Bulldogs Take On Top-Seeded UW-Green Bay

March 6, 2003

Notes on UWGB

* The Butler women's basketball team will look to advance to the Horizon League Tournament semifinals for the first time since the 1998-99 season when the Bulldogs (6-22) take on top-seeded UW-Green Bay tonight at 7 p.m. EST at the Phoenix Sports Center. The Phoenix, ranked 22nd nationally, enter tonight's game with a 24-3 overall record and an eight-game winning streak.

* The Bulldogs find themselves in a familiar situation, playing the Phoenix in the quarterfinals of the league tournament for the third straight season. UW-Green Bay, which was the top-seed each year., has gotten the best of Butler on each occasion defeating the Bulldogs 64-53 in the 2001 tournament and 65-43 in 2002.

* UW-Green Bay's Kristy Loiselle was named the Horizon League Player of the Year and head coach Kevin Borseth was named the Horizon League Coach of the Year, the league office announced yesterday at the championship banquet. Sara Boyer and Elizabeth Dudley were named to the second team All-League and Dudley was also one of six players to be named to the league's All-Defensive squad.

Title Town: It seems quite appropriate that the Phoenix call Green Bay home. UW-Green Bay has been to postseason play in each of the last five years, including four trips to the NCAA Tournament. The Phoenix laid claims to its fifth-straight regular-season title this season.

History Lesson: What was once 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 ten meetings to their foes from the north dating back to the 1998 season, as UWGB holds the edge on the overall series, 17-7.

Familiar Faces: The Bulldogs should feel right at home in the Phoenix Sports Center as it was just a week ago that Butler was in Green Bay for a regular-season battle. The Bulldogs lost that game, 80-48, due to a 71.4 percent (10-14) long range shooting performance from the Phoenix. UW-Green Bay also ousted the Bulldogs, 75-36, at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Jan. 23.

Deja Vu: For the second straight year, the Bulldogs have entered the Horizon League Tournament as the No. 9 seed, and for the second straight year Butler has emerged victorious in the play-in game of the championships. Last season Butler posted a 74-61 win over No. 8 Wright State and last night the Bulldogs avenged their two regular-season losses against Youngstown State to claim a 77-71 victory over the No. 8 Penguins.

Right Out of the Gates: Angel Mason's layup at 19:36 gave Butler a 2-0 lead and the Bulldogs never looked back as they held onto the lead for the entire game. It was the first time all season that Butler had not trailed in a game.

Snapping The Streak: Butler's win over Youngstown State snapped a four-game losing streak for the Bulldogs. It also marked the first time Butler had defeated Youngstown State in the teams' five-game history.

A Career Night: Junior Lisa Pryor and freshman Jessica Monaco each recorded career scoring games against the Penguins. Pryor scored 19 points and Monaco finished with a personal-best 14 points. Cortney Urquhart (15) and Nancy Bowden (10) also scored in double-figures for the Bulldogs.

Trey-Mendous: The Butler women's basketball team had a hot-hand from long range in the first half against Youngstown State, as the Bulldogs connected on 7-of-11 of their attempts. Despite going 0-for-5 from 3-point range, Butler still ended the game shooting 43.8 percent (7-16) from deep, which was a season-high for the Bulldogs. Lisa Pryor nailed four three pointers on the game, while Jessica Monaco recorded three.

It's All Good: Junior Dionne Goodwin, who is averaging 3.5 rebounds on the season, has been a dominating factor on the boards over the last few games. Goodwin led Butler in rebounding in both games last week, and then hauled down another six rebounds against the Penguins last night. Over the past three games, Goodwin is averaging 7.7 rebounds.

Get On Board: For the fourth time in five games, the Bulldogs have held the edge on the glass over their counterparts. Butler, which was led by Angel Mason's eight rebounds, narrowly outrebounded Youngstown State, 38-36.

Give 'Em A Hand: The Bulldogs finished well below their season-average of 19.1 turnovers per game, when they recorded just 14 miscues against the Penguins. In fact, Butler turned the ball over just four times in the second half, while forcing 10 Youngstown State turnovers in the final 20 minutes.

Defense Does It: For the second straight year, Nancy Bowden was named to the Horizon League All-Defensive Team. Bowden's 90 steals this season ranks eighth on Butler's record charts and her 197 career steals ranks sixth all-time.

Bracket Breakdown: In addition to Butler facing No. 1 UW-Green Bay on Thursday in a 7 p.m. game, No. 7 Detroit is matched against No. 2 UIC in the day's 1:30 p.m. battle and No. 3 UW-Milwaukee will battle it out against No. 6 Cleveland State in the 3 p.m. game. No. 5 Loyola and No. 4 Wright State tipoff at 9 p.m. to conclude the quarterfinal action.

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.

Moving On Up: Nancy Bowden's 188 assists ranks second on Butler's single season charts, and is just seven behind Melissa Kilgore (1987-88) who stands at the top with 195 assists. The 5-2 floor leader's 344 career dishes also ranks fifth all-time.

Doubling Over: Butler's win over Youngstown State doubles the team's win total from last season, as the Bulldogs boosted their record to 6-22. 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 28 games this season. Throughout her two-year career, Urquhart has started in 56 of Butler's 57 games. Nancy Bowden has started in 27 of the team's affairs, while no other player has appeared in the starting lineup more than 23 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 1045 minutes (which ranks 2nd in a single season) in her 26 games played for an average of 37.3 minutes per outing. Bowden has played 40+ minutes in 12 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 (3.19) 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 19 double-figure scoring outings, followed by Nancy Bowden (17), Lisa Pryor (16), Angel Mason (15), Jessica Monaco (7), 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 10.2 points or more. Cortney Urquhart is leading the team with 11.2 points per game, followed by Angel Mason (10.5 ppg), Nancy Bowden (10.2 ppg) and Lisa Pryor (10.2 ppg).

Injury Prone: For the second consecutive year, the Bulldogs have again been plagued by numerous injuries. Sophomore guard/forward Maria Marchesano has missed 26 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 26 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.

Get To The Point: Junior point guard Nancy Bowden has dished out ten or more assists on five occasions this season. She has led Butler in assists 26 times this season.

A Dozen Does It: 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).