• » Schedule/Results
• » Roster
• » News
• » Archives

Feb. 2, 2003

Notes on WKU

* The Butler women's basketball team will seek out a non-conference road win on Monday when the Bulldogs (4-15, 2-7 Horizon League) take on Western Kentucky in the two teams' first-ever meeting. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. at Diddle Arena. The Lady Toppers currently stand at 11-8 overall and are winners of six of their last seven games. WKU is a member of the Sun Belt conference and is 7-2 thus far in league action.

* Head coach Mary Taylor Cowles is in her first season with WKU. Cowles was a standout player with the Lady Toppers from 1987-1991 and was the team's associate head coach from 1997-01.

* Three Western Kentucky players are averaging double-figures in scoring, led by junior guard Leslie Logsdon's 16.8 points per game. Senior forward Shala Reese (15.7 ppg) and junior forward Tiffany Porter-Talbert (12.5 ppg) are also averging double digits in scoring. As a team, WKU is outscoring its opponents 69.2 to 64.8 and average a +6.0 rebounding margin.

* Common foes for WKU and Butler this season have been Murray State and UIC. The Lady Toppers claimed a 67-60 win over MSU and defeated the Flames 81-70.

Road Woes: Cleveland State used a 14-0 run midway through the second half to claim a 75-66 Horizon League victory over the Butler women's basketball team on Saturday afternoon at Goodman Arena. The Vikings broke a 51-51 tie and went on to pull ahead 63-51 with 7:27 left to play. The Vikings lead grew to as much as 14, 71-57, when Erika Roudebush knocked down a deep three-pointer with 4:40 remaining. A pair of Cortney Urquhart free throws brought Butler to within 73-65, but the Bulldogs could get no closer in the final minutes.

She's Got Their Number: Sophomore Angel Mason recorded her second straight double-double, turning in a 16-point, 12-rebound performance against the Vikings. Her 12 rebounds marked a new career high. Just three days earlier Mason tallied13 points, including the game-winning basket at the buzzer, and 11 rebounds in Butler's overtime win over Cleveland State.

Dishing 'Em Out: The Bulldogs dished out a season-high 18 assists at Cleveland State. Junior Nancy Bowden led Butler with 11 assists, which was one shy of her career high. In fact, Bowden had a hand in all of Butler's first five field goals. Freshman Nikki Budgake also recorded a season-high, with two helpers on the game.

No Big Deal: Junior Nancy Bowden may stand just five-foot, two-inches, but she has been playing big over the last few games. Bowden pulled down six rebounds in each of Butler's games against Cleveland State and also tallied a career-high two blocked shots on the road against the Vikings. Bowden currently ranks third on the team with 3.9 rebounds per game.

Overtime Action: Angel Mason scored seven of Butler's ten points in overtime, including the game-winning shot at the buzzer to lift the Bulldogs to a 71-69 triumph over Cleveland State on Wednesday evening at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Snapping The Streak: The Horizon League victory over the Vikings on Wednesday snapped a six-game losing streak for Butler, the team's longest of the season. It also broke a five-game winning drought against CSU, which dated back to the 1999 season. Entering Wednesday's game, the Vikings had won six of the last seven meetings.

Stolen Moments: Butler's defense played a key role in its win over Cleveland State, as the Bulldogs swiped a season-high 17 steals against the Vikings. Seven Butler players recorded at least one steal on the game, led by Nancy Bowden's four swipes.

Showing Improvement: Butler's win over Cleveland State also eclipses the team's win total from last season, as they improve to 4-15 overall and 2-7 in the Horizon League. The Bulldogs finished with a 3-26 overall ledger and were 1-15 in league action during the 2001-02 campaign.

Nice One Nikki!: Freshman Nikki Budgake had one of the better games of her young collegiate career against Cleveland State, when she recorded seven points and a career-high four rebounds against the Vikings. The 6-3 center is averaging 2.1 points and 1.3 rebounds on the season.

A Double Dose: For the sixth time this season, four or more players scored in double-figures for the Bulldogs in Butler's win over CSU. Sophomore Cortney Urquhart led the Butler offense with 16 points, after scoring 11 of the team's first 13 points. Nancy Bowden recorded 15 points and Angel Mason added 13. Freshman Jessica Monaco came up one point shy of her season high, finishing with 10.

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: Angel Mason and Cortney Urquhart each have tallied five double-doubles on the season. Nancy Bowden also has two double-doubles under her belt this season.

Loving The League: Sophomore Cortney Urquhart has scored in double figures in six of Butler's nine league games this season and is averaging a team-best 12.2 points against league foes.

Line 'Em Up: Sophomore Cortney Urquhart is the lone Butler player to have started in all 19 games this season. Nancy Bowden has started in 18 of the team's affairs, while no other player has appeared in the starting lineup more than 14 times. Head coach Beth Couture has used ten different starting lineups throughout the season.

Looking For Charity: Butler put together its best team free throw performance of the season together in its win over Cleveland State, knocking down 72.2 percent (26-36) of its shots. The 26 free throws made were also a season high for the Bulldogs, who average a league-worst 62.3 percent as a team from the line. Two players in particular stepped it up big for the Bulldogs, as sophomore Cortney Urquhart who averages 48 percent from the line on the season was 8-of-11 and freshman Jessica Monaco, who is shooting only 62 percent from the charity stripe, went 5-of-6, including the pair that tied the game at 69 in overtime.

Top Dog: Nancy Bowden leads the Horizon League with 6.6 assists per game, nearly two assists better than the player ranked second. Bowden also ranks first in steals per game (3.33) and ranks second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.64). Her solid numbers have also put her in the national spotlight, as she ranks 15th among Division 1 players in assists and 26th in steals.

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 six players are averaging 7.2 points or more. Angel Mason is leading the team with 11.3 points per game, followed by Nancy Bowden (10.9 ppg), Cortney Urquhart (10.2 ppg), Lisa Pryor (9.6 ppg), Tiffany Smith (7.5 ppg) and Stephanie Boeke (7.2 ppg).

Doubling Over: Eight different players have recorded double-figure scoring outings for the Bulldogs. Nancy Bowden and Cortney Urquhart lead the way with 13 double-digit scoring outings each, followed by Angel Mason (12), Lisa Pryor (10), Tiffany Smith (4) and Stephanie Boeke (4), Jessica Monaco (2) and Dionne Goodwin (1).

Injury Prone: For the second consecutive year, the Bulldogs have again been plagued by numerous injuries. Sophomore guard/forward Maria Marchesano has missed 16 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 and is listed as day-to-day.

Missing Maria: Sophomore forward Maria Marchesano's absence on the court is something the Bulldogs have missed for the last 14 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.

A Dozen Does It: Junior guard 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.

Watch Out For The Bulldogs: Butler fans will get to watch the Bulldogs take on Loyola on February 13, as the game with will be televised locally by WTBU. All of Butler's remaining home games will be broadcast on the internet this season. Log onto www.butlersports.com to listen to Butler telecommunication students broadcast the games.

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).

Trading Spaces: In effort to give the Bulldogs more of a boost in the post positions, head coach Beth Couture moved sophomore Angel Mason and senior Colleen Munro-Leighton to the frontcourt positions this season.

PreSeason Prediction Junior Nancy Bowden was named to the preseason All-Horizon League Second Team, after being named to the All-Defensive team last year. The Bulldogs were picked to finish eighth in the nine-team conference. UW-Green Bay, which won both the regular season and the tournament last year, was predicted to finish first, followed by UW-Milwaukee, Loyola, Cleveland State, UIC, Youngstown State, Detroit. Wright State rounded out the poll in ninth place.

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.

Up Next Butler will conclude its three-game road trip on Saturday (Feb. 8) when the Bulldogs travel to the Windy City to take on UIC in an 8 p.m. battle. Butler defeated the Flames (11-9, 5-4 Horizon League) 69-63 in its league opener.