Jennifer Roos Named MAC Coach of the Year
March 11, 2014 | Women's Basketball
Second-year head coach guided BGSU to a conference regular-season championship
Roos and her staff have performed one of the finest coaching jobs in the region in 2013-14. The Falcons enter this week's MAC Tournament with an overall record of 27-3, and BGSU finished conference play with a 17-1 record, winning the East Division and posting the best record in the league.
The Falcons were a perfect 13-0 at the Stroh Center during the regular season, and BGSU posted 14 victories away from home during the regular season. All three of BG's regular-season losses came to teams ranked in the top-50 of the latest RPI rankings.
BGSU is currently 26th in the nation in the most recent RPI rankings released by the NCAA, and the Falcons moved into the Associated Press top-25 rankings as well, earning the 25th spot in Monday's (March 10) poll.
The Falcons went 24-11 overall and 11-5 in the MAC in the 2012-13 season, the first for Roos as a collegiate head coach. This year's team has surpassed the overall win total by three games, and the Brown and Orange topped last year's MAC win total by six. BGSU enters the MAC Tournament riding a 13-game win streak.
Roos assumed the head-coaching position on April 16, 2012, after 11 years as an assistant coach on the BG staff, the final eight as associate head coach. Last year, she guided the Falcons to the third round of the WNIT, with wins over SMU and Duquesne, before BG fell by three points to eventual tourney champion Drexel.
The '12-13 Falcons set several program standards at the defensive end of the floor. BGSU allowed just 54.3 points per game, a new school record. That broke the mark of 55.7 ppg allowed, set the previous year.
Additionally, the Falcons allowed MAC opponents to score only 51.9 points per contest, again breaking a school record set the prior year. Opponents shot only 36.1% from the field in MAC games, also a school-record low for the Falcons. In all games, BG foes' field-goal rate of 37.3% was the lowest allowed since 1976-77.
This season, those trends have continued. The 2013-14 Falcons have allowed only 56.0 points per game, and BG has permitted the opponents to shoot only 36.6% from the field to date. And, the Brown and Orange gave up just 55.4 ppg in MAC games, letting opponents shoot just 36.4% from the floor in those 18 games.
Even prior to her appointment as head coach, Roos was a major reason for the program's incredible run of success. She joined Curt Miller's staff in July of 2001, and helped the Falcons to at least one MAC championship of some kind in each of Miller's last eight seasons. BGSU won eight-straight MAC divisional titles from 2005-12, earning the league's outright regular-season title in seven of those eight years. BG also captured five MAC Tournament crowns in that time.
The 2013-14 Falcons are guaranteed a trip to national postseason play, marking the 10th consecutive year BG will appear in either the NCAA Championships or the WNIT, and BG has won over 20 games for the 11th-straight season. Both streaks are MAC records.
Roos was in charge of the Falcon defense during her tenure on Miller's staff, and also served as the team's recruiting coordinator. After three years as an assistant coach with the Falcons, she was elevated to associate head coach in 2004.
When Miller suffered a mild stroke in January of 2012, Roos assumed interim head-coaching duties and led the Falcons to a 2-0 record, with wins over Central Michigan and Northern Illinois prior to Miller's return to the bench in early February of that year.
Since Roos arrived at BGSU, the Falcons have fashioned an overall record of 309-106 and a MAC mark of 163-47. Those numbers aren't too shabby, as they represent a success rate of over 74 percent overall and a winning percentage of better than 77% in conference action.
Over the last 10-plus years, however, the numbers are even more staggering. The Falcons are 288-71 (80.2%) overall, 152-26 (85.4%) in MAC regular-season play and 175-31 (85.0%) in all games vs. league foes during that time.
Roos came to the Falcon program after spending eight years at Davidson College. She became a coach with the Wildcats upon her graduation from the school.
A native of Louisville, Ky., Roos was a member of both the 1991-92 Davidson club team and the 1992-93 varsity squad. The latter season marked the varsity program's first after a six-year absence.
Roos was a standout in field hockey during her undergraduate years. She was a four-year letterwinner and a three-time MVP for Davidson. Roos led the 'Cats to a 50-15-6 record in her four seasons, and helped the squad to three consecutive Deep South Association championships.
Roos served as a captain for both the field hockey and basketball teams as a senior. She also lettered in lacrosse at Davidson. Roos graduated from Davidson in 1993, with a B.A. in history, upon which she began her coaching career at the school.
In January of 2006, Roos was inducted into the Davidson Athletics Hall of Fame. She was inducted into her high school's (Kentucky Country Day) Hall of Fame in February of 2010.
The MAC office announced the 2014 Player-, Coach- and Freshman-of-the-Year awards on Tuesday morning. Central Michigan's Crystal Bradford was named the MAC Player of the Year, while Eastern Michigan's Cha Sweeney earned the league's freshman-of-the-year honor.
BGSU, the number-one seed for the MAC Tournament, has earned a 'triple bye' and will face an opponent to be determined in Friday's (March 14) semifinal round. That semifinal game will begin at 12:00 p.m. at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland.
Amy Velasco, Lexi Fleming, & Coach Chmiel Postgame Interview (Mar. 5, 2025)
Thursday, March 06
Paige Kohler, Coach Chmiel, & Amy Velasco Postgame Interview (Feb. 26, 2025)
Thursday, February 27
In the Paint: Lexxus Graham-Blincoe
Wednesday, February 26
Erika Porter, Amy Velasco, & Coach Chmiel Postgame Interview (Feb. 22, 2025)
Sunday, February 23