Bowling Green State University Athletics
Women's Basketball Hosts Ohio In MAC Tournament Action
February 28, 2000 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 28, 2000
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
THIS WEEK: The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, riding a four-game winning streak for the first time this year, begins postseason play with tonight's (Feb. 28) Mid-American Conference Tournament first-round game. The Falcons (10-16 overall, 8-8 MAC), the seventh seed for the league tournament, return home to take on 10th-seeded Ohio University (11-16, 6-10). Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at venerable Anderson Arena (5,000).
Tonight's game will be carried in the Bowling Green area by WBGU-FM 88.1.
Due to the station's contractual agreement to air "The Buddy Powers Show", however, the station will cut to the weekly show featuring the hockey coach from 7:45 p.m. to 8:15 p.m., then will return to the game.
The winner of tonight's game will advance to the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament at Cleveland's Public Hall (4,155) to face second-seeded Western Michigan University. That game is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start on Thursday (March 2).
MAC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE:
First Round - Monday, Feb. 28 (all games at 7:00 p.m. unless noted): * Game 1 - #10 Ohio at #7 Bowling Green * Game 2 - #11 Central Michigan at #6 Ball State * Game 3 - #9 Akron at #8 Buffalo, 7:30 p.m. * Game 4 - #12 Northern Illinois at #5 Eastern Michigan * Game 5 - #13 Marshall at #4 MiamiQuarterfinals - Thursday, March 2 - Public Hall, Cleveland, Ohio: * Game 6 - Buffalo/Akron winner vs. #1 Kent, 1:00 p.m. * Game 7 - EMU/NIU winner vs. Miami/Marshall winner, 3:30 p.m. * Game 8 - BGSU/Ohio winner vs. #2 Western Michigan, 6:30 p.m. * Game 9 - Ball State/CMU winner vs. #3 Toledo, 9:00 p.m.
Semifinals - Friday, March 3 - Public Hall (both games on Fox Sports Net): * Game 10 - Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner, 6:30 p.m. * Game 11 - Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 9:00 p.m.
Championship - Saturday, March 4 - Public Hall (Fox Sports Net): * Semifinal winners, 5:45 p.m.
BGSU PROBABLE STARTERS
F__22__Francine Miller_5-11__So.__Kalida, Ohio________17.3 ppg__7.0 rpg F__31__Afra Smith_______5-9__Jr.__Madison, Wis.________8.5 ppg__3.4 rpg C__30__Sherry Kahle____5-10__Sr.__Lima, Ohio___________9.7 ppg__7.0 rpg G__24__Angie Farmer_____5-9__Jr.__Wayland, Mich.______12.2 ppg__3.3 rpg G__33__Jaymee Wappes____5-5__Sr.__Kendallville, Ind.___7.7 ppg__5.7 apg
DEE KNOBLAUCH: Falcon head coach Dee Knoblauch is in her second season at her alma mater, and has a record of 23-30. 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 205-149 (.579). She came to BGSU after 11 seasons at Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio. Over her final 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.
ANOTHER THREE-POINT RECORD: The Falcons sank nine three-point field goals in the win at Buffalo Friday (Feb. 25), in the process setting a new MAC seasonal record ... BGSU has now made a total of 241 treys this season, breaking the old league record of 234 ... that mark was held by the 1993-94 Kent (28 games) and Toledo (32 games) squads ... the Falcons broke the league record in the season's 26th game.
ABOUT THE FALCONS: BG brings a 10-16 overall record into the week, and the Falcons finished MAC play with an 8-8 record after winning the last four games. The Brown and Orange captured two road games last week, defeating Akron, 84-71, Thursday (Feb. 23), to sweep the season series between the schools before recording a 63-62 win over Buffalo Friday (Feb. 25) on a pair of Francine Miller free throws with 4.9 seconds left in the game. BGSU rallied from 13-point deficits in each contest.
The Falcons are 5-5 at home, 4-8 on the road and 1-3 in neutral-site contests.
Miller, a sophomore forward, leads the Falcons in scoring, with 17.3 points per game. She is tied for the team rebounding lead, with 7.0 boards per game, and is shooting .465 from the field, .864 from the free-throw line and a whopping .457 from three-point range, leading the team in all three categories. Miller is second on the Falcons in both assists (2.5) and steals (1.5).
Junior guard Angie Farmer is second on the team with 12.2 points per game. Farmer has started 18 games, including the last 17, and she leads the Falcons in three-pointers made, with a school-record 73. Farmer is shooting .417 from long range and .841 from the free-throw line to place second on the team in each category.
Senior forward Sherry Kahle is third on the team in scoring (9.7) and is tied for the team lead in rebounding (7.0).
Junior forward Afra Smith and senior point guard Jaymee Wappes round out the team's top-five in scoring with 8.5 and 7.7 points, respectively. Smith is shooting .440 from the field to rank second on the team, while Wappes leads BG in assists (5.7) and steals (1.9).
Sophomore center Dana Western is BG's top scorer off the bench, averaging 6.7 points, while freshman guard Kim Griech has 5.0 points per game.
Kahle, Miller, Smith and Wappes have started all 26 games this year.
BG ended the 1998-99 campaign with a 13-14 overall record, and the Falcons finished third in the MAC's East Division with a 9-7 league slate. BG earned the fifth seed for the MAC Tournament.
BGSU is shooting .412 from the field this year, while the opponents are shooting .419. The Falcons are scoring 72.9 points per contest, but allowing 78.2. BGSU is averaging 36.5 boards per game to the opponents' 42.6. The Falcons have shot .365 from three-point land, making a school-record 241 treys in a school-record 661 attempts. BGSU led the nation with 9.50 three-pointers made per game as of Tuesday morning (Feb. 22), and that figure stands at 9.27 treys per game heading into the Ohio contest.
NCAA SEASON RECORDS
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game
Team (year)________________G__3FG__Avg.
BGSU ('99-2000)___________26__241__9.27
South Carolina ('93-94)___27__248__9.19
Cleveland St. ('95-96)____27__229__8.48
Kent ('93-94)_____________28__234__8.36
Alabama ('91-92)__________30__248__8.27
SCOUTING OHIO: Ohio is 11-16 overall and finished 6-10 in MAC play. The Bobcats split a pair of games last week, pulling a 62-60 upset of Toledo Wednesday (Feb. 23) before falling at Miami by a 69-63 count Friday (Feb. 25). OU is 3-10 in road games this season to date. Individually, sophomore guard Jacquie Negrelli leads the team with 14.4 points per game. She also paces the squad in assists (4.6). Two other sophomores, guard Cathy Szall and forward Lori Moorman, also are scoring in double digits with 10.6 and 10.4 points, respectively. Moorman leads the team with 6.0 rebounds and a .565 field-goal percentage. Junior guard Heather Laughlin has 9.2 points and a team-high 2.4 steals per game. Lynn Bria, in her first year in Athens, is 87-106 in her seventh season as a collegiate head coach.
SCOUTING WMU: Should the Falcons win tonight, BGSU would face Western Michigan Thursday. The Broncos are 17-10 overall, and finished MAC action with a 14-2 league record. WMU had a seven-game win streak broken with a 93-65 loss at Eastern Michigan Friday (Feb. 25). Individually, freshman center Kristin Koetsier averages 19.3 points and 9.7 rebounds to lead the team. Senior forwards Shelsea Erving and Danielle Mueller have 16.9 and 11.6 points per game, respectively. Mueller averages 8.8 boards. Twin sophomore guards Brianne and Brooke Gallert are scoring 7.3 and 6.5 points per game. Brooke has 5.9 assists per contest, while her sister has 5.8. Ron Stewart is 43-39 in his third year at WMU and as a collegiate head coach.
THE SERIES: The Falcons lead the all-time series with 11 of the 12 MAC opponents (BG and Buffalo are tied, 2-2), and BGSU holds advantages of 31-16 over Ohio and 23-16 vs. Western Michigan.
The Falcons are 19-4 in home games vs. OU, and BGSU has won the last three games at Anderson, including a 70-65 win almost two weeks ago (Feb. 15). BGSU has captured the last three overall meetings, including a 79-74 win in Athens last month (Jan. 15) in the season's first matchup between the schools. Seven of the last eight series meetings have been decided by single digits. BGSU is 1-1 against the Bobcats in MAC Tournament meetings, with both games taking place in the quarterfinal round.
Should BGSU advance to play WMU, the Falcons would be looking to break a three-game losing streak vs. the Broncos. That streak includes a convincing 88-67 Western win at Anderson Arena on Jan. 20, 2000. The Falcons are 1-1 against WMU in MAC Tournament play, with a championship-game win in 1988 and a quarterfinal loss in 1995.
LAST WEEK: The Falcons rallied from double-digit deficits for a pair of road wins last week ... BG overcame a nine-point halftime deficit for an 84-71 victory at Akron Wednesday (Feb. 23) ... the win was BG's 28th in 29 series meetings with the Zips ... the trip to JAR Arena may as well have been a trip to "Bizarro World" for the Falcons, as BG won on the strength of an inside game ... the Brown and Orange, on pace to set an NCAA record for three-point field goals made per game, went just 4-of-25 from long range on the night ... BGSU outrebounded an opponent for just the third time this year, however, with a 43-31 edge on the boards ... on UA's "Senior Night", the hosts broke out to an early 12-4 lead ... the lead was five points before a five-point trip by Francine Miller tied the game at 16 ... Miller converted a conventional three-point play, then made an additional two free throws after a Zip technical foul ... the hosts used a 15-4 run to take a 13-point lead late in the first half, but the Falcons cut the UA margin to 43-34 at the break ... in the second half, Afra Smith and Sherry Kahle combined for BG's first 10 points, and 19 of the team's first 23 points of the half, as the Falcons built a comeback ... the visitors, trailing by a 47-36 count, went on a 17-6 run to tie the game on a Kahle layup at the 12:50 mark ... a UA free throw gave the Zips a one-point lead, but a pair of Smith charity tosses gave the Brown and Orange the lead for good ... BG slowly pulled away, with the 13-point final margin being the largest of the game ... the Falcons went 6-of-6 from the line in the final 1:05, and were 22-of-23 from the stripe on the evening ... Miller and Kahle each had 17 points, while Smith had 16 ... Dana Western had 14 points off the bench ... BG shot just .286 from the field in the first half, but made 17-of-29 shots (.586) in the second half to finish at .408 for the game ... BG held UA to a .281 success rate in the final 20 minutes and a .383 percentage for the game ... Erica Glover had 20 points to pace four Zips in double digits ... on Saturday (Feb. 25), Miller's free throws with just 4.9 seconds remaining lifted the Falcons to a 63-62 road win over Buffalo Friday (Feb. 25) ... the Falcons led by three points with 3:50 remaining in the first half, before a 16-0 UB run spanning the end of the first stanza and the beginning of the second put the hosts up, 39-26 ... Tiffany Bell, who had 33 points for UB, scored the final 10 points of the first half ... a 7-0 BG run cut the Bulls' lead to 41-37 at the 14:44 mark, and the lead fluctuated between two and four points for the next five minutes ... UB took a six-point lead with 7:35 left, but an 8-0 BG run erased that lead ... Kahle sandwiched two three-pointers around a pair of Smith free throws ... UB led, 62-59, after Bell's second conventional three-point play in a two-minute span ... Miller, who had a team-high 22 points, hit a jumper with 54.5 seconds left to cut the lead to one ... on the next possession, a Kahle steal gave BG the ball back with 36 seconds left ... but, Miller was called for travelling with 12.6 ticks on the clock, and her layup was waved off ... the Falcons immediately fouled UB's Sonia Ortega, who missed the front end of a one-and-one situation with 10.9 seconds left ... Smith got the rebound and threw a quick outlet pass to Jaymee Wappes ... Wappes found Miller under the basket, and UB's Kim Kilpela was forced to foul Miller with 4.9 seconds left ... after Miller made both charity tosses, UB inbounded the ball, needing to go the length of the floor ... Mari McClure did just that, and got a good look at the basket ... but, her layup attempt hit the side of the rim and fell away ... Bell had over half of UB's points, while McClure added 15 ... Wappes had 14 points for BG to join Miller in double digits.
NATIONAL LEADERS: The NCAA released the latest women's basketball statistics last Tuesday (Feb. 22), and the Falcons were listed in no fewer than seven categories ... as a team, the Falcons continued to lead the nation in three-pointers made per game, with 9.50, and BG was ninth in free-throw pct. (.761) and 21st in three-point pct. (.376) ... individually, junior Angie Farmer was 10th in the nation in three-point field-goals per game, with a 3.0 average, while senior Jaymee Wappes was 18th in the country with 6.04 assists per game ... sophomore Francine Miller's three-point pct. of .461 was 17th in the country, and she was tied for 30th in free-throw pct. (.846) ... through the Buffalo game, Farmer is averaging 2.8 treys, while Wappes is averaging 5.73 assists and Miller is shooting .457 from long range and .864 from the stripe ... BGSU is now draining 9.27 triples per game and shooting .772 from the charity stripe and .365 from three-point land ... the next NCAA stats are scheduled to be released late Tuesday (Feb. 29) or early Wednesday (March 1).
YOU MAY FIRE WHEN READY, MA'AM: The Falcons have shattered the school seasonal records for three-point shots attempted and made ... the "old" records, set just last year, were 135 treys made in 400 attempts ... prior to the Dee Knoblauch Era, the BG school records were 97 triples made and 296 attempted, set by the 1994-95 squad ... this year, through 26 games, BGSU has attempted 661 treys, making 241 ... that is an average of 9.27 three-pointers made and 25.4 attempted per game ... those numbers project to 250 successful "threes" in 684 attempts over a 27-game schedule ... in the Buffalo game Friday (Feb. 25), BGSU broke the MAC record for successful "threes" in a season ... the old record was 234, set by the 1993-94 teams at both Kent (28 games) and Toledo (32 games) ... the NCAA record for three-pointers in a season is 289, set by Colorado State (in 36 games) last year ... in MAC games this year, the Falcons made nearly 10 treys per contest (9.94), with 159 in 16 outings.
THEY'RE FIRING AWAY, TOO: Believe it or not, opponents have hoisted a total of 638 shots from behind the arc, an average of 24.5 per game ... BG foes have made 226 treys this year ... the opponents have taken at least 15 three-point shots in all but three games, and have shot 20 or more treys 15 times ... the foes have taken 41 three-point attempts three times this year.
TALE OF TWO HALVES, TWICE: The Falcons shot a combined 23-of-77 (.299) in the first half of the Akron and Buffalo games last week ... by contrast, the foes shot .509 (28-of-55) before the break ... after halftime, though, it was a different story ... BGSU shot .509 in the second half, including .586 at Akron, while the host schools shot .351 ... UA shot just .281 in the second half after shooting an even 50 percent in the first half.
WEARY WAPPES: Senior point guard Jaymee Wappes leads the Falcons with an average of 36.0 minutes played per game ... over the last 19 contests, Wappes has played 723 of the 760 minutes, an average of 38.1 per game ... Wappes has played 40 minutes eight times during that stretch, including in each of the last three games ... during that time, she has dished out 117 assists (6.2 apg) while committing 72 turnovers ... she also has had 172 points, an average of 9.1 per game ... in the 100th game of her Falcon tenure, Wappes had a career-high 16 points vs. Northern Illinois (Feb. 7) ... she topped that with 17 points, including five three-pointers, vs. Miami ... she now has 372 assists in her BG tenure, good for fourth place on the school career list.
ANDER-RIFFIC!: In eight home conference games this season, the Falcons made an average of 11.75 three-point field goals per contest ... BGSU shot an eye-popping .461 from three-point range in those games, having made 94 treys in 204 attempts ... the Falcons made at least eight triples in each of those games, and made 67 in the last five home contests combined.
FARMER EARNS ACADEMIC HONOR: Junior Angie Farmer was named to the GTE Academic All-District IV University Division Team, it was announced Thursday (Feb. 24) ... the team is made up of student-athletes from NCAA Division I schools in the states of Alabama, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee ... Farmer has a 3.87 cumulative grade point average as an education (social studies) major ... she ranks second on the Falcons in scoring, and has set the school's seasonal records for three-point field goals made and attempted.
TRIPLE YOUR FUN: A number of current Falcons already are ranked among the BGSU career three-point leaders ... sophomore Francine Miller is ranked first on the all-time BGSU list for career three-point percentage, while junior Angie Farmer is third ... senior Jaymee Wappes is seventh on that list ... Farmer is third all-time with her 106 three-pointers made, while Wappes is fourth with 77 ... Miller and Sherry Kahle are close behind with 76 and 73, respectively ... Farmer is third all-time with 252 three-point attempts, while Kahle is fourth ... on the single-season lists, Farmer owns the school records with 73 treys made and 175 attempts this season ... Miller has made 42 treys, good for fifth-most all-time, and is shooting .457 from long range this year ... that pct., if she can maintain it, would set a school seasonal record ... the complete lists follow.
BGSU THREE-POINT LISTS
CAREER
3-PT. FG ATTEMPTS__________Att. 1-Sara Puthoff (1994-98)___453 2-Susie Cassell (1990-94)__274 3-ANGIE FARMER (1997- )____252 4-SHERRY KAHLE (1996- )____247 5-Jenny Kulics (1992-95)___228 6-JAYMEE WAPPES (1996- )___211 7-FRANCINE MILLER (1998- )_1713-PT. FG MADE______________3's 1-Sara Puthoff (1994-98)___173 2-Susie Cassell (1990-94)__107 3-ANGIE FARMER (1997- )____106 4-JAYMEE WAPPES (1996- )____77 5-FRANCINE MILLER (1998- )__76 6-Jenny Kulics (1992-95)____73 SHERRY KAHLE (1996- )_____73
3-PT. FG PCT.*_______________Pct. (3's-Att.) 1-FRAN. MILLER (1998- )______.444 (76-171) 2-Cathy Koch (1988-92)_______.435 (50-115) 3-ANGIE FARMER (1997- )______.421 (106-252) 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-JAYMEE WAPPES (1996- )_____.365 (77-211) 8-Chrissy Billiter (1995-97)_.350 (36-103) * minimum 60 career attempts
SINGLE-SEASON
3-PT. FG ATTEMPTS____________Att. 1-ANGIE FARMER (1999-2000)___175 2-Sara Puthoff (1995-96)_____137 3-SHERRY KAHLE (1999-2000)___132 4-Sara Puthoff (1994-95)_____124 5-Sara Puthoff (1997-98)_____113 6-Susie Cassell (1993-94)____111 7-Jenny Kulics (1994-95)_____105 8-JAYMEE WAPPES (1999-2000)___96 9-Wanda Lyle (1990-91)________92 FRANCINE MILLER (1999-2000)_923-PT. FG MADE________________3's 1-ANGIE FARMER (1999-2000)____73 2-Sara Puthoff (1994-95)______53 3-Sara Puthoff (1995-96)______51 4-Sara Puthoff (1997-98)______45 5-FRANCINE MILLER (1999-2000)_42 6-Susie Cassell (1993-94)_____40 7-SHERRY KAHLE (1999-2000)____37 JAYMEE WAPPES (1999-2000)___37
3-PT. FG PCT.%_________________Pct. (3's-Att.) 1-F. MILLER (1999-2000)________.457 (42-92) 2-Angie Farmer (1998-99)_______.439 (29-66) 3-Susie Cassell (1991-92)______.436 (34-78) 4-F. Miller (1998-99)__________.430 (34-79) 5-Sara Puthoff (1994-95)_______.427 (53-124) 6-A. FARMER (1999-2000)________.417 (73-175) 7-Susie Cassell (1992-93)______.405 (32-79) 8-Chrissy Billiter (1995-96)___.391 (25-64) 9-J. WAPPES (1999-2000)________.385 (37-96) % minimum 1.0 made per game
FALCON NOTES: Sophomore Francine Miller had a successful freshman campaign last winter, and has blossomed into a bonafide All-MAC candidate as a sophomore ... she tied the school record with 35 points in the second Kent meeting ... over the last 15 games, Miller has averaged 18.7 points per contest ... the Falcons have made at least one three-point field goal in each of the last 54 games, a school record ... the last time BGSU was held without a triple was on March 1, 1998, vs. Toledo ... the previous school record was 29-straight games on two occasions - most recently, in the 1993-94 (last five games) and 1994-95 (first 24 games) seasons ... BGSU had not won back-to-back games all season prior to the current four-game winning streak ... two weeks ago, the Falcons were 4-8 in MAC play, and tied for the 11th seed overall ... BG wound up in a deadlock for fifth place at the conclusion of the regular season ... BGSU had not captured back-to-back road games since a four-game streak two years ago ... the Falcons are on pace to set a new school single-season record for free-throw percentage ... BGSU is sinking free throws at a .772 rate entering the Ohio game ... the current school record is .760, set by the 1997-98 team ... tonight definitely marks the last home contest for seniors Sherry Kahle and Jaymee Wappes ... the two combined for nine three-pointers and 31 points in the regular-season home final‚, vs. Miami (Feb. 19) ... BGSU entered last week's road trip with a 1-13 record when trailing at halftime, but captured both contests after trailing at the break.
FALCON QUICK FACTS
THIS WEEK Ohio at BGSU Monday, February 28 * 7:00 p.m. Anderson Arena (5,000) Bowling Green, Ohio MAC Tournament First RoundMAC Tournament Quarterfinals * Thu., March 2 Semifinals * Fri., March 3 Championship * Sat., March 4 Public Hall (4,155) * Cleveland, Ohio
LAST WEEK BGSU 84, at Akron 71 Wed, Feb. 23 * Akron, Ohio
BGSU 63, at Buffalo 62 Fri., Feb. 25 * Buffalo, New York
1999-2000 BGSU RECORDS Overall: 10-16 Mid-American Conference: 8-8
HEAD COACH - Dee Knoblauch (BGSU, 1983) at BGSU: 23-30 (second season) Career: 205-149 (13th season)
BOWLING GREEN RECORDS All-Time: 422-266 (.613) (1973-present / 27th season) MAC: 221-96 (.697) (1981-present / 19 seasons)
MAC STANDINGS East Division Team (Overall)_________MAC Kent (22-5)___________15-1 Miami (15-11)__________9-7 Bowling Green (10-16)__8-8 Buffalo (17-10)________7-9 Akron (11-16)__________7-9 Ohio (11-16)__________6-10 Marshall (8-19)_______2-14
West Division Western Mich. (17-10)_14-2 Toledo (12-14)_________9-7 Eastern Mich. (14-13)__8-8 Ball State (15-12)_____8-8 Central Mich. (9-18)__6-10 Northern Ill. (6-21)__5-11
