FSU Basketball At A Glance: The Ferris State women’s basketball team will will host the FSU Holiday Classic Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 20-21, at FSU’s Jim Wink Arena in Big Rapids, Mich. The classic will feature four NCAA Division II women’s basketball contests involving two schools apiece from both the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) and the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC). In addition to the host Bulldogs, the field also includes Southern Illinois-Edwardsville and Lewis (Ill.) of the GLVC along with GLIAC member Lake Superior State. The event is being sponsored by the Country Inn and Suites along with Team Spirit.

Game Schedule: Tuesday’s games feature LSSU against Lewis at 1 p.m. (EST) followed by Ferris-SIUE beginning at 3 p.m. (EST). The Lakers will battle SIUE Wednesday at 1 p.m. (EST) with Ferris taking on Lewis in the 3 p.m. (EST) contest.

Media Coverage: No Ferris State radio or internet coverage will be available for either of the non-conference outings. “Live Stats” of the FSU Holiday Classic will be provided in progress on the FSU Athletics website (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.

Ferris Claims Upset Win: Ferris survived in overtime to post a hard-fought 86-85 win over Lake Superior State in GLIAC action last Friday (Dec. 16) evening in LSSU's Bud Cooper Gymnasium at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. LSSU's Mandi Johnson missed one of two free throws with less than two seconds to play which would have tied the contest in overtime. The win for Ferris ended a 10-game losing skid to the nation's 12th-ranked Lakers. Junior guard Erin Miller (Niles) led Ferris with 24 points. Sophomore forward/center Rachel Folcik (Powers/Carney-Nadeau) chipped in 19 points, junior guard Kristin Reinhart (East Lansing) totaled 17 points and junior forward Audrey Thwing (Davison) had 14 points for FSU. Freshman Jenna Guay (Escanaba) added a personal career-high 10 points for the Bulldogs. Reinhart tied the contest with two free throws with two seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime.

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 121-82 (.596) 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 is midst its 32nd season of varsity competition, has compiled a 374-407 (.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 45-20 (.692) overall record to date in games at Jim Wink Arena, including a 37-18 (.673) 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 158-122 (.564) overall since 1995-96 and sports a 93-82 (.531) record in road/neutral site contests during that span. The Bulldogs are 53-42 (.558) overall in road games under head coach Tracey Bloodworth-Fisk, including a 38-27 (.585) record in GLIAC play.

Miller Hits Century Mark: Ferris’ Erin Miller became the 12th player in school history to notch her 1,000th career point against Grand Valley State (Dec. 8). Miller returned to the lineup this season after missing all but the first two games of the 2004-05 campaign due to injury. She previously reached double-figure scoring in 28 of her 31 contests in 2003-04 and ranked as the Bulldogs' second-leading scorer (17.0 ppg). 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.

Ferris School Records: Ferris tied a school record this year with 13 made three-point field goals against St. Mary’s (Texas) in the Texas A&M-Kingsville Holiday Inn Emerald Beach Turkey Day Shootout (Nov. 25) ......... The Bulldogs also set a new school record with 31 assists at home against Northwood (Dec. 1) .......... The Bulldogs matched a school-record with 29 three-point attempts at Saginaw Valley State (Dec. 3).

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.

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.

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.

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 (Nov. 18-19). 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 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 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.

Florida Homecoming: Ferris State will take part in the Barry (Fla.) Buccaneer Holiday Classic Thursday and Friday, Dec. 29-30, in Miami Shores, Fla. The trip will be a homecoming of sorts for fourth-year FSU assistant coach 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 and prepped at Majory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

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: Last Friday’s overtime contest at LSSU was Ferris’ first overtime outing since posting an 86-80 extra period win over Ashland in the 2003-04 GLIAC Tournament Semifinals (3/5/04) at Sault Ste. Marie .......... Friday’s win over Lake Superior State was the Bulldogs’ first series’ victory at Sault Ste. Marie since registering a 76-71 triumph in the 2000-01 campaign (12/7/00) at Cooper Gymnasium ......... Ferris’ attendance of 1,002 versus Grand Valley State (Dec. 8) represented the largest crowd for a women’s game in the seven-year history of Jim Wink Arena ....... FSU’s Erin Miller has totaled 19 points or more in five of her last seven outings to date this campaign, including two 27-point efforts during the stretch ......... Seven of Ferris’ next 10 outings this season are at home ........... Sophomore guard Sam Johns (Allendale) currently has 190 career points and needs 10 more to notch her 200th career point ...... Kristin Reinhart is 16 points away from scoring her 700th career point.

Fall Recruits: Ferris head coach Tracey Bloodworth-Fisk recently announced the addition of prep guard Stephanie DeNoyelles (Mt. Pleasant/Sacred Heart) and prep forward/center Andrea Clancy (Port Austin/North Huron), who both plan to attend and compete in women's basketball at FSU beginning with the 2006-07 academic year. They inked national letters-of-intent with the Bulldogs during the fall signing period. The 5-7 DeNoyelles attained both first-team Detroit Free Press and honorable mention Detroit News Class D All-State kudos this campaign while Clancy was chosen to the Associated Press Class D All-State Girls Basketball Team.

A Look At The Opponents:

SIU-Edwardsville: Ferris holds a 4-1 all-time mark against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville and won the most recent meeting (12/20/03) by an 86-71 score at the GLIAC/GLVC Classic in Midland, Mich. The Cougars, who are presently 5-3 overall and 0-3 in the GLVC this season, have lost three consecutive games to date this campaign after winning their initial five outings. Sophomore guard Whitney Sykes is the squad’s leading scorer (11.4 ppg) to date this season. SIUE compiled a 12-18 overall record in 2004-05, including an eighth-place 7-13 GLVC mark. SIU-Edwardsville was picked to finish fourth in the 2005-06 GLVC Preseason West Division Coaches Poll under 27th-year head coach Wendy Hedberg. The Cougars dropped a 77-60 league road decision at nationally second-ranked Drury (Mo.) in their most recent outing (Dec. 10).

Lewis (Ill.): Ferris State maintains a 4-2 all-time series’ edge over the Flyers, but fell to Lewis 76-71 in the 2004-05 season opener (Nov. 16) in Big Rapids, Mich. The Flyers posted a 19-11 overall record during the 2004-05 campaign and placed second in the GLVC with a 15-5 league mark. Lewis, which is guided by fourth-year head coach Lynn Plett, reached the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional Tournament last season. The Flyers were picked to finish second in the 2005-06 GLVC Preseason East Division Coaches Poll. Junior guard/forward Mary Moskal is the Flyers’ leading scorer to date this campaign (14.9 ppg). LU, which currently lost two of its last three contests this season, holds a 5-4 overall record and is 3-1 in the GLVC to date following Saturday’s (Dec. 17) 103-53 non-conference setback at NCAA-I Wisconsin-Green Bay.