists, steals and individual assist/turnover ratio, but her 6.2 assists per game are good for 18th nationally, while her 3.3 steals per contest are tied for 25th in the NCAA.

WE'RE GOING STEAKING: Freshman Ellen Hamilton has hit seven of her 16 (44 percent) three-point attempts in league play, while Bulldogs not named Ellen Hamilton have hit only 7-of-39 (18 percent) long range attempts over the same period...Thursday's game was the second consecutive game where the Bulldogs have taken a lead into the half and lost. Butler had won its previous three games in similar situations. That being said, the two halftime leads were only by a combined four points.

OFF THE PINE: Thursday's game was just the second time this season that the Bulldog bench had been out-scored by their opponent's, as the Panthers had a 21-13 advantage. Sophomore Jessica Monaco's five points led the Butler reserves, the lowest leading total off the bench this season. However, Monaco hit the Bulldogs' biggest shot of the night, a three with 18 seconds remaining to pull the Bulldogs within one at 60-59. Freshman Ashley Brenden was pressed into starting duties, replacing the injured Dionne Goodwin.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: After going 1-2 over a three-game homestand during the holidays, Saturday's game will the second of a three-game roadtrip for the Bulldogs. Butler concludes the trip Tuesday with a short commute downtown to face the Jaguars of IUPUI. The Bulldogs played their first seven games of the season away from Hinkle Fieldhouse.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Senior Nancy Bowden moved into fourth on the Bulldogs' career assists list with her 10 helpers Dec. 6 at Valparaiso. She currently has 430 for her career. The Cincinnati, Ohio, product is also fourth on Butler's career steals list with 241 in her three-plus years at Butler.

LEAGUE HONORS BOWDEN: Senior Nancy Bowden was named the Horizon League's "Player of the Week" for the week of Dec. 15. Bowden tied a career high with 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting in Butler's win over Evansville Dec. 9. She had 11 assists.

PRYOR HAS KNEE SURGERY: Senior Lisa Pryor had successful surgery Thursday to repair the torn ACL in her left knee, suffered Dec. 9 against Evansville. She is out for the year. Pryor tore the ACL in her right knee 12 games into the 2001-02 season. Because she appeared in eight games this season, she is not eligible for a medical redshirt.