Bulldogs Host Youngstown State on Senior Day

Feb. 21, 2003

Notes on YSU

* The Butler women's basketball team will try to end the home portion of its schedule on a good note when the Bulldogs (5-19, 3-10 Horizon League) host Youngstown State on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. The game marks Butler's final game at Hinkle Fieldhouse this season, and is Senior Day for lone senior Colleen Munro-Leighton. The Bulldogs are looking for redemption against the Penguins (5-18, 2-10), as YSU escaped with a 72-69 win at the Beeghly Center on Jan. 18.

* Youngstown State boasts a balanced offensive attack, as four players are averaging 9.9 points or better. Devin Novak leads the way with 11.8 ppg, followed by Jen Perugini (11.6 ppg), Jessica Olmstead (10.0 ppg) and Maggie Johnston (9.9 ppg).

* This will only be the fourth meeting between the Bulldogs and Youngstown State, as the Penguins hold a 3-0 series lead, having swept Butler in both meetings last year.

* Ed DiGregorio is in his 20th season with Youngstown State and holds a 318-237 overall record with the Penguins.

* The Penguins return nine letterwinners off of last year's 12-16 team. They were picked to finish fifth in the Horizon League Preseason Poll.

Last Time We Met...: Youngstown State staved off a late Butler rally to hold on for a 72-69 win on Jan. 17 at the Beeghly Center. Jessica Olmstead's jumper with 9:20 remaining gave the hosts a 17-point lead at 61-44. But, four straight Butler three-pointers, including a pair from Lisa Pryor, put the Bulldogs right back in the hunt. Butler then closed out on a 25-7 run with a Stephanie Boeke three-pointer at 2:21 to give the Bulldogs a 69-68 edge. Butler's lead was short-lived, though, as Jen Perugini's layup at 1:19 gave Youngstown State the one-point lead, and Olmstead sank a pair of free throws in the final seconds to seal the win for the Penguins. Angel Mason led four Butler players in double-figure scoring with 15 points. Nancy Bowden added 13 and Cortney Urquhart and Pryor each finished with 11. Perugini led all scores with 16 points, followed by Devin Novak (15), Jessica Forsythe (13), Olmstead (13) and Maggie Johnston (11).

Senior Sendoff: Prior to Saturday's game against Youngstown State, the Butler athletic department will honor lone senior Colleen Munro-Leighton for her efforts on the court throughout the last four seasons. Munro-Leighton has started in six games this season, and is averaging 1.7 points and 1.4 rebounds while in action. The Louisville, Ky. native has excelled both on and off the court, as she was named to the 2002 Horizon League Academic Honor Roll. The chemistry major boasts a 3.92 GPA and is planning on attending graduate school following graduation.

Last Time Out: Wright State outscored Butler 38-25 in the second half en route to claiming a 63-55 win over the Bulldogs on Thursday evening at the Ervin J. Nutter Center. Cortney Urquhart's layin off an inbounds play gave Butler its biggest lead of the game at 32-25 just minutes into the second half. The Bulldogs held onto its lead until 12:15 when Tiffany Webb scored off a Butler turnover, giving Wright State a 39-38 advantage. Webb's basket was part of a 10-0 Raider run, which eventually put the hosts up 50-41. A Stephanie Boeke jumper narrowed the gap to 52-49 at 5:03, but Wright State answered with six straight points to pull ahead 58-49. Butler would get no closer than five points throughout the remainder of the game.

Leading The Way: Sophomore Cortney Urquhart led Butler in scoring for the seventh time this season, finishing with 14 points against the Raiders. Urquhart is averaging a team-best 10.9 points per game on the season.

It's All Good: Junior Dionne Goodwin had one of her best games of the season when she narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and a season-high 11 rebounds off the bench against the Raiders. Goodwin is averaging 2.2 points and 2.8 rebounds this season.

Now Boarding: For only the fifth time all season, the Bulldogs held the rebounding edge against their opponents, outrebounding Wright State 43-29. Butler also held a commanding 13-6 advantage on the offensive glass against the Raiders.

Charity Work: The Bulldogs might have struggled from the field against the Raiders, shooting just 35 percent (18-52), but they posted their season-best outing from the free throw line, connecting on 16-of-20 (.800) of their attempts.

Ball Handling Woes: Butler's loss to the Raiders was in large part due to its season-high 25 turnovers, 16 of which were unforced. Wright State outscored Butler 22-10 in points off of turnovers.

D, D, Defense: Detroit's 49-point output on Feb. 15 was the least amount scored by a Butler opponent since the Bulldogs' 87-43 win over UIC during the 1998-99 campaign. Detroit's 49 points is also well below Butler's opponents' average, as the Bulldogs have been allowing 73.2 points per game this season. Butler is 3-0 this season when holding opponents below 60 points.

Bad Shooting = Wins?: Despite shooting a season-worst 28.3 percent (17-60), the Bulldogs still managed to pull of the 57-49 win over Detroit. In fact, in only one of Butler's five wins this season have the Bulldogs shot better than 40 percent. Included on the list of victories where the Bulldogs struggled shooting was a 21-of-74 (.284) performance from the field against Cleveland State.

Moving On Up: Nancy Bowden cracked the Butler single season Top Ten list against Wright State, when her three steals versus the Titans gave her 77 swipes on the season, good enough to move her into seventh place. Bowden currently has 184 career steals, which puts her in seventh place all-time. The 5-2 floor leader also ranks sixth this season with 158 assists, just one shy of the No. 5 position. She is in sixth place all-time with 314 career dishes.

Showing Improvement: Butler's win over Detroit nearly doubles the team's win total from last season, as the Bulldogs boosted their record to five overall wins and three 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 have each recorded three double-double outings Nancy Bowden on the season.

Line 'Em Up: Sophomore Cortney Urquhart is the lone Butler player to have started in all 24 games this season. Nancy Bowden has started in 23 of the team's affairs, while no other player has appeared in the starting lineup more than 20 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 886 minutes (which ranks 10th in a single season) in her 24 games played for an average of 36.9 minutes per outing. Bowden has played 40+ minutes in nine 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 6.6 assists per game, more than one assist better than the player ranked second. Bowden also ranks first in steals per game (3.21) and ranks second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.74). 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.

Doubling Over: Eight different players have recorded double-figure scoring outings for the Bulldogs. Cortney Urquhart leads the way with 17 double-figure scoring outings, followed by Nancy Bowden (16), Lisa Pryor (14), Angel Mason (13), Jessica Monaco (5), Tiffany Smith (4), Stephanie Boeke (4) and Dionne Goodwin (1).

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 four players are averaging 10.0 points or more. Cortney Urquhart is leading the team with 10.9 points per game, followed by Angel Mason (10.6 ppg), Nancy Bowden (10.5 ppg) and Lisa Pryor (10.0 ppg).

Injury Prone: For the second consecutive year, the Bulldogs have again been plagued by numerous injuries. Sophomore guard/forward Maria Marchesano has missed 22 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 22 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 round out the remainder of its schedule in the state of Wisconsin. The Bulldogs travel there for regular-season battles against No. 21 UW-Green Bay (Feb. 27) and UW-Milwaukee (Mar. 1) before returning back to Green Bay for the Horizon League Championships (Mar. 5-9) the following week.