FSU Women’s Basketball At A Glance: The Ferris State University women’s basketball team will open the 2003-04 campaign this Saturday (Nov. 15) versus the Lewis Flyers in a non-conference contest at LU’s Neil Carey Arena in Romeoville, Ill. Opening tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m. (EST).

A Look Back: Ferris State concluded the 2002-03 campaign with a 15-11 overall mark, which included a fourth-place (tie) 10-8 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) North Division finish. FSU reached the GLIAC Tournament for the fourth consecutive year and posted its seventh straight 10-win campaign a year ago.

The Bulldog Tradition: The Ferris State women’s basketball program has compiled a 338-376 (.473) all-time mark in its 29 previous campaigns. The Bulldogs won the GLIAC North Division crown, advanced to the NCAA-II Great Lakes Regional Tournament and recorded the nation’s highest grade point average in 1999-2000. FSU, which also claimed GLIAC Tournament runner-up honors in 1999-00, has ranked among the nation’s top 25 academic teams four consecutive seasons.

Head Coach Tracey Fisk: Sixth-year FSU head coach Tracey Fisk presently ranks as Ferris’ all-time winningest coach with a current 85-51 (.625) career record at Ferris State. A 1996 graduate of Western Michigan, Fisk guided Ferris State to a 22-7 mark and the school's first NCAA-II Great Lakes Regional Tournament appearance during the 1999-00 campaign. Prior to FSU, Fisk spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Lake Michigan College (1994-97) and one season at the University of Indianapolis (1997-98).

On The Road: Ferris State is 122-92 (.573) overall since 1995-96 and sports a 70-60 (.543) record in road/neutral site contests during that span. The Bulldogs are 37-25 (.607) overall in road games under head coach Tracey Fisk, including a 25-20 (.556) record in conference play.

FSU Picked Third: Ferris State was picked to finish third in the 2003-04 GLIAC North Division Preseason Coaches Poll, which was released Monday (Nov. 10) by the league office. The Bulldogs totaled 26 points and one first-place vote in the balloting by the GLIAC’s head coaches. Each of the league’s 13 head coaches ranked the teams in their respective divisions, but were not allowed to vote for their own team. The first-place team in the North Division received six points while the second-place team earned four points, etc. The first-place squad in the South Division picked up five points, the second-place team took four points, etc. Grand Valley State was selected as the GLIAC North Division favorite with three first-place votes and 33 points while Wayne State took the top spot in the South Division with 22 points and two first-place votes.

A Look At The Roster: Ferris’ 2003-04 roster includes four seniors, three juniors, three sophomores and three freshmen. Five of the 13 players are guards while the remaining eight are frontcourt players. Eleven players hail from Michigan with one each from Indiana and the Czech Republic.

Between The Lines: “Between The Lines”, a weekly television program profiling Ferris State University Athletics, airs across northern Michigan on WFQX-Fox 33 every Saturday at 3:30 p.m. (ET). The 30-minute program is hosted by Phill Mooney and produced in the studios of the University’s cable Channel 7. FSU women’s basketball head coach Tracey Fisk will make appearances throughout the season. The show is also aired locally on the University's cable Channel 7 every Tuesday (7 p.m.) and Wednesday (8 p.m.).

FSU On The Internet: Ferris State University Athletics’ official web site can be found at www.ferris.edu/sports. The site features information on all of FSU’s varsity athletics programs including rosters, statistics and more.

GLIAC Games On The Air: Ferris’ 2003-04 league games will be carried live by local radio station WBRN-1460 AM. Selected contests can also be accessed live via the internet by clicking on the Bulldog Athletics Webcasts icon at www.ferris.edu/sports.

30th Season Opener: Ferris State will open its 30th season this Saturday against Lewis. The Bulldogs, who have won three of their last five season openers, have an all-time mark of 12-17 in opening games. FSU defeated St. Francis (Ind.) 75-49 in last season’s (11/23) opener at Ferris’ Jim Wink Arena. The victory represented FSU’s first win in its opening game since 2000-01 (11/18) when the Bulldogs defeated Missouri-St. Louis 87-68 at home. The Bulldogs have won six of their past eight openers, including a 3-2 mark (.600) under head coach Tracey Fisk.

Glancing At The Bulldogs: Ferris returns eight letterwinners and all five starters from last season, including senior captains Lucy DeMartin (Mason), Stephanie Benear (Howell), Bridget Horwitz (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) and Molly Potvin (Lansing/Catholic Central). The Bulldogs’ added five newcomers.

Preseason All-America Pick: Senior guard Lucy DeMartin (Mason) has been named to the 2003-04 Women’s Division II Bulletin Preseason Super 16 All-America Team. DeMartin, a 2002-03 Daktronics NCAA Division II All-Great Lakes Region First-Team selection, was also chosen as the publication’s preseason Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Player of the Year. DeMartin's team-leading 20.2 points per game scoring average last season ranked first among the school’s all-time leaders and placed second in the GLIAC’s overall statistical rankings. The two-time (2002-03) GLIAC All-Academic Team pick compiled a school-record 525 points while earning 2002-03 Verizon Academic All-District IV College Division Women's Basketball First Team accolades. She posted 26 double-figure scoring outings, including 13 20-plus point performances en route to claiming All-GLIAC North Division First-Team honors last campaign.

Knowing How To Win: Junior college transfer Lucie Cenkova (Prague, Czech Republic), who played for Illinois Central College the last two campaigns, helped guide the Cougars to a national junior college title in 2002-03.

Bulldog Bites: Twelve of Ferris’ first 13 contests are away from home. The lone exception is a Dec. 11 GLIAC tilt against Lake Superior State, which will be played at Big Rapids (Mich.) High School due to conflicts with the school’s annual winter graduation ceremonies ....... Sophomore guard Erin Miller (Niles) was the recipient of the GLIAC’s 2002-03 Freshman of the Year Award after ranking as the team’s third-leading scorer (12.5 ppg). Miller posted 17 double-figure scoring performances last season and concluded the year ranked second among Ferris' assists leaders (3.2 apg). The 5-7 Miller scored 10 points or more in eight of her last 11 outings and compiled four 20-plus point contests while starting all 26 games in 2002-03 ........ Senior forward/center Bridget Horwitz (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb), a 2002-03 All-GLIAC North Division Second-Team pick, totaled 420 points (16.8 ppg) and a team-leading 210 rebounds (8.4 rpg) in 25 appearances during the 2002-03 campaign. The 6-2 Horwitz scored 10 points or more in 22 games while notching nine double-double (scoring & rebounding) performances .......... Lucy DeMartin (1,154 points) and Bridget Horwitz (1,006) both enter their final campaigns within striking distance of becoming Ferris’ all-time scoring leader. DeMartin needs 419 points while Horwitz is 567 shy of matching Monta Ware’s (1979-83) school-record output of 1,573 points ....... Ferris State returns 90% (1,745 of 1,937) of its scoring and 78% (772 of 988) of its rebounding production from last year.

Bulldog Achieve Academic Success: The 2002-03 Bulldog squad was honored for having the nation’s second-highest (tie) cumulative grade point average in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll list. The Bulldogs, who placed among the top 25 teams for the fourth consecutive season, compiled a 3.604 grade point average in 2002-03 and shared runner-up kudos with Dowling (N.Y.). Nebraska-Kearney posted a 3.723 team gpa en route to receiving first-place accolades. The Bulldogs, who previously compiled the nation’s highest gpa (3.534) in 1999-00, also finished 21st (3.313) in 2001-02 and were 20th (3.388) for the 2000-01 academic year.

The Rest Of The Staff: FSU head coach Tracey Fisk returns her top assistant coach from last season in Justin Rees. Rees, who previously served for three seasons (1999-02) as an assistant coach at NCAA Division II Teikyo Post (Conn.), is in his second season as an assistant coach. Volunteer Assistant Coach Mike Peterson has been added to the staff this campaign.

Looking Ahead: Ferris will take part in the Quincy/Subway Tipoff Tournament Friday and Saturday, Nov. 21-22, in Quincy, Ill. FSU is slated to face Missouri Western State in Friday’s 6 p.m. (EST) tournament opener with host Quincy scheduled to battle Rockhurst (Mo.) in the 8:15 p.m. (EST) nightcap. The tournament’s consolation and championship games are set for Saturday at 3 and 5:15 p.m., respectively.

A Look At The Opponent:

Lewis: Ferris State and Lewis will square off for the fifth time this Saturday with the Bulldogs holding a 3-1 series advantage. However, the Flyers registered a 72-67 home victory in the last meeting (12/18/02). Lewis, which is coached by second-year head coach Lynn Plett, was 9-18 overall during the 2002-03 campaign and compiled a 10th-place 5-15 Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) record. LU was selected to finish ninth in the 2003-04 GLVC Preseason Coaches Poll. Senior forward Bryanne Callahan is the Flyers’ top returning scorer (12.1 ppg) from last season. Lewis dropped a 72-62 exhibition contest at NCAA-I Saint Louis (Mo.) last Friday (Nov. 7). The two teams have split two previous series’ meetings in Romeoville.