Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU Heads To Kent State Saturday
February 28, 2003 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 28, 2003
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
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BOWLING GREEN (11-14, 4-10 MAC)
at
KENT STATE (13-12, 8-6 MAC)
Game #26
Saturday, March 1, 2003
2:00 p.m.
M.A.C. Center (6,327)
Kent, Ohio
Radio: WBGU-FM (88.1)
Series: BGSU leads, 31-24
Last Meeting: at Kent State 82, BGSU 62 (Jan. 23, 2002)
THE GAME
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team takes to the road for the last time in regular-season play, heading to Northeast Ohio for the second consecutive weekend. The Falcons (11-14, 4-10 Mid-American Conference) of head coach Curt Miller will play a Saturday (March 1) game against Kent State University, beginning at 2:00 p.m. at KSU's M.A.C. Center (6,327).
Following the KSU game, BGSU will close the regular season with a Tuesday (March 4) home game vs. Eastern Michigan University, beginning at 7:00 p.m at venerable Anderson Arena (4,700). The Falcons' seniors will be honored prior to that game.
Then, BG will go on the road for the opening round of the MAC Tournament. The tourney begins with first-round games on Saturday, March 8, at campus sites. BGSU's opponent for that first-round contest is still to be determined.
MAC TOURNAMENT PICTURE
If the regular season ended today, the Falcons would be the 11th seed for the MAC Tournament, and would hit the road to face the #6 seed, whomever that might be, in the first round (four teams enter the weekend tied for fifth with 8-6 records) ... BGSU has been eliminated from contention for a first-round home game ... the top three seeds in the conference tourney will earn first-round byes, with the division winners earning the first and second seeds ... the team with the best record among the remaining 11 schools will earn the third seed and the final first-round bye ... the fourth through eighth seeds for the tournament will host first-round contests on Saturday, March 8 ... following the first-round contests, the five winners will join the top-three seeds at Cleveland's Gund Arena for the quarterfinals on Wednesday, March 12 ... the semifinals and championship are scheduled for March 14 and 15, respectively ... to follow is a look at the conference record of each school, along with their remaining regular-season games:
School W-L Remaining Games Ball State 12-3 vs. Eastern Michigan Miami 10-4 vs. Buffalo, vs. Marshall Toledo 11-3 at Northern Illinois, vs. Central MichiganKent State 8-6 vs. BGSU, at Buffalo Buffalo 8-6 at Miami, vs. Kent State Eastern Michigan 8-6 at Ball State, at BGSU Western Michigan 8-6 vs. Central Michigan, at Northern Illinois Northern Illinois 7-7 vs. Toledo, vs. Western Michigan
Marshall 6-8 vs. Akron, at Miami Central Michigan 5-9 at Western Michigan, at Toledo Bowling Green 4-10 at Kent State, vs. Eastern Michigan Ohio 4-11 at Akron Akron 1-13 at Marshall, vs. Ohio
LEWIS DONE FOR THE SEASON
BGSU sophomore Tene Lewis will not play in the Kent State game, and is done for the season ... Lewis, who suffered a broken nose in practice on Thursday, Feb. 20, played in both the Akron (Feb. 22) and Marshall (Feb. 26) games, wearing a protective covering on her face ... once the swelling went down, Lewis had surgery Thursday (Feb. 27) ... she played in all 25 games to date, and finishes her sophomore campaign with averages of 1.7 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
BGSU will take a 11-14 record into the KSU contest ... the Falcons snapped a three-game losing streak last Saturday (Feb. 22), holding off a late Akron charge for a 65-62 road win ... but, BG dropped a 69-50 decision to visiting Marshall Wednesday (Feb. 26) ... the Falcons are looking to reverse a slide which has seen the team lose eight of the last 10 games.
Senior Francine Miller continues to lead the Falcons in scoring, with 14.6 points per game ... Miller struggled, shooting-wise, in the UA game, but still wound up with a double-double ... against Marshall, she led the Brown and Orange with a 16-point night ... Miller also paces the team in rebounding (6.0 rpg) and blocked shots (0.68 bpg), and is second in minutes played (29.3 mpg), steals (2.1 spg) and three-point field goals made (39) ... she moved from eighth to third place on the BGSU career scoring list in a two-game span earlier in February ... in MAC games only, Miller leads the Brown and Orange with 15.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.
Senior Kim Griech is second in scoring, with 10.4 points per game, and she leads the Brown and Orange in three-point field goals made (48) and free-throw percentage (.887; 55-of-62) ... Griech is third on the team in assists (1.5 apg) ... junior Stefanie Wenzel has moved into third on the team in scoring, with 10.1 points per outing ... she has made 32 three-point field goals on the year.
Junior Lindsay Austin is fourth in scoring (9.4 ppg), and leads the Falcons in assists (4.1 apg) ... Austin also leads BG in steals (2.2 spg) and minutes played (29.5 mpg) ... she ranks among the MAC leaders in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.73).
Seniors Megan Jerome and Karen Stocz are averaging 4.2 and 3.7 points, respectively ... Jerome leads the Falcons in asst./TO ratio (2.05) and is second in assists (1.56 apg) ... freshmen Jill Lause and Marisa Smith each are averaging 3.7 points per outing ... Lause is shooting .545 (36-of-66) from the field this year, and has made 27 of her last 41 field-goal attempts (.659) ... Smith has a team-best three-point FG pct. of .422 (19-of-45) on the year.
Sophomore Sakima Smith averages 1.9 points ... her classmate and former high-school teammate, Tene Lewis, averages 1.7 points, but is done for the season due to a broken nose.
Redshirt junior Pam Brown averaged 5.3 points and 3.4 rebounds in seven games, but has missed the last 17 contests due to injury and is likely out for the remainder of the season.
Miller has started all 25 games for the Falcons, while Griech has made 24 starts and Wenzel and Stocz 23 apiece ... Austin, slowed by a sprained ankle at season's outset, has started each of the last 21 games ... Falcon coach Curt Miller has utilized this season's most common starting five - Austin, Griech, Miller, Stocz and Wenzel - in the last four games, after using four different starting lineups in as many games ... a total of nine different players have made at least one start this season.
The Falcons are 5-6 at home, 5-7 on the road and 1-1 in neutral-site games ... in MAC contests, BGSU is 3-4 at home and 1-6 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 .397 from the field, while the opponents have a FG pct. of .408 ... BG has made 172 three-point field goals, and the Falcons are shooting .337 from behind the arc ... the foes have made 139 treys and have a long-distance pct. of .332 ... the Brown and Orange converted 317 free throws to the foes' 319 this year to date ... BGSU is shooting .749 from the stripe, compared to .700 for the opponents.
SCOUTING KENT STATE
Marshall checks into Wednesday's game with an overall record of 13-12, and the Golden Flashes are 8-6 in MAC play ... KSU finds itself in the unfamiliar position of having lost three consecutive conference games, something that has not occurred since late in the 1991-92 season ... most recently, the Flashes have suffered a pair of close losses to the league's two divisional leaders ... KSU fell in overtime to visiting Miami, 78-71, on Sunday (Feb. 23), before losing another seven-point contest, 93-86, at Ball State Thursday night (Feb. 27) ... KSU is 8-3 at home, including 5-2 in MAC action ... like the Falcons, the Flashes are led in scoring by a fifth-year senior ... forward Jamie Rubis averages 16.1 points per game, and also has 5.6 rebounds ... another redshirt senior, guard Valerie Zona, averages 14.1 points and 2.8 assists, while senior forward Katalin Kollat has 9.9 and a team-high 6.0 rebounds ... freshman forward Lindsay Shearer has 8.6 points and 5.8 boards ... Rubis and Zona have started all 25 games this year, while Shearer has made 24 starts and Kollat 20 ... redshirt freshman Tiffanie Hager (4.7 ppg) made her first start of the season in the BSU game, as Shearer came off the bench for the first time ... senior guard Morgan O'Hara (4.6 ppg, a team-high 3.0 apg) has made 15 starts, and joined Hager, Kollat, Rubis and Zona in the starting five in Muncie Thursday ... head coach Bob Lindsay is in his 14th season at the KSU helm, and has a record of 265-141 ... he is the winningest coach in MAC women's basketball history ... last season, the Flashes went 20-11 overall, won the MAC's East Division with a 13-3 league mark, and captured the MAC Tournament title and an NCAA Tournament berth ... the school's athletic web site is www.kentstatesports.com.
THE BGSU-KENT STATE SERIES
The Falcons hold a 31-24 lead over Kent State in the all-time series between the teams, but the Golden Flashes have had the upper hand over the last eight years ... KSU has won the last nine meetings and 14 of the last 15 contests between the two teams ... the Flashes have a narrow 13-12 lead in games played in Kent, and KSU has captured the last eight home games against the Falcons ... BGSU's last overall win over the Golden Flashes came on Feb. 12, 1997, an 87-77 win at Anderson Arena ... the Falcons have not won at the M.A.C. Center since a 102-92 triumph on Feb. 5, 1994 ... each of KSU's last eight wins has been by at least 14 points, including five decisions of 20 points or greater.
FAMILIAR FOES
Head coach Curt Miller has ties to KSU mentor Bob Lindsay and the Golden Flash program ... Miller spent a year at KSU as a graduate assistant, and was a volunteer coach on Lindsay's women's basketball staff during the 1990-91 season ... the Flashes finished 17-12 that year, and enjoyed the second-best turnaround in the nation, with a 12-game improvement over the previous year ... Lori Bodnar, an assistant with the current KSU staff, also was a part of that 1990-91 coaching staff.
LAST TIME OUT
Marshall used timely shooting and a sizable rebounding advantage to post a 69-50 win over the Falcons Wednesday night (Feb. 26) at Anderson Arena ... the Thundering Herd (10-15, 6-8 MAC) had four players score in double digits, and held a 48-32 rebounding margin in the contest ... Marshall held the Falcons (11-14, 4-10 MAC) to a .350 field-goal percentage, and BGSU made just 3-of-16 shots from three-point range (.188) ... senior Francine Miller led the Falcons with 16 points in a season-high 37 minutes ... freshman Jill Lause had a double-digit effort, with 10 points in just 13 minutes off the bench ... Lause made 5-of-6 field-goal attempts in the game.
FALCONS TOP LAST YEAR'S WIN TOTAL
The Falcons' 66-62 win over Toledo (Feb. 8) was BG's 10th victory of the campaign, surpassing the win total for all of last season ... entering the game at Kent State, BGSU has an overall record of 11-14 with at least three games remaining this year ... last year's team posted an overall mark of 9-19 ... this year's 25-game record is the best for a Falcon club since the 1997-98 season.
FRANCINE THE SCORING MACHINE
In the Ball State contest (Feb. 19), senior Francine Miller scored over 20 points for the fourth consecutive game ... believe it or not, that marked the first time in her BG career that she topped the 20-point mark in four-straight games ... Miller was held to 10 points at Akron before scoring 16 vs. Marshall ... she has scored a total of 115 points (19.1 ppg) over the last six contests ... she has hit double digits in 76 of her 107 career games, including 27 outings of 20-plus points.
FRANCINE THE SCORING MACHINE II: THE CAREER TOTALS
With 21 points in the Feb. 12 game at Buffalo, senior Francine Miller moved up three more notches on the BGSU career scoring list ... Miller, who went from eighth place to third place on that list in a two-game span, passed Lori Albers (1989-94), Charlotta Jones (1994-98) and Talita Scott (1990-94) in the UB game ... heading into the KSU game, Miller now has 1,513 career points as a Falcon ... Miller had passed Angie Bonner (1,412 pts.) and Chris Tuttle (1,420 pts.) in the Toledo game (Feb. 8), when she scored a game-high total of 23 points ... Miller also ranks third on the BGSU list for career scoring average, with 14.14 points per game through her first 107 contests ... the only players ahead of Miller (on each list) are Sara Puthoff (1,678 pts. from 1994-98) and Jackie Motycka (2,122 pts. from 1985-89) ... Miller has led the Falcons in scoring in seven of the last eight games, and has surpassed 20 points in five of those contests.
TWO STREAKS SNAPPED
Ball State's Feb. 19 win over the Falcons was the Cardinals' first-ever victory at Anderson Arena ... Bowling Green now holds a 20-1 advantage in home games vs. BSU ... then, the next Wednesday (Feb. 26), Marshall picked up a win at Anderson for the first time in six series games there ... the Falcons remain undefeated in home games against one other MAC team, as BG holds a 16-0 advantage over Akron.
A RARE HOME HALFTIME DEFICIT
The Ball State game (Feb. 19) marked the first time in the Curt Miller Era that the Falcons trailed at halftime in a home conference game ... prior to that contest, BG had led at halftime in all 13 such games since Miller assumed the helm nearly two years ago ... Marshall made it two leads in a row for MAC opponents, as the Herd had a 33-24 halftime advantage en route to a win at Anderson on Wednesday (Feb. 26).
GRIECH, MILLER IN MAC'S TOP-20
Two current Falcons have moved onto the MAC's top-20 list for career three-point field goals made ... senior Francine Miller has drained 167 treys in her career, ranking her 17th in conference history, while senior Kim Griech has made 163 triples to move into for a tie for 18th in MAC annals ... Sara Puthoff, the school's all-time leader, ranks 16th on the MAC list.
GRIECH SETS SCHOOL RECORD FOR ATTEMPTED 3'S
On Feb. 12 at Buffalo, senior Kim Griech moved into first place on the BGSU career list for three-pointers attempted ... entering the KSU game, Griech now has tried 477 long-range shots in her career ... she passed Sara Puthoff (453 from 1994-98) ... Francine Miller is third on that list, with 425 triple tries in her Falcon tenure.
MORE RECORDS COULD FALL (ALSO TITLED: TRIPLE YOUR FUN)
Several players on the 2002-03 Falcon roster are ranked among the BGSU career three-point leaders ... as mentioned above, senior Kim Griech is now the school's all-time leader in three-pointers attempted ... both Griech and senior Francine Miller are within sight of the BGSU record for triples made in a career ... Miller has connected on 167 three-pointers in her career ... she has moved past Angie Farmer (160) into second on that career list, and trails current record-holder Sara Puthoff by just six ... Griech has also passed Farmer to move into third, with 163 successful treys ... Miller is third on the all-time school list for career three-point percentage (.393, 167-of-425) ... junior Stefanie Wenzel (.349; 73-of-210) is ninth on that list, with Griech (.342; 163-of-477) ranked 11th ... senior Megan Jerome (.320, 40-of-125) is threatening to add her name as well ... Wenzel is tied for ninth all-time in three-pointers made, and she ranks 10th in treys attempted ... Jerome is now 12th on the latter list.
FALCONS ON THE ROAD
After the win at Akron, BGSU is 5-7 in true road games this season, after going 3-10 during all of 2001-02 ... BG is 6-8 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.
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 1,513 points ... that ties her for 29th all-time among MAC players, and third among active players around the conference ... she now has 600 career rebounds to rank sixth in the conference among active players ... her total of 167 three-point field goals made places her third among MAC players ... she also ranks among the active leaders in steals (178, fourth) and assists (229, eighth).
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 163, and is 15th in scoring (905 points) ... junior Lindsay Austin is second in assists (328), fifth in steals (149) and 29th in scoring (672), while classmate Stefanie Wenzel is tied for 35th on the active scoring chart, with 613 points.
138 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 138 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.
