Bulldogs Host Vikings Thursday As Regular Season Winds Down

Feb. 25, 2004

THE TIP: Butler (11-14, 7-7 Horizon) returns to Hinkle Fieldhouse Thursday for the first of two games to conclude the regular season. The Bulldogs welcome Cleveland State to Indianapolis, looking to avenge an 80-61 loss to the Vikings Feb. 7 in Cleveland. Butler is looking to stay in the fifth spot in the league standings, while CSU is fighting for third. The 7 p.m. tip will be broadcast live on www.butlersports.com.

BULLDOG UPDATE: The Bulldogs come off a 67-50 win at UIC Saturday that leveled their conference record at 7-7. Butler has won seven of its last eleven games, including three straight home contests. The Bulldogs are alone in fifth place in the standings, a full game ahead of Loyola. Senior Nancy Bowden leads the Bulldogs with 11.3 ppg and 6.4 apg, while Angel Mason comes off a double-double Saturday.

AGAINST THE VIKINGS: Butler and Cleveland State meet for the 19th time Thursday, with the Bulldogs owning a 10-8 advantage, including a 6-2 edge at Hinkle Fieldhouse. CSU won the first meeting between the teams this season (80-61 in Cleveland), while the teams split two games last season. The series between the Vikings and Bulldogs dates back to Jan. 28, 1995.

STARTING OUT: The starting five against UIC Feb. 12 was the seventh different starting lineup used by coach Beth Couture and was the second lineup this season that included players from five different states...Nine players have started games this season, including senior Nancy Bowden, who has started all 25...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.

BREAKING DOWN CSU: The Vikings enter Thursday's game at 9-5 in the league and 12-13 overall. Cleveland State leads Detroit by a half-game for third in the standings, despite losing three straight games. Seniors Shannon Sword and Ashley Schrock lead CSU, combining for 32 points and 14 boards per contest. Coach Kate Peterson is one of three first-year league coaches.

LAST TIME OUT (BUTLER 67, UIC 50; FEB. 21, 2004, CHICAGO): The Bulldogs held the Flames to 28 percent shooting and forced UIC into 26 turnovers Saturday en route to a 67-50 win in Chicago. Senior Angel Mason had 17 points and 10 rebounds, while freshman Jackie Closser went 6-of-6 from the floor for 16 points.

FIRST TIME AROUND (CSU 80, BUTLER 61, UIC 81; FEB. 7, 2004, CLEVELAND): Ashley Schrock was one rebound short of a triple-double for the Vikings, posting 24 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds in CSU's 80-61 win Feb. 7. The Bulldogs hit just two of 16 three-point attempts and missed 21 free throws. Senior Nancy Bowden led the Bulldogs with 14 points and five assists.

GIVE AND TAKE: Through the games of Feb. 23, senior Nancy Bowden's 3.6 steals per contest are fourth in the NCAA, while her 6.4 assists per game are good for 15th nationally. She leads the Horizon League in assists, steals and assist/turnover ratio.

MARATHON WOMAN: Senior Nancy Bowden has played the entire 45 minutes in both of the Bulldogs' overtime games this season. She's gone the distance in nine games.

QUICK SHOTS: Freshman Ellen Hamilton has hit 17 consecutive free throws dating back to the Jan. 10 game at UW-Green Bay. Hamilton has hit 21 of her 22 attempts on the season (96 %)...Senior Nancy Bowden (27) and junior Cortney Urquhart (23) posted career highs Thursday against Loyola...Butler and UIC combined for 25 treys Feb. 12, six shy of the NCAA record...Freshman Jackie Closser is averaging 8.5 ppg in the team's 11 wins, hitting 47 percent of her threes. In the team's 14 losses, she's scoring just 3.8 ppg.

BRACKET SHAPING UP: The Bulldogs will either finish fifth or sixth in the league standings, as CSU and Detroit both hold tiebreakers over Butler if the three teams finished at 9-7. The Bulldogs will travel to either CSU or Detroit for a quarterfinal match-up Mar. 4. UW-Green Bay has the inside track on the No. 1 seed, with UW-Milwaukee currently a game behind the Phoenix. Loyola, UIC, Wright State and Youngstown State occupy the last four spots currently, with Wright State and YSU assured of playing in the 8/9 game.

LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD: The Bulldogs are averaging 80 ppg since Jessica Monaco entered the starting lineup four games ago. Butler is 3-1 in those contests, after posting 62.7 ppg in the team's first 21 outings. Sophomore Maria Marchesano has scored 23 points in just 28 minutes over the course of those four games, well above her 2.9 ppg average. Butler has hit at least eight treys in all four of those games, including a school-record 14 against UIC Feb. 12.

BOWDEN CLOSING IN: Senior Nancy Bowden is closing in on a few milestones and Butler records. After picking up her 500th career assist at Loyola Thursday, she is now two assists (507) shy of Barb Skinner's 509 assists for third on Butler's career list. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native is also fourth on Butler's career steals list. Bowden has 288 steals in her three-plus years at Butler, 14 short of Skinner's 302. Bowden is also third in minutes played (3,294). Bowden is now 32 points shy of 1,000 for her career with at least three games remaining in a Butler uniform.

BALANCED ATTACK: Senior Nancy Bowden leads the Bulldogs in scoring, averaging 11.3 ppg. But the Butler offense comes from a number of sources. The Bulldogs are the only team in the league with five players in the top 30 in scoring (Bowden, Cortney Urquhart, Angel Mason, Ellen Hamilton and Dionne Goodwin). Seven different Bulldogs have led the team in scoring this season.

LEARNING ON THE JOB: Freshmen Ashley Brenden, Jackie Closser and Ellen Hamilton are making big contributions for the Bulldogs. Closser and Hamilton are shooting a combined 38 percent (75-197) from three-point range, while Brenden leads the team in blocks. Hamilton and Brenden have each started 17 of the team's 25 games. The Bulldogs are 3-1 this season when a freshman leads the team in scoring. The trio is averaging 20.5 combined points in the team's wins, while dropping to 13.4 ppg combined in Butler's losses this season.

NUMBERS GAME: Butler is holding league opponents to .403 shooting this season, compared to non-league opponents, who shot .484 in the team's 11 non-conference games...In the team's 11 wins, the Bulldogs are forcing 6.4 more turnovers than they are committing. Butler's turnover margin is just +0.1 in their 14 losses. Butler has 132 steals in the wins (12.0 spg), more than doubling their opponents (65)...Freshman Jackie Closser is averaging 10.0 ppg in Butler's eight games in Hinkle Fieldhouse this season...Butler held UIC to 28 percent shooting Saturday in Chicago, including a cool 3-of-26 (12 percent) from three-point range...Senior Nancy Bowden has either scored or assisted on 245 of the Bulldogs' 567 field goals this season. That's 43 percent of the team's makes.

DEEP THREATS: The Bulldogs' recent offensive explosion is due in large part to their aggressiveness in taking the outside shot. Butler has attempted 95 treys over the past three games, nailing 39 of them (41 percent). Ellen Hamilton, Jackie Closser, Maria Marchesano and Jessica Monaco are all hitting at least 38 percent of their three-pointers on the season.