Falcons Put Two-Game Win Streak on the Line vs. EMU

Wednesday, January 27

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Eastern Michigan

Tickets

Lineups introduction Rachel Myers v KSU - Craig Bell photo

Photo by: Craig Bell, BGSU Marketing and Communications

January 26, 2016 | Women's Basketball

Eagles come to town for Wednesday night matchup

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, coming off of back-to-back double-digit wins, completes a brief two-game homestand with a midweek game at the Stroh Center. The Falcons of head coach Jennifer Roos face preseason Mid-American Conference West Division favorite Eastern Michigan University on Wednesday night (Jan. 27), with tipoff set for 7:00 p.m.

LINKS
GAME NOTES: BGSU | EMU
2015-16 Women's Basketball Media Central
Buy Tickets | Join the Falcon Club Today!
#TBT on a Tuesday: Falcons Stop EMU, Win Second-Straight MAC Tourney Title | Stats

THREE-MARKABLE
• The Falcons exploded for 15 three-point field goals in Saturday's (Jan. 23) win over Kent State. BGSU's total tied the Stroh Center record and was just one shy of the school record. As a team, BG went 15-for-29 from long range, a success rate of 51.7 percent. The Falcons were 6-of-9 from long range in the third quarter.

• Freshman Sydney Lambert tied the arena record by making six of those three-pointers vs. KSU. Lambert was 6-for-9 from long distance on the day. Sophomore Rachel Myers also displayed deadly long-range shooting vs. the Flashes, making her first five triple tries and finishing 5-for-6 in the game. Both Lambert and Myers set new career bests for three-pointers made.

• The school records for three-point field goals made in a game are eight by an individual (set by Whitney Taylor and matched by Tracy Pontius) and 16 by the Falcons as a team (set on four occasions).

• BGSU's three-point percentage for the game was the team's best since a 9-for-16 effort (55.7%) in a WNIT win over Michigan in late March of 2014.

THREE-MENDOUS
The Falcons have made at least five three-point field goals in each of this season's 16 games to date. In fact, BG has hit four or more triples in 48 of the last 49 games, dating to late in the 2013-14 season. The lone exception during that stretch was last year's MAC Tournament first-round game, when BG made three treys at Western Michigan.

THREE-LIGHTFUL
Junior Abby Siefker knocked down a three-pointer in Wednesday's (Jan. 20) win at Northern Illinois, the first triple of her career. Siefker became the 11th different player on the roster to make at least one triple this season.

THREE-GION OF BOOM
BGSU's total of 15 three-pointers made vs. Kent State was a season high, and it marked the fourth time the Falcons have hit double digits in that category this season. It was the team's highest total in nearly two years, since Feb. 9, 2014, when BG shredded the nets with 15 triples in a 91-45 win over Miami.

THREE- ... UMMM, SOME OTHER PHRASE THAT STARTS WITH 'THREE'
BGSU will be looking to extend an impressive streak in the EMU game. The Falcons have hit at least one three-pointer in each of the last 357 games. BG has not been held without a triple in over 10 years – since Feb. 12, 2005, at Akron, when the Falcons won, 61-52, despite going 0-of-13 from long distance.

IF YOU'VE GOT A GOOD THREE-POINT-RELATED HEADLINE, LEAVE IT HERE
Over the last three games, the Falcons have made a total of 33 three-point field goals, an average of 11.0 successful triples per game.

PROMOTIONS / EVENTS / OTHER STUFF
• Wednesday's game will be Faculty/Staff Appreciation Night, with all BGSU faculty and staff members able to buy discounted tickets to the BG-EMU game. Contact the BGSU Athletics Ticket Office for more information.

• All BGSU student-athletes with a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher will be recognized on the court at halftime of Wednesday's game.

• And, the 50-50-50 promotion continues for BGSU students. Any student who attends Wednesday's game and sits in the student section has a chance to win. If no student wins, $50 is added to the pot for the next home game. The jackpot is currently at $100 heading into the EMU game.

LAST TIME OUT: THREE-POINT BARRAGE LIFTS FALCONS PAST KSU
• The Falcons buried a bevy of three-pointers on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 23), rolling to a 71-49 win over Kent State at the Stroh Center.

• BGSU (7-9, 3-4 MAC) made 15 triples – just one shy of the school record – en route to the 22-point win. Freshman Sydney Lambert and sophomore Rachel Myers combined to make 11 of those treys and score 35 points.

• Lambert went 6-of-9 from long distance, scoring a game- and career-high 20 points for the Brown and Orange. Myers hit her first five three-point attempts on the day, winding up 5-for-6 from beyond the arc and scoring 15 points. BG was 15-for-29 (51.7%) from three-point range in the win.

• Both Lambert and Myers set career marks in three-pointers made in Saturday's victory. Lambert tied the Stroh Center record for successful treys in a game, while the Falcons matched the mark for three-pointers made by a team inside the Stroh.

•The Golden Flashes (3-14, 0-7 MAC) got 14 points from Jordan Korinek.

• The Falcons had 20 assists on 24 field goals in the win, including helpers on all 11 buckets in the first half.

• BGSU trailed after the first quarter, and the Falcons were down, 22-19, late in the second period. But, the Brown and Orange outscored the Flashes by a 52-27 count the rest of the way.

DOING IT WITH DEFENSE
• The Falcons allowed Northern Illinois to shoot just 26.7 percent from the field, make only 16 field goals and score just 43 points in last week's BG win in DeKalb. All were season-low totals/averages for a BGSU opponent.

• Then, the next time out, the Brown and Orange limited Kent State to only 13 field goals made and a field-goal percentage of just 26.5%, setting season bests in those categories for the second-straight game.

• BGSU had not held back-to-back opponents to less than 30% shooting in just over three years, since lopsided wins over Ball State and Ohio in January of 2013.

• The Falcons held back-to-back foes under 50 points for the first time since an epic two-game stretch two years ago, when BG allowed a TOTAL of 77 points in home wins over Kent State (82-38) and Ohio (63-39).

A FEW NOTES GUARANTEED TO BLOW. YOUR. MIND.
• BGSU's total of 25 points in the third quarter of the win over Kent State was a season high, and therefore, a school record. The Falcons went 6-for-9 from three-point range in the third quarter alone.

• No fewer than 11 different Falcons had at least one assist in the win over KSU.

• The Falcons held NIU's top-two scorers, Ally Lehman and Kelly Smith, without a field goal last Wednesday night. Lehman entered the game with an average of 13.3 points per game, while Smith was scoring 11.6 ppg. But, the duo went a combined 0-for-18 from the field on vs. BGSU. Smith had one point in 21 minutes of action, while Lehman was scoreless in 35 minutes.

• Freshman Sydney Lambert had five steals – the highest total of her young career and the most by a Falcon this season – in the win at NIU. Lambert's total was the highest by a BG player since Alexis Rogers had seven steals at Miami on March 8, 2014.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
If you can't make it to the Stroh Center on Wednesday, you can still follow the Falcons via your radio- or computer-like devices. The BGSU-EMU game, like all of BG's games, will be broadcast by WBGU-FM 88.1, the flagship home of Falcon women's basketball, and will be available over the air or on the web. Additionally, Wednesday's game will be streamed on ESPN3.com, and live stats will be available as well. And, in-game updates can be found at @BGSUwbb on your twitter machine. To follow the Falcons, simply log on to BGSUFalcons.com and click the 'calendar' link on the day of the game, or navigate your way to the women's basketball page.

JUSTINGER IS MOVING UP THE SCORING LIST
Senior Miriam Justinger enters the EMU game with a career total of 911 points at BGSU, good for 32rd in school history. Justinger moved past Sue Pokelsek (903 points from 1979-83), and is just five points behind Tara Breske (916 points from 2006-10).

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• Bowling Green enters Wednesday's game with an overall record of 7-9, and the Falcons are 3-4 in MAC play. BG has won two-straight games by double-digit margins after losing the previous four contests.

• The Falcons used a second-quarter run to pull away from host Northern Illinois en route to a 58-43 win over the Huskies last Wednesday night (Jan. 20). Then, on Saturday (Jan. 23), BGSU took the lead with a run just before halftime, then pulled away in the third quarter vs. Kent State, winning by a 71-49 count.

• BG opened conference action with a 64-58 win at Miami (Jan. 2), but the Brown and Orange then suffered a road loss to Western Michigan before falling at home to defending MAC champion Ohio, Akron and Ball State.

• The Miami game was the Falcons' first in 12 days, and just BG's second in a 25-day span. BGSU played three games in seven days to begin December, and after a game on Dec. 8, did not play again until Dec. 21. Then, a trip to San Antonio just after Christmas was cancelled.

• BGSU is 4-4 at home, 2-4 on the road and 1-1 in neutral-site games this season. The Falcons are 1-3 at the Stroh in MAC play, but BG is 2-1 on the road in league action after going 0-10 against conference opponents away from Bowling Green last year (0-9 in the regular season, 0-1 in the MAC Tournament).

• BG began the season with a pair of double-digit wins at the Stroh, then left Northwest Ohio and played three games that were decided by a total of 10 points.

• Each of the Falcons' first three home games came against Missouri Valley Conference foes, and the Brown and Orange won those three games by an average of 16.3 points. BG began the season by dispatching both Illinois State and Bradley at the Stroh Center over a three-day span, before losing a narrow 54-51 contest at Cincinnati the following weekend.

• The Falcons headed to Wilmington, N.C., and split a pair of games, dropping a 70-66 decision to Davidson before downing Jacksonville, 72-69 in overtime. Those two contests were part of the UNCW Hampton Inn Thanksgiving Classic.

• BGSU began the month of December with a 74-56 win over Evansville at the Stroh, but then lost road games to Cleveland State (at Quicken Loans Arena) and Virginia (in front of more than 10,000 fans). Just before Christmas, the Falcons suffered a 58-45 setback against perennial mid-major power South Dakota State at the Stroh.

• A pair of BGSU newcomers have posted double-digit scoring averages to date. Fifth-year senior Lauren Tibbs has 11.1 points per game, while freshman Sydney Lambert has 10.0 ppg. Tibbs, in her first season at BGSU after transferring from Marquette, also leads the Falcons with 7.1 rebounds and 0.9 blocked shots per contest. She had her third double-double of the season, with 15 points and 10 boards at Northern Illinois, and she is shooting 56.5 percent from the field to lead the team and rank third in the MAC in that category.

• Lambert leads the Falcons in steals (1.1 spg) and minutes played (29.3), and she is second on the team in assists (2.0 apg). Lambert leads the team in three-point field goals made, with 35, and she leads the entire MAC in three-point percentage, having made 45.5% of her long-distance attempts.

• Senior Miriam Justinger and sophomore Rachel Myers have 8.1 and 7.1 ppg, respectively. Justinger leads the Falcons in assists, with 2.1 per game, and she is third on the team in both steals and rebounding. She has made 19 long-distance shots this year, ranking third on the Falcons on that list as well.

• Myers has hit 28 three-pointers this winter to date, and she ranks fourth in the MAC with a three-point field-goal percentage of 38.4%.

• Redshirt sophomore Kennedy Kirkpatrick has 4.9 ppg and ranks third on the Falcons in assists. Freshman Carly Santoro and junior Ashley Tunstall have scored 4.7 and 4.0 ppg, respectively, this year. Santoro had nine points off the bench in the win over KSU, and is fourth on the team with nine three-pointers made. Tunstall is second on the team with 4.6 boards per contest. She was limited to just 11 minutes in the Ohio game due to injury, and missed both the Akron and BSU games before seeing minutes off the bench to play vs. both Northern Illinois and Kent State.

• Sophomore Haley Puk has 2.3 ppg, while juniors Abby Siefker and Rachel Konieczki are averaging 1.6 and 1.5 ppg, respectively. Siefker had a season-high seven points at NIU, and she pulled down six rebounds in each of last week's wins. She is second on the team in blocked shots, with 11 rejections in 16 games.

• Eight players – Justinger, Kirkpatrick, Konieczki, Lambert, Myers, Santoro, Siefker and Tibbs – each have seen action in all 16 games, while Tunstall and Puk have played in 14 apiece, sophomore Sarah Baer 11 and freshman Maddie Cole six. Justinger, Lambert, Myers and Tibbs each have started all 16 games for the Brown and Orange this season, while Tunstall joined them in the starting lineup for six-straight games before suffering her injury. Siefker has started each of the last four contests.

• The Falcons are shooting 38.4% from the field, 33.5% from three-point land (good for second in the MAC) and 71.0% from the free-throw line. The opponents are shooting 37.9% from the floor, 31.9% from the arc and 66.5% from the stripe.

• In MAC games only, Tibbs is averaging 11.6 points and 7.0 rebounds and is shooting 52.9% from the floor, while Lambert has 11.3 ppg and has hit a team-leading 20 triples. Myers and Justinger are averaging 8.3 and 7.3 ppg, respectively, in MAC play.

• Lambert (50.0%) and Myers (46.9%) rank second and third, respectively, in three-point field-goal percentage in MAC games. The Falcons are second in the league in both three-pointers per game (8.6) and long-range accuracy (35.1%) in conference contests.

• Head coach Jennifer Roos and the Falcons returned a total of eight letterwinners, all of whom had started at least five games in their BGSU careers entering the season. The returnees were joined by five newcomers, including a pair of transfers (Tibbs and Tunstall) who were eligible to play immediately.

• The 2014-15 Falcons went 9-21 overall after four players on the 12-woman preseason roster suffered season- or career-ending injuries, and a fifth missed the bulk of the conference schedule due to injury as well. The returning players entered the season with a combined total of 203 starts in the Brown and Orange.

THE EASTERN MICHIGAN EAGLES
Eastern Michigan will enter Wednesday's game with an overall record of 13-5, and the Eagles are 4-3 in MAC action after a 59-41 home win over Toledo on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 23). Eastern began the year with a 10-2 record, capped by a stretch of six-straight wins that included the MAC opener. But, the Eagles have alternated wins and losses during the league schedule, with neither a winning nor a losing streak in conference play. EMU is 7-2 at home, 6-2 on the road and 0-1 in neutral-site games this season to date. In MAC play, the Eagles are 3-2 in Ypsilanti and 1-1 in hostile venues. Junior guard Cha Sweeney leads the team in scoring, with 16.9 ppg, and she also paces the Eagles in assists with 4.0 helpers per game. Sophomore guard Janay Morton has 14.7 ppg, while sophomore guard Phillis Webb has scored 13.6 ppg. Morton leads the team with 39 three-pointers made, and she leads the entire MAC with 2.9 steals per game. Senior forward Chanise Baldwin has 9.0 ppg and a team-leading 7.9 rebounds per game. Baldwin has 143 total rebounds to Webb's 142 this year to date. Last season, head coach Tory Verdi's team finished 24-13 overall and 11-7 in MAC play. Verdi welcomed back nine letterwinners, including all five starters, from that 2014-15 club, and this year's EMU team was picked to win the MAC's West Division in the preseason coaches poll.

THE BGSU-EMU SERIES
The Falcons lead Eastern Michigan, 50-15, in the all-time series between the teams, but the Eagles won the last meeting to snap a 13-game BGSU series winning streak. Host EMU picked up a 64-52 win in Ypsilanti in last season's lone meeting (Jan. 17, 2015). Two years ago, the Brown and Orange swept the season series with a 71-57 win at the Stroh Center (Jan. 23, 2014) and a 61-56 triumph at the Convocation Center (Feb. 15, 2014). Prior to last season, EMU's last win over the Falcons was a 57-52 decision in Ypsi in February of 2005. The Eagles swept the two regular-season meetings that year, but BGSU posted a 77-57 win in the MAC Tournament semifinals to snap Eastern's five-game series winning streak and begin the Falcons' 13-game streak. BGSU is 27-4 in home games (including 2-0 inside the Stroh Center), 20-10 in road contests and 3-1 in neutral-site meetings with EMU over the years. Jennifer Roos is 3-1 against the Eagles as a collegiate head coach.

FALCONS VS. THE MAC
The Falcons continue to own the best record in MAC history. Entering Wednesday's Eastern Michigan game, BGSU has an all-time record of 395-173 (.695) in MAC regular-season contests, for the most wins and highest winning percentage of all league institutions. And, BG leads the series with all 11 MAC foes, making the Falcons the only team in the league, obviously, with a winning series record against every other school. BG also has the most overall victories and highest overall winning pct. of any conference institution.

SIXTY POINTS = SUCCESS AT THE STROH
• The Falcons have an overall record of 52-20 at the Stroh Center since the building opened prior to the 2011-12 season. While a 72.2% winning percentage is certainly impressive, BGSU's chances of winning at home have increased exponentially when the team scores at least 60 points.

• The Falcons have scored over 60 points four times at the Stroh this season, winning all four games. BGSU is 49-2 (96.1%) when reaching the 60-point mark inside the Stroh, and BG is 31-2 when scoring at least 70 points, 12-0 when hitting the 80-point mark and 3-0 when reaching the 90-point plateau.

• BGSU is a perfect 18-0 when scoring between 60 and 69 points at the Stroh. The Falcons are 19-2 when scoring 70-79 points in the building. The losses came to VCU (72-71) in the 2012 WNIT and to Akron (79-71) late last season.

SIXTY POINTS = SUCCESS ANYWHERE
Regardless of venue, the Falcons' chances of winning have significantly improved when the team scores 60 or more points. BGSU is a perfect 6-0 this season when reaching or surpassing the 60-point threshold. Last year, BGSU reached the 60-point plateau only nine times, including just twice after Christmas. The Falcons went 8-1 in such games last winter. Two years ago, BG scored at least 60 points 29 times in 35 games, going 27-2.

SYD THE KID
Freshman Sydney Lambert has certainly had a successful start to her BGSU career. A few highlights over the last month or so...

• Lambert, playing in front of a large contingent of family and friends in the MAC opener at Miami, missed her first five field-goal attempts on the afternoon. But, with BG clinging to a one-point lead in the final minute, Lambert fired a three-pointer from the left side, hitting nothing but net and giving the Falcons a four-point lead, 60-56, with 36 seconds on the clock.

• In BG's previous game, Lambert either scored or assisted on 17 of the Falcons' 19 first-half points vs. South Dakota State (Dec. 21). She scored all eight of her team's second quarter points, including back-to-back three-point field goals just 25 seconds apart.

• In the Ohio game (Jan. 9), Lambert hit four three-point field goals, the highest total of her young career to that point, en route to 17 points (also a career best at the time). Then, the following Saturday (Jan. 16), Lambert hit five triples against Ball State, again scoring 17 points.

• Lambert has averaged 18.0 points and 5.0 three-pointers per game over the last three Saturdays, as she scored a career-high 20 points, including six triples, in the win over Kent State.

UP NEXT
Following the EMU game, the Falcons will renew the Battle of I-75 with a short trip to the Glass City this weekend. BGSU will end the month of January by taking on Toledo at Savage Arena on Saturday (Jan. 30), in a 2:00 p.m. start.
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