FSU At A Glance: The Ferris State University women’s basketball team will visit NCAA Division I member Central Michigan Thursday, Nov. 11, for a 7 p.m. (EST) exhibition contest at CMU’s Rose Arena in Mount Pleasant, Mich.

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 Opener: Ferris dropped an 81-65 exhibition decision to Athletes In Action on Oct. 24 at Wink Arena. Junior guard Erin Miller (Niles) compiled a game-high 24 points, sophomore guard Kristin Reinhart (East Lansing) added 13 points and senior forward Sarah Duesing (Sault Ste. Marie/Sault Area) chipped in 12 points for the Bulldogs. This season marks AIA’s 15th year of playing exhibition games for some of the top collegiate women’s programs.

Head Coach Tracey Fisk: Seventh-year FSU head coach Tracey Fisk presently ranks as Ferris’ all-time winningest coach with a current 106-61 (.635) 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 359-386 (.482) 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.

On The Road Again: 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.

Season Opener: The Bulldogs will officially open the 2004-05 campaign by hosting Lewis (Ill.) Tuesday, Nov. 16, at FSU’s Jim Wink Arena in Big Rapids, Mich. The non-league contest is set to begin at 6 p.m. (EST) prior to the Bulldog men’s basketball team’s season-opening game against Cornerstone beginning at 8 p.m. (EST).

Ferris Basketball Fan Fest: FSU has announced plans for the first-ever Ferris Basketball Fan Fest slated to be held in conjunction with the school’s men’s and women’s basketball regular season-opening contests Tuesday, Nov. 16, at Wink Arena. As part of the Fan Fest activities, the athletics department will also unveil its new student section in the west end of the 2,400-seat facility dubbed the “Ferris Fanatics.” The first 500 students entering the contest will receive official group t-shirts. The FSU Alumni Relations Office has provided over 1,000 free tickets to local alumni and will have an alumni section while the Ferris Student Leadership and Activities Department will offer contests along with prizes throughout the evening for campus students involved in greek organizations, club sports and those living in residence halls. FSU students will be admitted free to both games by showing their identification card and free pizza will be offered to them between games while supplies last courtesy of Papa John’s.

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.

The Staff: FSU head coach Tracey Fisk returns her top assistant coach for the third year in Justin Rees. Rees, who previously served for three seasons (1999-02) as an assistant coach at NCAA-II Teikyo Post (Conn.), played collegiate basketball at Barry (Fla.) from 1993-97.

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 are at home. The lone exception is a non-league tilt at NCAA-I Western Illinois (Nov. 22). Last season, the Bulldogs played 12 of their first 13 contests away from home ...... Former Ferris assistant coach Brent Brown (1999-02) is in his first season as an assistant coach at CMU following two seasons at NCAA-I member Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Tianna Kirkland, who played collegiate basketball at Ferris from 1997-01, served as the Chippewas’ graduate assistant coach the last two campaigns prior to earning a full-time assistant coaching position at NCAA-I Butler this season ....... Erin Miller and Sarah Duesing have been named team captains for the 2004-05 campaign ....... FSU’s biggest graduation loss was guard Lucy DeMartin, who concluded her career as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,721 career points. DeMartin was a 2003-04 Division II Women’s Basketball Bulletin Honorable Mention All-America selection ...... The Bulldogs are 2-0 under 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). Ferris dropped an 89-64 decision in its most recent exhibition game against NCAA-I competition (11/16/02) at Kent State (Ohio).

Miller Leads The Way: Erin Miller, who was named a co-recipient of FSU’s 2003-04 Most Valuable Player Award, reached double-figure scoring in 28 of her 31 contests last campaign and ranked as the Bulldogs' second-leading scorer (17.0 ppg). The 5-7 Miller was the recipient of the GLIAC’s 2002-03 Freshman of the Year Award after being the team’s third-highest scorer (12.5 ppg) in her initial season. Miller earned first-team WBCA All-Great Lakes Region and All-GLIAC North Division, second-team Daktronics All-Great Lakes Region honors along with being among 40 finalists for the NCAA Division II Kodak/WBCA All-America Team a year ago. She was also a 2003-04 Verizon Academic All-District IV Third Team selection.

Horwitz Returns To Lineup: Senior forward/center Bridget Horwitz (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb), 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.

Duesing Back For Final Season: Sarah Duesing was voted to the GLIAC North Division’s All-Defensive Team in 2003-04. Duesing totaled a personal career-high 233 points, 116 rebounds and 33 assists last season while being named FSU’s Defensive MVP Award winner. She also compiled nine double-digit scoring efforts in 2003-04.

A Look At The Opponent:

Central Michigan: The Chippewas hold a 4-2 all-time series advantage over the Bulldogs. However, FSU has won two consecutive series’ meetings to date and posted a 67-60 regular-season triumph in the last contest (12/29/99) at Mount Pleasant, Mich. FSU is 1-1 (home) and 1-3 (road) all-time versus CMU. Central Michigan dropped a 66-51 exhibition contest to Athletes in Action last Wednesday (Nov. 3) despite a team-high 13 point performance from sophomore Ann Skufca. CMU, which won the initial four series’ meetings from 1978-82, compiled a 5-23 overall record and a 1-15 Mid-American Conference (MAC) record in 2003-04. The Chippewas are directed by fourth-year head coach Eileen Kleinfelter, who previously spent seven seasons as the head coach at GLIAC member Findlay. She returns four starters and nine letterwinners this campaign. CMU was picked to finish seventh in the 2004-05 MAC West Division Preseason Poll.