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Butler Seeks Revenge, Travels to UW-Milwaukee Saturday
Jan. 21, 2005 Click here for a full PDF version of the game notes. THE TIP: The Bulldogs aim for revenge Saturday, traveling to Wisconsin to face UW-Milwaukee (7-9, 4-2 Horizon League). The Panthers scored a lopsided win at Hinkle Fieldhouse three weeks ago, but the Bulldogs (8-8, 2-3) have won three straight games and look to be a different team than the one UWM faced Jan. 3. The 2 p.m. (CST) tip can be heard live on www.butlersports.com with live stats through Gametracker also available. THE SERIES: Butler and the Panthers meet for the 23rd time Saturday with UW-Milwaukee holding a slight 12-10 series edge. The Panthers have won the last seven meetings in Milwaukee, where they hold a 7-3 mark against Butler. The teams split the series last season and UWM won at Hinkle earlier this month. The teams first met March 11, 1982. 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.
COACH Beth Couture: In her third season on the Butler sidelines and 16th season overall, coach Beth Couture brings a career record of 286-163 (.637) and 28-46 (.379) 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 HITS 1,000-POINT PLATEAU: Senior center Cortney Urquhart scored on a post move with 53 seconds remaining in Thursday's game to register her ninth point of the night and surpass the 1,000-point milestone for her career. She currently leads the team with a scoring average of 11.3 ppg. Already this season, Urquhart has cracked the program's Top Ten for career rebounding, currently tied for eighth place with 593 career caroms. Urquhart was recognized as a preseason second-team "All-Horizon League" selection this season. Urquhart is shooting 58 percent (28-48) from the field for the month of January, averaging 12.6 points per game. THREES ARE BETTER THAN TWOS: The Bulldogs have gotten their stroke back from behind the line, hitting 46 percent of their attempts in the team's last three games (25-54), all wins. Butler is averaging 6.6 treys per game, good for third in the Horizon League. The team is on pace for 192 three-pointers this season, which would break the team record of 186 set during the 2001-02 season. CLOSER NOT ALWAYS BETTER FOR CLOSSER: Sophomore Jackie Closser is second in the Horizon League and ranks 35th nationally with an average of 2.37 made three-pointers per game. The Alexandria, Ind., product is shooting an impressive .422 from three-point range, knocking down 38-of-90 attempts, good for fourth in the conference and 22nd 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. 15-FOOT RANGE: Sophomore Ellen Hamilton went 8-of-8 from the free-throw line Thursday, highlighting a 19-of-21 team performance from the charity stripe. The 21 attempts were seven more than the Bulldogs had in the last three games combined. Hamilton has knocked down 37-of-40 attempts this season for a league-leading 93-percent mark, but is still second on the team to Maria Marchesano's .938 percentage. However, the senior's 16 attempts aren't enough to qualify for league honors. Hamilton has missed just six free throws in her Butler career, going 62-of-68 from the line. BRENDEN TO THE BOARDS: Sophomore Ashley Brenden took over the team lead in rebounds during Thursday's contest, pulling down nine caroms. The total was one shy of her career high, set Dec. 21 against IPFW. Brenden and senior Cortney Urquhart both average 5.8 boards per game, with the 6-3 Minnesota native percentage points ahead. ON THE DEFENSIVE: Butler is second in the Horizon League in both points allowed (58.8) and field goal percentage defense (.382). The Bulldogs have held seven of their last eight opponents under 40-percent shooting. MARIA SPARK-ESANO: Senior Maria Marchesano once again provided her patented spark off the bench Thursday, leading the Bulldogs with 16 points, including 4-of-6 shooting from three-point range. Her damage came in 19 minutes of play. The sharpshooter has led the team in scoring on three occasions, but has been the high mark off the bench nine times. MURDERER'S ROW: After a one-game hiatus against Youngstown State Thursday, the Bulldogs start a four-game stretch against league foes they have already faced. Butler will not play Cleveland State, UIC and Loyola until February, when the three opponents will occupy six of Butler's final seven regular season games. Butler's first four circuit opponents held the top four spots in the standings entering Thursday's action. MARCHESANO ON THE MARK: Senior Maria Marchesano moved past Sarah Hurrle (1997-99) Thursday into third place on Butler's career three-pointers list. Marchesano drained four bombs to push her career total to 116. Sophomores Jackie Closser and Ellen Hamilton have already cracked the top ten. Butler Career Three-Point Field Goals Made Twenty-nine of Marchesano's 36 field goals this season (and 116 of 138 in her career) have been three-pointers. GOOD HANDS PEOPLE: The Bulldogs matched a season-low with just 11 turnovers Thursday. Sophomore point guard Jackie Closser had a career-high eight assists and no turnovers in the contest, while no Butler player had more than two miscues. Closser has 21 assists, compared to just three turnovers, in her last three home games, good for a 7:1 A/TO ratio. NUMBER TO WATCH: 55 points. The over-under to watch this season for Butler has been 55 points. The Bulldogs are 1-6 when scoring less than 55 points and sport a 7-2 record when the team breaks the plateau. QUICK SHOTS: With 38 three-pointers already this season, sophomore Jackie Closser is on pace to break the team's single-season three-point record. Senior Maria Marchesano holds the top spot with 64 as a freshman in 2001-02...Closser has played the entire game on four occasions, including playing all 45 minutes of the team's two overtime contests...Ashley Brenden has tied her career-high with three assists in five straight games...Saturday's game is the 450th as a head coach for Beth Couture. A LOOK AT THE PANTHERS: UW-Milwaukee, winners of four of its last six, enters Saturday's contest with a record of 7-9, including a 4-2 league mark. Junior Nichole Drummond leads the Panthers at 13.4 ppg. Teri Huff, Kimberly Becker and Molly O'Brien contribute to a balanced attack with 11.1, 9.6 and 9.3 ppg, respectively. The Panthers average 6.3 three-pointers per game and hit 75 percent of their free throws. UWM defeated Wright State, 69-58, Thursday night in Milwaukee, as Huff led the way with 20 points. The Panthers committed 26 turnovers in the contest, but hit 7-of-13 attempts from three-point range. FIRST TIME AROUND (UWM 76, BU 49): Visiting UW-Milwaukee used a 31-11 run in the second half and a career-high 24 points from junior Molly O'Brien to run away with a 76-49 win over Butler Jan. 3 at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Senior Maria Marchesano had 16 points to pace the Bulldogs. NEXT UP: The Bulldogs have a week off from competition before hosting Wright State Saturday, Jan. 29 at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Butler then travels to UW-Green Bay Jan. 31 before returning home for two league contests. WORTHLESS STAT OF THE DAY: A win against UW-Milwaukee would give the Bulldogs two four-game winning streaks in the same season for the first time since 1997-98. That year Bill Clinton was halfway through his second term as president and June Olkowski led the Bulldogs to the WNIT second round. |
