Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Prepare For Butler Game
November 27, 2002 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 27, 2002
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
BUTLER (1-1)
AT
BGSU (1-1)
GAME #3Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2002
Anderson Arena
Bowling Green, Ohio
5:45 p.m.
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1)
SERIES: BUTLER LEADS, 2-1
LAST MEETING: AT BUTLER 78, BGSU 73 (OT) (DEC. 4, 2001)
Complete Game Notes (15 pages) in PDF Format
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The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, after a week-and-a-half hiatus between games, completes a season-opening three-game homestand with a Wednesday (Dec. 4) game against Butler University. Head coach Curt Miller's team will face the Bulldogs in a 5:45 p.m. game at BGSU's venerable Anderson Arena (4,700). The Falcons and BU are meeting exactly one year to the day after the last meeting, in Indianapolis. The game is the first half of a Falcon basketball doubleheader at Anderson, as the men's team hosts Buffalo in the nightcap.
Following the Butler game, the Falcons will leave the next morning for the Radisson Suites Roundball Classic in Boca Raton, Fla. BGSU will face the host school, Florida Atlantic University, in Friday (Nov. 6) action, with tipoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Then, the next evening, the Brown and Orange will meet either the University of Pittsburgh or the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Saturday's (Nov. 7) games are slated to begin at 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. All games will be played at the FAU Gymnasium (5,000).
WBGU RADIO TO BROADCAST AT LEAST 25 GAMES
WBGU-FM (88.1) is scheduled to air 24 regular-season games, including the Butler contest, plus any postseason action ... the BGSU department of athletics and the Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization (BGRSO) have reached an agreement to have WBGU serve as the flagship station for both hockey and women's basketball for the 2002-03 academic year ... the broadcasters for women's hoops will vary on a game-to-game basis ... games produced by BGRSO are scheduled to be heard on the Internet at bgrso.org and via the Real One Package available through bgsufalcons.com.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
BGSU opened the season with a 70-64 loss to Youngstown State (Nov. 22), but rebounded for an 81-62 win over Iona two days later (Nov. 24) ... senior Francine Miller led the Brown and Orange with 16 points and eight rebounds in the YSU game, while classmate Kim Griech added 11 points and junior Stefanie Wenzel 10 ... freshman point guard Molly Martin, getting the start in her collegiate debut, had four points and seven assists in 21 minutes.
Against Iona, Miller again led the Falcons in scoring, with 25 points, while Wenzel added 20 ... Griech had 11 for the second-straight game, while senior Megan Jerome had six points and set career highs in rebounds (nine) and assists (five) ... Martin had six assists in the win.
The Falcons lost by an 87-83 count to the Premier All-Stars in the team's lone exhibition on Nov. 12 ... BG finished the 2001-02 season with a record of 9-19, and the Falcons completed Mid-American Conference play with a league ledger of 6-10 ... the Brown and Orange ended conference play in fourth place in the MAC's East Division ... a total of nine letterwinners return for 2002-03 ... that list includes one player who did not letter last year, Miller ... Miller played in just four of the Falcons' 28 games last year, and was granted an additional year of eligibility.
Miller leads the team in both scoring (20.5 ppg) and rebounding (7.5 ppg) this year, while Wenzel is averaging 15.0 points per contest ... Griech and senior Karen Stocz have 11.0 and 7.5 ppg, respectively, and Jerome has 7.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per contest.
In addition to Miller, the senior class includes Griech, Jerome and Stocz ... Griech, one of just two Falcons to start every game last year, was named the team's Impact Player of the Year for the 2001-02 campaign ... she averaged 10.4 points per game, good for second on the team ... Jerome was the Falcons' Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
The junior class includes Lindsay Austin, Pam Brown and Wenzel ... Austin suffered a sprained ankle in practice the day before the opener (Nov. 21), and missed the first two contests ... Brown, who also had been suffering from an injury, suited up but didn't see action vs. YSU ... she played four minutes against Iona, scoring two points.
Last winter, Wenzel was named the BGSU Player of the Year after leading the Falcons in scoring with 11.6 points per game ... Austin was the team's Playmaker of the Year after leading the team and ranking among the MAC leaders in assists and assist/turnover ratio ... Brown was named the Power Player of the Year, given to the top post player ... despite missing 10 games due to injury, she averaged 7.3 points and a team-high 6.0 rebounds.
The 2002-03 roster also includes two sophomores, Tene Lewis and Sakima Smith ... Lewis was named the Most Improved Player of the Year last season ... she played in 24 games, making three starts.
The freshman class includes four players, from four different states ... Britt Anderson (Fort Collins, Colo.), Martin (Noblesville, Ind.), Marisa Smith (Arnold, Pa.) and Jill Lause (Dublin, Ohio) join the squad ... all four frosh played in each of the first two contests ... additionally, Casey McDowell (Hudson, Ohio), a transfer from Indiana State University, is on campus, but will sit out the 2002-03 season per NCAA transfer rules ... McDowell will have three years of eligibility remaining.
On the sidelines, Curt Miller is joined by second-year assistants Jennifer Roos and Brandi Poole ... Kevin Eckert, who spent the last four seasons at the University at Buffalo, is in his first season on the staff.
BGSU went 5-7 at home last winter, and the Falcons were 3-10 on the road and 1-2 in neutral-site contests in 2001-02 ... BG went 4-4 at home and 2-6 on the road in MAC games.
The Falcons are shooting .383 from the field through the first two games, to the opponents' .389 FG pct. ... the Falcons have made 13 three-point field goals and are shooting .289 from behind the arc ... but, the foes have made 19 treys and have a long-distance pct. of .432 ... the Brown and Orange converted 44 free throws to the foes' 15 over the first two contests ... BGSU is shooting .863 from the stripe, compared to .536 for the opponents.
SCOUTING BUTLER
Butler takes a 1-1 record into the Fresno State Tournament (Nov. 29-30) ... the Bulldogs lost to visiting Bradley, 72-65, to open the season (Nov. 22) ... but BU rebounded for a 59-57 road win over Illinois State (Nov. 25) ... sophomore Angel Mason had 18 points, including 15 in the second half, in the win ... head coach Beth Couture is in her first season at Butler ... she has a record of 259-118 in her 14th season overall ... Couture inherits 10 letterwinners, including four returning starters, from last year's team which went 3-26 overall and 1-15 in Horizon League play ... the starters for each of the first two games included senior Colleen Munro-Leighton, juniors Nancy Bowden and Tiffany Smith and sophomores Maria Marchesano and Cortney Urquhart ... the school's athletic web site is www.butlersports.com.
THE SERIES
Butler holds a 2-1 lead in the all-time series between the teams, and the Bulldogs have won the last two meetings, including an overtime contest in Indianapolis last year ... exactly one year prior to this season's meeting, BU won a 78-73 decision behind a school record-tying 37 points from Sarah Bolten (Dec. 4, 2001) ... the other two series meetings came in the 1997-98 season ... the Falcons pulled away late for an 85-67 win in the first round of the UCF Turkey Shootout in Orlando, Fla. (Nov. 28, 1997) ... but, the Bulldogs exacted revenge, coming to Anderson Arena and posting a 95-90 win in the first round of the WNIT (March 13, 1998) ... that season marks the last time either team had a taste of national postseason action.
THIS MIGHT (OR MIGHT NOT) BE NOTEWORTHY
As mentioned, the Falcons' lone win over Butler came in the UCF Turkey Shootout in late November of 1997 ... BGSU's first-round win over the Bulldogs advanced the Falcons into the semifinal round of that eight-team tournament, where BG lost a 71-67 decision to Syracuse ... that SU team, which went on to post a blowout win over host UCF in the championship, featured an assistant coach by the name of Curt Miller.
LAST TIME OUT
Francine Miller and Stefanie Wenzel combined to score 45 points as the Falcons picked up an 81-62 win over Iona Sunday afternoon (Nov. 24) ... Miller, who played in only four games last year due to injury, made seven of her 11 shots from the field en route to a game-high 25 points ... Wenzel, a junior who led the Falcons in scoring a year ago, led BG with three three-point field goals and totalled 20 points ... senior Kim Griech also scored in double digits for the Brown and Orange, with 11 points for the second consecutive game ... Iona got 17 points each from Michelle Fahy and Melissa Yeagley, while Jamie Donnelly had 10 ... the first half featured four ties and six lead changes, before a trey by Griech snapped a 22-22 deadlock with 6:47 left before the break ... that shot, which gave the Falcons the lead for good, sparked a 7-0 BG run ... a Wenzel layup gave the Brown and Orange a nine-point lead, 36-27, before Fahy hit a pair of free throws to cut the halftime margin to seven ... in the second half, however, the hosts would take command ... Wenzel hit a triple off a set play just six seconds into the half ... after Donnelly scored a hoop at the other end, a Miller trey gave the Falcons an 11-point edge, 42-31 ... the lead got up to 16 on two occasions, before the Gaels made one last run ... back-to-back three-pointers by Fahy and LaShanna Crowell cut the margin to single digits, at 69-60, with 5:27 remaining ... but, the Falcons would go on a 12-2 run to end the game, with 10 of those 12 points coming from the free-throw line ... the Falcons salted the game away at the charity stripe, going 23-of-25 (.920) in the second half and 25-of-30 for the game ... IC, on the other hand, made just one of eight free-throw tries (.125) in the final 20 minutes, going 7-of-15 on the day ... the Brown and Orange shot .424 from the field and held the visitors to just a .343 field-goal percentage. BGSU also held a 47-39 advantage in rebounding, with senior Megan Jerome grabbing a game- and career-high nine boards ... in just 18 minutes of action off the bench, Jerome had six points, five assists and the nine rebounds ... freshman Molly Martin, making her second consecutive start at point guard, had two points and a team-high six assists.
MILLER MAKES HER MARK
Senior Francine Miller missed nearly all of last season due to injury, and still is not back to 100 percent ... but, her statistics over the first two games this year would make one believe she is totally healthy ... Miller averaged 20.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in the first two contests ... she led the Falcons in scoring in both games, with 16 points vs. Youngstown State and 25 vs. Iona ... she paced the Brown and Orange in rebounding (eight) in the opener, and had seven more boards in the second game ... Miller shot .565 from the field on the week, and was 11-of-12 from the free-throw line, including a perfect 9-for-9 effort in the Iona contest ... in that game, she scored 18 points in the second half.
AUSTIN LOOKS TO RETURN...
The Falcons played the first two games of the year without starting point guard Lindsay Austin ... the junior suffered a sprained ankle in practice the day before the season opener (Nov. 21), and did not suit up for the YSU or IC contests ... Austin, who had played in all 57 of BGSU's games -- starting 55 -- over her first two seasons, is expected back for the Butler game.
...BUT MARTIN DOES WELL IN HER ABSENCE
In Austin's absence, freshman Molly Martin was forced to make a quick adjustment to the collegiate game ... Martin drew the start at point guard in each of the first two games ... she had seven assists in her collegiate debut, vs. YSU, and added six more against Iona ... Martin had 13 assists and just four turnovers on the weekend.
MJ DOES IT ALL
Senior Megan Jerome, a 'two' guard who serves as the Falcons' emergency point guard, saw time at both positions over the first two games ... she had eight points, four rebounds and three assists in the opener against YSU ... then, Jerome had six points and posted career-high totals of nine rebounds and five assists in just 18 minutes in the win over Iona ... Jerome is averaging 7.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.
CHARITY BEGINS AT THE STRIPE
The Falcons' free-throw shooting performance was a big key to winning the Iona game ... BGSU went 23-of-25 from the line in the second half (.920), while IC was just 1-of-8 after the intermission ... for the game, the Falcons made 25-of-30 free-throw attempts (.833) to the Gaels' 7-of-15 (.467) performance.
FRANCINE THE SCORING MACHINE: MILLER ON BGSU CAREER CHARTS
Senior Francine Miller continues to move up the BGSU career scoring chart ... with 16 points against Youngstown State, Miller moved past Andrea Nordmann (1989-93) into 12th place in school history ... after scoring 25 points vs. Iona, Miller now has 1,190 career points ... her next target is 11th-place Jacki Raterman (1,213 points from 1995-99) ... Miller has averaged 14.17 points per game over the first 84 contests of her career, the third-best average in BGSU annals.
ANOTHER DOUBLE-DIGIT OUTING FOR MILLER
Francine Miller, who missed nearly all of last season due to injury, returned to the lineup and had a game-high 16 points vs. YSU ... then, she again had a game-high effort, with 25 points vs. Iona ... Miller had double-digit scoring totals in each of the three games in which she played last year (not counting the Detroit game, in which she was hurt less than four minutes into the game) ... she now has scored at least 10 points in 59 of her 84 career games, and has 19 games of 20 points or more ... that total includes three games of 25-plus points in her five full contests in the Curt Miller Era.
