Bulldogs Take Three-Game Winning Streak to Detroit Thursday

Feb. 3, 2004

THE TIP: Butler (8-11, 4-4 Horizon) travels to Detroit Thursday, looking to avenge a 66-60 loss to the Titans at Hinkle Fieldhouse, Jan. 17. The Bulldogs are on a three-game winning streak and have won four of their last five, with the only loss in that stretch to the Titans. The stop in Detroit is the second of three straight games away from Hinkle Fieldhouse, with a trip to Cleveland State looming Saturday.

BULLDOG UPDATE: The Bulldogs enter Thursday's game with a 4-4 league record, which currently places them alone in fifth place in the standings. Butler has not won four straight games since midway through the 1999-2000 season, a feat the Bulldogs would match with a win Thursday. Freshman Ellen Hamilton's 15 points led the Bulldogs to a 50-43 win at Wright State Saturday.

AGAINST THE TITANS: Butler and Detroit meet for the 42nd time Thursday, with the Titans owning a 29-12 advantage, including a commanding 17-2 edge at Detroit. Detroit won the last meeting between the teams, a 66-60 win Jan. 17 at Hinkle Fieldhouse, while the squads split the season series last season with each team winning at home.

BREAKING DOWN DETROIT: The Titans enter Thursday's tilt at 10-9, but are one of three teams with only two league losses (7-2). Lindsey Pasquinzo's 10.7 ppg leads the Titans, while Nicole Anaejionu and Sara Crum are double-double threats each time out. The Titans lead the league in scoring defense (55.1 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (.349), numbers that get even lower in conference games (50.6 ppg and .318). Detroit is coming off a 61-47 win over UIC Saturday and have won three of their last four. Coach Mickey Barrett is in his first year.

LAST TIME OUT (JAN. 31, 2004, BU 50, WRIGHT STATE 43; DAYTON, OHIO): Freshman Ellen Hamilton's 15 points on 4-of-5 shooting led the Bulldogs to a 50-43 win at Wright State Saturday. Senior Nancy Bowden added 11 points, seven assists and seven steals. The Bulldogs held Wright State to 30 percent shooting, while the Raiders missed ten of their 17 free throw attempts. With the win, the Bulldogs sweep the season series.

DETROIT 66, BUTLER 60 (JAN. 17, 2004, INDIANAPOLIS): The Bulldogs led, 33-25, at the half against the Titans, but were done in by 27 percent second-half shooting and 23 turnovers as Detroit got double-doubles from Nicole Anaejionu and Sara Crum in the 66-60 win. Detroit had a 40-16 advantage on points in the paint and scored 25 points off Butler turnovers. Senior Angel Mason's 19 points led the Bulldogs.

AT THE BREAK: The Bulldogs have led at the half in eight of their last nine games after having the halftime edge in only two of their first ten games this season.

GIVE AND TAKE: Through the games of Feb. 2, senior Nancy Bowden's 3.7 steals per contest are second in the NCAA, while her 6.7 assists per game are good for 12th nationally. Bowden is one of only three players in the nation who is in the top 15 in both steals and assists. She leads the Horizon League in assists, steals and assist/turnover ratio (1.85). In fact, Bowden has stolen the ball from the other team (70) more than she's turned it over herself (66).

QUICK SHOTS: The Bulldogs are 3-1 in games when junior Cortney Urquhart leads the team in scoring...Butler is 5-2 when both Dionne Goodwin and Ashley Brenden are in the starting lineup...The Bulldogs' bench has out-scored the opponents' in 15 of the team's 19 games, including all eight wins...Ellen Hamilton tied a career-high with four rebounds Saturday...Hamilton is now 30th in the league in scoring, one of only five freshmen among the league's leaders...Chattanooga is on a 16-game winning streak since losing to Butler Nov. 28 (79-73, in the Sonesta-Coconut Grove Thanksgiving Classic). The Lady Mocs have lost to only two teams this season: Butler and top-ranked Tennessee.

IT SEEMS LIKE JUST YESTERDAY: The last time the Bulldogs had a three-game winning streak and a three-game road winning streak both occurred during the 2000-01 season. The last time the Bulldogs had four regular season league wins and a three-game league winning streak was during the 1999-2000 season. The Bulldogs are in search of their first four-game winning streak since 1999-2000 and their first four-game winning streaks on the road and in league play since the Bulldogs' 1997-98 season, when Butler went 25-6 overall and 13-1 in Midwestern Collegiate Conference play.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING: Butler has held each of its last five opponents under 41 percent shooting. Thirteen of the Bulldogs' first 14 opponents shot better than 45 percent from the field...The Bulldogs have won two straight Saturday games after opening the season 0-7 on Saturdays.

FIRST DATES: After Thursday's game with Detroit, the Bulldogs will have concluded their regular season series with the Titans, Wright State, UW-Green Bay and UW-Milwaukee before playing three league opponents once. The Bulldogs have yet to play Cleveland State, UIC or Loyola (and still have one game remaining with Youngstown State). However, it could be worse for the Bulldogs. Last season, the Bulldogs were forced to play Cleveland State in back-to-back games during the middle of the season.

SHE'S GOING THE DISTANCE: Senior Nancy Bowden played the entire 40 minutes of Saturday's win at Wright State, the seventh time she hasn't gone to the bench this season. Bowden has played all 125 minutes of the team's current three-game winning streak.

YOU FANS LIKE DEFENSE?: Detroit is statistically the best defensive team in the league, with Butler's 60 points against the Titans in the teams' first meeting being the most allowed by the Titans in league play. But the Bulldogs' D has come on as of late, holding their last five opponents to combined 36 percent shooting (103-284) including Saturday's win at Wright State when the Raiders posted Butler opponent season-lows in points (43), field goals made (17) and field goal percentage (.304).

CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Senior Nancy Bowden currently sits in fourth place on the Bulldogs' all-time assists charts with 469 for her career. Her next hurdle will be Barb Skinner (509 assists from 1980-83). The Cincinnati, Ohio, native is also fourth on Butler's career steals list. Bowden has 269 steals in her three-plus years at Butler, 33 short of Skinner's 302, which currently ranks third in Butler history. Bowden is also fourth in career free throw attempts (440) and fifth in minutes played (3,096). Mary Majewski (1990-93) holds the Butler record, playing 3,607 career minutes.

GAME TIME ANNOUNCED: Due to ESPN's announcement of the men's BracketBuster draw Monday, the game time of the Butler-UIC game on Feb. 21 has been set at 5:30 p.m. (CST, 6:30 p.m. Indianapolis time). The game will follow the UIC men's game against UNC-Wilmington at the UIC Pavilion, which tips at 3 p.m. (CST). The Butler men host Ohio at Hinkle Fieldhouse that same day.

STARTING OUT: The starting five against Youngstown State Jan. 21 was the sixth different starting lineup used by coach Beth Couture...Eight different players have started games this season, including senior Nancy Bowden, who has started all 19...When freshman Ellen Hamilton (Greenfield, Ind./Greenfield Central) replaced the injured Lisa Pryor in the starting lineup against Miami (Ohio), it was the first time an Indiana native had cracked the Bulldogs' starting lineup this season.