Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Meet Cincinnati In Bearcat Invitational
December 20, 2002 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 20, 2002
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
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BGSU (4-3)
at
BEARCAT INVITATIONAL
GAMES #8-9SATURDAY-SUNDAY, DEC. 21-22, 2002
BGSU - CINCINNATI
UL LAFAYETTE - SAVANNAH STATE
SHOEMAKER CENTER (13,176)
CINCINNATI, OHIO
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1)
THE GAME(S)
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, after moving to 3-0 on the road this season with a pair of wins last week, will face perhaps the toughest test of the season to date this weekend. The Falcons of head coach Curt Miller will head to the Queen City for this weekend's Bearcat Invitational, hosted by the University of Cincinnati. The Falcons will face host UC in Saturday's (Dec. 21) first round, with tipoff scheduled for 4:00 p.m. Then, BGSU will meet either the University of Louisiana at Lafayette or Savannah State University in Sunday (Dec. 22) play. The Falcons' Sunday game is scheduled to get underway at 2:00 p.m., with the other contest slated for 4:00 p.m. (host UC will play in the 4:00 game regardless of Saturday's outcomes). All games will be played at the Myrl Shoemaker Center (13,176).
Following the Bearcat Invite, the Falcons will take a break for the holidays, returning to action with a Dec. 30 game vs. IUPUI. Tipoff for that contest is 7:00 p.m. at BGSU's venerable Anderson Arena (4,700).
AUSTIN, REIGNING MAC PLAYER OF WEEK, RETURNS TO HER HOMETOWN
BGSU junior Lindsay Austin was named the Mid-American Conference Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday (Dec. 16) ... Austin earned the honor for the first time in her Falcon career ... Austin, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, shared the West Division P-O-W honor with Western Michigan's Kristin Koetsier ... Austin averaged 16.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists as the Falcons went 2-0 on the road last week ... she had a career-high 20 points in a 76-58 win at IPFW (Dec. 11) and also set a new career standard with nine field goals made ... three days later, she went 5-of-9 from the field in a 62-59 victory at Cleveland State, adding a team-high four assists ... Austin also had seven rebounds, including a game-high four at the offensive end, in the win over the Vikings ... Austin made a pair of free throws in the final 21 seconds to help the Falcons close out the win at CSU ... on the week, she shot .640 from the field, making 14 of her 25 attempts ... after missing the first two games of the year due to injury, Austin has returned to average 9.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.2 steals in five games ... Austin will return to her hometown as the Falcons participate in this weekend's Bearcat Invitational.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
BGSU heads to Cincinnati with a 4-3 record on the season ... the Falcons have a two-game winning streak after posting a 62-59 victory at Cleveland State (Dec. 14), and BG has a 3-0 record in road games this season to date ... senior Francine Miller scored 23 points in the win at CSU, including 17 in the first half.
Prior to the CSU game, BG won at IPFW, 76-58 (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 the previous 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).
Miller leads the team in scoring, with 14.4 points per game ... she also paces the Falcons in rebounding, with 6.9 per game, and steals, with 2.4 per outing.
Griech is second on the Falcons with 12.6 points per game ... she paces the Brown and Orange in three-point field goals made (15), three-point FG pct. (.429; 15-of-25) and free-throw pct. (1.000; 17-of-17), and is second in field-goal pct. (.475).
Austin is averaging 9.8 points, 2.8 assists and 2.2 steals per game, while junior Stefanie Wenzel has 8.9 points per outing ... senior Megan Jerome has 5.4 points and is second on the team in rebounding (4.3 rpg) and third in assists (2.4 apg) ... redshirt junior Pam Brown has 3.7 rebounds to go with 5.0 points per game.
Griech, Miller, Wenzel and senior Karen Stocz (5.0 ppg) have started all seven games to date for the Falcons ... freshman Molly Martin, who is second on the team in assists (2.7 apg), 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 each of the last three contests.
The Falcons are 1-2 at home, 3-0 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 .388 from the field, to the opponents' .362 FG pct. ... the Falcons have made 41 three-point field goals and are shooting .299 from behind the arc ... but, the foes have made 49 treys and have a long-distance pct. of .336 ... the Brown and Orange converted 104 free throws to the foes' 79 over the first seven contests ... BGSU is shooting .788 from the stripe, compared to just .581 for the opponents.
SCOUTING CINCINNATI
Cincinnati will take an overall record of 5-2 into Saturday's game vs. BGSU ... the Bearcats are 4-0 at home after Thursday's (Dec. 19) 68-54 win over Rice ... UC had suffered a 65-55 loss at Nebraska Sunday (Dec. 15), dropping the team out of the Associated Press Top 25 poll after three weeks at #25 ... the 'Cats are now 32nd (also receiving votes) in the poll ... the loss at Nebraska snapped a four-game winning streak for UC ... the team's other loss came in the season opener at #20 Mississippi State, 76-70 (Nov. 22) ... UC's wins came over Dayton, Middle Tennessee State, Eastern Kentucky and Coastal Carolina ... individually, junior guard Valerie King leads the team with 21.3 points per game, while sophomore center Debbie Merrill has 19.0 points and a team-high 7.0 rebounds per game ... senior guard K.B. Sharp is averaging 10.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and a UC-high 6.6 assists per outing ... senior forward Carolyn Alexander has 9.4 points and 5.7 boards, while junior forward Brittani Young (3.9 ppg) rounds out the starting five ... head coach Laurie Pirtle has a record of 236-233 in her 17th season with the Bearcats ... Pirtle, 319-250 in her 20th year as a collegiate head coach, has nine letterwinners, including four starters, back from last year's 27-5 team ... that squad tied for second in Conference USA with a mark of 11-3, then won the league tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament ... the school's athletic web site is www.UCBearcats.com.
SCOUTING LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE
Louisiana-Lafayette has an overall record of 2-5, following a 70-41 loss at nationally-ranked South Carolina Wednesday (Dec. 18) ... prior to that setback, the Ragin' Cajuns had won two of the last three games, with wins over Missouri (67-59; Nov. 30) and Southeastern Louisiana (48-45; Dec. 11) ... ULL's other losses have come against Nicholls State, Memphis, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Louisiana Tech ... individually, senior guard Charlotte Green leads the team with 13.2 points per game, and also has 6.7 rebounds to tie for the team lead ... senior forward Sarah Richey has 13.0 points and 6.6 boards per game, while junior guard Sharee Glenn has 10.7 points ... junior guard Tammie White has 3.4 points and leads the Cajuns with 3.1 assists per outing ... senior forward Brooke Williams (1.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg) rounds out the probable starters ... J. Kelley Hall is in his first season as a collegiate head coach ... he has 10 letterwinners, including three starters, from last year's team ... that squad finished 7-21 overall and placed sixth in the West Division of the Sun Belt Conference with a 1-14 league record ... the school's athletic web site is www.ragincajuns.com.
SCOUTING SAVANNAH STATE
Savannah State will take an overall record of 1-11 into the Bearcat Invitational, after losing at Georgia Southern, 69-51, Wednesday (Dec. 18) ... the Lady Tigers' lone win to date came against Morris Brown (74-66; Dec. 7) ... other SSU opponents this season have included Radford (57-86; Nov. 23), IPFW (46-96; Nov. 24), Purdue (25-103; Nov. 28), Holy Cross (39-74; Nov. 29), GSU (37-82; Dec. 1), Alcorn State (51-60; Dec. 6), Western Carolina (56-71; Dec. 9), Charleston Southern (48-79; Dec. 12), Bethune-Cookman (56-70; Dec. 14) and Stetson (48-59; Dec. 16)... SSU, 4-24 last season, is competing in NCAA Division I for the first time this season ... individually, sophomore guard Kemetris Hill was averaging 11.5 points prior to Wednesday's game, while junior F/C Tiffany Stephens had 10.9 points and a team-high 9.5 rebounds per game ... junior forward Kewanda Walker (7.1 ppg), junior guard Crystal Martin (3.3 ppg, 5.3 apg), like Hill and Stephens, have started the bulk of the games to date ... head coach Robert Eskew is in his first season with the Lady Tigers ... last year, SSU went 4-24 ... the school was approved for full NCAA Division-I status on Sept. 1, 2002, and is competing in Division I for the first time ... the school has a web site, and the url is www.savstate.edu/athletics.
THE SERIES
The Falcons trail Cincinnati, 9-6, in the all-time series between the teams ... BGSU has won the last three meetings, although the teams have not met in nearly a decade (since Jan. 4, 1993) ... BGSU is 1-6 all-time in games played at UC, but that one win came in the last game there (Nov. 30, 1991) ... the home team has won 11 of 13 meetings in the series (two meetings were at neutral sites) ... the Falcons' wins over the Bearcats include the lone NCAA Tournament win in BGSU women's basketball history, a 69-59 win at Anderson Arena on March 15, 1989 ... the Falcons have never met either Louisiana-Lafayette or Savannah State in women's basketball.
FRANCINE THE SCORING MACHINE: MILLER NOW NINTH ON BGSU CAREER CHARTS
Senior Francine Miller continues her climb up the BGSU career scoring chart ... in the Cleveland State game, Miller moved up a notch for the second consecutive contest ... she had 23 points vs. the Vikings, moving past Michelle Shade (1,233 pts.; 1991-95) into ninth place in school history ... entering the UC game, Miller has 1,250 career points ... her next target is Stephanie Coe (1983-87), who had 1,363 career points ... Miller has averaged 14.04 points per game over the first 89 contests of her career, the third-best average in BGSU annals.
GOOD START
The Falcons have an overall record of 4-3 heading into the UC tournament ... that seven-game start is the best for BGSU since the 1998-99 team also went 4-3 to begin the year ... the last team to post a better start was the 1997-98 squad, which began at 5-2 en route to 21 wins and a WNIT berth.
ON THE ROAD
The Falcons are 3-0 in road games this season, heading into the Cincinnati game ... BGSU won a total of three road games during all of last year, going 3-10 on the road.
TOUGH DEFENSE
In BG's win at IPFW (Dec. 11), the Falcons held the Mastodons to a field-goal percentage of just .295 ... that 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 'Dons 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 seven games ... the Falcons just missed a fourth such effort, as Cleveland State shot .351 against BGSU.
HOLDING THEM UNDER 60
The Falcons allowed IPFW only 58 points in that win, then limited Cleveland State to 59 points three days later ... that marked the eighth and ninth times in the first 35 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 171-13 when holding the opponent to less than 60 points ... BG is now 117-4 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 1-3 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 (Dec. 11).
CHARITY BEGINS AT THE STRIPE
Bowling Green has had success at the free-throw line in the early part of the season ... through seven games, the Falcons have a FT pct. of .788 ... that average includes the UNC Wilmington game, in which the Falcons were a perfect 11-for-11 at the line ... the best single-game performance in school history is the Falcons' 12-for-12 effort vs. Northern Illinois on Feb. 23, 1999 ... BGSU's free-throw pct. "defense" has been helpful as well, as the opponents have shot just .581 from the line.
CHARITY BEGINS AT THE STRIPE, PART DEUX
The Falcons' free-throw shooting performance was a big key to winning the Iona game (Nov. 24) ... 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.
TOURNAMENT TITLE PROVES ELUSIVE
The Falcons advanced to the championship game of the Radisson Suites Roundball Classic with a 77-62 victory over host FAU on Dec. 6 ... for BGSU, the title-game appearance was the first in two years ... the Falcons' last championship-game action came at the Kroger Classic in Auburn, Ala. (Nov. 24-25, 2000) ... in that tournament, BGSU downed Charleston Southern, 80-76, before losing to host AU, 94-61 ... prior to the Auburn tourney, the Falcons had not advanced to the championship contest of an in-season tournament since 1992-93 ... that year, the Falcons beat Marquette, but lost to host Purdue in the Boilermaker Classic (Dec. 20-21, 1992) ... BGSU lost to UNC-Wilmington in Saturday's championship game at FAU ... BG has not won an in-season tourney since capturing the Illini Classic during the 1988-89 campaign ... during that stretch, however, Falcon teams have won the MAC Tournament four times.
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 1,250 points ... that places her in 64th place all-time among MAC players, and third among active players around the conference ... she now has 497 career rebounds to rank fourth in the conference among active players ... her total of 138 three-point field goals made places her third among MAC players ... she also ranks among the active leaders in steals (143, fourth) and assists (204, fifth).
OTHER FALCONS AMONG MAC CAREER LEADERS
In addition to Francine Miller, a few other Falcons are ranked among the MAC's active career leaders ... senior Kim Griech is fourth in three-point field goals made, with 130, and is 14th in scoring (732 points) ... junior Lindsay Austin is tied for third in assists (247) and ranks 28th in scoring (505 pts.).
120 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 120 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.
YET ANOTHER DOUBLE-DIGIT OUTING FOR MILLER
Francine Miller scored a team-leading 23 points in the win at Cleveland State ... she now has scored at least 10 points in 62 of her 89 career games, and has 20 games of 20 points or more ... that total includes three games of 25-plus points in her 10 full contests in the Curt Miller Era.
JEROME DOES THE JOB
Megan Jerome may not be flashy, but the Falcon senior has been getting the job done on the court ... Jerome made a number of key plays in the narrow win at Cleveland State (Dec. 14) ... with under four minutes left, she hit a key jumper to give the Falcons a three-point lead ... CSU cut the deficit to a single point, and had the ball with a chance to take the lead in the final minute of play ... as CSU's Nikki Perkins crossed the midcourt line, she fired a pass toward a teammate in front of the Viking bench ... Jerome got a hand on the pass, which then deflected off the CSU player and out of bounds, giving BG the ball with 46 seconds left ... on the ensuing possession, a Falcon teammate misfired on a three-point attempt, but Jerome slipped through traffic under the basket for a key offensive rebound, giving BG the ball and a fresh shot clock ... she pulled the ball back out, and the Brown and Orange ran the clock down to 21.2 seconds before the Vikings were forced to foul ... in 110 minutes of action through seven games, Jerome has committed just six turnovers ... she has a team-best assist/turnover ratio of 2.83.
