Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Face Buffalo Wednesday
February 11, 2003 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 11, 2003
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
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Bowling Green (10-10, 3-6 MAC)
at
Buffalo (11-9, 3-6 MAC)
Game #21
Wednesday, February 12, 2003
7:00 p.m.
Alumni Arena (8,500)
Buffalo, New York
Radio: WBGU-FM (88.1)
Series: Tied, 4-4
Last Meeting: BGSU 69, at Buffalo 65 (Feb. 2, 2002)
THE GAME
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, coming off a home win over Toledo to begin the second half of the Mid-American Conference schedule, now faces a MAC East Division team for the first time in nearly a month and a half. The Falcons (10-10, 3-6 MAC) of head coach Curt Miller return to the road to face the University at Buffalo in Wednesday (Feb. 12) action. The game is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start at UB's Alumni Arena (8,500).
Following the UB game, the Falcons will return home for a two-game homestand, beginning with Saturday's (Feb. 15) contest vs. Miami University. That game, the second half of a Falcon hoops doubleheader, is slated for a 4:30 p.m. start at venerable Anderson Arena (4,700).
The Toledo game ended an eight-game stretch of games against West Division teams for BG, and the Falcons now play five of the next six games against teams from the East Division. BGSU has three conference road games remaining, all against teams from the East.
FALCONS TOP LAST YEAR'S WIN TOTAL
Saturday's (Feb. 8) 66-62 win over Toledo was BG's 10th victory of the campaign ... the Falcons have surpassed the win total for all of last season ... BGSU has an overall record of 10-10 with at least eight games remaining this year ... last year's team posted an overall mark of 9-19 ... this year's 20-game record is the best for a Falcon club since the 1997-98 team went 16-4 ... that 1997-98 squad went on to post 21 wins and earn a WNIT berth.
WBGU RADIO TO BROADCAST AT LEAST 25 GAMES THIS SEASON
WBGU-FM (88.1) is scheduled to air 24 regular-season games, including all remaining 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 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 a 10-10 record into the UB game ... the Falcons snapped a four-game losing streak with Saturday's win over Toledo ... BG 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) ... BGSU also fell at Toledo, 70-62 (Jan. 15), before rebounding to beat Central Michigan, 63-45, three days later ... prior to the initial NIU game, the Falcons had won six of seven contests.
Senior Francine Miller continues to lead the Falcons in scoring, with 13.6 points per game ... Miller, who had a game-high 23 points vs. UT, also paces the team in rebounding (5.9 rpg) and blocked shots (0.70 bpg) and is tied for the lead in minutes played (28.2 mpg) and second in steals (2.1 spg).
Senior Kim Griech is second in scoring, with 10.6 points per game, and leads the Brown and Orange in three-point field goals made (38) and free-throw percentage (.906; 48-of-53) ... Griech is tied for second on the team in assists (1.5 apg) ... she is averaging 10.7 points per game in MAC contests, second behind Miller's team-leading 13.7-ppg average.
Junior Lindsay Austin is third on the team in scoring (9.9 ppg), and leads the Falcons in assists (4.1 apg) ... Austin leads the team in steals (2.17 spg) and is tied for the lead in minutes played ... she ranks third in the MAC with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.92.
Junior Stefanie Wenzel has 9.0 points per outing and has made 21 three-point field goals on the year ... freshman Marisa Smith is averaging 4.5 ppg, and has a team-best three-point FG pct. of .474 (18-of-38) on the year.
Senior Megan Jerome and freshman Jill Lause average 4.3 and 4.1 points per game, respectively ... Jerome is second on the Falcons in asst./TO ratio (1.76) and is tied for second in assists (1.5 apg) ... Lause is shooting .526 (30-of-57) from the field this year, and has made 21 of her last 32 field-goal attempts.
Redshirt junior Pam Brown has averages of 5.3 points and 3.4 rebounds in seven games, but has missed the last 12 contests due to injury and is likely out for the foreseeable future.
Miller has started all 20 games for the Falcons, while Griech and Wenzel have started 19 games apiece and senior Karen Stocz (3.3 ppg) has made 18 starts ... Austin, slowed by a sprained ankle at season's outset, has started each of the last 16 games ... Falcon coach Curt Miller altered his starting lineup for the UT game, as Jerome and sophomore Tene Lewis each started for the first time this season ... Lause drew her second start of the year, joining Austin, Jerome, Lewis and Miller in the starting five.
BGSU finished the 2001-02 season with a 9-19 record, and the Falcons completed MAC 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 ... all three have seen action in 19 of the Falcons' 20 games ... 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 four seasons at the University at Buffalo, is in his first season on the staff.
The Falcons are 5-3 at home, 4-6 on the road and 1-1 in neutral-site games ... in MAC contests, BGSU is 3-1 at home and 0-5 away from Anderson Arena ... the Falcons went 5-7 at home last winter, and BG was 3-10 on the road and 1-2 in neutral-site contests in 2001-02 ... the Brown and Orange went 4-4 at home and 2-6 on the road in MAC games last year.
The Falcons are shooting .399 from the field, while the opponents have a FG pct. of .400 ... BG has made 133 three-point field goals, and the Falcons are shooting .328 from behind the arc ... the foes have made 116 treys and have a long-distance pct. of .326 ... the Brown and Orange converted 261 free throws to the foes' 238 this year to date ... BGSU is shooting .761 from the stripe, compared to .669 for the opponents.
SCOUTING BUFFALO
Buffalo enters Wednesday's game with an overall record of 11-9, and the Bulls have a 3-6 conference mark after Sunday's (Feb. 9) home loss to Northern Illinois, 76-64 ... the Bulls have dropped the last two games after a two game win streak ... UB is 5-4 at home this season, including a 1-3 mark against MAC foes at Alumni Arena ... that win came over Ohio (72-59, Feb. 1) ... individually, senior guard Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe leads the Bulls in scoring, witih 14.1 points per game ... she also has 4.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists on the year ... junior F/G Jessica Kochendorfer has 11.0 points and a team-high 7.7 rebounds per contest, while sophomore Erin Lawrenson has 8.8 points ... Lawrenson, however, has missed the last four games due to injury ... junior forward Kim Kilpela has 8.3 points and 4.4 rebounds, while sophomore guard Allison Bennett has 7.4 points per game ... freshman G/F Hollie Cook averages 5.2 points and a team-high 5.3 assists ... redshirt freshman center Trisha Hedges (2.1 ppg) and freshman guard Brooke Meunier (2.7 ppg) joined Bennett, Kochendorfer and McMeeken-Ruscoe in the starting lineup vs. NIU Sunday ... the latter three players have started all 20 games this season for head coach Cheryl Dozier ... Dozier has a record of 72-60 in her fifth season as a head coach, all at UB ... last season, the Bulls went 9-19 overall and 4-12 in the MAC ... the school's athletic web site is www.buffalobulls.com.
THE BGSU-UB SERIES
The Falcons and Buffalo are tied, 4-4, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU has captured the last two meetings ... the Falcons swept last year's games, winning a 71-69 contest at Anderson Arena (Jan. 12, 2002) and erasing an 18-point deficit en route to a 69-65 win at UB three weeks later (Feb. 2, 2002) ... BGSU is 2-2 in meetings at Alumni Arena, including last year's contest ... five of the eight all-time meetings have been decided by four points or less ... in the Falcons' first-ever trip to Buffalo, the Bulls handed BG the school's most lopsided MAC loss in history, with a 33-point win (84-51; Jan. 16, 1999).
SOME MAC SERIES INFORMATION
The Northern Illinois victory over the Falcons on Jan. 11 gave the Huskies a narrow advantage in the all-time series between those teams ... NIU, after a win at Anderson Arena in the teams' 2002-03 rematch (Feb. 1), remains 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, but NIU holds an advantage of 11-9 [the Falcons and UB are tied, 4-4, in that series].
FAMILIAR TERRITORY
BGSU's first-year assistant coach, Kevin Eckert, is no stranger to the Bulls or to Alumni Arena ... prior to joining Curt Miller's staff this past summer, Eckert spent four seasons on Cheryl Dozier's UB staff ... while with the Bulls, he worked primarily with developing the team's post players, and also served as the staff's recruiting coordinator.
LAST TIME OUT
Senior Francine Miller scored 23 points as the Falcons snapped a four-game losing streak with a 66-62 win over Toledo Saturday afternoon (Feb. 8) ... the Falcons (10-10 overall, 3-6 MAC), who topped the win total for all of last season with the victory, had two other players in double digits ... senior Kim Griech had 13 points, including 10 in the final six minutes of the game, while junior Lindsay Austin added 10 points, six rebounds and four assists ... sophomore Tene Lewis, making her first start of the season, did not score, but led the Falcons in rebounds, assists and steals ... Lewis, playing a career-high 27 minutes, tied her career marks with seven boards and six assists. she had a game-high three steals in the win.
FRANCINE THE SCORING MACHINE: MILLER MOVES INTO SIXTH PLACE
Senior Francine Miller continues her climb up the BGSU career scoring chart ... with her game-high total of 23 points vs. Toledo Saturday (Feb. 8), she moved up two notches on that list, passing Angie Bonner (1,412 pts. from 1987-90) and Chris Tuttle (1,420 pts. from 1979-83) ... Miller enters the UB contest with a total of 1,421 points ... she now stands just three points behind fifth-place Lori Albers (1989-94) ... Miller trails fourth-place Charlotta Jones (1994-98) by only nine points, and is just 11 points behind third-place Talita Scott (1990-94) ... Miller has averaged 13.93 points per game over the first 102 contests of her career, the third-best average in BGSU annals.
AUSTIN ADDS AN ASSIST (307 OF THEM, ACTUALLY)
With four assists in the Toledo game, junior Lindsay Austin increased her career total to 307 ... in the process, Austin moved past Judit Lendvay (304 assists from 1989-93) into sixth place on the BGSU career list ... Austin's next target is Cathy Koch (1988-92), who had 347 assists in her Falcon career.
TENE CONTRIBUTES IN MANY WAYS
Sophomore Tene Lewis did not score a point in Saturday's (Feb. 8) Toledo game, but her contributions to the BGSU win were numerous ... Lewis, making her first start of the season, led the Falcons in rebounds, assists and steals ... Lewis, playing a career-high 27 minutes, tied her career marks with seven boards and six assists, and added a game-high three steals ... "In my opinion, she was the MVP today," said BG coach Curt Miller after the game.
A SECOND CHANCE AT SECOND-CHANCE POINTS
In the first BGSU-Toledo meeting of the year (Jan. 15), the Rockets posted a 70-62 win largely on the strength of a 27-3 advantage in second-chance points ... the Falcons, outrebounded by 16 (48-32) in that first meeting, were much more competitive on the boards Saturday, as UT held a slim 38-34 advantage ... BGSU had 16 second-chance points to the Rockets' 10.
A CHANGE IN THE LINEUP
Falcon head coach Curt Miller shuffled his starting lineup for the UT contest ... senior Megan Jerome and sophomore Tene Lewis each drew a start for the first time this season, while freshman Jill Lause earned her second start of the year ... the lineup was just the fourth different starting combination Miller has employed this season ... Lause had made her first collegiate start in the NIU game exactly one week earlier (Feb. 1) ... prior to that time, BG's lineup had been unchanged for 13 games ... now, however, Miller has used three different lineups in the last three games ... senior Francine Miller is the lone Falcon to have started all 20 games this year.
HOLDING SERVE
Curt Miller has preached the importance of 'holding serve' in the MAC ... Miller has stressed that, in order to claim a homecourt berth for the first round of the conference tournament, his Falcons need to win their home games, and try to steal a win or two on the road ... despite the team's current 3-6 MAC record, BGSU is just a few points away from doing just that ... the Falcons are 3-1 at home in the MAC, with the only blemish being a one-point loss to Northern Illinois ... the Falcons have seven games remaining in the regular season, in their quest to show that the two-game stretch vs. NIU and Central Michigan (and not the Toledo game) was a blip on the radar ... BG has four home games remaining, and plays three road contests, all against West Division teams.
LEADERS AT THE HALF
The Falcons have led at halftime in all 12 home MAC games in the Curt Miller Era ... after the win over Toledo Saturday (Feb. 8), the Falcons have a record of 7-5 in such games, and BGSU has won four of the last five home conference contests.
EVERYONE'S A THREAT FROM LONG RANGE (AND WE MEAN EVERYONE)
Sophomore Sakima Smith made her first two three-point field goals of the season in the Western Michigan game (Jan. 29) ... in the process, Smith became the 12th different Falcon to sink at least one trey this season, a new school record ... the 2002-03 campaign marks the fifth-straight season that 10 or more players have hit a three-pointer ... in both the 2001-02 and 2000-01 seasons, 11 different players on the BG squad made at least one long-range shot ... a total of 10 different players hit a trey in 1999-2000, as well as in 1998-99 ... prior to that time, the most players to hit a triple in the same season was seven.
THAT'S A RECORD (WELL, IT TIES A RECORD, ANYWAY)
The Falcons tied the school's single-game record for free-throw percentage, going a perfect 12-of-12 from the line in the Northern Illinois game at Anderson (Feb. 1) ... ironically, the original record was also set against the Huskies, as BGSU made all 12 free-throw tries in a Feb. 23, 1999, contest in DeKalb, Ill. ... the Falcons lost that game, too, 64-61, on a 35-foot prayer by Charbea Haller at the buzzer ... this season, the Falcons are now shooting .761 from the free-throw line ... that percentage increases to .780 in MAC games.
CHARITY BEGINS AT THE STRIPE
Bowling Green has had a measure of success at the free-throw line this season ... the Northern Illinois game at Anderson marked the third time the Falcons were perfect from the stripe in a game this year ... BGSU has made more free throws than the opponent in 11 of this year's 20 games, after doing so nine times during all of last season ... entering the UB game, the Falcons have a FT pct. of .761 this year ... that average includes the NIU game (Feb. 1), in which the Falcons tied the school record with a 12-for-12 performance, and the UNC Wilmington game (Dec. 7), when the Falcons were a perfect 11-for-11 at the line ... BGSU went 3-for-3 at Ball State on Jan. 22, a game after making 18-of-20 tosses, including 10-of-10 in the final 1:41, in the win over Central Michigan (Jan. 18).
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.
GO WEST
The Falcons are in their first season as a member of 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 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.
BG HOLDS CMU TO 45, THEN 42
The Falcons surrendered only 45 points to Central Michigan in the teams' first meeting (Jan. 18), then allowed the Chippewas just 42 points in the rematch ... the CMU point total in the first game marked the fewest points BG had allowed in a MAC contest since a 68-44 win at Western Michigan on Feb. 1, 1997 ... the 42 points allowed in the second CMU game is the lowest total allowed by BGSU in a conference contest in since a 65-40 Falcon win at Miami on Jan. 12, 1994 ... since Jan. 26, 1994, the Falcons have held a total of nine opponents to fewer than 50 points in a game ... CMU has been the opponent in five of those nine contests.
NOTHING'S EASY IN THE WEST
The 2002-03 season marks the Falcons' first year as a member of the MAC's West Division ... as BG moves past the midway point of 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 24-8 record against their foes from the East ... in the Curt Miller Era, BGSU has a regular-season record of 6-5 against East Division teams ... but, the Falcons have a record of just 3-11 against the West Division.
FALCONS ON THE ROAD
BGSU is 4-6 in true road games this season, after going 3-10 during all of 2001-02 ... BG is 5-7 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.
NUMEROUS OFFENSIVE THREATS FOR THE FALCONS
Freshman Marisa Smith had 22 points, the most of her brief BGSU career, in the win over Savannah State ... Smith became the fifth different player to have a 20-point game this year, joining seniors Francine Miller (four) and Kim Griech (two) and juniors Lindsay Austin (one) and Stefanie Wenzel (one) ... only three different players scored as many as 20 points in a game last winter.
Sophomore Sakima Smith's season-high 10-point effort at Western Michigan (Jan. 29) made her the 10th different Falcon to have at least one double-digit scoring game this season ... a total of 10 players scored at least 10 points in a game last year.
MILLER MAKES HER MARK IN THE MAC
Senior Francine Miller continues to add to her impressive career totals ... Miller now has a career total of 1,421 points ... that places her 43rd all-time among MAC players, and third among active players around the conference ... she now has 566 career rebounds to rank fifth in the conference among active players ... her total of 157 three-point field goals made places her third among MAC players ... she also ranks among the active leaders in steals (168, fourth) and assists (221, 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 153, and is 14th in scoring (856 points) ... junior Lindsay Austin is second in assists (307) and is tied for 27th in scoring (634), while classmate Stefanie Wenzel is 36th on the active scoring chart, with 540 points.
133 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 133 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.
MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME
In the first 12 seasons after the three-point shot was adopted (1986-87 to 1997-98), Bowling Green teams made a total of 666 three-pointers in 1,890 attempts ... over the last four-plus years, the Falcons have surpassed each of those totals for the first 12 years ... since the beginning of the 1998-99 season, Falcon teams have made 895 treys in 2,618 tries.
STILL SHOOTING (AND MAKING) THE TREY
The three-point shot has been a staple of Falcon teams over the past few years ... three years ago, the Brown and Orange set a new NCAA Division I record for three-point field goals made per game ... BGSU sank 259 treys in 28 contests, for an average of 9.25 per game ... that record remains at the top of the NCAA list ... two years ago, the Falcons averaged 6.97 three-pointers made per contest ... Bowling Green made at least five treys in 25 of the 29 games that year ... last season, BGSU averaged "only" 5.93 triples per game ... this year, the Falcons are averaging 6.65 treys through 20 games.
TRIPLE YOUR FUN
Several players on the 2002-03 Falcon roster are ranked among the BGSU career three-point leaders ... Francine Miller is third on the all-time school list for career three-point percentage (.396, 157-of-396) ... senior Kim Griech (.338; 153-of-452) is 10th on that list, with junior Stefanie Wenzel (.335; 62-of-185) 11th ... senior Megan Jerome (.310, 36-of-116) is threatening to add her name as well ... Miller is third all-time in three-pointers made, while Griech is fourth and Wenzel 10th ... Griech is second and Miller third in career three-point attempts, with Wenzel 10th and Jerome 13th on that list.
ANDER-RIFFIC!
The Falcons have had a great deal of success in three-point shooting over the past few seasons, particularly in conference games at home ... BGSU had a streak of 26 consecutive MAC games in which the Falcons made at least five triples ... that streak came to an end last year (Feb. 14, 2002) vs. Western Michigan, but the Falcons still averaged 7.00 treys per home MAC game last winter ... including the 2000 MAC Tournament first-round contest vs. Ohio, BGSU has averaged 8.72 treys and shot .397 (253-of-638) over the last 29 home games vs. MAC teams.
BGSU 3's in Home MAC Games
Season Gms. 3's Made Avg. 2002-03 4 29 7.25 2001-02 8 56 7.00 2000-01 8 68 8.50 1999-2000 8 94 11.75
