Falcons Close Regular-Season Schedule at Buffalo

Saturday, March 3

Buffalo, NY

2:00 PM ET

Bowling Green State University

Buffalo

March 02, 2018 | Women's Basketball

BGSU battles Bulls on Saturday afternoon

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

BGSU at BUFFALO
<><> Saturday, March 3, 2018 • 2:00 p.m. <><>
<><> Alumni Arena (6,783) • Buffalo, N.Y. <><>
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<><> TELEVISION / VIDEO: ESPN3.com <><>
<><> RADIO / AUDIO: BGRSO <><>
<><> LIVE STATS: www.UBBulls.com <><>
<><> TWITTER: @BGSUwbb <><>

all available audio, stats & video links can be found at BGSUFalcons.com on game day

UP NEXT FOR THE FALCONS...
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, coming off of a 21-point win on Senior Night, hits the road to wrap up the regular-season schedule. Head coach Jennifer Roos and the Falcons will face the University at Buffalo on Saturday afternoon (March 3), with tipoff set for 2:00 p.m. at Alumni Arena.

Then, the Falcons will hit the road once again as the Mid-American Conference Tournament begins. BGSU will play a conference tourney first-round game on the road Monday evening (March 5), with the opponent to be determined.

THE FALCONS AND THE MAC TOURNAMENT
Regardless of the outcomes around the league on Saturday, the final day of the regular season, the Falcons will be the 11th seed for the MAC Tournament, and BGSU will play a road game against the No. 6 seed. The Falcons' possible opponents include Toledo, Western Michigan and Ohio.

Currently, Ohio is fifth in the overall standings with a 9-8 league record, while both UT and WMU are 8-9 and Northern Illinois 7-10. Saturday's games that could affect BG include Ohio at Akron, Central Michigan at Toledo and WMU at NIU.

Long story short, the Falcons will play Toledo on Monday if Toledo wins OR WMU loses on Saturday. BGSU will face WMU if the Broncos win AND UT loses Saturday. There is one scenario (a UT win, an Ohio loss and a WMU win) that would send the Falcons to Ohio.

A more detailed description of the MAC Tournament scenarios can be found in the attached PDF.

MAC STANDINGS – CURRENT SEEDS & REMAINING GAME
#   Team(s) W-L   Saturday
1-4. Central Michigan (16-1), Buffalo (15-2), Ball State (12-5), Miami (11-6) *
5. Ohio 9-8   at Akron
6. Toledo 8-9   vs. CMU
7. Western Mich. 8-9   at NIU
8. Northern Ill. 7-10 vs. WMU
9. Eastern Mich. 6-11 vs. Ball State
10. Kent State   5-12 at Miami
11. Bowling Green 3-14 at Buffalo
12. Akron 2-15 vs. Ohio
* have clinched top-four seeds and first-round byes

LAST TIME OUT: BG RACES PAST AKRON ON A SENIOR NIGHT TO REMEMBER
Seniors Haley Puk and Rachel Myers combined for 30 points and 12 rebounds as the Falcons ran past Akron, 84-63, Wednesday (Feb. 28) at the Stroh Center.

On Senior Night, Puk led all players with 17 points and tied for team honors with seven rebounds. Myers had season-high totals of 13 points and five rebounds in her final home game.

BGSU had five players in double digits on the night. Sophomore Caterrion Thompson scored 16 points off the bench, while juniors Sydney Lambert and Carly Santoro had 11 and 10 points, respectively. Santoro tied Puk with seven rebounds on the night, as BGSU held a commanding 56-39 advantage on the glass.

The Falcons led from wire to wire, scoring the game's first 12 points and shooting nearly 53 percent from the field in the first quarter to seize control early.

THANKS, SENIORS
Wednesday, as mentioned, was Senior Night at the Stroh, with the four seniors in the Falcon program recognized in ceremonies prior to tipoff. That quartet includes Rachel Myers, Haley Puk and managers Connor Eli and Jason Hosinski.

Myers and Puk, as mentioned, combined for 30 points and 12 rebounds in the win. They also combined for four assists, and assisted each other on three of those four occasions. leading to nine points within the first three-plus minutes of the fourth quarter.

The Falcons now have won 15 of the 17 Senior Day/Night games since Jennifer Roos came to Northwest Ohio, and BG is 20-3 in the last 23 such contests.

SYD-THREE LAMBERT
Over the last few weeks, BGSU guard Sydney Lambert has rapidly moved up the BGSU list for career three-point field goals made. Lambert hit 10 triples in a three-game span in late January, knocking down four against both Toledo and Kent State.

With four more triples last Saturday at Miami and three more in the win over Akron, Lambert – just a junior – now has hit 184 long-distance shots in her career. She has moved into a tie with Chrissy Steffen (184 from 2009-13) for fourth in school history. Liz Honegger (216 from 2003-07) holds down third place on that list.

Lambert is on pace to finish her career ranked second all-time in three-pointers made at BGSU.

SENIORS CAN HIT THE THREE AS WELL
The two seniors on BGSU's roster – Haley Puk and Rachel Myers – each have a proclivity for hitting shots from beyond the arc. Both players are now ranked among the top 15 Falcons in program history in career three-point field goals made.

Puk hit a game- and career-high four triples vs. Akron, and now ranks 14th in school history with 120 successful long-range shots as a Falcon. Myers is right behind her classmate, having hit 117 triples to tie for 15th on that BGSU list. With two successful treys Wednesday vs. Akron, Myers equaled the total of her former teammate, Jasmine Matthews (117 from 2011-15).

THE FALCONS: A QUICK OVERVIEW
BGSU is 11-17 on the season, and the Falcons are 3-14 in Mid-American Conference play. BG went 6-8 at the Stroh Center, and the Falcons are 4-9 in true road games and 1-0 in neutral-site contests.

The Falcons opened the season with seven games in a 19-day span. BGSU went 6-1 during that time, then began December by downing Xavier before a large School Day crowd at the Stroh. But, BG then dropped six of the next seven games.

BGSU stopped a five-game skid with a 66-64 win at Akron (Jan. 13), and the Falcons then returned home and topped Kent State, 60-50, four days later. But, BG then suffered narrow setbacks to Ohio and Toledo to begin a 10-game slide. The Brown and Orange snapped that streak with Wednesday's 84-63 win over the Zips.

Head coach Jennifer Roos and her staff – which is comprised of assistant coaches Jacey Brooks, Nick Moore and Jessie Ivey, director of operations Monique Rosati and video coordinator Amanda Cutcher – welcomed back a total of nine returning players, including three starters, from a year ago. The list of returnees includes two seniors, three juniors and four second-year Falcons.

Rachel Myers and Haley Puk make up the senior class, while Maddie Cole, Sydney Lambert and Carly Santoro each are in their junior year. Sophomores Andrea Cecil, Caterrion Thompson and Jane Uecker also returned, as did Clare Glowniak, who is a redshirt freshman in terms of eligibility.

The nine returnees were joined by five freshmen, including Terri Battle, Madisen Parker, Angela Perry, Sierra Thompson and Kennedy Williams. Perry was injured and missed the entire non-league slate, but has played in 16 of the 17 MAC games.

Lambert, Puk and Santoro each have started all 28 games this season, while Cecil has made 22 starts, Uecker 13, Glowniak eight, Perry seven and Caterrion Thompson six. Cecil and Perry joined Lambert, Puk and Santoro in the starting five vs. Akron.

Heading into the Buffalo game, two Falcons are scoring in double digits, while two others are averaging at least 8.6 points per game. Santoro leads the team with 12.8 ppg, and is nearly averaging a double-double, with a team-leading 8.8 rpg. She ranks third in the MAC in rebounds, and her total of 11 double-doubles this season is the highest by a BG player in 20 years.

Lambert has 10.1 ppg, while Puk and Cecil are averaging 8.8 and 8.6 ppg, respectively. Caterrion Thompson (6.3 ppg) is fifth on the Falcons in scoring, and she ranks second in the MAC in three-point percentage (42.5%; 34-of-80).

Lambert leads the team in assists, with 2.0 per game, while Santoro has 1.7 helpers per contest. Santoro (1.6) and Lambert (1.5) are ranked 1-2 on the team in steals per game, as Lambert has 44 and Santoro 43. Lambert has knocked down 57 three-point field goals this year, while Puk has hit 43 and Caterrion Thompson 34.

In MAC play, Santoro has BG-best averages of 11.5 ppg and 7.8 rpg, while Lambert has 9.6 ppg, Caterrion Thompson 8.1 and Puk 7.9. Two Falcons are ranked among the top-10 in the MAC in three-point field-goal pct., as Thompson is third (42.9%; 27-of-63) and Puk ninth (39.0%; 23-of-59). Williams (38.9%) would be 10th, but she falls just shy of the minimum qualifying mark. The Falcons are second in the MAC in three-pointers made (7.9 per game) in league contests.

FALCONS VS. THE MAC
The Falcons continue to own the best record in MAC history. Entering the Buffalo contest, BGSU has an all-time record of 405-209 (.660) in MAC regular-season games, 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 with a winning series record against every other school. BG also has the most overall victories and highest overall winning pct. of any league institution.

SCOUTING BUFFALO
Buffalo is 24-4 overall and 15-2 in MAC play. UB's league losses came at Northern Illinois in OT on Jan. 6 and at Central Michgan on Jan. 31. The Bulls, receiving votes in both polls and ranked 16th in the latest RPI, have won eight-straight games and 13 of the last 14 contests. UB is a perfect 11-0 at home – in fact, the team's last home loss came to BGSU last season – and the Bulls are 10-4 on the road and 3-0 at neutral sites. In the MAC, UB is 8-0 at home and went 7-2 in hostile venues. Cierra Dillard leads four double-digit scorers with 14.8 points per game, while Cassie Oursler has 13.8 ppg, Stephanie Reid 11.4 and Summer Hemphill 10.6. Hemphill leads the team in rebounding (7.6 rpg), and all four players are ranked either first or second in the MAC in at least one category. Last winter, the Bulls finished 22-10 overall and 8-10 in MAC action. Head coach Felisha Legette-Jack welcomed back 11 letterwinners, including four starters, from that club.

THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Buffalo, 25-13, in the all-time series between the teams, but the Bulls have captured the last two meetings. Last year, in the teams' regular-season meeting in Western New York, the Falcons picked up a 64-62 win (Feb. 25, 2017 – UB's last home loss). That win snapped a six-game series winning streak for the Bulls. UB, however, topped the Brown and Orange by a 61-45 score in the MAC Tournament's first round (March 6, 2017), then won an 88-67 game at the Stroh Center less than two weeks ago (Feb. 21, 2018). The Falcons had won 20 consecutive games from UB prior to the Bulls' six-game streak. BGSU is 11-6 in home games, 13-7 on the road and 1-0 at neutral sites vs. UB over the years.

UP NEXT
Following the Buffalo game, the Falcons will hit the road to play an opponent to be determined on Monday evening (March 5), in the first round of the MAC Tournament. The winner of that game will advance to the quarterfinals, which will be played Wednesday (March 7) at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland.

BGSU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
REMAINING REGULAR-SEASON SCHEDULE
Sat., March 3 – at Buffalo, 2:00 p.m.
Mon., March 5 – MAC Tournament First Round (site, time and opponent TBA)

HOME games at the Stroh Center
All times Eastern