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Bowling Green State University Athletics
BG Faces MAC Preseason Favorite
January 21, 2003 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 21, 2003
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
Complete Game Notes (26 pages) in PDF Format
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Bowling Green (9-6, 2-2 MAC)
at
Ball State (10-4, 4-0 MAC)
Game #16
Wednesday, January 22, 2003
7:00 p.m.
John E. Worthen Arena (11,500)
Muncie, Indiana
Radio: WBGU-FM (88.1)
Series: BGSU Leads, 33-9
Last Meeting: at Ball State 89, BGSU 60 (Jan. 19, 2002)
THE GAME
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, having posted a solid defensive effort in a win Saturday, now faces the two remaining Mid-American Conference unbeatens, both on the road, in the next two games. The Falcons (9-6, 2-2 MAC) of head coach Curt Miller will face preseason conference favorite Ball State University in Wednesday (Jan. 22) action. The contest is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start at BSU's John E. Worthen Arena (11,500).
Following the BSU game, the Falcons will play at Western Michigan University on Jan. 29, with that game scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start at University Arena (5,649) in Kalamazoo, Mich.
BGSU is in the midst of a five-game stretch which sees the Falcons play road games against the MAC West Division teams picked to finish first through fourth.
TELEVISION
Wednesday's game will be televised by the Ball State Sports Network, and will be aired throughout East-Central Indiana and parts of Western Ohio on Muncie's WIPB-TV (PBS) ... Chris Taylor will handle play-by-play duties, with former Colorado State head coach Tom Collen as color commentator ... Reid Druck is the sideline announcer.
FALCONS MATCH LAST YEAR'S WIN TOTAL
With the 63-45 win over Central Michigan Saturday (Jan. 18), the Falcons have matched the team's victory total for all of last season ... BGSU, 9-19 last winter, has an overall record of 9-6 heading into the Ball State contest ... this year's 15-game start is the best for a Falcon club since the 1997-98 team went 11-4 ... that 1997-98 squad went on to post 21 wins and earn a WNIT berth.
CSU REUNION WEDNESDAY
The Falcons' meeting with Ball State Wednesday will mark a reunion for BGSU head coach Curt Miller and several members of the BSU women's basketball family ... BSU assistant coach Nicki Collen and Miller both worked on the Colorado State staff in 1999-2000 and 2001-02 (Miller also was on the staff in 2000-01) ... the two served under then-CSU head coach Tom Collen, who will provide color commentary for the TV broadcast of Wednesday's game.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
BGSU, as mentioned, will take a 9-6 record into the BSU game ... the Falcons, after dropping two consecutive road contests, bounced back with Saturday's (Jan. 18) 63-45 home win over Central Michigan.
The Falcons had opened the MAC schedule with a 73-72 win over Ohio (Jan. 8), the team's second one-point win in as many games ... then, however, the Falcons saw a four-game winning streak snapped with a 78-58 loss at Northern Illinois (Jan. 11), and BGSU also fell at Toledo, 70-62, last Wednesday (Jan. 15) ... prior to the NIU game, the Falcons had won six of seven contests.
Senior Francine Miller continues to lead the Falcons in scoring, with 13.9 points per game ... she also paces the team in rebounding, with 5.6 per contest, and steals, with 2.4 per outing.
Senior Kim Griech is second in scoring, with 11.6 points per game, and leads the Brown and Orange in three-point field goals made (29) and free-throw percentage (.902; 37-of-41) ... Griech also leads BGSU in minutes played (28.3 mpg), and is second in assists (1.7 apg) ... she is averaging 14.5 points per game in MAC contests, second behind only Miller's 14.8 ppg average.
Junior Lindsay Austin is third on the team in scoring (11.1 ppg), and leads the Falcons in assists (4.2 apg) ... Austin is second on the team in steals (2.4 spg) and ranks third in the MAC with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.90.
Junior Stefanie Wenzel has 9.1 points per outing and a three-point field goal percentage of .372 (16-of-43) 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 seven contests due to injury and will likely sit out for the foreseeable future.
Freshmen Marisa Smith and Jill Lause average 4.3 and 4.1 points per game, respectively, while senior Megan Jerome has 4.1 ppg as well ... Smith has a team-best three-point FG pct. of .467 (14-of-30) on the year, while Jerome leads the Falcons in asst./TO ratio (2.00) and is third in assists (1.5 apg) ... Lause is shooting .524 (22-of-42) from the field this year, and has made 13 of her last 17 field-goal attempts.
Griech, Miller, Wenzel and senior Karen Stocz (3.5 ppg) have started all 15 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 season's outset, has started each of the last 11 contests, and the Falcons are 7-4 during that time.
On the sidelines, Curt Miller is joined by second-year assistants Jennifer Roos and Brandi Poole ... Kevin Eckert, who spent four seasons at the University at Buffalo, is in his first season on the staff.
The Falcons are 4-2 at home, 4-3 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 ... this season, the Falcons are 2-0 in Anderson Arena and 0-2 on the road in league contests.
The Falcons are shooting .404 from the field, while holding the opponents to a FG pct. of .383 ... BG has made 93 three-point field goals, and the Falcons are shooting .326 from behind the arc ... the foes have made 92 treys and have a long-distance pct. of .327 ... the Brown and Orange converted 225 free throws to the foes' 172 this year to date ... BGSU is shooting .753 from the stripe, compared to .647 for the opponents.
SCOUTING BALL STATE
Ball State, one of two remaining MAC unbeatens, has a 10-4 overall record and a 4-0 league mark ... the Cardinals, the preseason favorite to win the MAC, have won five consecutive games, including Saturday's (Jan. 18) 83-71 home victory over Ohio ... BSU, 3-0 at home this year, has won 26 of the last 29 games at Worthen Arena (.897) over the last three seasons ... individually, each of the Cards' five starters is ranked among the MAC leaders in at least one category ... senior forward Tamara Bowie leads the team, and the entire conference, in both scoring (20.0 ppg) and rebounding (9.2 rpg) ... Bowie is second in the league in both field-goal pct. (.564) and blocked shots ... sophomore G/F Kate Endress has 14.5 points and 7.0 rebounds, while junior guard Johna Goff has 13.9 points and 4.2 assists per contest ... Goff leads the MAC in three-point FG per game (2.77) ... junior F/C Jessica Reiter averages 9.7 points and 8.6 boards, ranking third in the MAC in the latter category ... the team's fifth starter, freshman guard Dana Collins, has 9.3 points and is second in the league with 5.3 assists ... head coach Tracy Roller has a record of 34-12 in her second year ... she welcomed back five letterwinners, including three starters, from last year's squad that went 24-8 overall and tied for the West Division title with a 13-3 MAC record ... BSU went to the WNIT a season ago, advancing to the second round ... the school's athletic web site is www.ballstatesports.com.
THE BGSU-BSU SERIES
The Falcons hold a 33-9 lead over Ball State in the all-time series between the teams, but the Cardinals broke a five-game BG series win streak with a convincing victory last season, 89-60 in Muncie (Jan. 19, 2002) ... that game marked the first meeting between the teams in nearly three years ... the Falcons hold a 12-8 advantage in games played in Muncie, including a 106-105 win in a four-overtime epic on Jan. 6, 1999 ... BGSU has won 17 of the last 19 meetings between the teams, but last year's game marked the most lopsided Cardinal victory in series history.
LAST TIME OUT
The Falcons used a solid team effort and stifling defense to post a 63-45 win over Central Michigan at Anderson Arena Saturday afternoon (Jan. 18) ...
BG HOLDS CMU TO 45
The Falcons surrendered only 45 points to Central Michigan ... that total marks the fewest points BG has allowed in a MAC game since a 68-44 win at Western Michigan on Feb. 1, 1997.
SECOND TIME THIS YEAR
BGSU held Savannah State to only 39 points in a Dec. 22 Falcon win, before limiting CMU to 45 points Saturday ... this season marks the first time since 1994-95 that the Falcons have held two opponents under 50 points ... that year, BG turned the trick against both Youngstown State (76-38; Dec. 1, 1994) and CMU (73-46; Jan. 11, 1995).
SHUTTING DOWN THE CHIPPEWAS
Since Jan. 26, 1994, the Falcons have held a total of eight opponents to fewer than 50 points in a game ... Central Michigan has been the opponent in four of those eight contests.
LEADERS AT THE HALF
The Falcons have led at halftime in all 10 home MAC games in the Curt Miller Era ... more importantly, though, the Falcons have a record of 6-4 in such games, and BGSU has won the last three home conference contests.
GO WEST
Saturday's game vs. CMU marked the Falcons' first home 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 9-2 record against their foes from the East ... six of the nine wins have come on the road ... in all league games, MAC West teams are 11-3 at home.
FALCONS ON THE ROAD
BGSU is 4-3 in true road games this season, after going 3-10 during all of 2001-02 ... BG is 5-4 in all 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.
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 BSU contest with a total of 1,357 points ... the next target for Miller is Stephanie Coe (1983-87), who had 1,363 career points ... Miller has averaged 13.99 points per game over the first 97 contests of her career, the third-best average in BGSU annals.
