Bulldogs Take On Cleveland State in Back-To-Back Outings

Jan. 28, 2003

Notes on CSU

* The Butler women's basketball team will get to know Cleveland State well, as they play the Vikings in back-to-back games this week. The Bulldogs (3-14, 1-6 Horizon League) will host Cleveland State (5-12, 3-4 Horizon League) on Wednesday (Jan. 29) at 7 p.m. before making the trek to the Convocation Center on Saturday (Feb. 1) to take on the Vikings in Round Two of the Horizon League season.

* Cleveland State enters tonight's game as one of the hottest teams in the league. After starting off the season with a 1-10 ledger, the Vikings have went on to win four of their last six games.

* Head coach Duffy Burns is in his eighth season with the Vikings. He has compiled a 97-116 overall record while at CSU.

* The Vikings return ten letterwinners and all five starters back from last season's 13-15 squad. Cleveland State, which finished sixth in the league during the 2002-03 campaign, was picked to finish fourth in the league's preseason poll.

* The Vikings boast one of the top guards in the league in senior Erika Roudebush. Roudebush, a native of Noblesville, Ind., averages 17.7 points per game, which ranks fourth in the league. Teammate Ashley Schrock ranks second in the league in assists (4.88 apg) and third in rebounding (7.5 rpg).

History Lesson: After winning the first seven games of the overall series against Cleveland, the Bulldogs have went 1-6 since, losing their last five outings to the Vikings. Last season, CSU's Erika Roudebush hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Vikings an 84-82 triumph at the Convocation Center. Cleveland State also captured a 79-71 win over Butler later in the season at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Back Home Again, In Indiana: Cleveland State carries five Indiana natives on its roster. In addition to Noblesville native Erika Roudebush, the Vikings also have Maria Rickards (New Albany), Jill Barnbrook (South Bend), Christina Shrake (Mooresville) and Mandy Sichting (Martinsville) who call the Hoosier State their home. Conversely, the Bulldogs have six players from Ohio - Stephanie Boeke (Minster), Nancy Bowden (Cincinnati), Lisa Pryor (Columbus), Tiffany Smith (Columbus), Dionne Goodwin (Mansfield) and Nikki Budgake (North Canton).

Panthers Pounce on Butler: Maria Viall scored 28 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to lead UW-Milwaukee to a 70-62 victory over Butler on Saturday. After leading 33-28 at the half, the Bulldogs were outscored 15-2 in the first five minutes of the second period, and never could regroup as the Panthers held on for their sixth straight victory over Butler.

Not Half Bad: For only the fourth time all season, the Bulldogs led at halftime, holding a 33-28 edge over UW-Milwaukee while heading into the locker room. Butler is 2-2 this season when leading at the half.

A Double Dose: For the fifth time this season, four or more players scored in double-figures for the Bulldogs. Junior Lisa Pryor led Butler's offense for the second straight game, finishing with 13 points. Nancy Bowden and Angel Mason each contributed 12 points and Jessica Monaco tied a career-high with 11 points.

Phoenix Fly Past Butler: No. 16 UW-Green Bay outscored Butler 35-8 in the second half to claim a 75-36 Horizon League win on Thursday evening at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

A Tale Of Two Halves: After shooting 50 percent in the first half, the Bulldogs went cold in the final 20 minutes, connecting on just 3-of-25 field goals (12 percent). Butler also went 0-for-8 from long range in the second half after shooting 67 percent (4-6) in the first half. Butler was tied with UW-Green Bay 24-24 with seven minutes remaining in the first period before the Phoenix closed out the game on a 51-8 run.

Pryor Pours It On: Junior Lisa Pryor came up two points shy of her career-high by scoring a team-leading 16 points against the Phoenix. All of Pryor's points came in the first half, though, as UW-Green Bay held her scoreless for the final 20 minutes of the game.

Quite A Lopsided Loss: UW-Green Bay's 39-point victory over Butler marked the Bulldogs' biggest loss since they played No. 3 Oklahoma last season and fell 90-44.

Looking High...And Low: The Bulldogs recorded several season lows in their loss to the nationally-ranked Phoenix. Included in these were final points (36), field goals attempted (49), field goals made (15), field goal percentage (30.6%), free throws attempted (6), free throws made (2), free throw percentage (33.3%) and assists (4).

Leader Of The Pack: Six different players have led Butler in scoring this season, including Angel Mason, Nancy Bowden, Cortney Urquhart, Lisa Pryor and Tiffany Smith who have all been the Top Dog on two or more occasions and Stephanie Boeke who led Butler in scoring against Loyola.

Give 'Em A Hand: The Bulldogs committed a season-low 11 turnovers while dishing out 15 assists against Youngstown State. Their previous turnover low was 17 against UIC in their league opener. Two games later, against UW-Milwaukee the Bulldogs turned the ball over only 12 times, while forcing 18 Panther miscues.

Stopping the Slide: Butler will look to put an end to its six-game losing skid against Cleveland State. The Bulldogs' six-game slump is their longest of the season.

Double Duty: Sophomore Cortney Urquhart tallied the Bulldogs' fifth double-double of the season with a 20-point, 11-rebound effort against the Wright State. Angel Mason has recorded a pair of double-doubles for Butler, while Nancy Bowden has one under her belt this season as well.

Top Dog: Nancy Bowden leads the Horizon League with 6.7 assists per game, nearly two assists better than the player ranked second. Bowden also ranks first in steals per game (3.29) and ranks second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.59). Her solid numbers have also put her in the national spotlight, as she ranks 15th among Division 1 players in assists and 26th in steals.

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.

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.

Showing Improvement: The Bulldogs, which are now 3-14 overall and 1-6 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.

Line 'Em Up: Sophomore Cortney Urquhart is the lone Butler player to have started in all 17 games this season. Nancy Bowden has started in 16 of the team's affairs, while no other player has appeared in the starting lineup more than ten times. Head coach Beth Couture has used ten different starting lineups throughout the season.

Balancing Act: The Bulldogs boast a balanced offensive attack as six players are averaging 7.5 points or more. Angel Mason is leading the team with 11.2 points per game, followed by Nancy Bowden (10.7 ppg), Cortney Urquhart (9.8 ppg), Lisa Pryor (9.8 ppg), Tiffany Smith (7.5 ppg) and Stephanie Boeke (7.5 ppg).

Doubling Over: Eight different players have recorded double-figure scoring outings for the Bulldogs. Nancy Bowden leads the way with twelve double figure scoring outings apiece, followed by Cortney Urquhart (11), Angel Mason (10), Lisa Pryor (9), Tiffany Smith (4) and Stephanie Boeke (4), Dionne Goodwin (1) and Jessica Monaco (1).

Injury Prone: For the second consecutive year, the Bulldogs have again been plagued by numerous injuries. Sophomore guard/forward Maria Marchesano has missed 15 games this season and 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. Junior Tiffany Smith has been recently sidelined, suffering stress fractures in both of her legs and freshman Stephanie Boeke was Butler's latest injury victim, as an ankle sprain has kept her off the court for the last two games. Both Smith and Boeke are listed as day-to-day.

Missing Maria: Sophomore forward Maria Marchesano's absence on the court is something the Bulldogs have missed for the last 13 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.

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.

Watch Out For The Bulldogs: Butler fans will get to watch the Bulldogs take on Loyola on February 13, as the game with will be televised locally by WTBU. All of Butler's remaining home games will be broadcast on the internet this season. Log onto www.butlersports.com to listen to Butler telecommunication students broadcast the games.

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).

Loving The League: Sophomore Cortney Urquhart has stepped up her game since the Bulldogs entered the Horizon League season. Urquhart's scoring average (11.1 ppg) is nearly two points better against league foes and her rebounding average is at 8.4 per game, compared to 7.2 per game overall. Urquhart has also posted a pair of double-doubles in league action - 17-point, 12-rebound performance against Detroit and a 20-point, 11-rebound outing against Wright State.

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.

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: After hosting Cleveland State, the Bulldogs will make the trek to Ohio to take on the Vikings at the Convocation Center on Saturday at 1 p.m. Butler will then stay on the road, traveling to Bowling Green, Ky. to battle it out against Western Kentucky in non-conference action. This is the first-ever meeting between Butler and the Lady Toppers, who return ten letterwinners from last year's 16-14 team.