Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Finally Return Home
December 28, 1999 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 13, 1999
BGSU PROBABLE STARTERS
F__30__Sherry Kahle_____5-10__Sr.__Lima, Ohio__________11.3 ppg__7.7 rpg F__31__Afra Smith________5-9__Jr.__Madison, Wis.________6.7 ppg__2.6 rpg C__44__Dana Western_____5-11__So.__Whitestown, Ind._____6.7 ppg__4.6 rpg G__22__Francine Miller__5-11__So.__Kalida, Ohio________17.6 ppg__6.7 rpg G__33__Jaymee Wappes_____5-5__Sr.__Kendallville, Ind.___3.9 ppg__4.6 apg
THIS WEEK: The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, having completed a five-game road swing, finally returns to the friendly confines of venerable Anderson Arena (5,000). The Falcons, after playing six of the season's first seven games away from home, will host Washington State one week from tonight (Dec. 20), with tipoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. BGSU has no games scheduled this week due to final exams.
Following the WSU game, the Falcons will take a break for the holidays before heading to Blacksburg, Va., for the Hokie Hardwood Classic, hosted by Virginia Tech. The Falcons will face UNC Charlotte in first-day action (Dec. 29), and will face either Hampton or host Virginia Tech on Dec. 30.
ABOUT THE FALCONS: BGSU will take a 2-5 overall record into the WSU game. The Falcons played just once last week, a 76-67 loss at Detroit Saturday (Dec. 11).
The Falcons are 1-0 at home, 0-4 on the road and 1-1 in neutral-site contests.
Sophomore guard Francine Miller leads the Falcons in scoring, with 17.6 points per game, and ranks second on the team in rebounding (6.7 rpg) assists (2.0 apg) and steals (2.0 spg). Miller is shooting .488 from the field, .897 from the free-throw line, and a stellar .625 (15-of-24) from three-point range. She leads the team in all three shooting categories.
Junior guard Angie Farmer is second on the team with 11.4 points per game. Farmer, who made her first career start at Ohio State (Dec. 4), has come off the bench in the other six games. She leads the Falcons with 17 three-pointers.
Senior forward Sherry Kahle is third on the team in scoring (11.3), and paces the team in rebounding (7.7).
Sophomore center Dana Western and junior forward Afra Smith round out the team's top-five in scoring with 6.7 points per game apiece.
Senior point guard Jaymee Wappes leads the Brown and Orange with 4.6 assists and 2.3 steals per outing, while averaging 3.9 points.
Wappes joins Kahle, Miller, Afra Smith and Western in the probable starting lineup. All but Western (six starts) have started every game this year.
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 and earned the fifth seed for the MAC Tournament.
BGSU is shooting .414 from the field this year, while the opponents are shooting .399. The Falcons are scoring 71.7 points per contest, but allowing 79.6. BGSU is averaging 39.7 boards per game to the opponents' 45.3. The Falcons have shot .385 from three-point land, making 57 treys in 148 attempts.
DEE KNOBLAUCH: Falcon head coach Dee Knoblauch is in her second season at her alma mater, and has a record of 15-19. 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 197-138 (.588). She came to BGSU after 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 WSU: Washington State will bring a 2-4 record to the Midwest. The Cougars will play a Sunday afternoon (Dec. 19) contest at Toledo before heading to BGSU the following night. Last week, WSU lost a pair of road contests, falling to Gonzaga, 82-66, Wednesday (Dec. 8), and to Idaho by a 68-45 count yesterday (Dec. 12). Senior forward Alke Dietel leads the team with a 13.2 points-per-game average. Senior guard Jen Kerns, who led the Cougs in scoring in each of last week's games, is second with 10.8 points per contest, followed by sophomore forward Romie De Anda (10.3). De Anda leads the team with 5.5 rebounds per game, followed closely by Dietel's 5.3 rpg average. Junior guard Katie Nyseth has a team-best 3.2 assists per outing, while Kerns averages 3.0 helpers. The Cougars are shooting just .381 from the field to date. Junior guard Tricia Lamb joins De Anda, Dietel, Kerns and Nyseth in the probable starting lineup for first-year head coach Jenny Przekwas. Last year, WSU finished 11-16 overall, including a Pacific-10 Conference mark of 5-13. Przekwas is 135-103 in her ninth year as a collegiate head coach.
SCOUTING UNCC: UNC Charlotte is 3-5 on the season. The Lady 49ers play at South Carolina State next Monday (Dec. 20) before meeting the Falcons in Blacksburg, Va. Last week, UNCC dropped a 94-67 decision at Xavier in Wednesday action (Dec. 8). Junior guard Tonya Phifer paces the team in scoring, averaging 15.1 points. Senior guard Jameka Jones is averaging 11.0 points and a team-high 3.8 assists per game. Freshman guard Alicia Abernathy is averaging 8.5 points off the bench, while sophomore center Jennifer Smith has 7.1 points and a team-best 7.4 rebounds per game. Junior guard Sarah Fisher and sophomore center Adrienne Jordan have started all eight games, as have Jones, Phifer and Jennifer Smith. A year ago, UNCC went 6-21 overall and 3-13 in Conference USA. Head coach Ed Baldwin is 158-159 in his 12th year, all in Charlotte.
SCOUTING HAMPTON: Hampton is 2-4 heading into Sunday's (Dec. 19) game at St. John's. The Lady Pirates play a Dec. 22 game at Saint Louis before heading to the Hokie Hardwood Classic. Last week, Hampton opened Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play with a Monday (Dec. 6) win over Norfolk State, 79-73, before dropping a pair of games. HU lost at Georgia, 107-46, Thursday (Dec. 9) before falling at home to Pittsburgh by an 86-65 count two days later. Prior to the Pitt game, freshman guard LaShondra Dixon led the team with 13.2 points per game, followed by sophomore guard Kiandra Poteat's 12.2 ppg average. Senior guard Felicia Bryant was averaging 10.8 points and a team-high 9.2 rebounds per game. Last year, the Lady Pirates were 18-10 overall and won the MEAC regular-season crown with a 14-4 league mark. Third-year head coach Patricia Bibbs is 42-21 in Hampton. Bibbs is 286-145 in her 16th year as a collegiate head coach.
SCOUTING VA. TECH: Virginia Tech is 5-3 on the season heading into next Monday's (Dec. 20) game at in-state rival Virginia. The Hokies, ranked 24th in the nation as of last week, have fallen to three nationally-ranked teams this year. Last week, VTU played just one game, a 70-61 loss to #20 Duke before a crowd of over 4,700 in Blacksburg. The Hokies' other two setbacks came to Georgia (ranked #3 at game time) and Oregon (#16). Individually, sophomore forward Sarah Hicks leads the team with 14.5 points per game, followed by junior forward Tere Williams, with 12.3 ppg. Williams leads the squad with 9.8 rebounds per contest. Junior guard Amy Wetzel, who led the Hokies with 22 points vs. Duke, also averages in double digits with 10.4 points, and has a team-high 4.8 assists per outing. Last year, VTU finished 28-3 overall and 15-1 in Atlantic 10 Conference play. The Hokies advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to Tennessee. Head coach Bonnie Henrickson is 55-16 in her third year, both in Blacksburg and overall.
THE SERIES: BGSU and Washington State are tied, 1-1, in the all-time series between the teams. Both previous meetings, an 83-73 BGSU overtime win (Dec. 12, 1987) and last year's 71-63 WSU triumph (Dec. 4, 1998), took place during in-season tournaments in Pullman, Wash.
The Falcons have never met Hampton, UNC Charlotte or Virginia Tech in women's basketball.
OLD HOME WEEK: Although the Washington State coaching staff is new to Pullman this year, the BGSU staff certainly will recognize one face ... assistant coach Pippa Pierce, a native of Zanesville, Ohio, is a 1988 graduate of Mount Union ... she earned four letters for the Purple Raiders ... while in Alliance, her head coach was Dee Knoblauch, and one of her teammates was Michelle Bohan.
LAST WEEK: The Falcons saw a seven-game winning streak against Detroit disappear as the host Titans recorded a 76-67 win Saturday (Dec. 11) ... BGSU fell behind by nine points (20-11) midway through the first half before outscoring UDM, 24-10, over the next eight minutes ... that streak was culminated by a 10-0 BG run in which Afra Smith scored six points ... the Brown and Orange went up by six points before a Michelle James three-point shot cut the BG lead in half at the halftime buzzer ... undeterred by James' shot, the Falcons proceeded to score the first nine points of the second half, and a Francine Miller layup capped a 13-4 run to give BG a 53-41 lead less than four minutes into the half ... UDM would rally in a big way, however, scoring the next 18 points ... by the time Jaymee Wappes hit a three-pointer, the Falcons had gone nearly seven minutes without a point ... BGSU trailed the rest of the way, but got as close as one point when Wappes fed Angie Farmer for a triple with 2:09 remaining ... on the ensuing possession, UDM missed a shot as the shot clock wound down, but got the rebound and proceeded to work the shot clock down once again ... this time, James drained a "three" as the shot clock neared zero, giving the Titans a four-point lead with 1:12 remaining ... from there, the Falcons missed several shots and were forced to foul ... UDM scored the final eight points of the game ... Miller led BG with 14 points and a career-high 13 rebounds ... Sherry Kahle also had a double-double, with 10 points and 13 boards ... the rebound total represented a career best for Kahle as well ... Dana Western joined the two in double digits with 10 points, tying her career high ... James paced UDM with 19 points, including 16 in the second half ... Carrie Banks had 18 (16 in the second half), while Shari Hill had all 16 of her points in the first 20 minutes.
TRIPLE YOUR FUN: A number of current Falcons already are ranked among the BGSU career three-point leaders ... sophomore Francine Miller currently ranks first in career three-point percentage (.476, 49-of-103), while junior Angie Farmer is tied for second (.435, 50-of-115) ... Farmer is tied for fourth all-time with her 50 three-pointers made, while Miller is sixth with 49 ... seniors Jaymee Wappes and Sherry Kahle are close behind with 43 apiece ... Kahle is fourth all-time with 150 three-point attempts, while Wappes is sixth with 128 tries and Farmer's 115 attempts ties her for eighth ... the three-point lists follow:
THREE-PT. FG ATTEMPTS_________Att. 1. Sara Puthoff (1994-98)______453 2. Susie Cassell (1990-94)_____274 3. Jenny Kulics (1992-95)______228 4. SHERRY KAHLE (1996- )______150 5. Wanda Lyle (1988-91)________138 6. JAYMEE WAPPES (1996- )_____128 7. Bridget Andrews (1994-98)___124 8. ANGIE FARMER (1997- )______115 Cathy Koch (1988-92)________115THREE-PT. FG MADE______________3's 1. Sara Puthoff (1994-98)______173 2. Susie Cassell (1990-94)_____107 3. Jenny Kulics (1992-95)_______73 4. ANGIE FARMER (1997- )_______50 Cathy Koch (1988-92)_________50 6. FRANCINE MILLER (1998- )____49 7. Wanda Lyle (1988-91)_________44 8. SHERRY KAHLE (1996- )_______43 JAYMEE WAPPES (1996- )______43
THREE-PT. FG PCT.*_____________Pct. (3's-Att.) 1. FRAN. MILLER (1998- )_____.476 (49-103) 2. ANGIE FARMER (1997- )_____.435 (50-115) Cathy Koch (1988-92)_______.435 (50-115) 4. Susie Cassell (1990-94)____.391 (107-274) 5. Megan McGuire (1986-89)____.387 (24-62) 6. Sara Puthoff (1994-98)_____.382 (173-453) 7. Chrissy Billiter (1995-97)_.350 (36-103) * minimum 60 career attempts
MILLER'S MARKSMANSHIP: The NCAA released the first women's basketball statistics of the season Wednesday (Dec. 7), and sophomore Francine Miller was ranked among the national leaders in three-point field-goal percentage ... Miller was fourth in the nation with a .682 success rate, having made 15 treys in 22 attempts ... none of the three players above Miller on the list had attempted more than eight treys on the season ... despite going 0-for-2 from long range at Detroit (Dec. 11), Miller still has a three-point pct. of .625 on the year.
YOU MAY FIRE WHEN READY, MA'AM: 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 ... those records, less than one year old, are in serious jeopardy ... this year, through seven games, BGSU has attempted 148 treys, making 57 ... that is an average of 8.1 three-pointers made and 21.1 attempted per game ... those numbers project to 212 successful "threes" in 550 attempts over a 26-game schedule.
THEY'RE FIRING AWAY, TOO: Believe it or not, opponents have hoisted a total of 229 shots from behind the arc, an average of 32.7 per game ... BG foes have made 73 treys this year ... the opponents had taken at least 30 three-point attempts in every game, before Xavier attempted 27 and OSU 17 ... things reverted back to "normal" when Detroit attempted 41 triples Saturday.
DOUBLE TROUBLE: Both sophomore Francine Miller and senior Sherry Kahle had double-doubles in Saturday's game at UDM ... Miller had a team-high 14 points and a career-best 13 rebounds, while Kahle had 10 points and a career-high 13 boards ... for both Miller and Kahle, the double-double was the second on the year ... each player turned the trick in the Youngstown State game ... both Miller and Kahle had one double-double last season.
FALCON NOTES: BGSU sophomore Dana Western tied her career high with 10 points in the Detroit contest (Dec. 11) ... Western was 2-of-2 from three-point range vs. the Titans ... the Falcons lost that game despite holding UDM to a .282 shooting percentage in the second half and a .325 mark for the game ... additionally, the Falcons outrebounded an opponent for the first time this year, 49-43 ... the main contributors to the BG loss were 31 turnovers (18 in the second half) ... senior Sherry Kahle has played in all 91 games since her arrival on the BGSU campus in the fall of 1996 ... she has started 63 contests in her career, including the last 34 games ... Kahle is BG's top active scorer with 692 points.
FALCON QUICK FACTS
UP NEXT Washington State at BGSU Monday, December 20 - 7:00 p.m. Anderson Arena (5,000) - Bowling Green, OhioLAST WEEK at Detroit 76, BGSU 67 Sat., Dec. 11 - Detroit, Michigan
1999-2000 BGSU RECORDS Overall: 2-5 Mid-American Conference: 0-0
HEAD COACH - Dee Knoblauch (BGSU, 1983) at BGSU: 15-19 (second year) Career: 197-138 (13th year)
BOWLING GREEN RECORDS All-Time: 414-255 (.619) (1973-present / 27th season) MAC: 213-88 (.708) (1981-present / 19th season)
MAC STANDINGS East Division Team (Overall)_____________MAC Akron (1-5)________________0-0 Bowling Green (2-5)________0-0 Buffalo (6-1)______________0-0 Kent (3-4)_________________0-0 Marshall (2-3)_____________0-0 Miami (5-3)________________0-0 Ohio (2-4)_________________0-0
West Division Ball State (5-3)___________0-0 Central Mich. (2-5)________0-0 Eastern Mich. (4-4)________0-0 Northern Ill. (1-6)________0-0 Toledo (1-6)_______________0-0 Western Mich. (2-3)________0-0
BGSU RESULTS LINE 419/372-7076, choose option 4 (same-day scores and brief summaries from all Falcon athletic teams)
