Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Host Northern Illinois Wednesday
January 09, 2002 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 9, 2002
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
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BGSU (3-10, 0-2)
VS.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS (6-7, 1-1)
GAME #14
WED., JAN. 9, 2002
ANDERSON ARENA
BOWLING GREEN, OHIO
7:00 p.m.
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1)
SERIES: BGSU LEADS, 9-8
LAST MEETING: NORTHERN ILL. 73, BGSU 58 (1/24/01)
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, once again without the services of a top player, begins a three-game Mid-American Conference homestand Wednesday (Jan. 9) ... ... the Falcons of first-year head coach Curt Miller will meet Northern Illinois University, with tipoff set for 7:00 p.m. at venerable Anderson Arena (5,000).
Following the NIU contest, the Brown and Orange will remain at home for a Saturday (Jan. 12) matine‚ against the University at Buffalo ... that game will begin at 1:00 p.m. ... two days later, BG will conclude the homestand with a 7:00 p.m. contest vs. the University of Akron.
WBGU RADIO: The BGSU-Northern Illinois game is scheduled to be broadcast by campus station WBGU-FM (88.1) ... the station's broadcast schedule included a total of 15 women's basketball games (plus any postseason contests) this year, including all of the Falcons' home games.
ABOUT THE FALCONS: BGSU has an overall record of 3-10 on the season, and the Falcons are 0-2 in MAC play after Saturday's (Jan. 5) 81-71 loss at Central Michigan ... in the last home game, the Brown and Orange fell by a 74-60 count to visiting Kent State (Jan. 2) ... senior Francine Miller will miss the remainder of the season ... she is in the process of appealing for a medical hardship ... Miller, playing for the first time since Nov. 20, had a game-high 29 points in just 25 minutes vs. KSU ... she led the team with 15 points off the bench at CMU ... prior to the KSU contest, the Brown and Orange split a pair of games in Florida ... the Falcons lost to Yale, 51-47, in the first round of the Gatorade Holiday Classic in Coral Gables, Fla. (Dec. 27) ... BGSU rebounded to win the consolation game of the tourney, hosted by the University of Miami, the next day (Dec. 28) ... the Falcons topped Lehigh by a 63-55 count ... BGSU had a pair of players, junior Kim Griech and sophomore Kelly Kapferer, named to the all-tournament team.
For BGSU, the victory over Lehigh snapped a four-game losing streak ... BGSU had opened the season with a 71-61 win at Youngstown State (Nov. 17), but lost the next four games ... BG returned to the win column with a 73-57 victory over visiting IPFW (Nov. 29), but the Falcons then fell to Butler (78-73 in OT, Dec. 4), UW-Milwaukee (77-52, Dec. 8) and Wright State (83-76, Dec. 15) before the Yale rematch.
For the first time since Nov. 20, coach Curt Miller had the full complement of players at his disposal ... a pair of injured starters were cleared to play once again, and both came off the bench to see action vs. KSU and CMU.
Francine Miller scored 26 points in the season-opening win at YSU, but suffered a knee injury early in the UDM game ... she played just four minutes in that game ... Miller had surgery on Dec. 8 to remove loose cartilage from her kneecap, and returned to action last Wednesday (Jan. 2) ... Miller will sit out the remainder of the 2001-02 season, however, and will appeal to the Mid-American Conference for a medical hardship ... Miller had 17.5 points per contest in her four games played this year ... not counting the Detroit game (in which she played four minutes and attempted just one shot), she averaged 23.3 points per game.
Redshirt sophomore Pam Brown has 5.5 points and 6.0 rebounds ... Brown missed seven consecutive contests with a knee (lateral meniscus) injury ... she had successful surgery on Dec. 6, and - as did Francine Miller - made her return in the KSU game.
Junior Kim Griech is averaging 10.6 points per contest, and she leads the team with 20 three-point field goals on the year ... sophomore point guard Lindsay Austin is averaging 8.5 points, and leads the team in both assists (4.7 apg) and steals (2.2 spg) ... she is third on the squad with 4.5 rebounds.
Two other sophomores, Kelly Kapferer and Stefanie Wenzel, have 8.5 and 8.3 points per game, respectively ... Kapferer is averaging 4.8 rebounds per contest, and leads the Falcons with 42 successful field goals on the season.
Senior Dana Western-Schuka averages 6.1 points, a team-best 5.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game.
A total of 10 different players have started at least one game this season ... Griech and Western-Schuka each have been in the starting lineup for all 13 games to date, while Austin has made 12 starts ... Kapferer has started the last 10 games, while Wenzel has been in the starting lineup for the last five contests.
On the sidelines, Curt Miller is joined by first-year assistants Jennifer Roos and Brandi Poole ... Roos spent the last eight years as an assistant at Davidson, while Poole was at West Virginia last year.
BGSU is shooting .347 from the field, while opponents are shooting .393 through the first 13 games ... the Falcons have made 72 three-point field goals and are shooting .263 from beyond the arc, while the foes have 70 treys and a .307 pct. ... BGSU has a free-throw pct. of .721 to the opponents' .694 ... the Falcons have been outrebounded by a 47.1 to 39.6 margin in the first 13 contests.
BG is 1-4 at home, 1-4 on the road and 1-2 in neutral-site contests in 2001-02 ... the Falcons went 6-5 at Anderson Arena last year ... BGSU was 3-12 on the road and 2-1 in neutral-site affairs ... in MAC play, the Brown and Orange went 5-3 at home and 1-7 on the road last year.
SCOUTING NIU: Northern Illinois brings a record of 6-7 into Wednesday's contest, and the Huskies are 1-1 in MAC play ... NIU, 2-3 on the road this year, won its conference opener at Marshall, 79-55, Wednesday (Jan. 2), but dropped a one-point decision to visiting Toledo, 61-60, Saturday night (Jan. 5) ... the youthful Huskie squad features no seniors and just three juniors ... individually, sophomore forward Jennifer Youngblood leads the team in both scoring and rebounding ... she averages 12.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game ... junior forward Kristan Knake has 10.6 points per contest, and paces NIU in assists (2.7 apg) ... junior center Jessica Shattuck has 10.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and a MAC-best 2.4 blocked shots per game, while sophomore guard Lindsay Secrest has 7.2 points per contest ... sophomore guards Monique Davis (5.4 ppg, 2.6 apg) and Kristen Brown (1.7 ppg) join Youngblood, Knake and Shattuck in the probable starting lineup ... last year, the Huskies went 16-16 overall and had a 10-6 MAC mark ... head coach Carol Hammerle has a record of 38-61 in her fourth season in DeKalb ... her overall record is 494-287 in her 29th year ... NIU's athletic web site is www.niu.edu/athletics.
THE SERIES: The Falcons lead the all-time series with 11 of the 12 MAC opponents (BG trails Buffalo, 4-2), and BGSU holds a narrow 9-8 lead over Northern Illinois ... the Falcons are 7-2 all-time in home games vs. the Huskies, and BGSU has won the last four games at Anderson Arena ... in the last meeting at BG, on Feb. 7, 2000, the host Falcons posted an 86-50 win ... NIU won the most recent matchup, however, a 73-58 decision in DeKalb in last year's lone meeting (Jan. 24, 2001).
LAST TIME OUT: The Falcons saw a comeback effort fall short on the road against Central Michigan Saturday (Jan. 5), falling to the host Chippewas by an 81-71 margin ... the Falcons, behind by as many as 23 points, cut the deficit to seven points, but could get no closer ... the contest had started well for the visitors ... after a pair of CMU free throws opened the scoring, BG reeled off the next 10 points, with five different players scoring in that time ... after scoring those 10 points in the game's first 2:11, however, BG would manage just 15 points over the final 17:49 of the half ... CMU responded to the Falcons' 10-point run with an eight-point run of their own to tie the game, then, minutes later, had a 7-0 run ... sophomore Lindsay Austin got a bucket to cut the CMU edge to 17-15, and the Falcons still were within three points (21-18) after a trey by senior Dana Western-Schuka at the 6:47 mark ... a minute later, however, CMU began a 10-0 run ... the Chips extended the lead to 18 points, 40-22, at the half ... the lead remained in double digits for the first 16 minutes of the second half, and the host school led by as many as 23 points midway through the stanza ... the Chippewas still led by 22 points (71-49) edge with exactly eight minutes to play ... but, the Falcons then came to life ... BG began a run that would see the lead cut to single digits ... the CMU lead was just 73-66 with 2:40 remaining ... but, BG could get no closer, and the Chippewas salted the game away by making 6-of-6 attempts from the line in the game's final minute ... the Falcons had four players in double digits in scoring, led by senior Francine Miller's 15 points off the bench ... junior Kim Griech had 14, while Austin added 13 ... sophomore Kelly Kapferer had 11 points in the contest ... Desiree Eidson had 21 points to pace four Central double-digit scorers, while Kendra Martin scored 17 ... Vershaun Jones had 16 points and a game-high 16 rebounds ... the Falcons, after shooting .321 in the first half, made 16-of-31 shots from the floor (.516) in the second 20 minutes, for the team's top-shooting half of the season. BG shot a season-best .424 for the game.
MILLER TO MISS REMAINDER OF SEASON: As mentioned earlier, senior Francine Miller will appeal to the Mid-American Conference office for a medical hardship, and will miss the remainder of the 2001-02 season ... if the appeal is accepted, Miller will be granted an additional year of eligibility, and will return to the Falcon team for the 2002-03 season ... the MAC office will not rule on the appeal before the end of the 2001-02 season ... for Miller to be eligible to receive the hardship waiver, she can not play in any of the Falcons' remaining games ... Miller saw action in four games this season, starting the first two contests of the year.
INJURY REPORT: Once again, the Falcons are without a key contributor, as senior Francine Miller is sidelined ... Miller, who has played in just four games this year, will miss the remainder of the season while appealing for a medical hardship ... Miller was injured early in the season's second game, and missed the next nine contests ... she returned to play in the first two MAC games.
The Kent State game also marked the return of another Falcon starter, redshirt sophomore Pam Brown ... Brown missed seven consecutive contests with a lateral meniscus injury ... she had successful surgery on Dec. 6, and returned for the KSU contest.
Redshirt junior Rachal Hamilton is sidelined with a recurrence of her plantar fascia injury ... the injury, which she suffered in the summer, forced her to miss the first game of the season ... she will be in a cast for the next three weeks.
Last year, the Falcons missed a total of 41 player-games due to injury or illness ... a total of seven players, including four who were or would have been starters, were sidelined at one point or another ... all three of last year's seniors - Jackie Adlington, Angie Farmer and Afra Smith - missed at least one game ... Miller missed all of six games and part of several others ... she had a meniscus injury that bothered her for much of the year ... Megan Jerome was diagnosed with a stress fracture in her back last Feb. 2, and missed the remainder of the season.
MILLER'S BRIEF RETURN: Senior Francine Miller missed nine-plus games due to her knee injury ... after scoring 26 points in the season-opening game, she played only four minutes vs. Detroit (Nov. 20), then did not see game action for over a month ... Miller came off the bench to score a game-high 29 markers vs. Kent State Wednesday (Jan. 2), though ... she went 8-of-14 from the floor, and sank half of her six three-point field-goal attempts ... she also was 10-of-11 from the free-throw line ... she added a team-high 15 points at CMU ... Miller averaged 17.5 points per game this year ... but, when the Detroit game is factored out (she played just four minutes and attempted only one shot), she averaged 23.3 points per contest this season.
MILLER MOVING UP SCORING CHARTS: Before being sidelined for the remainder of the season, Francine Miller continued her move up the BGSU career scoring chart ... with 1,149 career points, Miller now ranks 13th in school history ... she scored her 1,000th career point in a win over Marshall last Jan. 17 (as part of a school record-tying 35-point game) ... in that game, she became just the fifth player in BGSU annals to reach 1,000 career points as a junior ... Miller is ranked third all-time on the BGSU career scoring average list, with a points-per-game average of 14.01.
ANDER-RIFFIC! The Falcons have made at least six three-pointers in every home conference game in the last two-plus years ... the Falcons tied a season high with nine triples in the KSU game Wednesday (Jan. 2) ... BGSU made a total of 68 treys in eight home MAC games last year ... in 1999-2000, the Falcons made an average of 11.75 three-point field goals per contest ... adding in the 2000 MAC Tournament first-round contest vs. Ohio, BGSU is averaging 9.9 treys and shooting .425 (179-of-421) over the last 18 home games vs. MAC teams.
A TALE OF TWO HALVES: Through 13 games, the Falcons have held the opponent to a field-goal percentage of .336 (136-of-405) in the first half ... when the Colorado game is taken out, BG has limited the foes to a .310 rate (113-of-365) before the intermission ... in the second half, however, the opponents have made 177-of-399 shots from the floor (.444).
98 GAMES AND COUNTING: The Falcons have made at least one three-point field goal in every game during the past three-plus years ... in fact, BGSU has drained a triple in each of the last 98 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.
EVERYONE'S A THREAT: A total of 11 different Falcons made at least one three-point field goal last season ... 10 of those players had drained a "three" by the fifth game of the season ... this year, that trend is continuing, as 11 different players have hit at least one trey to date ... junior Karen Stocz hit the first trey of her career vs. UWM (Dec. 8), four days after freshman Tene Lewis made her first collegiate trey at Butler (Dec. 4) ... also at Butler, junior Megan Jerome hit her first two triples of the year ... a total of 10 different players hit a trey in 1999-2000, as well as in 1998-99 ... prior to that time, the most players to hit a trey in the same season was seven.
GO WEST: The 2001-02 season marks the final campaign for the Falcons as a member of the MAC's East Division ... in October, the MAC welcomed the University of Central Florida as a member for the sport of football only, beginning in 2002 ... the league placed UCF in the East Division ... BGSU is being moved to the West Division for all sports, beginning in the 2002-03 academic year.
TRIPLE YOUR FUN: Several players on the 2001-02 Falcon roster are ranked among the BGSU career three-point leaders ... Francine Miller is second on the all-time school list for career three-point percentage (.425, 128-of-301) ... senior Dana Western-Schuka is in eighth place (.352, 68-of-193), while junior Kim Griech has a career three-point pct. of .342 (92-of-269) ... Miller is third all-time in three-pointers made, while Griech is fifth and Western-Schuka ninth ... Miller is third in three-point attempts, with Griech tied for fifth and Western-Schuka ninth.
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 three-and-a-half years, the Falcons have surpassed each of those totals for the first 12 years ... since the beginning of the 1998-99 season, Falcon teams have made 668 treys in 1,921 tries.
