FSU Basketball At A Glance: The Ferris State women’s basketball team will visit Saginaw Valley State Saturday, Dec. 3, for a 1 p.m. (EST) Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) game in SVSU’s O’Neill Arena at University Center, Mich.

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

Ferris Wins Opener: Ferris State sprinted out to a nine-point halftime edge and totaled 61 points in the final period to defeat Northwood 102-85 Thursday (Dec. 1) evening in FSU's Jim Wink Arena at Big Rapids, Mich. The contest was Ferris' 2005-06 home opener as well as the initial Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) encounter of the season for both teams. Junior guard Erin Miller (Niles) scored a game-high 27 points and had seven assists for FSU while junior guard Kristin Reinhart (East Lansing) added 23 points along with seven assists. FSU also received a personal career-high 20 points from junior forward Audrey Thwing (Davison).

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.

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. Kristin Reinhart earned tournament Most Valuable Player Award recognition while Erin Miller and sophomore forward/center Rachel Folcik (Powers/Carney-Nadeau) both attained all-tournament team kudos.

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.

Last Season: Ferris State finished the 2004-05 season with an 11-17 overall record. FSU placed fourth in the 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.

Head Coach Tracey Bloodworth-Fisk: Eighth-year FSU head coach Tracey Bloodworth-Fisk presently ranks as Ferris’ all-time winningest coach with a current 120-80 (.600) 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 373-405 (.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 45-19 (.703) overall record to date in games at Jim Wink Arena, including a 37-17 (.685) 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 157-120 (.567) 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.

School Record: Ferris set a new school record with 31 assists in Thursday’s win over Northwood. The previous school record of 30 assists was set against Olivet in 1988-89 (12/3).

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 represented head coach Tracey Bloodworth-Fisk’s 200th game at the Bulldog helm ........... Erin Miller has tallied 968 career points to date and is 32 shy of notching her 1,000th career point ........... Ferris has won 12 of its last 15 home-opening outings to date following Thursday’s win. The Bulldogs lost their home opener in both the 2003-04 and 2004-05 campaigns.

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: Prior to Thursday’s victory, Ferris had not scored 100 or more points at home since registering a 110-73 victory over Saginaw Valley State in the 1999-00 campaign (2/5/00) ......... FSU’s Erin Miller has totaled 19 points or more in four consecutive outings to date this campaign, including two-straight 27 point efforts ........ FSU’s outings versus both Angelo State and St. Mary’s last weekend 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 this campaign 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.

Starting GLIAC Play: The Bulldogs have presently won five of their last six league-opening games following Thursday’s victory. FSU also improved to 6-7 (.462) overall in its last 13 initial conference tilts and currently holds a 7-11 (.389) mark 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 Saturday's Opponent:

Saginaw Valley State: The Cardinals maintain a 38-24 advantage heading into this Saturday’s 63rd series meeting. However, FSU has won 13 straight series’ games and beat SVSU 70-53 in the team’s last meeting (2/12/05) held at Big Rapids, Mich. SVSU is presently 1-4 overall and 0-2 in the GLIAC after Thursday’s (Dec. 1) 82-47 league home loss to Grand Valley State. FSU head coach Tracey Bloodworth-Fisk presently has a 13-1 career coaching record against the Cardinals. Saginaw Valley State, which is led in scoring by sophomore guard Jenna Schroeder (15.8 ppg), was 7-19 overall in 2004-05 and placed seventh (7-19) in the GLIAC’s North Division. The Cardinals, who are guided by second-year head coach Yvonne Killmer and have lost their last four games to date this campaign, were picked to finish seventh in the 2005-06 GLIAC North Division Preseason Coaches Poll. FSU also registered a 77-62 triumph over the Cardinals in last season’s initial meeting (12/11/04) at University Center, Mich.