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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons, Buckeyes Open Season in WNIT
November 10, 2004 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 10, 2004
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
Game notes (7 pages) in PDF Format
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BGSU at #9 OHIO STATE
Friday, November 12, 2004
7:00 p.m.
Sportsview.tv WNIT First Round
Value City Arena (19,200)
Columbus, Ohio
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1) - Brian George and Greg Gania
SERIES: OSU leads, 12-1
LAST MEETING: Ohio State 95, at BGSU 49 - Dec. 12, 2000
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team opens season number four of the Curt Miller Era with a road game vs. arguably the toughest opponent during that time ... the Falcons begin the 2004-05 regular season with a Friday (Nov. 12) game against the ninth-ranked team in the nation, The Ohio State University ... tipoff for the game, a first-round contest in the Sportsview.tv WNIT, is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Value City Arena (19,200) in Columbus, Ohio.
The winner of Friday's game will advance to the Sportsview.tv WNIT second round, to face the victor of the first-round game between Boston University and St. Joseph's University ... the second-round games will be held on Sunday (Nov. 14) ... the semifinals are scheduled for Wednesday (Nov. 17), with the championship held on either Nov. 20 or 21.
ABOUT THE SPORTSVIEW.TV WNIT
The Sportsview.tv WNIT is an annual tournament featuring 16 of the nation's top NCAA Division I women's basketball teams ... a team may participate no more than once in a four-year period ... additionally, only one institution per conference may play in the tournament in the same year ... all games, including the semifinals and championship, will be hosted by participating schools at their home facility ... the Falcons are competing in the preseason WNIT for the first time in school history ... BGSU has made one appearance in the Postseason WNIT, losing a 95-90 home decision to Butler in March of 1998 ... this year's Sportsview.tv Preseason WNIT features a total of nine teams that advanced to postseason play in 2003-04.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
BGSU ended the 2003-04 season with a record of 21-10, and the Falcons finished the MAC campaign with an 11-5 slate ... BG tied for second in the West Division, then posted a pair of buzzer-beating wins in the league tourney to advance to the championship game ... head coach Curt Miller welcomes back 11 letterwinners, including three starters, from that team ... the returning starters, all sophomores, are Liz Honegger, Ali Mann and Megan Thorburn ... Miller's team includes three seniors in Kelly Kapferer, Tene Lewis and Sakima Smith ... a pair of juniors, Jill Lause and Casey McDowell, also return ... in addition to the three returning starters, the sophomore class consists of Amber Flynn, Julie Gompers and Carin Horne ... two freshmen, guards Kate Achter and Whitney Taylor, likely will make their official collegiate debuts Friday at OSU.
ABOUT THE BUCKEYES
Ohio State, like the Falcons, posted a 21-10 record a year ago ... the Buckeyes of third-year head coach Jim Foster return nine letterwinners from a team that went 11-5 in the Big Ten Conference to finish third ... OSU is ranked No. 9 in the preseason USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Coaches' Poll, No. 6 according to Women's Basketball News Service, No. 8 by Athlon and No. 13 in the Lindy's rankings ... senior guard Caity Matter averaged a team-high 14.8 points per game a year ago, and was a second-team all-conference selection ... 6-4 sophomore Jessica Davenport averaged 12.5 points and 5.7 rebounds last year, and led the Big Ten with a .625 field-goal pct. ... Davenport was the league's Freshman of the Year in 2004 ... other returning starters include sophomore guard Brandie Hoskins (9.4 ppg, 4.1 assists per game) and junior guard Kim Wilburn 6.4 ppg, 5.0 apg) ... Wilburn had 2.9 steals per game last year to lead the conference for the second-straight season ... Foster has a record of 43-20 with the Buckeyes, and enters his 27th year as a collegiate head coach with a 547-245 overall record ... OSU's athletics web site is www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com.
THE SERIES
Ohio State holds a 12-1 lead over the Falcons since BGSU became a varsity program ... the Buckeyes have won 10 consecutive games against the Brown and Orange, including a pair of lopsided victories in the last two contests ... five seasons ago, in the only previous game at the Schottenstein Center, the Bucks posted an 86-56 win over BG (Dec. 4, 1999) ... the next year, visiting OSU thrashed an injury-depleted Falcon squad, 95-49, at Anderson Arena (Dec. 12, 2000) ... the Buckeyes have won each of the last 10 games by double digits.
I REMEMBER THAT GAME...
Two players, one on each side, were involved in the last meeting between the Buckeyes and Falcons ... when OSU downed host Bowling Green, 95-49, at Anderson Arena four seasons ago (Dec. 12, 2000), freshman Caity Matter drew the start for the Bucks ... Matter, a native of Bluffton, Ohio, had nine points and eight rebounds before a crowd that seemingly included most of her hometown's population ... for the Falcons, Kelly Kapferer made 3-of-4 field goals and scored eight points in 12 minutes off the bench ... both Matter and Kapferer are fifth-year seniors in 2004-05 ... OSU's roster for that contest included a number of players that saw action in Anderson Arena on Monday (more info. on that game later in these notes).
BGSU/OSU TIES (or, THE HOUSE THAT PAUL BUILT)
BGSU Director of Athletics Paul Krebs returned to his alma mater on March 15, 1999 ... Krebs came to Bowling Green after serving as the senior associate athletic director at OSU since September of 1993 ... his accomplishments while in Columbus included being the point person in the planning and design of the Schottenstein Center ... Krebs arrived at OSU in 1985 as ticket director, was named assistant AD in 1987 and was promoted to assistant AD for administration in 1991.
BGSU/OSU TIES II (or, THE WILLIAMS SISTERS)
OSU assistant coach Tamika Williams is the younger sister of former Falcon student-athlete Tanzania (Tangy) Williams ... Tangy Williams earned four letters for the Falcons from 1990-94 under coaches Fran Voll and Jaci Clark, and helped BGSU to MAC regular-season and tournament championships in each of her last two seasons.
LAST TIME OUT
The Falcons warmed up for the Buckeyes by playing a team comprised almost entirely of former Buckeyes ... in the lone exhibition game of 2004-05, BGSU posted a 99-58 victory over the Premier All-Stars at Anderson Arena Monday night (Nov. 8) ... freshman Kate Achter paced four Falcon double-digit scorers with 19 points off the bench, while classmate Whitney Taylor and sophomore Liz Honegger each scored 15 ... soph Megan Thorburn had 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds ... former OSU standout Lisa Cline led the All-Stars with 17 points, while another former Buckeye, Tomeka Brown, added 14 ... other OSU alumnae that played in the game included Larecha Jones, Joni O'Connell, Tomeka Patterson and D'wan Shackelford.
EARLY START
For the Falcons, Friday's game will mark the earliest beginning to a season in school history ... prior to this season, BGSU's earliest season-opening game came on Nov. 14, 1997, an 81-72 win at Youngstown State ... ironically, that was the season in which BG advanced to the Postseason WNIT.
A MAGICAL YEAR
The Falcons finished the 2003-04 season with an overall record of 21-10, a nine-win improvement from the previous season, and advanced all the way to the championship game of the Mid-American Conference Tournament ... one of the most improved teams in the nation, BGSU had a conference mark of 11-5 ... the Falcons, picked to finish sixth in the West Division, actually tied for second place, just a game out of first ... head coach Curt Miller and his staff had just two seniors, Lindsay Austin and Stefanie Wenzel, on last year's 15-player roster.
SPORTSVIEW.TV WNIT NOTE
As mentioned earlier, all rounds of the Sportsview.tv WNIT will be played at campus sites ... the BGSU-Ohio State winner will play the winner of the first-round game pitting Boston University against St. Joseph's ... should the Falcons beat OSU, there is a chance that BGSU could host a second-round game on Sunday (Nov. 14) ... in such a case, starting time and ticket information would be announced late Friday (Nov. 12) night or Saturday (Nov. 13) morning.
FALCONS PICKED THIRD IN THE WEST
The Falcons have been picked to finish third in the MAC's West Division in the 2004-05 season, according to members of the MAC News Media Association ... BGSU received 153 points and one first-place vote in the poll, finishing behind Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan ... WMU, the preseason choice to win the West, received 212 points in the poll, while EMU, the defending MAC Tournament champion, received 175 points ... Toledo had 125 points, just a single point ahead of Ball State, while Northern Illinois (71) and Central Michigan (36) rounded out the West Division picks ... the Falcons' point total was more than 100 points higher than the team's total in last year's poll ... in the East, Miami was the choice of the media, finishing four points ahead of Kent State ... a total of four voters tabbed the Falcons to win the 2005 Kraft MAC Tournament ... Eastern, the 2004 tourney champ after downing the Falcons in the title game, received 10 votes to win this year's tournament ... Marshall garnered seven votes, followed by WMU (six), BGSU, Miami (three) and KSU (two).
MANN NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-MAC SQUAD
Sophomore Ali Mann was named to the MAC's preseason all-conference team ... the team is a result of voting by members of the MAC News Media Association ... the team consists of five student-athletes from each of the MAC's two divisions ... a native of Chelsea, Mich., Mann was named the MAC's Freshman of the Year last winter ... she earned honorable mention on the 2003-04 All-MAC Team, and also was named to the MAC's All-Tournament Team ... Mann averaged 12.9 points and a team-high 7.9 rebounds last season ... her total of 400 points was the second-highest by a freshman in school history, while her 245 rebounds set a Falcon freshman record ... Mann set a new MAC record with a .535 three-point field-goal percentage (23-of-43) in conference games.
CAPTAINS KAPFERER AND LEWIS
Seniors Kelly Kapferer and Tene Lewis have been named the co-captains of the 2004-05 Falcons ... the two were selected in a vote of team members and the coaching staff ... Kapferer, a fifth-year senior from Jefferson, Ohio, was a unanimous choice for captain, the first in head coach Curt Miller's four-year tenure at BG ... she played in all 31 games last season, averaging 4.4 points and 2.6 rebounds per game ... two of Kapferer's six double-digit scoring games on the year came in the MAC Tournament ... Lewis, from Detroit, Mich., averaged 1.7 points and 1.0 assists per game last season, and has been called upon to be a defensive stopper for the Falcons over the past few seasons ... "This is a great honor for Kelly and Tene," said Miller. "In some programs, the coaches choose the captains. In our program, though, each player has a say. I think it brings more significance to that role, and Kelly and Tene will do a great job in upholding the honor of leading the 2004-05 Falcons."
MILLER AGREES TO FIVE-YEAR CONTRACT EXTENSION
Bowling Green State University has reached an agreement with Falcon women's basketball coach Curt Miller on a five-year contract extension, BGSU Director of Athletics Paul Krebs announced in mid-October ... the contract will run through June 30, 2009 ... Miller has an overall record of 42-45 through three years at the helm of the Falcons ... he guided the Brown and Orange to a 21-10 record, including a MAC mark of 11-5, last winter ... Miller and his staff orchestrated a complete reversal of the previous year's league record (5-11 in 2002-03) and helped the Falcons -- picked to finish sixth in the league's West Divison -- to a second-place tie, just a game out of first.
ROOS ELEVATED TO ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH
Jennifer Roos, entering her fourth season on Curt Miller's staff, has been elevated to associate head coach of the Falcons ... Roos came to BGSU as an assistant coach in July of 2001 ... Roos is in charge of the Falcon defense, and also serves as the team's recruiting coordinator ... defensively, the Falcons set a 'modern-day' record by allowing opponents to shoot just .388 from the field last year ...that marked the third-lowest opponent field-goal pct. in school history and the lowest since 1977-78 ... Falcon teams have posted two of the school's top-five totals in that category over the last three seasons ... Ross, a native of Louisville, Ky., came to BG after spending eight years on the staff at Davidson College ... she became a coach with the Wildcats upon her graduation from the school.
BGSU-OHIO GAME PART OF MAC TV PACKAGE
The Falcons' home game vs. Ohio University, scheduled for Feb. 5, 2005, will be televised as part of the league's seven-game package on Fox Sports Net Ohio ... start time for the game has been moved to 2:00 p.m. ... this is a change from the previously published start time listed in the media guide and on schedule cardds, posters and season ticket information ... Comcast Local will also air the game, with additional clearances possibly being announced at a later date.
START TIME CHANGED FOR WMU GAME
The starting time for the Falcons' game on Jan. 22, 2005, has been changed (please make a note of it) ... that game, vs. Western Michigan, has been moved to a 3:00 p.m. start at Anderson Arena ... the move sets up a Falcon basketball doubleheader that day ... the BGSU men's basketball team will host Toledo in a 6:00 p.m. game that is part of the MAC's television package for 2004-05.
WELCOME, FRESHMEN
Unlike last season, when Curt Miller and his staff welcomed seven freshmen and a total of nine players who had not played for BGSU the previous year, this year's team has only a few newcomers ... the Falcons' two new faces are guards Kate Achter (Oregon, Ohio) and Whitney Tayler (Wooster, Ohio).
TEAM AT A CROSSROADS
The Falcon players and coaches did not enter the Christmas holidays in the most festive of moods last year ... BGSU's final game before the break was a lopsided loss at IUPUI (Dec. 22) that left the Falcons with a 4-4 record ... the team's trip to Indianapolis was extended by approximately 90 minutes, as the group had a lengthy lockerroom meeting following the game ... the team returned following the Christmas holiday, headed to Eastern Kentucky and won a pair of games at the EKU Classic ... that began a stretch which saw the Falcons win 17 of the next 22 games and advance all the way to the championship game of the MAC Tournament.
ONE OF THE NATION'S TOP TURNAROUNDS
With nine more wins than in the 2002-03 season, the Falcons made one of the nation's top turnarounds in 2003-04 ... the Brown and Orange went 12-16 the prior season ... BGSU's nine-win improvement tied the Falcons for the 11th-best turnaround in NCAA Division I last season.
ONE OF THE SCHOOL'S TOP TURNAROUNDS, TOO
The Falcons' nine-win improvement tied for the second-best turnaround in school history ... the 1991-92 team posted a 10-win improvement, with a 24-5 mark after the previous team had gone 14-15 ... the 1986-87 team (27-3) won nine more games than the previous year's Falcon team.
OF COURSE, ONE OF THE MAC'S TOP TURNAROUNDS
A case can be made that the Falcons were the MAC's most improved team last winter ... the Falcons finished at 21-10 overall, and 11-5 in MAC play ... BG topped the overall win total from last season by nine games, tied for the highest improvement in the league ... the previous year's squad went 12-16 overall and 5-11 in the MAC ... BGSU, six games better than the prior season in league play, was the only team to improve by more than three games over last season in MAC action.
THAT'S IMPROVEMENT!
The Falcons, as mentioned several times already, won 21 overall games in 2003-04, including 11 MAC contests ... in each case, BGSU win total matched the totals for Curt Miller's first two seasons combined ... Miller's first team went 9-19 overall and 6-10 in league action ... his second squad was 12-16 and 5-11.
20 WINS FOR THE FALCONS
BGSU put together a 20-win season for the ninth time in school history, but the first since the 1997-98 campaign ... that '97-98 squad, coach Jaci Clark's last BGSU team, went 21-8 en route to a berth in the Postseason WNIT.
STATE PRIDE
The Falcons' 21 wins tied BGSU for second among the 13 NCAA Division-I schools in the state of Ohio ... BGSU trailed only Miami (22-9) ... Ohio State matched the Falcons' 21-10 record last winter.
BLOCK PARTY FOR HONEGGER
It has taken Liz Honegger only one year to add her name to nearly all of the BGSU records lists for blocked shots ... Honegger broke the school single-game mark in that category with seven blocks in the Falcons' win at Eastern Kentucky ... she tied the BGSU single-season record with a total of 50 rejections on the year ... Honegger set the school seasonal mark for MAC games with 27 blocks.
A 'MODERN-DAY' RECORD
The Falcons have greatly improved defensively during the Curt Miller Era ... in fact, BGSU set a 'modern-day' record by allowing opponents to shoot just .388 from the field in 2003-04 ... that marks the third-lowest opponent field-goal pct. in school history, and the lowest since 1977-78 ... the 1976-77 team set the school record (.348) ... that '76-77 season is the first year that such statistics are available ... Miller-coached teams have posted two of the top-five totals in that category in school history.
