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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons, Rockets Meet Wednesday
January 15, 2003 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 15, 2003
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
Complete Game Notes (24 pages) in PDF Format
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Bowling Green (8-5, 1-1)
at
Toledo (8-5, 1-1)
at
Toledo (8-5, 1-1)
Game #14
Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2003
7:00 p.m.
John F. Savage Hall (9,000)
Toledo, Ohio
Radio: WBGU-FM (88.1)
Series: BGSU leads, 28-24
Last meeting: at Toledo 82, BGSU 51 (Jan. 30, 2002)
THE GAME
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, coming off a loss in the Mid-American Conference road opener, remain on the road for a meeting with the team's arch-rival. The Falcons (8-5, 1-1 MAC) of head coach Curt Miller, having won four of the last five games, will meet the Rockets in Wednesday (Jan. 15) action at John F. Savage Hall (9,000). Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
Following the UT game, the Falcons will return home for a Saturday (Jan. 18) contest vs. Central Michigan University. That game, BG's only home action in a five-game stretch, begins at 1;00 p.m. at venerable Anderson Arena (4,700) and is the first half of a Falcon hoops doubleheader. The BGSU men will take on Akron in a 4:00 p.m. start.
GOOD START
The Falcons are just one win away from the team's victory total for all of last year ... BGSU, 9-19 last winter, has an overall record of 8-5 heading into the UT contest ... this year's 13-game start is the best for a Falcon club since the 1997-98 team went 10-3 to begin the year ... that 1997-98 squad went on to post 21 wins and earn a WNIT berth.
WBGU RADIO TO BROADCAST AT LEAST 25 GAMES
WBGU-FM (88.1) is scheduled to air 24 regular-season games, including all remaining regular-season contests, 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, as mentioned, will take an 8-5 record into the UT game ... the Falcons opened the MAC schedule with a 73-72 win over visiting Ohio last Wednesday (Jan. 8) ... senior Francine Miller had a game-high 20 points, while junior Lindsay Austin had her first collegiate double-double, with 17 points and a career-high 10 assists ... but, BGSU saw a four-game winning streak snapped with Saturday's (Jan. 11) 78-58 loss at Northern Illinois ... senior Kim Griech had a game-high 21 points in that contest.
Prior to the NIU game, the Falcons had won four consecutive games, and six of seven contests ... the Ohio game marked the Falcons' second consecutive one-point win, as BG closed the non-conference slate by hanging on for a 70-69 victory at Oakland (Jan. 3) ... Miller had a team-high 23 points in that contest, while sophomore Tene Lewis clinched the win by stealing an OU inbounds pass in the final seconds ... that game came on the heels of a come-from-behind win over IUPUI, 69-59, on Dec. 30.
The Falcons had ended the pre-Christmas slate by splitting a pair of games at the Bearcat Invitational (Dec. 21-22) ... BG dropped an 88-57 decision to host Cincinnati, but bounced back in a big way, beating Savannah State by a 50-point margin, 89-39, in the consolation game ... freshman Marisa Smith exploded for 22 points, including six three-point field goals, in the latter game ... Austin, a Cincinnati native, was BGSU's lone representative to the all-tournament team.
Prior to the UC tourney, BG won road games at IPFW, 76-58 (Dec. 11), behind a career-high 20 points from Austin, and at Cleveland State, 62-59 (Dec. 14) ... Miller had 23 points, including 17 in the first half, of the CSU game.
Miller continues to lead the team in scoring, with 13.9 points per game ... she also paces the Falcons in rebounding, with 5.5 per contest, and steals, with 2.3 per outing.
Griech is second in scoring, with 11.4 points per game, and paces the Brown and Orange in three-point field goals made (24) and free-throw pct. (.938; 30-of-32) ... Griech leads BGSU in minutes played (27.5 mpg).
Austin is third on the team in scoring (10.2 ppg), and leads the Falcons in both assists (4.5 apg) ... Austin is second on the Falcons in steals (2.2 spg), and is tops on the team and second in the MAC with an assist-to-TO ratio of 2.13.
Junior Stefanie Wenzel has 9.5 points per outing and a three-point field-goal percentage of .375 (15-of-40) on the year ... redshirt junior Pam Brown has averages of 5.3 points and 3.4 rebounds in seven games, but has missed the last five contests due to injury and will likely sit out for the foreseeable future.
Marisa Smith averages 4.8 points per game, while freshman Jill Lause and senior Megan Jerome have 4.3 and 4.2 ppg, respectively ... Smith has a team-best three-point FG pct. of .538 (14-of-26) on the year, while Jerome is second on the team in both assists (1.6 apg) and asst./TO ratio (2.10) ... Lause, who is shooting .528 (19-of-36) from the field this year, has made 10 of her last 11 field-goal attempts.
Griech, Miller, Wenzel and senior Karen Stocz (3.6 ppg) have started all 13 games to date for the Falcons ... freshman Molly Martin had started the first four contests at point guard ... Martin, however, left the team in late December for personal reasons ... Austin, slowed by a sprained ankle at the start of the season, has started each of the last nine contests, and the Falcons are 6-3 during that time.
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 returned 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 winter, and was granted an additional year of eligibility.
The freshman class now includes three players, from three different states ... Britt Anderson (Fort Collins, Colo.), Lause (Dublin, Ohio) and Marisa Smith (Arnold, Pa.) joined the squad for the 2002-03 campaign ... Anderson has seen action in all 13 games, while the other two frosh each have played in 12 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 3-2 at home, 4-2 on the road and 1-1 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 last year.
The Falcons are shooting .405 from the field, while holding the opponents to a FG pct. of .389 ... BG has made 82 three-point field goals, and the Falcons are shooting .333 from behind the arc ... the foes have made 86 treys and have a long-distance pct. of .340 ... the Brown and Orange converted 193 free throws to the foes' 141 over the first 13 contests ... BGSU is shooting .748 from the stripe, compared to .629 for the opponents.
SCOUTING TOLEDO
Toledo, like BGSU, checks into Wednesday's game with records of 8-5 overall and 1-1 in the MAC ... and, like the Falcons, the Rockets won the conference opener, but lost on Saturday (Jan. 11) ... UT had a 48-42 win at Akron before falling at Eastern Michigan by a 71-67 count ... the Rockets are 4-1 at home this year, a record which includes a victory over DePaul (61-51; Dec. 15) ... individually, senior forward Tia Davis leads the team in both scoring and rebounding, with 17.8 points and 7.0 rebounds ... the Rockets' other senior, Teresa Kahle, averages 11.7 points and 6.6 boards to rank second on the team in both categories ... a pair of junior guards are third and fourth in scoring, as Kelly Walker has 11.5 points and Mary Blessing 5.5 ... Blessing leads the Midnight Blue and Gold with 5.0 assists per outing ... Blessing, Tia Davis, Kahle and Walker each have started all 13 games to date, while freshman G/F Amanda Davis has started six contests, including the EMU game ... Mark Ehlen is 165-60 in his eighth year with the Rockets ... he has an overall mark of 286-190 in his 17th season as a collegiate head coach ... Ehlen welcomed back seven letterwinners, including two starters, from last year's team that went 17-11 overall and 12-4 in MAC action ... the school's athletic web site is www.utrockets.com.
THE BGSU-TOLEDO SERIES
The Falcons hold a 28-24 lead over Toledo in the all-time series between the teams, but the Rockets have won the last two meetings and six of the last seven contests ... BGSU's last win over Toledo came just over two years ago, a 63-58 decision at Anderson Arena (Jan. 13, 2001) ... the Rockets hold a 14-9 lead in home games vs. the Falcons, and UT has won the last three meetings and seven of the last eight at Savage Hall ... that home streak includes last year's lone game, an 82-51 Toledo triumph in the Glass City (Jan. 30, 2002) ... each of UT's six wins in the last seven meetings have been by 13 points or more.
SOME MAC SERIES INFORMATION
The Northern Illinois victory over the Falcons gives the Huskies a narrow 10-9 advantage in the all-time series between those teams ... NIU becomes the only MAC school to hold a series advantage over BGSU ... the Falcons lead the all-time series with 10 of the 12 MAC opponents, and BGSU and Buffalo are tied, 4-4, in that series ... the Falcons will get a chance to even the NIU series, in the teams' 2002-03 rematch on Feb. 1 in Anderson Arena.
LAST TIME OUT
Host Northern Illinois scored 15 of the game's first 18 points and led from start to finish en route to a 78-58 win over the Falcons Saturday afternoon (Jan. 11) at NIU's brand-new Convocation Center ... the Falcons got a game-high 21 points from senior Kim Griech, who made four of her eight three-point attempts in the game ... for more information on the NIU game, click here.
GO WEST
Saturday's game at NIU marked BGSU's first intradivisional contest since moving to the MAC's West Division ... the Falcons, who have played in the East Division since the MAC went to a divisional format five years ago, moved to the West Division for the 2002-03 campaign ... the move was a result of the MAC's adding the University of Central Florida as a football-only member and placing UCF in the East Division.
NOTHING'S EASY IN THE WEST
The 2002-03 season marks the Falcons' first year as a member of the MAC's West Division ... in the early going in conference play, it would appear that the West is the tougher division this winter ... heading into Wednesday's games, West Division teams have a combined 6-0 record against their foes from the East ... four of those wins have come on the road ... in all league games, MAC West teams are perfect at home this season, with a record of 7-0.
EARLY-SEASON SUCCESS ON THE ROAD
Despite Saturday's loss at NIU, the Falcons have won four of the last six games away from home ... BGSU is 4-2 in true road games this season, after going 3-10 during all of 2001-02 ... BG is 5-3 in games played away from Anderson (both road and neutral-site contests) this winter, after posting a 4-12 mark in such games a year ago.
LAUSE LIGHTS IT UP
Freshman Jill Lause missed her first field-goal attempt of the NIU game, ending her streak of consecutive field goals made at nine ... Lause hit her only other shot of the game, though, and now has made 10 of her last 11 FG tries ... on the season, Lause is shooting .528 from the field (19-of-36) ... she had the finest game of her young Falcon career in the win over IUPUI (Dec. 30), coming off the bench to post a season high in scoring for the second consecutive game ... after scoring eight points in the Savannah State game (Dec. 22), Lause was 6-of-6 from the field en route to 14 points vs. IUPUI ... she tied her season best for rebounds, with five, and set new standards in assists (two), steals (one) and minutes played (26) ... after scoring a total of 19 points in her first seven collegiate games, Lause scored 22 points over the next two contests.
SMITH'S STELLAR SHOOTING
Another Falcon freshman, Marisa Smith, went 2-for-2 from three-point land in the Northern Illinois contest ... she now is 14-of-26 from long range on the year ... with a three-point FG pct. of .538, Smith is on pace to set a new school single-season record ... teammate Francine Miller currently holds the record, having shot .453 (43-of-95) from beyond the arc in 1999-2000 ... the MAC record is .497, by WMU's Kelly DeLong in 1995-96 ... Smith has made her last four three-point attempts, and has drained eight of her last nine long-range shots dating to the second half of the Savannah State game.
FRANCINE THE SCORING MACHINE: MILLER SURPASSES 1,300 CAREER POINTS
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 (Dec. 14), moving past Michelle Shade (1,233 pts.; 1991-95) into ninth place in school history ... with 20 points in the Ohio game, Miller surpassed the 1,300-point mark for her career ... she enters the Toledo contest with a total of 1,330 points ... the next target for Miller is Stephanie Coe (1983-87), who had 1,363 career points ... Miller has averaged 14.00 points per game over the first 95 contests of her career, the third-best average in BGSU annals.
FOUR IN A ROW -- FIRST TIME IN A WHILE
The Falcons had won four consecutive games and six of seven contests prior to the loss at NIU ... BGSU had not won four games in a row in almost two years, since a four-game win streak from Jan. 3-13, 2001 ... the last time BGSU won six-of-seven games was nearly three years ago, from Feb. 7-28, 2000.
FALCONS' 450TH
The win at Oakland marked the 450th victory in school history ... the Falcons are now 451-309 all-time, for a winning percentage of .593 ... according to Mid-American Conference records, BGSU was the third MAC school to reach 450 wins, after Northern Illinois and Toledo.
THE AIR UP THERE
Prior to the loss at NIU, the Falcons were four games above the .500 mark for the first time since the end of the 1997-98 season, which BG finished at 21-8 ... BGSU remains three games over the .500 mark ... prior to the win at Oakland, the Falcons had not been three games above the break-even mark since the close of that 1997-98 campaign.
TIME CHANGE FOR MIAMI GAME
The starting time for the Falcons' Feb. 15 game vs. Miami has been changed ... the game will now begin at 4:30 p.m. at Anderson Arena ... the time was changed because the BGSU men's game vs. Western Michigan has been included in the MAC's television package ... the men's game will begin at 2:00 p.m. at Anderson.
CHARITY BEGINS AT THE STRIPE
Bowling Green has had a measure of success at the free-throw line in the early part of the season ... BGSU has made more free throws than the opponent in eight of this year's 13 games, after doing so nine times during all of last season ... through this year's 13 games, the Falcons have a FT pct. of .748 ... 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 .629 from the line.
CHARITY BEGINS AT THE STRIPE, PART II (AND III)
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 ... in the game at Northern Illinois (Jan. 11), the Falcons missed the first three field-goal attempts of the day, but then made the next 19 in a row to finish the game at .864 on the afternoon.
WINNING THE CLOSE ONES
BGSU has a record of 3-2 in games decided by single digits this year, after going just 4-8 in such contests last season ... after losing two single-digit home games in the first three games this season, the Falcons have won three consecutive single-digit affairs, including one-point victories in each of two consecutive contests, vs. Oakland and Ohio.
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 1,330 points ... that places her 54th all-time among MAC players, and third among active players around the conference ... she now has 520 career rebounds to rank fifth in the conference among active players ... her total of 145 three-point field goals made places her third among MAC players ... she also ranks among the active leaders in steals (156, fourth) and assists (210, sixth).
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 139, and is 14th in scoring (792 points) ... junior Lindsay Austin is second in assists (281) and is tied for 29th in scoring (568 pts.), while classmate Stefanie Wenzel is now 37th on the active scoring chart, with 484 points.
FALCONS AMONG MAC SEASONAL LEADERS
A number of Falcons are listed among the MAC's statistical leaders this season ... senior Kim Griech leads the conference in free-throw pct., and is sixth in three-point field goals made ... freshman Marisa Smith is first in three-point FG pct. ... senior Francine Miller is tied for 12th in the league in scoring, and is fifth in steals, ninth in FT pct. and tied for 13th in blocked shots ... junior Lindsay Austin is second in assist/turnover ratio, seventh in both assists and steals and 14th in FG pct. ... freshman Jill Lause is seventh in blocked shots, while junior Stefanie Wenzel is tied for 14th in three-point FG pct.
YET ANOTHER DOUBLE-DIGIT OUTING FOR MILLER
Francine Miller scored 20 points in the win over Ohio, and had 12 at NIU ... Miller has scored at least 10 points in 67 of her 95 career games, and has 22 games of 20 points or more.
