Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU Heads To Montana State
December 28, 1999 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 22, 1999
BGSU PROBABLE STARTERS
F__30__Sherry Kahle_____5-10__Sr.__Lima, Ohio__________10.0 ppg__11.0 rpg F__31__Afra Smith________5-9__Jr.__Madison, Wis.________7.0 ppg___2.0 rpg C__44__Dana Western_____5-11__So.__Whitestown, Ind._____5.0 ppg___6.0 rpg G__22__Francine Miller__5-11__So.__Kalida, Ohio________21.0 ppg__12.0 rpg G__33__Jaymee Wappes_____5-5__Sr.__Kendallville, Ind.___0.0 ppg__4.0 apg
THIS WEEK: The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team opens the home portion of the 1999-2000 schedule tonight (Nov. 22), before jetting to Montana for this weekend's GranTree Inn Classic, hosted by Montana State University.
This evening, the Falcons will take on St. Bonaventure University. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at BGSU's venerable Anderson Arena (5,000).
Following the SBU game, the Brown and Orange will head west. The Falcons will open tournament play with a Friday (Nov. 26) contest against the University of Mississippi. That game is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. Mountain Time (8:00 p.m. Eastern). Host Montana State will face Morehead State in the evening's second game. Saturday's (Nov. 27) consolation and championship games are scheduled for 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. MT, respectively. Worthington Arena (7,250) is the site for all four games.
ABOUT THE FALCONS: BGSU opened the 1999-2000 season with an 83-68 loss at Youngstown State. Sophomore guard Francine Miller paced the Falcons with 21 points, 12 rebounds and four steals, while senior forward Sherry Kahle also had a double-double. Kahle scored 10 points and added 11 boards.
BGSU shot .381 from the field to the host Penguins' .378. YSU held a 47-45 rebounding advantage.
BG ended the 1998-99 campaign with a 13-14 overall record, and the Falcons finished in third place in the East Division of the Mid-American Conference with a 9-7 league record.
The Brown and Orange, seeded fifth for the MAC Tournament, lost a quarterfinal game to host Akron, the fourth seed.
BG went 8-4 at home, 3-9 on the road and 2-1 in neutral-site contests a year ago.
The Falcons lost the services of nine letterwinners, including three starters, from that squad. Senior co-captains Jaymee Wappes and Kahle head a cast of five returnees. Kahle and Wappes combined to start 97 contests over their first three seasons.
Junior Angie Farmer and sophomores Dana Western and Miller round out the returning players.
BGSU shot .443 from the field last winter, while the opponents shot .436. The Falcons averaged 75.3 points per contest, but allowed 79.5. BGSU grabbed 39.6 boards per game to the opponents' 39.7.
DEE KNOBLAUCH: Falcon head coach Dee Knoblauch is in her second season at her alma mater. Knoblauch (pronounced: kuh-NOB-low), a 1983 graduate of the University, assumed the reins of the Falcon program on August 21, 1998.
Knoblauch, in her 13th season as a head coach, has an overall record of 195-134 (.593). She came to BGSU after spending 11 seasons at Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio. Over her last five years there, she led the Purple Raiders to a 116-32 mark (.784), including three NCAA Tournament appearances and two NCAA Division III "Final Four" berths.
As a player, Knoblauch was a two-time All-MAC Second-Team selection, and she was named to the Academic All-MAC First Team as a senior. She led the league in assists in each of her last two seasons, and still holds all of the school records in that category.
SCOUTING SBU: St. Bonaventure, like BGSU, opened the season with a road loss Saturday (Nov. 20). The Bonnies suffered a 92-73 setback at Canisius. SBU returns 10 letterwinners, including a pair of starters, from the 1998-99 squad that went 10-17 last year, including an Atlantic 10 record of 4-12. Junior forward Melissa Fazio is the top returning scorer, having averaged 16.5 points last winter. She also averaged 6.4 rebounds. Fazio was the team's lone double-digit scorer with 19 points at Canisius. The other returning starter is junior guard Shannon O'Connell. Sophomore center Angela Scott, who began last year as a starter, returns after suffering a season-ending injury just four games in. She led the Bonnies with nine rebounds at Canisius. Freshman guard Trish Raniewicz and junior transfer Gellaine Clarke, a forward, joined Fazio, O'Connell and Scott in the starting lineup for that game. Marti Whitmore is in her seventh year at her alma mater, and has a record of 75-92. She is 100-166 in her 13th year as a collegiate head coach.
SCOUTING OLE MISS: Mississippi will take a 1-0 record into a Tuesday (Nov. 23) contest at Clemson. The Lady Rebels, behind 22 points and nine rebounds from senior center Frankie Boyd, beat Memphis by a 71-50 score Friday (Nov. 19). Ole Miss welcomes back nine letterwinners, including three starters, from a 1998-99 squad that went 15-13 overall and 6-8 in the Southeastern Conference. Junior guard Becky Myatt is the top returning scorer, having averaged 10.4 points per game a year ago. Boyd scored 9.2 points per contest, while senior forward Sinissia Wysinger is the top returning rebounder, with a 5.3 rpg average a year ago. A pair of juniors, G/F Stephanie Murphy and guard Chandra Dorsey, joined the aforementioned three players in the starting lineup vs. Memphis. Ron Aldy, in his third year at Ole Miss, will take a 27-32 record into the Clemson game. He is 107-71 in seven total years as a collegiate head coach.
SCOUTING MONTANA STATE: Montana State opened the season with an 80-74 home loss to Idaho yesterday (Nov. 21), despite a 30-point effort from junior guard Amy Meckling. The Bobcats have eight returning letterwinners, including a pair of starters -- Meckling and junior F/C Kelly Martin -- from 1998-99. MSU's Frank McCarthy was named interim coach on Nov. 5, after Tracey Sheehan was fired the previous week. Probable starters for the Bobcats include senior point guard Lezlee Weedin, sophomore forward Jennifer Curl, freshman forward Cassie Johnson, Martin and Meckling. Curl, the top returning scorer (10.2 ppg), was the Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year last winter, when MSU went 17-10 overall and 11-5 in the BSC. McCarthy comes to Bozeman after posting a 190-90 record in 10 seasons at MSU-Billings.
SCOUTING MOREHEAD STATE: Morehead State has already played three games this season, and the Lady Eagles will head to Montana with a 1-2 record. MSU won Friday's (Nov. 19) home opener, 98-77 over Davis & Elkins, but the team dropped a pair of games at a tournament hosted by Eastern Kentucky Saturday and Sunday (Nov. 20-21). MSU fell to the College of Charleston (62-52) and Wofford (68-62). A total of 12 returning letterwinners, including all five starters, return from last year's team that finished 5-21 overall and 3-15 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Sophomore guard Heidi Daulton, who led the team in scoring a year ago (11.5 ppg), has picked up where she left off, with a team-best 14.0 ppg through three games. Freshman guard Michelle Clemons and junior guard Naomi Bronson are averaging 11.0 and 10.0 points, respectively. Senior forward Vette Robinson leads the Lady Eagles with 8.0 rebounds per contest. Head coach Laura Litter is 13-42 in her third year as a collegiate head coach, all at MSU.
THE SERIES: Should the Falcons meet Morehead State in this weekend's GranTree Inn Classic, the game would mark the fifth meeting in the all-time series. The teams are tied, 2-2, with BGSU having won the last two meetings. The Falcons and Lady Eagles have not met in nearly 10 years, since a 79-43 BG win at Anderson Arena (Dec. 7, 1989). The Falcons have never met MSU on a neutral court, going 1-1 at Anderson Arena and 1-1 in Morehead, Ky.
Bowling Green has never met St. Bonaventure, Mississippi or Montana State in women's basketball.
LAST WEEK: The Falcons opened the 1999-2000 campaign with an 83-68 loss at Youngstown State Saturday (Nov. 20) ... BGSU got out of the gate fast, taking an 8-0 lead after three minutes ... the Falcons forced YSU to start the game shooting 0-for-7 from the floor ... the Penguins quickly rallied, however, taking a 12-11 lead at the 14:32 mark ... the Penguins led, 22-19, midway through the half, but took command with a 28-3 run over the next 9:28 ... the Falcons scored just one basket during that time ... BG scored the last two buckets of the half to cut the YSU lead to 50-26 at the break ... the Falcons could not get any closer than 22 points during the first 15 minutes of the second half ... YSU led, 81-51, with 8:02 left, but BG closed the game on a 17-2 run to make the final score more respectable ... the Penguins scored just one basket over the final 8:54 ... sophomore Francine Miller led the Falcons with a game-high 21 points ... she tied for game honors with 12 rebounds and four steals ... senior Sherry Kahle, like Miller, had a double-double, with 10 points and 11 boards ... both junior Angie Farmer and freshman Megan Jerome scored nine points off the bench ... YSU's Brianne Kenneally, the 1998-99 Mid-Continent Conference Player of the Year, had 20 points on just 6-of-21 shooting ... Missy Young had 18 points and 12 rebounds, including 14 points and 11 boards by halftime.
CAPTAIN'S LOG: BGSU's lone seniors will captain the Falcons as the squad boldly goes where no team has gone before (into the 21st Century) ... Sherry Kahle and Jaymee Wappes are the co-captains of the 1999-2000 team.
MEET THE NEW KIDS: Seven of the 12 players on the Falcon roster are newcomers, including six freshmen ... junior transfer Afra Smith, redshirt freshman Rachal Hamilton and true frosh Pam Brown, Kim Griech, Megan Jerome, Regina Smith and Karen Stocz all joined the BG squad this fall.
WELCOME BACK: The Falcons have just five returnees from the 1998-99 squad ... in fact, only three players on the 12-woman roster were at BGSU prior to head coach Dee Knoblauch's arrival in August of 1998 ... those three are senior co-captains Sherry Kahle and Jaymee Wappes and junior Angie Farmer ... sophomores Francine Miller and Dana Western round out the returning players for the Brown and Orange ... Kahle and Miller are returning starters, while Wappes was a part-time starter a year ago.
TAKE A NUMBER: Several of the returning players have changed uniform numbers ... after wearing #31 for three years, Sherry Kahle will wear #30 as a senior ... sophomore Dana Western was #25 a year ago, but will don #44 this season ... only Angie Farmer (#24), Francine Miller (#22) and Jaymee Wappes (#33) will be wearing the same uniforms as in 1998-99.
SUCCESS AT HOME (AT LEAST IN THE OPENER): An impressive streak will be on the line in tonight's game vs. St. Bonaventure ... the Falcons have captured 10 of the last 11 home openers ... the only loss during that time came to nationally-ranked Notre Dame, an eventual national semifinalist, three years ago.
BOMBS AWAY: Last year, BG broke the school single-season records in both three-pointers attempted and made ... the Falcons made 135 treys in an even 400 attempts ... those totals shattered the old records of 97 triples made and 296 attempted, set by the 1994-95 squad ... if the first three games are any indication, those records may be in serious jeopardy in 1999-2000 ... BGSU attempted 36 treys, making 10, vs. the Premier All-Stars ... the Falcons went 8-of-25 from beyond the arc against Latvia ... the exhibition-game numbers project to 234 successful "threes" in 793 attempts over a 26-game schedule ... at YSU, BG was 6-of-20 from three-point land, which projects to 156-of-520 for the season.
MILLER ON THE MARK: Sophomore Francine Miller, one of the Falcons' top players in her initial campaign, picked up right where she had left off ... Miller led the Brown and Orange in points (21), rebounds (12) and steals (4) at Youngstown State ... she made three three-pointers in five attempts.
DOUBLE TROUBLE: Both sophomore Francine Miller and senior Sherry Kahle had double-doubles in the Youngstown State game ... Miller had team-high totals of 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Kahle had 10 points and 11 boards ... each player had one double-double a year ago.
WESTERN SIZZ'LIN': Sophomore Dana Western may be ready to announce her presence as an offensive force ... Western, who totalled 38 points during all of her freshman season, had 32 points in the Falcons' first exhibition game ... she made 12 of her 17 shots from the floor, including a 4-for-6 effort from three-point range ... Western also went 4-for-6 from the free-throw stripe ... in the second exhibition, Western had a double-double, with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and added three assists ... she is the lone returning post player from the 1998-99 team ... Western had five points and six rebounds at YSU.
CAREER EFFORTS: A number of BGSU's returning players had career-high totals in the Youngstown State game ... sophomore Francine Miller set a personal best with 12 rebounds ... senior Sherry Kahle tied her career standard with 11 rebounds ... sophomore Dana Western tied her career scoring high, with five points, and her six rebounds set a new career high.
BGSU SIGNS THREE: Head coach Dee Knoblauch announced the signing of three student-athletes to National Letters of Intent during the early signing period ... last Wednesday (Nov. 17), the Falcons announced that Andrea Ault, Kelly Kapferer and Stefanie Wenzel will join the BGSU program next year ... Ault is a 6-0 forward who attends Urbana High School in Urbana, Ohio ... Kapferer, a 6-2 forward from Jefferson, Ohio, currently attends Jefferson H.S. ... Wenzel, a 6-0 guard from Sussex, Wis., attends Arrowhead Union H.S. in Hartland ... the Falcons plan to sign one more player during the late signing period in April.
FALCON NOTES: BGSU has played in the state of Montana once before ... almost exactly 10 years ago (Dec. 1-2, 1989), the Brown and Orange travelled to Missoula, Mont., for the Domino's Classic, hosted by the University of Montana ... BG finished third, losing to Kansas State before downing Portland ... the Falcons have not won an in-season tournament in nearly 11 years ... the Brown and Orange captured the Illini Classic (Dec. 2-3, 1988), but have not won a tourney since then ... BGSU has posted three second-place finishes, seven third-place showings and a fourth-place finish in that time ... BGSU has won three tournaments since capturing the Illini Classic, as the Falcons won the MAC Tournament in 1989, 1993 and 1994 ... the 1999-2000 season marks the 27th year of BGSU women's basketball ... over the first 26 seasons (plus one game), the Falcons have won 62.1 percent of the time, with a 412-251 overall record ... in 18 years of MAC play, BGSU has a 213-88 league ledger (.708) ... last year, the Falcons became the first MAC women's basketball program to reach the 400-victory plateau.
FALCON QUICK FACTS
THIS WEEK St. Bonaventure at BGSU Monday, November 22 - 7:00 p.m. Anderson Arena (5,000) - Bowling Green, OhioGranTree Inn Classic BGSU vs. Mississippi Friday, November 26 - 6:00 p.m. MT Worthington Arena (7,250) - Bozeman, Montana
Saturday, November 27 Consolation/Championship games 6:30 / 8:30 p.m. MT
LAST WEEK at Youngstown State 83, BGSU 68 Sat., Nov. 20 - Youngstown, Ohio
1999-2000 BGSU RECORDS Overall: 0-1 Mid-American Conference: 0-0
HEAD COACH - Dee Knoblauch (BGSU, 1983) at BGSU: 13-15 (second year) Career: 195-134 (13th year)
BOWLING GREEN RECORDS All-Time: 412-251 (.621) (1973-present / 27th season) MAC: 213-88 (.708) (1981-present / 19th season)
BGSU RESULTS LINE 419/372-7076, choose option 4 (same-day scores and brief summaries from all Falcon athletic teams)
