Butler Welcomes Detroit To Hinkle Fieldhouse

Feb. 14, 2003

Notes on UDM

* The Bulldogs will look to put an end to its four-game slide on Saturday afternoon when the Butler women's basketball team (4-18, 2-9 Horizon League) hosts Detroit in a 2 p.m. battle. The Titans are seeking to end a two-game skid of their own, having lost to UW-Milwaukee and UW-Green Bay in their last two outings. Detroit, which is 7-14 overall and 5-5 in the league, currently stands in a fourth-place tie with Loyola and Wright State.

*Although four Detroit players average more than 7.1 points per game, Lori Wild is the lone Titan to average double-figures, with 10.2 ppg. As a team, Detroit leads the league in blocked shots (3.95 pg), led by Nicole Anaejionu's 1.33 blocks per contest.

* At the helm of the Titan squad is head coach Anne Rexford, who is in her fourth year with the team. Rexford is 58-49 overall with the Titans.

* Detroit returns eight letterwinners off of last year's 16-14 squad. The Titans were picked to finish seventh in the Horizon League Preseason Poll.

History Lesson: Detroit leads the overall series between the Titans and the Bulldogs, 26-11. Butler has not captured a win against UDM since the 1998-99 season, as the Titans have won the last nine meetings. Last season, Detroit defeated Butler 86-68 at Calihan Hall and 84-59 on the Bulldogs' home court.

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 Jan. 7 at 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 a league win. For the first time all season, the Bulldogs had five players reach 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. Sara Crum's 19 points led the Titans' scoring column.

Last Time Out: Sarah Hamilton and Ciara Henderson each recorded 18 points as Loyola used a 12-4 second half run to defeat the Butler women's basketball team 76-67 on Thursday evening at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Nancy Bowden led Butler with 12 points and added game-highs of six assists and four steals to her totals. Cortney Urquhart recorded 10 points and eight rebounds and Jessica Monaco also chipped in 10 points.

Feelin' Good: Dionne Goodwin put forth one of her best efforts of the season against Loyola when she tallied a six-point, six-rebound effort against the Ramblers. Goodwin averages 1.8 points and 2.3 rebounds on the season.

Looking For Charity: Freshman Nikki Budgake continued her tear from the free throw line, going 6-for-6 from the charity stripe against Loyola. The 6-3 center has made her last 19 attempts and leads the team by shooting an impressive 91.3 percent (21-23) on the season.

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. She then led the Bulldogs with six caroms at UIC to boost her season average to 4.0 rebounds per game, which ranks third on the team.

Quality Time: While junior Haley Dunkman hasn't seen much action this season, she has made the most of her time on the court in the last two games. For the first time this season, Dunkman scored in back-to-back outings, recording a pair of points against UIC and Loyola.

Moving On Up: Nancy Bowden enters into Saturday's game against Detroit just two steals shy of cracking the single season Top Ten list. Bowden has 70 swipes on the season, just six shy of the mark she set last season, which ranks eighth all-time. Bowden's 142 assists this season also moves her into the Top Ten list, surpassing Jami Sloan and Denis Walter's mark to put her in eighth place.

Welcome Back: Junior Tiffany Smith wasted no time in getting herself back on the scoreboard at UIC, after being sidelined for seven games due to a stress fracture in her leg. Smith scored five points and recorded two rebounds and one steal in her seven minutes played against the Flames. Smith made an immediate impact, hitting a long three-pointer after entering the game just five seconds prior. She averages 7.1 points and 2.6 rebounds for the Bulldogs.

Showing Improvement: Butler's win over Cleveland State eclipses the team's win total from last season, as they boosted their record to four overall wins and two victories in league action. 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.

Line 'Em Up: Sophomore Cortney Urquhart is the lone Butler player to have started in all 22 games this season. Nancy Bowden has started in 21 of the team's affairs, while no other player has appeared in the starting lineup more than 17 times. Head coach Beth Couture has used ten different starting lineups throughout the season, however she has elected to use the lineup of Urquhart, Bowden, Jessica Monaco, Angel Mason and Lisa Pryor for the last seven outings.

Doing The Time: There is no rest for the weary as point guard Nancy Bowden has already compiled 808 in her 22 games played for an average of 36.7 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. Bowden, who played in 954 minutes last season, will crack the single season Top Ten lis by playing 76 more minutes this season.

Top Dog: Nancy Bowden leads the Horizon League with 6.5 assists per game, more than one assist better than the player ranked second. Bowden also ranks first in steals per game (3.14) and ranks second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.62). Her solid numbers have also put her in the national spotlight, as she ranks 15th among Division 1 players in assists and 29th 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 (5th), field goal percentage (10th) and blocked shots (t-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 five players are averaging 7.1 points or more. Angel Mason is leading the team with 10.8 points per game, followed by Nancy Bowden (10.5 ppg), Cortney Urquhart (10.4 ppg), Lisa Pryor (9.9 ppg) and Tiffany Smith (7.1 ppg).

Doubling Over: Eight different players have recorded double-figure scoring outings for the Bulldogs. Nancy Bowden and Cortney Urquhart lead the way with 15 double-digit scoring outings each, followed by Angel Mason (13), Lisa Pryor (12), Tiffany Smith (4), Jessica Monaco (5), Stephanie Boeke (4),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 19 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 missed seven games, appearing back on the court for the first time against UIC.

Missing Maria: Sophomore forward Maria Marchesano's absence on the court is something the Bulldogs have missed for the last 20 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.

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 make the brief trip to Wright State on Thursday (Feb. 20) to take on the Raiders at 7 p.m. The Bulldogsfell to WSU, 82-65, behind Tiffany Webb's record-setting 49-point performance in the two teams' first meeting of the season. Butler will then return home to the friendly confines of Hinkle Fieldhouse on Saturday to battle it out against Youngstown State in the Bulldogs' final home outing of the season.