Bowling Green State University Athletics
Women's Basketball Prepares For EMU Wednesday
February 20, 2001 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2001
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
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GAME #25 - BGSU AT EASTERN MICHIGAN
WED., FEB. 21, 2001 - CONVOCATION CENTER
YPSILANTI, MICHIGAN - 7:00 P.M.
BGSU PROBABLE STARTERS
F 22 Francine Miller 5-11 Jr. Kalida, Ohio 14.3 ppg 4.3 rpg F 31 Afra Smith 5-9 Sr. Madison, Wis. 8.3 ppg 3.1 rpg C 34 Pam Brown 6-0 Fr. Warren, Ohio 6.1 ppg 4.1 rpg G 12 Lindsay Austin 5-7 Fr. Cincinnati, Ohio 6.7 ppg 3.8 apg G 24 Angie Farmer 5-9 Sr. Wayland, Mich. 10.7 ppg 2.3 rpg
THE GAME: The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team hits the road for a pair of Mid-American Conference games this week. The Falcons (10-14 overall, 6-7 MAC) begin with a trip to face Eastern Michigan University (15-9, 8-5 MAC) in Wednesday (Feb. 21) action. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the Convocation Center (8,824).
Following the EMU game, the Falcons will head to New York to take on the University at Buffalo in a Saturday (Feb. 24) contest, scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m. at UB's Alumni Arena (8,500).
The Brown and Orange will conclude the regular season with a Feb. 28 game vs. Miami University at venerable Anderson Arena (5,000), before opening MAC Tournament play on March 3, with opponent and site to be determined.
COACH DEE KNOBLAUCH: Falcon head coach Dee Knoblauch is in her third season at her alma mater, and has a record of 34-45. She has a 23-22 ledger in MAC play. 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 14th season as a head coach, has an overall record of 216-164 (.568). 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.
ABOUT THE FALCONS: BGSU sports a record of 10-14 on the season, and the Falcons are 6-7 in MAC play. After opening league action with four consecutive wins, the Falcons lost the next five contests. BG has gone 2-2 in the last four games, including Saturday's (Feb. 17) 90-73 win over visiting Marshall. In that game, junior Francine Miller tied the school single-game record with 35 points.
If the regular season were to end today, the Falcons would be the eighth overall seed for the MAC Tournament, and would host Ohio University in the tourney's first round. The Falcons have a one-and-a-half-game lead on ninth-place OU, and a two-game lead on current 10th-seeded Western Michigan. BGSU is a game behind Miami, and two games in back of Buffalo, EMU and Northern Illinois.
Individually, Miller leads the team in scoring, with 14.3 points per game. Miller, an All-Mid-American Conference First-Team selection last year, has hit double digits in scoring in 14 of her 18 games, including in each of the last seven.
Senior Angie Farmer is second on the team with 10.7 points per outing after tying her season-high output with 20 points vs. Marshall.
Senior Afra Smith is third with 8.3 points per game, while sophomore Kim Griech averages 8.0 points. Junior Dana Western is fifth on the squad with 7.5 markers per contest.
Freshman Lindsay Austin (6.7 ppg), redshirt freshman Pam Brown (6.1 ppg) and senior Jackie Adlington (5.5 ppg) also are averaging in excess of five points per game. Adlington, however, missed the Marshall game and will not suit up at EMU due to a foot injury.
BGSU has enjoyed a measure of success at home this year, but the team has struggled in hostile venues. The Falcons are 6-4 at Anderson Arena, 2-10 on the road and 2-0 in neutral-site contests this year. In MAC play, BGSU is 5-2 at home and 1-5 on the road.
From long distance, several Falcons have posted impressive shooting percentages. Farmer is shooting .429 from behind the arc, having made 39 of her 91 three-point field-goal attempts. She has a team-high 2.1 treys per game. Western is shooting .418 (28-of-67) from long distance, while Griech is shooting .379 (39-of-103) from beyond the arc. Miller is now shooting .333 (30-of-90) from long range.
Overall, Miller leads the team with 94 field goals made (5.2 per game), while Smith has 79. Smith is shooting .470 from the floor on the year, having gone 79-of-168. Brown also has a .470 percentage (62-of-132), while freshman Kelly Kapferer is shooting .440 (33-of-75). In limited action, Adlington has shot 28-of-57 from the field (.491).
Western currently leads the team in rebounding (4.7 rpg), followed by Miller (4.3 rpg) and Brown (4.1 rpg). Adlington is averaging 6.4 boards in her 11 games, and has led the team in rebounding in eight of the last nine contests in which she has seen action. She has paced the team in that category in every game in which she has played more than six minutes.
Austin leads the team with 3.8 assists and has 1.5 steals per game, while Miller has averaged 3.1 assists and has 1.8 steals in her 18 games to date. Western averages 1.3 steals and paces the team with 23 blocked shots on the year (1.0 bpg).
BGSU is shooting .417 from the floor, while the opponents have a field-goal percentage of .437. The Falcons are sinking free throws at a .726 rate, while the opponents are shooting .719 from the stripe. BG is shooting .368 from three-point range and averaging 7.13 triples per game, while the foes have shot .322 from behind the arc.
In MAC games only, Miller leads the team with 15.3 points per game, while Farmer has 11.2. Adlington has a team-high 6.8 rebounds per game. As a team, the Falcons are shooting .735 from the charity stripe and .355 from three-point land, while averaging 7.46 treys per game in league play.
BGSU finished the 1999-2000 season with an 11-17 overall record, and the Falcons ended MAC play with an 8-8 record after winning the last four games. The Brown and Orange saw a five-game winning streak come to an end with a loss to Western Michigan in the quarterfinal round of the MAC Tournament.
SCOUTING EASTERN MICHIGAN: Eastern Michigan enters Wednesday's game with an overall record of 15-9 and an 8-5 MAC record ... the Eagles have won three consecutive games and five of the last six ... after losing at home to Ball State by 34 points earlier in the year, EMU posted a 22-point win (88-66) at Muncie Saturday (Feb. 17) ... the Eagles are 8-2 in home games this year, including 4-2 in league play ... individually, senior guard Kristy Maska averages 13.2 points to pace four Eagles with double-digit averages ... junior guard Stephanie Smiley has 11.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and a team-best 5.3 assists, while sophomore guard Dru Bishop averages 11.0 points ... senior forward Shani Charles has 10.3 points and a team-high 6.9 boards ... junior forward Kris Kachaturoff (7.3 ppg) rounds out the probable starting five ... last year, EMU finished 16-14 overall and 8-8 in the MAC ... Suzy Merchant is 45-36 in her third year at the Eagle helm, and 99-65 in her fifth season as a collegiate head coach.
THE SERIES: The Falcons lead the all-time series with 11 of the 12 MAC opponents (BG trails Buffalo, 3-2), and BGSU holds a 35-8 advantage over Eastern Michigan ... the Eagles, however, have won two of the last three contests, including an 84-53 verdict in the last meeting in Ypsilanti (Jan. 9, 1999) ... that game, the only previous meeting in the Convocation Center, was BGSU's worst-ever margin of loss in a MAC game (since broken) ... that game broke a 16-game BG series win streak, and the Falcons had won 33-of-34 games vs. EMU prior to that time ... last year, in the teams' only meeting, the visiting Eagles scored the game's last 22 points to break a close contest wide open en route to a 92-69 victory (Feb. 12, 2000).
LAST TIME OUT: Francine Miller tied the BGSU single-game scoring record with 35 points as the Falcons defeated Marshall, 90-73, Saturday (Feb. 17) ... Miller's game scoring output gave her over 1,000 points for her career ... she made 14 of her 23 shots from the field and was 5-of-7 from behind the three-point arc ... Miller was one of four double-digit Falcon scorers in the victory, as senior Angie Farmer finished with 20 points and a game-high five assists ... true freshman Lindsay Austin added 15 points, while redshirt freshman Pam Brown pitched in 12 ... Toni Patillo was the leading scorer for the Thundering Herd with 17 points, while Au'Yana Ferguson had 11 ... the Falcons shot an even 50 percent in each half en route to a 31-for-62 performance on the day ... BGSU was 9-of-20 from three-point land.
MILLER TIES SCHOOL RECORD: Junior Francine Miller tied the school single-game scoring record in Saturday's (Feb. 7) win over Marshall, with 35 points ... Miller already owned a piece of that record, having scored 35 points at Kent during the 1999-2000 season ... former Falcons Jackie Motycka and Jacki Raterman are the only other BG players to reach that mark.
MILLER REACHES MILLENNIAL MARK: Francine Miller's prolific scoring effort vs. Marshall Saturday moved her up the career chart as well ... she hit a three-pointer with 5:31 remaining in the game, to become just the 16th player in school history to amass 1,000 career points ... Miller became just the fifth player in BGSU annals to reach 1,000 career points as a junior ... she enters the EMU game ranked 16th in school history, with a total of 1,008 career points in 73 games.
MORE ON MILLER: Junior Francine Miller has struggled with injuries throughout much of this season, but has broken out over the past few games ... Miller is averaging 18.0 points per game in the last seven contests ... she has scored in double digits in 14 of her 18 games this year ... in two of those other four games, Miller saw limited action due to injury.
EVERYONE'S A THREAT: Senior Jackie Adlington hit the first three-pointer of her Falcon career in the second Ohio contest (Feb. 7) ... Adlington became the 11th different Falcon to hit a trey this season ... 10 of those players had drained a "three" by the fifth game of the season ... a total of 10 different players hit a trey last year, as well as in 1998-99 ... prior to the Dee Knoblauch Era, the most players to hit a trey in the same season was seven.
ADLINGTON ADDS A LOT: Over the past few weeks, senior Jackie Adlington has asserted herself as a force to be reckoned with ... she suited up for the Central Michigan game (Jan. 9), marking her first time in uniform since the season opener ... Adlington had not played since breaking her foot vs. Youngstown State (Nov. 18) ... she played just one minute against Central, but averaged 7.6 points and a team-high 8.3 rebounds in the next eight games ... after totalling four points and nine rebounds in her first nine games as a Falcon, she amassed 61 points and 66 boards in the next eight games ... Adlington set or tied her BGSU high in either scoring or rebounding in four-straight games ... vs. Buffalo (Jan. 27), she set BG bests with 14 points and 11 rebounds, posting the first double-double of her brief Falcon tenure ... Adlington also had 11 boards last Saturday (Feb. 10) at Akron, and led the Falcons in rebounding in eight consecutive games ... she suffered a foot injury after playing just three minutes at Miami (Feb. 12), and missed the Marshall game ... she is expected to miss the EMU game as well ... Adlington has led BGSU in rebounding in each game this year in which she has played more than six minutes.
ANDER-RIFFIC! Believe it or not, the Falcons' total of six three-pointers made against Kent State (Feb. 3) is the team's lowest total in a MAC home game in two years ... in eight home conference games last 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 ... this year, the Falcons have totalled 59 treys in seven MAC home games ... adding in the MAC Tournament first-round contest vs. Ohio last February, BGSU is averaging 10.1 treys and shooting .433 (161-of-372) over the last 16 home games vs. MAC teams ... the Falcons have made at least six triples in every one of those games.
THREE BALL, CORNER POCKET: In Mid-American Conference play last season, the Falcons averaged almost 10 three-point field goals made per game, with 159 successful triples in 16 games ... this year, the Brown and Orange sank a season-high 12 in the first Akron meeting, and added 10 at Ohio, nine vs. both CMU and Marshall, and eight on four occasions ... BGSU has made a total of 256 successful triples in the last 29 MAC regular-season contests (8.83 per game).
INJURY REPORT: The Falcons have had their share of injuries, and then some, this season ... senior Jackie Adlington suffered a foot injury after just three minutes of the Feb. 12 Miami game ... she missed the Marshall game Saturday, and will not suit up at EMU ... freshman Stefanie Wenzel sat out the Marshall contest due to illness, but should be good to go for the EMU game ... sophomore guard Megan Jerome was diagnosed with a stress fracture in her back on Feb. 2, and will miss the remainder of the season ... Dee Knoblauch's team actually went through the month of January relatively injury-free after playing five December games without three starters - Adlington, fellow senior Angie Farmer and junior Francine Miller ... Miller also missed the Jan. 24 game at NIU with a thigh injury, but has played the last six games.
WHO'S STARTING NOW? Last year, only seven different players started at least one game ... this season, a total of 11 different players have made at least one start ... no player has started all 24 games, and only freshman Lindsay Austin has started 23 contests ... coach Dee Knoblauch has utilized 11 different starting lineups this season, including a recent stretch in which she used six different lineups in as many games ... she used only three different combinations during all of last season, and used the same lineup for the last 19 games of 1999-2000.
FALCONS IN NCAA RANKINGS: The Falcons were listed in one category when the NCAA released the latest national statistics ... as a team, BGSU was 12th in the nation in three-point field goals per game, with an average of 7.04 through games of Feb. 12 ... after the Marshall game, the Falcons have that average up to 7.13 ... BGSU, of course, set a national record in that category last year, making 9.25 treys per game.
NEED TO GET TO THE LINE: The Falcons have been on the short end of the free-throw statistics over much of the MAC season ... in the Western Michigan game (Jan. 31), BGSU attempted a total of just two free throws to the Broncos' 31 ... at Akron (Feb. 10), BG had seven FT attempts to Akron's 38 ... BG had 23 free-throw attempts, the team's most in MAC play this season, at Miami, but the RedHawks had 30 tries ... finally, BGSU got to the line more than the opponent, with 22 tries to Marshall's 19 Saturday ... still, though, over the last six games, the Falcons are averaging 12.7 free-throw attempts to the opponents' 28.5 ... BG is averaging 14.2 charity tosses in MAC games, to the foes' 26.7.
BLOCK PARTY: The Falcons blocked a total of seven shots in the Feb. 7 win over Ohio ... that total was BG's most since a four-overtime game at Ball State two years ago (Jan. 6, 1999) ... the school record for blocks in a game is 11.
BLOCK PARTY II: Freshman Kelly Kapferer had four blocked shots vs. Ohio (Feb. 7), the most of her brief Falcon career ... that total was the most by a Falcon in over five years, since Michelle Terry had four vs. Eastern Michigan on Jan. 17, 1996 ... the school record is six, set on three occasions.
MORE BLOCKING TIDBITS: By the 12th game of the season, the Falcons had surpassed the blocked-shots total for all of last year ... after posting a total of 39 blocks (1.39 per game) last winter, the Falcons now have blocked 72 shots this season ... BG is averaging 3.00 rejections per contest this year ... junior Dana Western entered the season with a career total of eight blocked shots ... through 24 games this year, she already has a total of 23 rejections to her credit.
80 GAMES AND COUNTING: The Falcons have made at least one three-point field goal in every game during the Dee Knoblauch Era ... in fact, BGSU has drained a triple in each of the last 80 games, a school record ... the last time the Falcons were held without a trey was on March 1, 1998 ... 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.
YOUTH WAS SERVED: In the Akron game, the Falcons had four freshmen on the floor at the same time for the first time this year ... in the last minute-plus of the first half, frosh Lindsay Austin, Kelly Kapferer, Emily Pohl and Stefanie Wenzel joined senior Afra Smith on the court ... the Falcons had five frosh on the court on several occasions during 1999-2000.
BENCH PROVIDES A LIFT: Not surprisingly, BGSU's injury woes in December have translated into greater experience and depth in the subsequent months ... the Falcons have gotten tremendous production from the bench players in several recent games ... some of the impressive margins include 41-14 in the win at Ohio (Jan. 6) and 33-13 vs. Toledo (Jan. 13) ... the Falcons held bench advantages of 35-7 and 34-3, respectively, vs. NIU and Buffalo ... in the 13 MAC games, BG has gotten 373 points (28.7 per game) from the bench players to the foes' 282 (21.7 avg.).
KAPFERER KONNECTS: Freshman Kelly Kapferer saw limited action in the early going this season, but made five of her six shots from the field en route to a season-high 10 points in the first win at Ohio (Jan. 6) ... in the game, vs. CMU, Kapferer again scored 10 points, going 5-of-8 from the floor ... Kapferer is shooting .477 (21-of-44) over the last 12 games, after going 12-of-31 (.387) during the first 12 contests of the year.
SMART, VERY SMART: The BGSU women's basketball team has had a great deal of success in the classroom ... as a team, the Falcons have a grade-point average of 3.13 through the fall semester ... eight of the team's 14 players have a cumulative GPA of 3.28 or better, led by sophomore Megan Jerome at a perfect 4.00 through her first three semesters at the University ... senior Angie Farmer has a 3.78 GPA.
SMART, VERY SMART II (OR, "FOUR-POINT GUARDS"): The Falcons' four true freshmen seem to have successfully made the transition to college life ... in addition to receiving regular playing time on the court, all four had a GPA of 3.45 or better during their first semester on campus ... point guards Lindsay Austin and Emily Pohl each had a perfect 4.00 GPA in the fall, while Stefanie Wenzel had a GPA of 3.76 ... Kelly Kapferer had a 3.45 GPA in the fall ... on the hardwood, Austin, Kapferer and Pohl all have played in every game this year, while Wenzel has seen action in 15 contests.
FARMER'S FREE THROWS: Senior Angie Farmer entered the season with a career free-throw percentage of .813, and has done nothing to hurt that stat this year ... this season, she has missed just three free throws in 49 attempts, for a .939 success rate ... she made her first 22 free-throw attempts of the MAC campaign, including sinking all 10 charity tosses in the win over Akron ... Farmer enters the EMU game with a .946 conversion rate (35-of-37) in league play.
STILL SHOOTING (AND MAKING) THE TREY: The three-point shot is a staple of a Dee Knoblauch-coached team ... last winter, the Brown and Orange set a new NCAA Division I record for three-point field goals made per game ... BGSU sank 259 treys in 28 contests, for an average of 9.25 per game ... through 24 games this season, the Falcons are averaging 7.13 three-pointers made per contest ... Bowling Green has made at least five treys in every game but three this season.
MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME: In the first 12 seasons after the three-point shot was adopted (1986-87 to 1997-98), Bowling Green teams made a total of 666 three-pointers in 1,890 attempts ... over the last two-plus years, BGSU's totals are nearly 85 percent of the totals during those first 12 years ... through the Marshall game, Dee Knoblauch's teams have made 565 treys in 1,572 tries since she became head coach of her alma mater.
WRITE THOSE RECORDS IN PENCIL: Entering last season, the school record for three-pointers made in a game was 12 ... BGSU hit double digits in that category no fewer than 12 times last year, including a 16-for-38 performance - both school records - in a win over Akron (Jan. 26) ... the Falcons have hit double digits three times in 2000-01, including twice in MAC play to date ... BG made 11 treys vs. Charleston Southern, 12 against Akron and 10 at Ohio ... the Falcons have made at least seven three-pointers in 10 of the 13 MAC games this year.
YOUNG AT THE POINT: It is safe to say that the Falcons will start a freshman at the point-guard spot whenever the team takes the floor ... both of the team's point guards are frosh ... Lindsay Austin started each of the first 17 games, and has started 23 contests overall ... Emily Pohl, the other freshman point guard, made her first collegiate start vs. Buffalo (Jan. 27) ... Austin is averaging a team-high 29.0 minutes per game, with Pohl averaging 12.5.
TRIPLE YOUR FUN: Four current Falcons are ranked among the BGSU career three-point leaders ... senior Angie Farmer is currently in second place on the all-time school list for career three-point percentage (.424, 150-of-354), while junior Francine Miller is third (.405, 107-of-264) ... sophomore Kim Griech is now seventh on that list (.374, 65-of-174), while junior Dana Western is in eighth place (.369, 52-of-141) ... Farmer is second all-time in three-pointers made, while Miller has moved into a third-place tie ... Griech is eighth and Western ninth on that list ... Farmer is second in three-point attempts, while Miller is now fifth ... Griech is eighth, while Western has moved into ninth.
IS THAT A NEW RECORD? Before Dee Knoblauch returned to campus, the school records for three-point field goals made and attempted in a season were 97 and 296, respectively ... Knoblauch's first team made 135 treys in an even 400 attempts, and last year's squad shattered the records yet again, making a MAC-record 259 triples in 710 attempts ... currently, the 2000-01 squad is on a pace to make "only" 200 treys.
CAPTAIN'S LOG: BG seniors Angie Farmer and Afra Smith are the team captains for the 2000-2001 season.
