Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Head To Cleveland State
December 13, 2002 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 13, 2002
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
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BGSU (3-3)
at
CLEVELAND STATE (0-4)
GAME #7
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2002
4:30 p.m.
HENRY J. GOODMAN ARENA (13,610)
CSU CONVOCATION CENTER
CLEVELAND, OHIO
Radio: WBGU-FM (88.1)
Series: BGSU leads, 7-3
Last Meeting: at BGSU 85, CSU 64 (Feb. 20, 1988)
THE GAME
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, 2-0 on the road on the young season, will look to put together a winning streak for the first time in the 2002-03 campaign. The Falcons of head coach Curt Miller will head to Northeast Ohio for a Saturday (Dec. 14) game vs. Cleveland State University. The contest will begin at 4:30 p.m. at the Henry J. Goodman Arena in the CSU Convocation Center (13,610).
Following the CSU game, the Falcons will take a break for exam week, before the final pre-holiday action, a trip to the Bearcat Invitational, hosted by Cincinnati, on Dec. 21-22. The Falcons will face the host school, #25-ranked UC, in the first round, and will meet either UL-Lafayette or Savannah State in Sunday action.
BGSU-CSU TIES
Despite the schools' relatively close proximity, BGSU and Cleveland State have not met in women's basketball in nearly 15 years ... still, there are some ties between the two programs ...
WBGU RADIO TO BROADCAST AT LEAST 25 GAMES THIS SEASON
WBGU-FM (88.1) is scheduled to air 24 regular-season games, including the CSU 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 heads to Cleveland with a 3-3 record on the season ... the Falcons have yet to put together a two-game winning or losing streak this season, having alternated victories and setbacks.
BG is coming off a 76-58 win at IPFW Wednesday night (Dec. 11), behind a career-high 20 points from junior Lindsay Austin ... the Falcons split a pair of games at the Radisson Suites Roundball Classic last weekend, defeating host Florida Atlantic, 77-62, in Friday action (Dec. 6) before falling to UNC-Wilmington by a 72-55 count in the championship game the next evening ... senior Kim Griech was BGSU's lone representative to the all-tournament team.
The Falcons 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) ... just prior to leaving for Florida, the Falcons dropped a 61-54 decision to visiting Butler (Dec. 4).
Senior Francine Miller leads the team in scoring, with 13.0 points per game ... she also paces the Falcons in rebounding, with 6.5 per game, and steals, with 2.7 per outing.
Griech is second on the Falcons with 12.8 points per game ... she paces the Brown and Orange in several categories, including field goal percentage (.533; 24-of-45), three-point field goals made (14), three-point FG pct. (.500; 14-of-28) and free-throw pct. (1.000; 15-of-15).
Junior Stefanie Wenzel has 9.7 points per outing, while Austin is averaging 9.3 points, 2.5 assists and 2.3 steals in four games ... senior Megan Jerome has 5.7 points and is tied for the team lead in assists, with 2.7 per game ... Jerome ranks second on the team in rebounding (4.3 rpg), while redshirt junior Pam Brown has 4.0 rebounds to go with 5.6 points per game.
Griech, Miller, Wenzel and senior Karen Stocz (4.8 ppg) have started all six games to date for the Falcons ... freshman Molly Martin, who is tied with Jerome for the team assist lead, started the first four contests at point guard ... Austin, who missed the season's first two games due to a sprained ankle, played the next two games off the bench before starting the UNCW and IPFW contests.
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 Austin, Brown and Wenzel ... Austin, as mentioned, 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 has come off the bench to play in the last five games, and has compiled her averages of 5.6 points and 4.0 rebounds in just over 12 minutes of action per game.
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 named 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.), Jill Lause (Dublin, Ohio), Martin (Noblesville, Ind.) and Marisa Smith (Arnold, Pa.) join the squad ... Anderson and Martin have seen action in all six games, while Lause and Smith each have played in five contests ... additionally, Casey McDowell (Hudson, Ohio), a transfer from Indiana State University, is on campus, but is sitting 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.
The Falcons are 1-2 at home, 2-0 on the road and 0-1 in neutral-site games ... 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 .391 from the field through the first six games, to the opponents' .364 FG pct. ... the Falcons have made 38 three-point field goals and are shooting .322 from behind the arc ... but, the foes have made 44 treys and have a long-distance pct. of .358 ... the Brown and Orange converted 89 free throws to the foes' 65 over the first six contests ... BGSU is shooting .781 from the stripe, compared to just .586 for the opponents.
SCOUTING CLEVELAND STATE
Cleveland State brings an overall record of 0-4 into Saturday's game against the Falcons ... the Vikings have been idle from competition since a Dec. 3 home loss to Akron (65-73) ... in the only other home game this season, CSU fell to Niagara by a 73-71 count (Nov. 30) ... the Vikings opened the season with road losses to Western Michigan (78-93; Nov. 24) and then-#10 Notre Dame (65-107; Nov. 26) ... individually, junior forward Ashley Schrock leads the team with 15.8 points per game ... she also has 6.5 rebounds per contest ... senior guard Erika Roudebush, named to the All-Horizon League First Team last season, has 14.0 points, while junior forward Shannon Sword has 11.3 points and a team-leading 8.0 rebounds ... junior center Karyn Woloszynek averages 9.0 points and 6.5 boards ... the aforementioned four players have started every game to date, as has sophomore guard Nikki Perkins ... Perkins has 1.5 points and a team-best 4.3 assists ... head coach Duffy Burns has a record of 92-108 in his eighth year as a collegiate head coach, all with the Vikings ... Burns has 10 letterwinners, including all five starters, back from last year's 13-15 team ... that squad placed sixth in the Horizon League with a 7-9 mark ... the school's athletic web site is www.csuvikings.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons hold a 7-3 lead over Cleveland State in the all-time series between the teams ... BGSU has won the last five meetings, although the teams have not met since Feb. 20, 1988 ... the Falcons, who will be playing in Goodman Arena for the first time Saturday, are 2-2 in road games vs. the Vikings ... each of the first six games in the series were decided by 10 points or less, with two of those contests going to overtime ... the last four meetings all have resulted in BG wins of 19 points or more.
FRANCINE THE SCORING MACHINE: MILLER NOW IN TOP-10 ON BGSU CAREER CHARTS
Senior Francine Miller continues her climb up the BGSU career scoring chart ... in the IPFW game, Miller moved past Melissa Chase (1,223 pts. from 1979-83) into 10th place in school history ... entering the CSU game, Miller has 1,227 career points ... she needs just six points to move up another spot on the list ... she has ninth-place Michelle Shade (1,233 pts.; 1991-95) in her sights ... Miller has averaged 13.94 points per game over the first 88 contests of her career, the third-best average in BGSU annals.
ON THE ROAD
The Falcons are 2-0 in road games, heading into the Cleveland State game ... BGSU won a total of three road games during all of last year, going 3-10 on the road.
TOUGH DEFENSE
The Falcons held IPFW to a field-goal percentage of just .295 in Wednesday's (Dec. 11) win ... the FG pct. is the lowest for a BGSU opponent in over eight years ... the Brown and Orange had not held the other team to a shooting rate of under .300 since Dec. 1, 1994, in a 76-38 win over Youngstown State ... in the IPFW contest, the Falcons allowed only three baskets over the final 14:21 of the first half, then held the Mastodons without a point in the first 2:28 of the second half ... the Falcons allowed IPFW just seven field goals and a field-goal pct. of .212 in the first 20 minutes.
TOUGH DEFENSE II
The Falcons held opponents to a field goal percentage of .350 or less seven times last year, after doing so just once in 29 games the previous year ... this season, BGSU has turned the trick three times in the first six games.
TURNING UP THE 'D'
In Curt Miller's first season, the Falcons were markedly improved on defense ... BGSU showed glimpses of that stingy defense against YSU in this year's opener ... the Falcons, trailing by a 47-40 score early in the second half of that game, did not allow the Penguins to score a point for the next 8:15 of the contest ... in fact, BGSU held YSU without a basket for a stretch of 9:54 in that second half ... then, the Falcons held the opponents without a point for 8:35, spanning the end of the Iona game (4:24) and the start of the Butler contest (4:11).
OFFENSE GETS IN GEAR
BGSU shot .439 from the field at IPFW, including .515 in the second half ... the Falcons made 17-of-33 shots in the final 20 minutes, BG's best shooting half this year to date ... the Brown and Orange had a FG pct. of over .500 only four times in 56 halves of play last season.
AUSTIN, INDIANA?
Junior Lindsay Austin had a career-high 20 points in Wednesday's win at IPFW, scoring 10 points in each half ... the scoring total broke her previous high of 17 points, which came in the Falcons' last non-conference game in the state of Indiana ... the point guard scored 17 in BG's trip to Butler last season.
HOLDING THEM UNDER 60
The Falcons allowed IPFW only 58 points in the win on Wednesday ... that marked the eighth time in the first 34 games of the Curt Miller Era that BGSU held the opponent under 60 points ... prior to Miller's arrival, the Falcons had held foes to less than 60 points in only eight games over the previous four seasons combined ... BG had won 93 consecutive games over an 18-year span when holding the opposition to less than 60 points, but that streak came to an end last Dec. 27, when BGSU lost to Yale despite allowing just 51 points ... the last Falcon loss in such a situation had come early in the 1983-84 season, in a 59-47 loss at Indiana ... in the history of the program, the Falcons now have a record of 170-13 when holding the opponent to less than 60 points ... BG is 116-4 in such games over the last 21-plus seasons.
SCORING 70 THEMSELVES
While the Falcons have had success when holding opponents under 60 points, the 70-point benchmark might be a better barometer for this year's BG offense ... the Falcons are 3-0 this year when scoring more than 70 points in a game, and BG is 0-3 when held to fewer than 70 points ... last year, BGSU was 6-3 when scoring 70 points or more, and 3-16 when held under 70.
BIG WIN(S) ON THE ROAD
Believe it or not, the Falcons' 15-point margin of victory in the Florida Atlantic game was the team's biggest road win in nearly six years ... the last time the Falcons had posted a win of 15 points or greater on an opponent's home court was Feb. 1, 1997, when the Brown and Orange won at Western Michigan, 68-44 ... then, BGSU won by an 18-point margin in the next road game, at IPFW Wednesday (Dec. 11).
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, she continues to add to her impressive career totals ... as mentioned earlier, Miller now has a career total of 1,227 points ... that places her in a tie for 68th place all-time among MAC players, and third among active players around the conference ... she now has 488 career rebounds to rank fourth in the conference among active players ... her total of 136 three-point field goals made places her third among MAC players ... she also ranks among the active leaders in steals (142, fourth) and assists (203, fifth).
119 GAMES AND COUNTING
The Falcons have made at least one three-point field goal in every game during the past four-plus years ... in fact, BGSU now has drained a triple in each of the last 119 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.
