Bulldogs Conclude Regular Season Action In Wisconsin

Feb. 25, 2003

Notes on UWGB

* The Butler women's basketball team's road to victory is not an easy one this week, as the Bulldogs (5-20, 3-11 Horizon League) must face the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the Horizon League to end the regular-season portion of their schedule. Butler will take on No. 22 UW-Green Bay (22-3, 13-1) on Thursday (Feb. 27) in an 8 p.m. meeting at the Phoenix Sports Center before battling it out at UW-Milwaukee (13-12, 9-5) on Saturday.

* The Phoenix, which has been to postseason play in each of the last five years, which includes four trips to the NCAA Tournament, took another step in the right direction last week as UW-Green Bay clinched its fifth-straight regular season title.

* Three players are averaging double-figures in scoring for the Phoenix. Kristy Loiselle leads the way with 14.1 points per game, followed by Chandra Johnson (12.7 ppg) and Sara Boyer (11.6 ppg). The Phoenix also boast some of the top shooters in the league, as Loiselle leads all players in free throw percentage (.890), Mor in field goal percentage (.615) and Elizabeth Dudley in 3-point field goal percentage (.537).

* Head coach Kevin Borseth is in his fifth season with the Phoenix and holds a 108-38 all-time record at UW-Green Bay. Borseth is 333-135 in his 16-year career.

History Lesson: What once was a heated rivalry, the series between Butler and UW-Green Bay has been dominated by the Phoenix in recent years. The Bulldogs have lost their last nine meetings to their foes from the north dating back to the 1998 season, as UWGB holds the edge on the overall series, 16-7. The two teams have met up in each of the last two Horizon League Tournaments, with the Phoenix emerging as the victor on both occasions. In the teams' last meeting, UW-Green Bay captured a 75-36 win over the Bulldogs, after outscoring Butler 35-8 in the second half. Lisa Pryor was the lone double-figure scorer for Butler, finishing with 16 points. Chandra Johnson led four Phoenix players in double-figures, finishing with 16 points. Abby Scharlow contributed 13 points off the bench and Sara Boyer and Tiffany Mor chipped in 12 points apiece.

Last Time Out: Jen Perugini hit a turnaround baseline jumper with 0.4 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime and the Penguins outscored Butler 12-6 in the final five minutes of action to escape with an 80-74 overtime victory on Saturday afternoon at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Butler never led in the final five minutes of the game as the Penguins outscored Butler 12-6 during that period, while going 10-of-12 from the free throw line. Cortney Urquhart hit a layup with 2.5 seconds remaining in regulation to put Butler ahead 68-66. Stephanie Boeke then stole the Penguins' full-court inbounds pass, which seemingly gave the Bulldogs the win, but was called for traveling when she fell down with the ball at the buzzer. After Youngstown State was awarded the ball and four tenths of a second put back on the clock, Perugini caught the pass from half court inbounds pass and hit the turnaround jumper from ten feet out to send the game into overtime.

Center Of Attention: Sophomore Cortney Urquhart led Butler in scoring for the third straight game, finishing with a career-high 21 points against Youngstown State. Urquhart, who is averaging 17.6 points over the last three outings, has led the Bulldogs in scoring eight times this season.

What An Angel: Sophomore Angel Mason also put forth impressive marks against the Penguins, scoring 16 points - just two shy of her career-high - to go along with a team-best eight rebounds. She also played in a career-high 41 minutes in Butler's loss to Youngstown State.

Assisting the Team: Nancy Bowden narrowly missed her fourth double-double of the season, as she finished with eight points and a game-high 10 assists. Bowden has dished out 10 or more assists on five occasions this season.

Now Boarding: For only the sixth time all season the Bulldogs outrebounded their counterparts. Butler held a 41-34 edge on the boards against the Penguins, including a 21-7 advantage on the offensive glass. The Bulldogs rank third in the league in offensive rebounds (13.9 pg).

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

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's 168 assists ranks fourth on Butler's single season charts, and is just nine behind Melissa Kilgore (1986-87), who stands in third place. The 5-2 floor leader's 324 career dishes also ranks sixth all-time. Bowden's 80 steals this season also places her in the Top Ten in both single season and career (187).

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 and Nancy Bowden have each recorded three double-double outings on the season.

Line 'Em Up: Sophomore Cortney Urquhart is the lone Butler player to have started in all 25 games this season. Nancy Bowden has started in 24 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 eleven different starting lineups throughout the season.

Doing The Time: There is no rest for the weary as point guard Nancy Bowden has already compiled 927 minutes (which ranks 8th in a single season) in her 25 games played for an average of 37.1 minutes per outing. Bowden has played 40+ minutes in ten 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 6.7 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 12th among Division 1 players in assists and 25th in steals.

Doubling Over: Eight different players have recorded double-figure scoring outings for the Bulldogs. Cortney Urquhart leads the way with 18 double-figure scoring outings, followed by Nancy Bowden (16), Lisa Pryor (14), Angel Mason (14), Jessica Monaco (6), 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 9.8 points or more. Cortney Urquhart is leading the team with 11.3 points per game, followed by Angel Mason (10.8 ppg), Nancy Bowden (10.4 ppg) and Lisa Pryor (9.8 ppg).

Injury Prone: For the second consecutive year, the Bulldogs have again been plagued by numerous injuries. Sophomore guard/forward Maria Marchesano has missed 23 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 23 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 spend the remainder of its schedule in the state of Wisconsin, as the Bulldogs wrap up the regular season portion of its schedule at UW-Milwaukee on Saturday (Mar. 1). Butler will take on the Panthers (13-12, 9-5 Horizon), which are currently in a second-place tie with UIC in the league standings, at 1 p.m. EST. Butler will then return back to Wisconsin, as top-seeded UW-Green Bay hosts the Horizon League Championships on Mar. 5-9.