FSU At A Glance: The Ferris State University women’s basketball team, which is presently 1-3 overall and 1-1 in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) action this campaign, will visit Lake Superior State Thursday, Dec. 9, for a 5:30 p.m. (EST) GLIAC encounter at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. FSU will then square off against Saginaw Valley State Saturday, Dec. 11, in University Center, Mich. Tipoff for the league tilt is set for 1 p.m. (EST).

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.

First Victory: Ferris State picked up its first victory of the 2004-05 campaign last Thursday (Dec. 2) as the Bulldogs defeated Findlay 74-61 in the GLIAC opener for both teams at FSU’s Jim Wink Arena in Big Rapids, Mich. FSU jumped out to a 36-22 halftime advantage and held on for the win despite totaling 27 turnovers. Sophomore guard Kristin Reinhart (East Lansing) tallied a game and personal career-high 24 points along with eight rebounds and five assists for FSU. Senior forward Sarah Duesing (Sault Ste. Marie/Sault Area) chipped in a personal-best 22 points, including a 10-of-10 performance from the charity stripe. The Bulldogs also received nine points and nine rebounds from senior center Bridget Horwitz (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb).

Ferris Falls To AU: Ferris suffered a 76-64 league setback to Ashland last Saturday (Dec. 4) at Wink Arena. The Bulldogs trailed 39-32 at halftime and were outscored 37-32 in the final half. Kristin Reinhart led Ferris with 21 points and eight assists while Bridget Horwitz added 17 points along with 12 rebounds in a double-double performance.

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 GLIAC North Division and advanced to the GLIAC Tournament Championship game during the 2003-04 campaign.

Head Coach Tracey Fisk: Seventh-year FSU head coach Tracey Fisk presently ranks as Ferris’ all-time winningest coach with a current 107-64 (.626) 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 11 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, which is midst its 31st season of varsity competition, has compiled a 360-389 (.481) all-time mark. 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 41-15 (.732) overall record to date in games at Jim Wink Arena, including a 33-13 (.717) 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 144-104 (.581) overall since 1995-96 and sports an 83-69 (.546) record in road/neutral site contests during that span. The Bulldogs are 46-32 (.590) 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.

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 conducted by the conference's head coaches. Lake Superior State was selected as the North Division favorite as the Lakers recorded 33 points and 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.

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.

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 15 varsity athletics programs including rosters, statistics and more.

Great Openers: The Bulldogs have won four of their last five league-opening games following the victory over Findlay. FSU has posted a 5-7 (.417) mark in its last 12 initial conference tilts to date. Ferris also improved to 6-11 (.353) overall in its first GLIAC contest since 1988-89.

Bulldog Bites: Sarah Duesing recorded her 400th career point versus Ashland. Her 10-of-10 (1.000) performance from the free throw line against Findlay was three shy of matching the school record (13-13) set by Bonnie Fetterly versus Michigan Tech (2/12/87) ..... Junior forward Kelly McLaughlin (Clare) recorded her 100th career point versus Findlay and notched her 100th career board against AU ...... Kristin Reinhart compiled her 300th career point against the Oilers. She is averaging a team-high 19.0 points per game this campaign ..... Bridget Horwitz surpassed Sandy Davison (1983-86) for 10th place on FSU’s career rebounding list versus Ashland. She presently has 552 career rebounds while Davison tallied 543 boards. Horwitz also moved into 10th place on the school’s all-time scoring list and now has 1,054 career points to date ........ Ferris has presently won nine of its last 12 home games dating back to last season ..... The victory over Findlay was the Bulldogs’ third consecutive series’ triumph ...... Thursday’s game at LSSU begins a 10-game road swing for the Bulldogs. FSU’s next home game will be against Hillsdale Tuesday, Jan. 11, beginning at 6 p.m. (EST) .......... Kristin Reinhart ranks second among the GLIAC’s latest (Dec. 6) overall statistical leaders in assists (6.00 apg) and third in scoring (19.0 ppg) while playing a league-high 39 minutes per game to date this season. Bridget Horwitz is currently listed as the conference’s third-leading rebounder (9.3 rpg) ...... Junior guard Erin Miller (Niles) will likely miss the remainder of the season due to a knee injury suffered at Western Illinois (Nov. 22).

GLIAC Player Of Week: Kristin Reinhart has been selected this week’s (Dec. 6) GLIAC North Division Player of the Week after registering 45 points, 13 assists, 10 rebounds and two steals in FSU’s two outings last week. Reinhart averaged 22.5 points and 6.5 assists during the stretch.

Looking Ahead: Ferris State hits the road for three non-league outings. The Bulldogs will visit North Dakota Saturday, Dec. 18, for a 6 p.m. (EST) tilt in Grand Forks, N.D., and then battle Minnesota State-Moorhead Sunday, Dec. 19, at 7 p.m. (EST) in Moorhead, Minn. FSU concludes the pre-holiday portion of its schedule by facing South Dakota State Tuesday, Dec. 21, in an 8 p.m. (EST) encounter at Brookings, S.D.

A Look At The Opponents:

Lake Superior State: LSSU holds a 42-26 series’ advantage and has won the last eight meetings entering this Thursday’s 69th encounter. FSU head coach Tracey Fisk currently has a 4-10 career coaching mark against Lake Superior State and dropped an 85-73 decision in the last meeting (3/6/04), which came in the 2003-04 GLIAC Tournament Championship game, at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. LSSU, which is directed by seventh-year head coach Kris Dunbar, presently is 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the GLIAC after last Saturday’s (Dec. 4) 70-68 league home win over Wayne State. The Lakers compiled a 28-4 overall record in 2003-04 and placed first (16-2) in the GLIAC’s North Division. LSSU, which was picked to finish first in the 2004-05 GLIAC North Division Preseason Coaches Poll, reached the NCAA-II Great Lakes Regional Tournament for the second consecutive year last season. Sophomore forward Monica Rehmann presently ranks as the leading scorer (20.0 ppg) for LSSU, which was ranked 15th in the USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Top 25 Division II Preseason Coaches Poll. The Lakers swept FSU in all three meetings last campaign.

Saginaw Valley State: The Cardinals maintain a 38-22 advantage heading into this Saturday’s 61st series meeting. However, FSU has won 11 straight series’ games and beat SVSU 86-74 in the team’s last meeting (2/12/04) held at Big Rapids, Mich. SVSU is presently 3-4 overall and 1-1 in the GLIAC after last Saturday’s (Dec. 4) 83-48 league loss at Hillsdale. Fisk presently has an 11-1 career coaching record against the Cardinals. Saginaw Valley State, which is led in scoring by sophomore guard Sara Bilunes (13.9 ppg), was 16-12 overall in 2003-04 and placed fifth (8-10) in the GLIAC’s North Division. The Cardinals, who are guided by first-year head coach Yvonne Killmer and have won two of their last three games to date this campaign, were picked to finish sixth in the 2004-05 GLIAC North Division Preseason Coaches Poll. SVSU will host Grand Valley State Thursday (Dec. 9) prior to facing the Bulldogs.