Bulldogs Conclude Three-Game Road Trip At UIC

Feb. 6, 2003

Notes on UIC

* The Butler women's basketball team will go for its second straight win over UIC when the Bulldogs (4-16, 2-7 Horizon League) travel to the Windy City to take on the Flames on Saturday at 8 p.m. at the UIC Pavilion. Butler defeated UIC 69-63 in the teams' league opener on Jan. 4 at Hinkle Fieldhouse. UIC is one of only two teams in the Horizon League with a +.500 overall record, as the Flames stand at 12-9 overall and 6-4 in the league, which puts them in third place behind UW-Green Bay and Detroit.

*Jaysie Chambers sparked the Flames to a 76-57 win over Wright State on Wednesday evening, finishing with 16 points and 17 rebounds. Chambers averages a double-double on the season of 14.2 ppg and a league-leading 10.6 rebounds per game. Teammate LeKesha Williams ranks second in the league in scoring, as she averages 18.8 points per game.

* 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, 15-8, but the Flames have won three of the last four meetings. Last season, UIC swept Butler, winning 83-76 at the UIC Pavilion and 60-51 at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Last Time Out: 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 Jan. 4 at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Lisa Pryor led four Butler players in double figure scoring against the Flames with 17 points. Nancy Bowden (16), Cortney Urquhart (12) and Tiffany Smith (10) also posted double digits in the scoring column. Jaysie Chambers led UIC with 14 points and 13 rebounds in the contest.

Not On Top Of Our Game: Five players scored in double-figures for Western Kentucky as the Lady Toppers dominated Butler 86-57 Monday evening at Diddle Arena. The Bulldogs shot just 37 percent from the field on the game, and committed 22 turnovers in the process. The Sun Belt also dominated Butler on the boards, 45-30.

Leading The Way: Sophomore Cortney Urquhart led Butler with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds at Western Kentucky. Lisa Pryor added 12 points and Jessica Monaco tied a career-high with 11 points, which included a 3-of-4 performance from long range.

Nikki's Night: Freshman Nikki Budgake had one of her best outings of the season against Western Kentucky. Budgake scored four points to go along with her season-high seven rebounds and one blocked shot versus the Lady Toppers.

Road Woes: Cleveland State used a 14-0 run midway through the second half to claim a 75-66 Horizon League victory over the Butler women's basketball team on Saturday afternoon at Goodman Arena. The Vikings broke a 51-51 tie and went on to pull ahead 63-51 with 7:27 left to play. The Vikings lead grew to as much as 14, 71-57, when Erika Roudebush knocked down a deep three-pointer with 4:40 remaining. A pair of Cortney Urquhart free throws brought Butler to within 73-65, but the Bulldogs could get no closer in the final minutes.

She's Got Their Number: Sophomore Angel Mason recorded her second straight double-double, turning in a 16-point, 12-rebound performance against the Vikings. Her 12 rebounds marked a new career high. Just three days earlier Mason tallied 13 points, including the game-winning basket at the buzzer, and 11 rebounds in Butler's overtime win over Cleveland State.

Dishing 'Em Out: The Bulldogs dished out a season-high 18 assists at Cleveland State. Junior Nancy Bowden led Butler with 11 assists, which was one shy of her career high. In fact, Bowden had a hand in all of Butler's first five field goals. Freshman Nikki Budgake also recorded a season-high, with two helpers on the game.

No Big Deal: Junior Nancy Bowden may stand just five-foot, two-inches, but she has been playing big over the last few games. Bowden pulled down six rebounds in each of Butler's games against Cleveland State and also tallied a career-high two blocked shots on the road against the Vikings. Bowden currently ranks third on the team with 3.9 rebounds per game.

Showing Improvement: Butler's win over Cleveland State also eclipses the team's win total from last season, as they improve to 4-15 overall and 2-7 in the Horizon League. The Bulldogs finished with a 3-26 overall ledger and were 1-15 in league action during the 2001-02 campaign.

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.

Double Duty: Cortney Urquhart has tallied a team-best six double-doubles on the season, including four against league opponents. Angel Mason has recorded three double-double outings and Nancy Bowden also has two double-doubles under her belt this season.

Loving The League: Sophomore Cortney Urquhart has scored in double figures in six of Butler's nine league games this season and is averaging a team-best 12.2 points against league foes. Urquhart has also increased her rebounding average in league games from 7.7 per game to 9.0 per game. As the season has progressed, Urquhart has also become much more accurate from the free throw line, improving from 52 percent in overall games to 63 percent in league outings.

Line 'Em Up: Sophomore Cortney Urquhart is the lone Butler player to have started in all 20 games this season. Nancy Bowden has started in 19 of the team's affairs, while no other player has appeared in the starting lineup more than 15 times. Head coach Beth Couture has used ten different starting lineups throughout the season.

Doing The Time: There is no rest for the weary as point guard Nancy Bowden has already compiled 735 in her 20 games played for an average of 36.8 minutes per outing. Bowden has played 40+ minutes in eight games thus far, including playing all 45 minutes in Butler's overtime win over Cleveland State.

Top Dog: Nancy Bowden leads the Horizon League with 6.4 assists per game, nearly two assists better than the player ranked second. Bowden also ranks first in steals per game (3.25) and ranks second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.58). 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.

Top Ten List: Cortney Urquhart ranks in the Top Ten of the league in several categories, including offensive rebounds (3rd), rebounding (4th), defensive rebounds (6th), field goal percentage (10th) and blocked shots (10th).

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.

Balancing Act: The Bulldogs boast a balanced offensive attack as six players are averaging 7.2 points or more. Angel Mason is leading the team with 11.3 points per game, followed by Nancy Bowden (10.9 ppg), Cortney Urquhart (10.2 ppg), Lisa Pryor (9.6 ppg), Tiffany Smith (7.5 ppg) and Stephanie Boeke (7.2 ppg).

Doubling Over: Eight different players have recorded double-figure scoring outings for the Bulldogs. Nancy Bowden and Cortney Urquhart lead the way with 13 double-digit scoring outings each, followed by Angel Mason (12), Lisa Pryor (10), Tiffany Smith (4) and Stephanie Boeke (4), Jessica Monaco (2) and Dionne Goodwin (1).

Injury Prone: For the second consecutive year, the Bulldogs have again been plagued by numerous injuries. Sophomore guard/forward Maria Marchesano has missed 16 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 is 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 18 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.

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.

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).

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.

Up Next: Butler will return home from its three-game road trip to host a pair of Horizon League teams. The Bulldogs will welcome Loyola to Hinkle Fieldhouse on Thursday (Feb. 13) for a 7 p.m. meeting and will then try to avenge an overtime loss to Detroit earlier in the season when they host the Titans on Saturday (Feb. 15) at 2 p.m.