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Bulldogs Take Break from League Play, Host IUPUI Wednesday
Jan. 11, 2005 Click here for a full PDF version of the game notes. THE TIP: Butler concludes its three-game homestand Wednesday when cross-town rival IUPUI (2-11) visits Hinkle Fieldhouse. The game serves as the Bulldogs' last non-Horizon League contest of the season, as Butler looks to end a three-game skid. The 7 p.m. (EST) tip can be heard live on www.butlersports.com. THE SERIES: Butler owns a 12-5 advantage in 17 previous match-ups with IUPUI, including a 63-48 win last season downtown. Last year's meeting was the first for the cross-town rivals since Dec. 29, 1988. The Bulldogs have won four straight in the series, which dates back to two meetings during the 1976-77 season when the Jaguars won both games. The Bulldogs are 5-2 at Hinkle Fieldhouse against the Jaguars. BULLDOGS LIVE ON THE WEB: Josh Rattray and Melinda Quasius are once again courtside this season, providing live audio of Butler basketball on www.butlersports.com. Links are available on the Web site's women's basketball page or connect directly to the audio stream at
www.butler.edu/mediaarts/wbb.htm
COACH Beth Couture: In her third season on the Butler sidelines and 16th season overall, coach Beth Couture brings a career record of 283-163 (.635) and 25-46 (.352) mark at Butler into tonight's contest. Couture graduated from Erskine College (Due West, S.C.) in 1984 and spent her first 13 years as a head coach at Presbyterian College, a Division II school in Clinton, S.C., before arriving at Butler. URQUHART CRACKS TOP TEN: Senior center Cortney Urquhart recorded five rebounds against UW-Green Bay Saturday to give her 579 for her career and move her into Butler's Top Ten in that category. Urquhart passed former Bulldog Liz Skinner (1979-82) and her 578 caroms and is now just 12 boards shy of Julie Schrader for the ninth position. Urquhart was recognized as a preseason second-team "All-Horizon League" selection this season and currently leads the Bulldogs and ranks seventh in the Horizon League with an average of 6.1 rebounds per game. Wednesday's game against IUPUI will be the 100th contest in a Butler uniform for Urquhart. MARCHESANO ON THE MARK: Senior Maria Marchesano exploded for 27 points over the team's last two games, highlighted by 16 points off the bench in the Bulldogs' game against UW-Milwaukee Jan. 3. Her scoring output came on 5-of-10 shooting, including a 3-of-6 mark from behind the arc. The 5-10 guard dropped 17 points on Western Michigan on five treys earlier this season, leading a 20-point second-half comeback. Marchesano now has 110 career three-pointers, good for fourth on Butler's career list, moving past former teammate Lisa Pryor with three treys Saturday against UW-Green Bay. Butler Career Three-Point Field Goals Made Marchesano has hit at least one three-pointer in 11 of the team's 12 games this season, including a total of 12 over the team's last five contests. CLOSER NOT ALWAYS BETTER FOR CLOSSER: Sophomore Jackie Closser is second in the Horizon League and ranks 33rd nationally with an average of 2.5 made three-pointers per game. The Alexandria, Ind., product is shooting an impressive .429 from three-point range, knocking down 33-of-77 attempts, good for fifth in the conference and 23rd in the nation. Closser has hit five three-pointers twice this season and hit all four of her long-range attempts en route to 14 points and "All-Tournament Team" honors against Austin Peay Nov. 26 at the Billiken Classic. Saturday's game against UW-Green Bay was the first time this season that Closser didn't make a three-pointer. ALL JACKIE, ALL THE TIME: Closser leads the team with an average of 37.4 minutes per contest. She has played the entire game on four occasions, including playing all 45 minutes of the team's two overtime contests this season. NUMBER TO WATCH: Offensive Rebounds. IUPUI is pulling down an impressive 14.6 offensive rebounds per game, but the Jaguars are giving up an alarming 16.9 caroms off the offensive glass to their opponents. In contrast, Butler averages 11.6 offensive rebounds per game, while its opponents are pulling down 12.8. Butler ranks fourth in the Horizon League with a rebounding margin of -3.3. CHARITABLE BEHAVIOR: Sophomore Ellen Hamilton leads the Horizon League with a 90-percent free throw percentage. The Greenfield, Ind., standout has knocked down 27 of 30 attempts this season and has missed just six of 58 freebies in her two seasons at Butler. Hamilton averaged 16.5 points per game in the Bulldogs' two contests at the Billiken Classic in St. Louis, Mo., earning Classic MVP honors as the Bulldogs won the four-team tournament. IT'S ACADEMIC: Nine of the 14 players on Butler's basketball team made the Athletic Director's Honor Roll for the Fall, 2004 semester. The players made at least a 3.25 GPA for the semester, including junior Gina Grussing, who sported a perfect 4.0 in the classroom. For the fall semester, 45 percent of Butler's student-athletes made the Athletic Director's honor roll. ALREADY HALFWAY THERE: With 33 three-pointers already this season, Jackie Closser is on pace to break the team's single-season three-point record. Ellen Hamilton's 49 bombs last season were the fifth-best single-season output in Butler history, as senior Maria Marchesano holds the top spot with 64 as a freshman in 2001-02. Butler ranks 42nd in the country in three-pointers made, one of five Horizon League schools in the Top 52. FORMER BULLDOG SKINNER SELECTED TO INDIANA BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME: Barb Skinner, a 1983 graduate of Butler University, has been selected to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, the hall announced Monday (Jan. 10). The seven-member class will be inducted during an April 30 awards dinner in Indianapolis. Skinner becomes the first former Butler women's basketball player to be enshrined since the Hall began inducting women in 2002. Skinner, a 1998 Butler Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, earned four basketball letters during a career that spanned from 1980-83. Under coach Linda Mason, Butler went 88-12 in the four seasons Skinner sported a Butler uniform. She was honored as the team's MVP following the 1982-83 campaign. Skinner ranks in the top ten in most career statistical categories, highlighted by fourth-place rankings in points (1,448), assists (509) and steals (302). Her career scoring average of 14.5 points per game and her 5.1 assists per contest are each third on the Butler charts. QUICK SHOTS: Freshman Ashley Conner (Indianapolis, Ind.) scored a career-high five points against UW-Milwaukee Jan. 3...Butler's first win this season was the 400th in the program's history. The Opponent: A LOOK AT THE JAGUARS: IUPUI enters Wednesday's contest with an overall record of 2-11. The Jaguars are on a four-game slide, including all three Mid-Continent Conference outings so far this season. In her first season on the Jaguar sidelines, coach Shann Hart came to Indianapolis from American University, where she had a 50-63 record in four campaigns. Freshman Karima Davies leads the Jaguars with a scoring average of 12.7 ppg, but she is expected to miss her second straight game Wednesday. Junior guard Kia Hayes averages 11.8 ppg, while classmate Brooke McAfee scores 11.3 ppg, including a career-high 28 in the Jaguars' last game. McAfee earned the Mid-Con Defensive Player of the Year award last season, when she led the nation in blocked shots. One of the Jaguars' two wins so far this season came in overtime against Horizon League competitor Loyola. NEXT UP: After a one-game hiatus from Horizon League action, the Bulldogs return to circuit play Saturday at Detroit as the second game of a men's/women's doubleheader (4:30 p.m. EST). The Bulldogs return home Thursday, Jan. 20 to face Youngstown State. WORTHLESS STAT OF THE DAY: Newcomer Jessica Smart has appeared in five straight games for the Bulldogs, but has officially logged just a combined three minutes in the contests, all against UW-Milwaukee Jan. 3. On the season, Smart has recorded four total minutes in six games. |
