FSU Basketball At A Glance: The Ferris State women’s basketball team will host Northwood in its 2005-06 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) opener Thursday, Dec. 1, with tipoff set for 6 p.m. (EST) in FSU’s Jim Wink Arena at Big Rapids, Mich. The Bulldogs will then visit Saginaw Valley State Saturday, Dec. 3, for a 1 p.m. (EST) league game in SVSU’s O’Neill Arena at University Center, Mich.

Media Coverage: Both Thursday’s and Saturday’s league games will be carried live locally by News Talk 1460 AM (WBRN). Jason DaDay will handle the play-by-play duties for Thursday’s game with Rob Bentley taking care of Saturday’s coverage. Saturday’s game is also slated to be available via the internet by clicking on the Bulldog Athletics Webcast icon at www.ferris.edu/sports.

Ticket Information: Individual game tickets to FSU regular-season home basketball games can be obtained at the door or by calling the Bulldog Athletics Ticket Office at (231) 591-2888. Adult general admission tickets are $7. Student tickets are $5. A family pass with two adult and two youth tickets can be purchased for $15. Ferris faculty/staff ticket prices are also $5. FSU students are admitted free of charge by showing their student identification card.

FSU Wins Tourney: Ferris opened the season with a 2-0 mark by capturing the McCarthy & Sons Aquinas College Classic (Nov. 18-19) in Grand Rapids, Mich. FSU defeated Indiana-South Bend 72-47 in Friday’s (Nov. 18) opener before defeating host Aquinas 90-83 in Saturday’s (Nov. 19) title contest. Three Bulldog players were named to the McCarthy & Sons Aquinas College Classic All-Tournament Team. Junior guard Kristin Reinhart (East Lansing) earned tournament Most Valuable Player Award recognition while junior guard Erin Miller (Niles) and sophomore forward/center Rachel Folcik (Powers/Carney-Nadeau) both attained all-tournament team kudos.

Last Weekend: Ferris narrowly dropped two games in the Texas A&M-Kingsville Holiday Inn Emerald Beach Turkey Day Shootout held last Friday and Saturday (Nov. 25-26) in Kingsville, Texas. FSU suffered a 72-69 setback to Angelo State (Texas) in Friday’s opener and then lost to St. Mary’s (Texas) 83-80 in Saturday’s finale. Erin Miller averaged 23 points, four rebounds and four assists in FSU’s two outings, including a season-high 27 points against St. Mary’s.

Last Season: Ferris State finished the 2004-05 season with an 11-17 overall record. FSU placed fourth in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) North Division with a 9-9 conference ledger and advanced to the league's postseason tournament for the sixth consecutive year. The Bulldogs also recorded their ninth-straight season with 10 or more victories.

FSU Drops Exhibition: Nationally-ranked NCAA Division I power Notre Dame forced 31 turnovers in a 96-45 exhibition game victory over visiting Ferris State on Nov. 10 before a crowd of 5,421 in the Joyce Center at South Bend, Ind. The Fighting Irish, who are ranked 15th in the Associated Press Division I Preseason Poll, jumped out to a 41-24 halftime advantage and outscored the Bulldogs 55-21 in the final half. FSU scored the game's opening five points and remained within striking distance for most the of the opening half before Notre Dame went on a 29-6 run to begin the final period.

Head Coach Tracey Bloodworth-Fisk: Eighth-year FSU head coach Tracey Bloodworth-Fisk presently ranks as Ferris’ all-time winningest coach with a current 119-80 (.598) 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).

The Bulldog Tradition: The Ferris State women’s basketball program, which will open its 32nd season of varsity competition, has compiled a 372-405 (.479) 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 nine consecutive seasons to date.

Looking Back At 2003-04: 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. The Bulldogs also made their fifth consecutive conference tournament berth and recorded the program’s second-ever 20-win campaign two seasons ago.

The Bulldog Roster: Ferris’ 2005-06 roster includes one senior, three juniors, four sophomores and six freshmen. Five of the 14 players are guards while the remaining nine are frontcourt players. All 12 players on the roster hail from Michigan. Forward Kelly McLaughlin (Clare) is the only senior on the roster.

The Team Captains: FSU’s Kelly McLaughlin, Erin Miller and Kristin Reinhart have been named team captains for the 2005-06 campaign.

Jim Wink Arena: Ferris has recorded a 44-19 (.698) overall record to date in games at Jim Wink Arena, including a 36-17 (.679) 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 156-120 (.565) overall since 1995-96 and sports a 92-81 (.532) record in road/neutral site contests during that span. The Bulldogs are 52-41 (.559) overall in road games under head coach Tracey Bloodworth-Fisk, including a 37-26 (.587) record in GLIAC play.

Ferris Quick Notes: Ferris tied a school record with 13 made three-point field goals last Saturday against St. Mary’s (Texas). The Bulldogs previously hit 13 treys at Westminster (Pa.) in 1998-99 (12/3) ........... Thursday’s game versus Northwood represents head coach Tracey Bloodworth-Fisk’s 200th game at the Bulldog helm ........... Erin Miller has tallied 941 career points to date and is 59 shy of notching her 1,000th career point.

A Coaching Family: FSU’s Tracey Bloodworth-Fisk is far from the only coach in her family. She previously spent three seasons as an assistant coach under her father, Rick Bloodworth, at Lake Michigan College in Benton Harbor, Mich. In addition, her younger sister, Andrea Bloodworth, currently is serving as an assistant women’s basketball coach at NCAA Division I Valparaiso (Ind.) after spending three years as the top assistant coach at GLIAC-member Gannon.

GLIAC Games On The Air: FSU’s 2005-06 league games will be carried live by local radio station WBRN (News Talk 1460 AM). Selected contests can also be accessed via the internet by clicking on the Bulldog Athletics Webcasts icon at www.ferris.edu/sports. Jason DaDay will handle play-by-play duties for the GLIAC home games while Ferris State Assistant Athletics Communications Director Rob Bentley will be in front of the microphone for all league road contests.

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, yearbooks and more.

Live Stats: “Live Stats” of all 2005-06 Ferris State home basketball games will be provided in progress via the internet. Visit www.ferris.edu/sports and click on the “Live Stats” icon to access the “Live Stats” feature.

At The Top: Ferris head coach Tracey Bloodworth-Fisk became the school’s all-time victory leader with two wins in the Aquinas College Classic. Bloodworth-Fisk, who also ranks as FSU’s all-time winningest coach, surpassed Pat Dolan’s (1977-89) previous school-record total of 118 wins at FSU. Both of FSU’s two all-time NCAA Division II National Tournament appearances have came under Bloodworth-Fisk. She 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.

GLIAC Preseason Poll: Ferris State was picked to finish fourth in the 2005-06 GLIAC Women's Basketball Coaches Preseason North Division Poll, which was released by the league office. The Bulldogs totaled 23 points in the balloting, which was conducted by the conference's head coaches. A year ago, Ferris State took second place in the conference's preseason coaches poll with 32 points and three first-place votes. Grand Valley State was selected as the North Division favorite as the Lakers recorded 36 points along with six first-place votes. Gannon and Hillsdale tied for the top spot in the South Division with 21 points and three first-place votes apiece. The league's 13 head coaches voted for the division in which they play, but were not allowed to vote for their own team.

Players To Watch: FSU’s Kristin Reinhart and Erin Miller were chosen among the top 10 West Michigan collegiate players to watch this year by the Grand Rapids Press in the Nov. 15 edition. The women’s rankings honored Reinhart as the second overall selection while Miller came in seventh. Grand Valley State tallied four of the top 10 picks, including the number one honoree in 2004-05 GLIAC Player of the Year Niki Reams. Ferris placed second with two nominations followed by Calvin, Aquinas, Hope and Davenport with one apiece.

The Staff: Head coach Tracey Bloodworth-Fisk returns her top assistant coach for the fourth 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.

Academic Success: The Bulldogs have ranked among the nation’s top academic programs six consecutive seasons, according to the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll list. FSU placed 14th overall in 2004-05 with a 3.432 grade point average. Ferris had the nation’s highest gpa in 1999-00 and placed second in 2002-03.

Bulldog Bites: FSU’s Erin Miller has totaled 19 points or more in three consecutive outings to date this campaign ........ FSU’s outings versus both Angelo State and St. Mary’s represented the first-ever series’ meetings against both schools ........... Ferris will host archrival Grand Valley State Thursday, Dec. 8, in a 6 p.m. (EST) league home game ............ Fifteen of the school’s 27 regular-season games are away from home ....... FSU will travel to Florida for two games this season. The Bulldogs will take part in the Barry (Fla.) Buccaneer Holiday Classic after Christmas (Dec. 29-30) in Miami Shores, Fla.

Moving Into GLIAC Action: The Bulldogs have won four of their last five league-opening games including last season’s (12/2) 74-61 home win over Findlay in Big Rapids, Mich. However, FSU has posted only a 5-7 (.417) mark in its last 11 initial conference tilts. Ferris currently is 6-11 (.353) in its first GLIAC contest since the 1988-89 campaign. FSU is 11-6 (.647) over the last 17 seasons in its second conference outing of the year and has won five of its last seven such games. Ferris lost its second league game last year (12/4) to Ashland by a score of 76-64 in Big Rapids.

A Look At Thursday's Opponent:

Northwood: The Bulldogs maintain a 37-12 advantage heading into this Thursday’s 50th series meeting. FSU has won 19 consecutive series’ games and beat NU 92-84 in the last meeting (2/19/05) at Big Rapids, Mich. NU is presently 1-2 overall following last Tuesday’s (Nov. 22) 81-55 non-league loss at Northern Kentucky. FSU head coach Tracey Bloodworth-Fisk presently has a 14-0 career coaching record against the Timberwolves, who have lost their last two games this campaign to date. Northwood, which is led in scoring by junior guard Anna Trim (16.3 ppg), was 9-18 overall in 2004-05 and placed sixth (5-13) in the GLIAC’s North Division. The Timberwolves, who are guided by second-year head coach Jeff Curtis, were picked to finish fifth in the 2005-06 GLIAC North Division Preseason Coaches Poll. Ferris State is 20-4 (home), 17-7 (road) and 0-1 (neutral) all-time to date versus Northwood. Former Bulldog player Jennifer Brogger (1999-02), who scored 626 points during her FSU career, presently is midst her second season as a NU assistant coach after concluding her collegiate career at Saginaw Valley State. Ferris also recorded an 89-64 win (1/26/05) over NU last campaign in Midland, Mich.