FSU At A Glance: The Ferris State women’s basketball team will visit NCAA Division I Western Illinois Monday, Nov. 22, for an 8 p.m. (EST) non-conference contest in WIU’s Western Hall at Macomb, Ill.

Live Internet Coverage: Monday’s game at Western Illinois will be carried live via the internet by the Western Sports Network. The webcast can be heard live by visiting www.wiu.com.

Ferris Drops Opener: Ferris State suffered a 76-71 setback to Lewis (Ill.) in its 2004-05 season opener this past Tuesday (Nov. 16) at FSU's Jim Wink Arena in Big Rapids, Mich. The Bulldogs, who trailed 39-35 at halftime, led by as many as nine points in the first half but shot only 38.5% (15-39) from the floor in the second half as Lewis improved to 1-1 overall this campaign. Sophomore guard Kristin Reinhart (East Lansing) scored a team-best 21 points and had eight assists for FSU. Junior guard Erin Miller (Niles) registered 10 points while senior forward Sarah Duesing (Sault Ste. Marie/Sault Area) totaled eight points and grabbed nine rebounds.

A Look At The Bulldogs: FSU returns three starters and eight letterwinners from last season. The Bulldogs compiled a 21-10 overall record in 2003-04 and reached the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional Tournament for only the second time in school history. FSU placed second (14-4) in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s (GLIAC) North Division and advanced to the GLIAC Tournament Championship game during the 2003-04 campaign.

FSU Drops Exhibition Game: Despite holding a two-point halftime advantage and leading by eight points late in the opening period, Ferris State lost an 81-72 decision in exhibition play Nov. 11 to NCAA Division I Central Michigan at CMU's Rose Arena in Mount Pleasant, Mich. Senior forward/center Bridget Horwitz (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) led FSU with a game-high 27 points as she sank 10-of-14 field goal attempts and all seven of her shots from the charity stripe. Senior guard/forward Lucie Cenkova (Prague, Czech Republic/Gymnasium Pripotocni) chipped in 11 points off the bench. The Bulldogs led 31-23 with 3:58 remaining in the first half before CMU cut the FSU advantage to 34-32 at the break.

Exhibition Opener: Ferris dropped an 81-65 exhibition decision to Athletes In Action on Oct. 24 at Wink Arena. Erin Miller compiled a game-high 24 points in the loss.

Head Coach Tracey Fisk: Seventh-year FSU head coach Tracey Fisk presently ranks as Ferris’ all-time winningest coach with a current 106-62 (.631) career record at Ferris State. A 1996 graduate of Western Michigan, Fisk guided FSU to a 22-7 mark and the school's first NCAA-II Great Lakes Regional Tournament appearance during the 1999-00 campaign. Prior to Ferris, Fisk spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Lake Michigan College (1994-97) and one season at the University of Indianapolis (1997-98). She needs 12 victories to match Pat Dolan’s (1977-89) school-record total of 118 wins at Ferris State.

GLIAC Coach Of The Year: Ferris’ Tracey Fisk was honored as the GLIAC’s 2003-04 Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year after guiding the Bulldogs to their fifth consecutive conference tournament berth and the program’s second-ever 20-win campaign last season. The Bulldogs also recorded their seventh-straight winning season.

The Bulldog Tradition: The Ferris State women’s basketball program has compiled a 359-387 (.481) all-time mark entering its 31st season. The Bulldogs won their only GLIAC crown, advanced to their first 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 posted 10 or more victories eight consecutive seasons to date.

Jim Wink Arena: Ferris has recorded a 40-14 (.741) overall record to date in games at Jim Wink Arena, including a 32-12 (.727) mark in league play. The 2,400-seat facility replaced the Old Jim Wink Arena, which was converted into the current Student Recreation Center after the 1997-98 campaign. FSU won its first 14 games in the facility.

On The Road: Ferris State is 143-102 (.584) overall since 1995-96 and sports an 83-68 (.550) record in road/neutral site contests during that span. The Bulldogs are 46-31 (.597) overall in road games under head coach Tracey Fisk, including a 32-22 (.593) record in GLIAC play.

A Look At The Roster: Ferris’ 2004-05 roster includes three seniors, three juniors, two sophomores and five 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.

Academic Success: The 2003-04 Bulldog squad was honored for having the nation’s 17th-highest 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 fifth consecutive season, compiled a 3.384 grade point average in 2003-04. FSU, which 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. Ferris’ 3.604 gpa in 2002-03 placed tied for second.

GLIAC Games On The Air: FSU’s 2004-05 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.

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.

Between The Lines: FSU head coach Tracey Fisk will make periodic appearances throughout the season on “Between The Lines,” a weekly half-hour television show devoted to Ferris State Athletics. The program, which is hosted by Shannon Vesper and produced by FSU’s media productions department, airs each Tuesday and Wednesday at 7 p.m. (ET) and 8 p.m. (ET), respectively, on FSU’s Cable Channel 7.

Bulldog Bites: Three of FSU’s initial four regular-season games this campaign are at home. The lone exception is Monday’s contest. Last season, the Bulldogs played 12 of their first 13 games away from home ...... Erin Miller and senior forward Sarah Duesing have been named team captains for the 2004-05 campaign ....... Kristin Reinhart’s 21 points versus Lewis topped her previous career-high of 18 points set last season (3/2/04) against Michigan Tech ..... Erin Miller is 139 points away from becoming the 12th player in school history to score 1,000 career points. She garnered her 200th career assist versus Lewis.

FSU Picked Second: Ferris was picked to finish second in the 2004-05 GLIAC North Division Preseason Coaches Poll. The Bulldogs totaled 32 points along with three first-place votes in the balloting, which was conducted by the conference's head coaches. Lake Superior State was selected as the North Division favorite as the Lakers recorded 33 points along with four first-place votes. Ashland took the top spot in the South Division with 24 points. 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, second place took four points, etc.

Moving Up A Level: The Bulldogs are 2-0 under head coach Tracey Fisk in regular-season games against NCAA-I opponents after posting an 85-84 triumph at Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne (IPFW) in 2002-03 (11/27). FSU also defeated Central Michigan 67-60 in 1999-00 (12/29). In exhibition play, the Bulldogs are 0-2 versus NCAA-I teams as Ferris dropped an 89-64 decision (11/16/02) at Kent State (Ohio) in addition to this season’s loss at CMU.

Horwitz Back For FSU: Bridget Horwitz, who missed all of last season with an injury, was a two-time (12/9, 2/17) GLIAC North Division Player of the Week in 2002-03. She totaled 420 points (16.8 ppg) and a team-leading 210 rebounds (8.4 rpg) in 25 appearances in 2002-03. The 6-2 Horwitz scored 10 points or more in 22 games while notching nine double-double (scoring & rebounding) performances. She is a two-time (2002-03) All-GLIAC North Division Second-Team honoree.

Looking Ahead: The Bulldogs are idle until opening GLIAC play Thursday, Dec. 2, versus Findlay at FSU’s Jim Wink Arena in Big Rapids, Mich. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. (EST). FSU will then host Ashland Saturday, Dec. 4, in a 1 p.m. (EST) league home contest before playing 14 of their next 15 games on the road.

A Look At The Opponent:

Western Illinois: Ferris State and Western Illinois have never faced each other before entering Monday’s contest. The Westerwinds, who are presently 0-1 overall this season, dropped their season opener at Nebraska 74-71 in the Sportsview.tv Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) last Friday (Nov. 12) at UNL’s Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln, Neb. WIU was led by the Mid-Continent Conference Preseason Player of the Year in 6-7 junior center Zane Teilane, who grabbed 14 boards and scored 17 points. WIU currently holds NCAA-I’s third-longest home court winning streak with 27 consecutive triumphs at Western Hall. WIU head coach Leslie Crane and her 2003-04 squad repeated as the conference regular season champions with a 13-3 mark in league play and their second consecutive 20-win campaign (20-9). Crane has garnered league coach of the year award accolades two-straight seasons to date. Western Illinois, which was picked to finish second in the Mid-Con’s 2004-05 Preseason Poll, posted a 75-48 exhibition win over NCAA-II Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (Nov. 8) at home.