Bowling Green State University Athletics
Francine Miller Named To Preseason All-MAC Team, Again
October 10, 2002 | Women's Basketball
Oct. 10, 2002
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Bowling Green State University's Francine Miller has been named to the Mid-American Conference's preseason all-conference team, the league office announced Thursday afternoon (Oct. 10). The team is a result of voting by members of the MAC News Media Association. Miller has been named to the team for the third consecutive season.
For the first time, the preseason all-league team consists of 10 players, as East Division and West Division teams were announced. The preseason all-MAC East Division team consists of Kent State's Andrea Csaszar and Valerie Zona, Marshall's Ida Dotson, Miami's Heather Cusick and Buffalo's Jessica Kochendorfer.
Joining Miller on the West Division team are Ball State's Tamara Bowie, Toledo's Tia Davis, Western Michigan's Kristin Koetsier and Jennifer Youngblood of Northern Illinois. Bowie and Koetsier joined Miller on last year's preseason all-conference team.
Miller played in just four of the Falcons' 28 games last winter. She scored 26 points in the season-opening win at Youngstown State (Nov. 17, 2001) before suffering a knee injury less than four minutes into the Detroit game three days later.
Miller missed the remainder of the UDM contest, as well as the next nine games, with a knee injury. She had surgery on Dec. 8 to remove loose cartilage from her kneecap, and returned for the Kent State game on Jan. 2. In that contest, she came off the bench to score a game-high 29 points.
In the next game, on Jan. 5 at Central Michigan, Miller scored a team-high 15 points off the bench. Miller, who was not fully recovered, then elected to miss the remainder of the season while her injury healed.
Miller, a native of Kalida, Ohio, averaged 17.5 points per game in 2001-02. When the Detroit game is factored out -- she attempted only one shot in her four minutes of action -- Miller averaged 23.3 points per contest.
Miller will enter the 2002-03 season with a career total of 1,149 points, ranking her rank 13th in school history. She has averaged 14.01 points per game over the first 82 contests of her career, the third-best average in BGSU annals.
Miller earned All-MAC First-Team honors in her sophomore season of 1999-2000, and was named to the all-league second team the following year.
Upon the conclusion of last season, Miller appealed for and was granted a medical hardship and an additional year of eligibility.
The Falcons ended the 2001-02 campaign with an overall record of 9-19, and BGSU had a MAC mark of 6-10, good for a fourth-place finish in the league's East Division. BG moves to the West Division for the 2002-03 season.
The Brown and Orange will play a home exhibition game on Thursday, Nov. 12, before opening the regular season with a Nov. 22 home game vs. Youngstown State.
The Preseason All-MAC team and the league's 13 women's basketball head coaches will be available for interview at the conference's Basketball Media Day, which is slated for Wednesday, Oct. 23 at Gund Arena in Cleveland.
2002 Preseason All-MAC Team
East Division Player, School Pos. Ht. Yr. Hometown (High School/College) Andrea Csaszar, KSU C 6-6 Jr. Szekszard, Hungary (Janos Garay) Heather Cusick, Miami G 5-8 Sr. Kokomo, Ind. (Kokomo) Ida Dotson, Marshall G 5-9 Sr. Tombstone, Ariz. (Central Arizona CC) Jessica Kochendorfer, UB F/G 6-1 Jr. Allen, Mich. (Quincy) Valerie Zona, KSU G 5-9 Sr. Cranberry, Pa. (Seneca Valley/WVU)West Division Player, School Pos. Ht. Yr. Hometown (High School/College) Tamara Bowie, BSU F 6-0 Sr. Lansing, Mich. (Sexton) Tia Davis, UT G 5-10 Sr. Kokomo, Ind. (Kokomo) Kristin Koetsier, WMU F 6-3 Jr. Grandville, Mich. (Grandville) Francine Miller, BGSU G 5-11 Sr. Kalida, Ohio (Kalida) Jennifer Youngblood, NIU F 5-11 Jr. Rock Island, Ill. (Rock Island)
