Bowden Earns League First Team and Defensive Honors

March 1, 2004

After a stellar senior campaign, Nancy Bowden has been named to the "All-Horizon League" first team and "All Defensive Team," the league announced today. Fellow Bulldogs Ellen Hamilton ("All-Newcomer Team") and senior Angel Mason ("All-Defensive Team") were also recognized in a vote of the league's coaches, media and sports information directors.

Bowden finished the regular season averaging 11.6 points, 6.5 assists, 3.7 steals and 3.4 rebounds per contest. The Cincinnati, Ohio native not only led the Horizon League in steals and assists, she has been among the national leaders for much of the season.

"Nancy is so deserving of this honor after what she's accomplished here over the last four years," said coach Beth Couture. "She's a complete player who plays hard in every aspect of the game.

"Her determination and play has been a big part of our success this season. She's meant so much to this team from a leadership standpoint, setting the example by battling for 40 minutes each game."

The senior picked up her 1,000th career point in the team's regular season finale Saturday after passing the 500-assist plateau Feb. 19. Bowden currently stands in third place in assists and minutes played in Butler history, in addition to fourth in steals (with 298). The Horizon League "Player of the Week" for Dec. 15, Bowden posted three double-doubles during the regular season.

For her career, Bowden is a two-time league "Player of the Week" and was a 2003 league "All-Defensive Team" selection. She was a preseason "All-Horizon League" first team honoree this season. Bowden is Butler's first postseason "All-Horizon League" performer since Kelly Kuhn received second team accolades following the 1998-99 season.

Hamilton, a freshman, earned "All-Newcomer Team" honors, starting 18 contests for the Bulldogs this season. The sharpshooter from Greenfield, Ind., hit 38 percent of her three-point attempts this season, good for fifth in the league, while her 45 bombs were the third highest total in the conference.

Hamilton was one of six freshmen to finish in the Top 30 in scoring in the Horizon League, averaging 7.3 points per game. She led the Bulldogs in scoring on three occasions and shot 92 percent from the free throw line during the regular season.

Mason joined Bowden on the "All-Defensive Team." Arguable the best pure athlete in the Horizon League, she finished eighth in the league in steals with 1.74 thefts per game. The Evanston, Ill., native finished second on the team in rebounding and added eight blocks on the season.

UW-Milwaukee's Maria Viall was named the league's "Player of the Year," joining Bowden, UW-Green Bay's Abby Scharlow, and Ashley Schrock and Shannon Sword of Cleveland State on the league's first team.

Loyola's Ciara Henderson and Meskhenet Lands, UW-Green Bay's Nicole Soulis, UIC's Chrissy Dizon, and Nicole Anaejionu of Detroit comprised the second team.

Soulis was named the league's "Newcomer of the Year," joining Hamilton, Wright State's Brittney Whiteside, and Krystal Hugelier and LaShonda Grant of UIC on the "All-Newcomer Team."

Joining Bowden and Mason on the "All-Defensive Team" were Viall, Whiteside, Anaejionu and UW-Green Bay's Mary Kulenkamp.

UW-Green Bay's Kevin Borseth was named "Coach of the Year," after his Phoenix won the regular season title with a 13-3 league record despite the loss of two senior starters to season-ending injuries at the start of the season.

For the second time in her two seasons in Indianapolis, Couture has at least doubled the team's win total from the previous season. Despite the loss of starting senior guard Lisa Pryor to a knee injury early in the season, Couture led the team to its first league winning record since 1998-99. Butler finished the regular season with a 9-7 league record, tying Cleveland State for fourth in the league standings, in addition to a 13-14 overall mark. Couture's Bulldogs were the last team to defeat Chattanooga, as the Lady Mocs have rattled off 23 consecutive wins since Butler's 79-73 win Nov. 28.

The Bulldogs, the league tournament's fifth seed due to a tiebreaker, travel to Cleveland to take on the Vikings in the quarterfinals of the league tournament. The teams square off Thursday at 7 p.m with the game being broadcast live on www.butlersports.com.