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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Fresh-Faced Falcons
August 26, 2003 | Women's Basketball
Aug. 26, 2003
By DAMON BECK, Sentinel Sports Writer - The first couple of times you go out to Anderson Arena to see the Bowling Green women's basketball team, bring a couple of extra bucks along for a program.
Even the most die-hard Falcon fan will need to match up the numbers on the players' backs with all the new faces the Falcons will put on the floor this season.
Curt Miller returns for his third season at the BG helm. He will be without four-year standout Francine Miller, who finished her career as the third leading scorer in the program's history. Two other starters and a top reserve are also gone, but Coach Miller will hardly be short-handed with a 15-member squad that includes seven freshmen and a total of nine players who weren't on the team last year.
"The starting five is a wide open race," Miller said. "I would be shocked if two or three of those spots weren't filled by people who weren't even on the team last year."
A pair of seniors, 5-feet-7 point guard Lindsay Austin and 6-0 guard Stefanie Wenzel anchor the young team. Austin has started since the beginning of her freshman season and returns as one of the top point guards in the Mid-American Conference, while Wenzel, a two-year starter, is a proven scorer from the wing.
"We look for Lindsay and Stefanie to be the leaders on the court and, with all the new players, we will need big leadership off the floor too," Miller said. "We will put the responsibility on the seniors to be those leaders for us because we are so young."
The other four letter winners have all have played back-up roles. Junior 6-0 post Sakima Smith has averaged 2.3 points and 1.9 rebounds in her two seasons and 5-7 Tene Lewis, a cat-quick junior guard has been used by Miller primarily as a defensive specialist. She has hit for just 1.7 ppg in her two campaigns, but her defensive play in the final minutes allowed BG to pull out a couple of close wins last year.
Center 6-2 JIll Lause (2.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg) and 5-10 wing Marisa Smith (3.3 ppg), both sophomores, gained some experience last season. Smith should be a top contender for the shooting guard spot left open with the graduation of three-year starter Kim Griech.
If the Falcons are going to improve on last season's 12-16 overall record, Miller will need to get immediate help from some of the nine new players.
Kelly Kapferer, a former starter who sat out last season, has returned and should begin the new season as the Falcons' starting center.
"The return of Kelly is a huge boost to the program," Miller said of Kapferer, who averaged 7.9 ppg and 4.5 rpg as a sophomore. "She can score inside and out and has great foot speed. She will be the best athletic post player on the roster."
A newcomer with collegiate playing experience is 5-7 guard Casey McDowell. She was a starter at Indiana State as a freshman before transferring to BG. McDowell sat out last year under the NCAA transfer rules but practiced with the team. She averaged 4.2 ppg for the Sycamores and was third on the team in assists (55) and three-point field goals (28) and second in steals (37).
"It is just her first year on the floor for us, but it is her third year in college and she will add leadership to the locker room," Miller said of McDowell. "She is a heady, smart player who doesn't make a lot of mistakes and she is a legitimate 3-point shooter."
Seven freshman round out the list of the Falcon rookies. Six of the seven are listed as forwards or centers and four are 6-0 or taller. All of the new post players bring strong rebounding credentials to the program. Rebounding has been a weak point for the Falcons in recent years. Last season BG finished last in the MAC in rebounding margin.
The freshmen are:
Amber Flynn, a 6-0 forward led her North College Hill (Cincinnati) team to a final four appearance in the state basketball tournament last year. A 1,000-point career scorer, Flynn was rated as one of the top 35 power forwards in the country.
Julie Gompers is a 5-6 point guard from Wheeling (W.Va.) Park High School, Gompers was a second-team all-state basketball pick and was rated as the top point guard in the state of West Virginia.
Liz Honegger, a strong 5-11 forward who was a first-team All-Indiana pick last season while averaging 24.4 points and 12.8 rebounds at Lafayette Jefferson.
Carin Horne, a 5-10 forward from Lima Senior, was a Division I second-team All-Ohio pick last season while averaging 19.5 points.
Alison Mann, a physical 6-1 forward from Chelsea, Mich., was a third-team all-stater who averaged 20 points, 8.2 rebounds and hit 44 percent from beyond the 3-point arc as a high school senior.
Kim Nowakowski, a 6-1 forward/center from Butler, Penn., was a third-team all-stater. She was ranked as one of the top 50 senior centers in the U.S.
Meghan Thorburn, a 6-1 forward from Mason, Mich., is probably the most athletic of the bunch. A driving, slashing player, she was rated as one of the top 35 senior wings in the country by a national recruiting service.
"Because of our added depth and size we are going to move back to a more up-tempo style," Miller said. "We are going to press more and extend the floor. We'll be bigger and we should be able to attack the basket ... We'll have a lot more options."
