Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Open Two-Game Homestand Vs. Northern Illinois
February 17, 2004 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 17, 2004
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
Game Notes (18 pages) in PDF Format
2003-04 Season Boxscores (6 pages) in PDF Format
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BGSU (15-7, 8-3)
vs.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS (9-14, 4-8)
Game #23
Wed., Feb. 18, 2004
7:00 p.m.
Anderson Arena (4,700)
Bowling Green, Ohio
Radio: WBGU-FM (88.1)
Series: NIU leads, 11-10
Last Meeting: BGSU 66, at NIU 58 (Jan. 10, 2004)
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, after a pair of double-digit road wins last week, returns home for two Mid-American Conference tilts this week ... the Falcons of third-year head coach Curt Miller face Northern Illinois University in Wednesday (Feb. 18) action ... the game, which will be broadcast on student station WBGU-FM (88.1), will begin at 7:00 p.m. at venerable Anderson Arena (4,700).
Following the NIU game, the Falcons -- who have clinched an overall winning record -- will face perennial MAC power Kent State University in a Saturday (Feb. 21) contest ... that game, which begins at 1:00 p.m. at Anderson, will be the first half of a doubleheader, with the Falcon men facing Youngstown State at 3:30 p.m.
Next week, the Falcons play road games vs. Marshall and Ball State, before ending the regular season with a home contest vs. arch-rival Toledo on Tuesday, March 2.
THE RACE HEATS UP
With two-and-a-half weeks to go in the regular season, the Falcons are embroiled in the thick of the race for a top-three seed and a MAC Tournament first-round bye ... BGSU currently sits in third place in the MAC West Division, but the Falcons (8-3 MAC) are only a half-game behind co-leaders Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan (both 9-3) ... if the regular season ended today, EMU, WMU and East-leading Miami would get the byes for the tourney's first round ... the Falcons played both Eastern and Western just once this season ... BGSU beat WMU, but lost to EMU, with each game decided by two points ... should two teams end the season tied in the standings, head-to-head matchups are the first tiebreaker ... the MAC Tournament begins on Saturday, March 6, with five first-round games at campus sites ... the fourth- through eighth-seeded teams will host seeds nine through 13 (#13 at #4, #12 at #5, etc.), with the five winners joining the three 'bye' teams for the quarterfinals on March 10 at Cleveland's Gund Arena.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
BGSU enters Wednesday's Northern Illinois game with an overall record of 15-7, and the Falcons are 8-3 in MAC play ... the Falcons, who already have surpassed last year's win totals by three games, have clinched a winning regular-season record for the first time in six years ... BGSU, after beginning the month of February with a two-game stretch against the league's divisional leaders, then returned from a two-game road swing with a pair of wins ... after a 92-81 loss at East-leading Miami (Feb. 3), the Falcons rebounded for a 69-67 win over the other divisional leader, Western Michigan (Feb. 7) ... then, the Brown and Orange picked up victories at Ohio (76-55; Feb. 11) and Central Michigan (69-51; Feb. 14) ... BG has won three consecutive games and eight of the last 10, all in MAC play ... since Christmas, the Falcons have captured 11 of 14 contests ... the Falcons' total of eight league wins includes four road victories, at Northern Illinois (66-58; Jan. 10), Toledo (57-54; Jan. 21), Ohio and Central.
Senior Stefanie Wenzel leads the Falcons with 15.0 points per game, and is averaging 4.8 rebounds per contest ... four freshmen are ranked among the top-six in the Falcons' balanced scoring attack ... one of those freshmen, Ali Mann, has 11.6 points and 7.3 rebounds, ranking second on the team in both categories ... Mann has five double-doubles on the year ... another frosh, Liz Honegger, has 10.9 points and paces the Falcons in rebounding, with 7.4 boards per game ... Honegger leads the Falcons with 1.5 blocked shots per outing.
Senior Lindsay Austin has 10.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and team-leading totals of 5.5 assists and 2.7 steals ... Austin, who had a school-record 10 steals at Miami, has five double-doubles this year (three points-rebounds, one pts.-assists and one pts.-steals) to tie Mann for the team lead ... freshman Megan Thorburn has 7.1 points and 3.4 caroms on the year, while classmate Carin Horne is averaging 6.4 points ... junior Kelly Kapferer and sophomore Casey McDowell average 4.2 and 2.8 points, respectively, off the bench.
BGSU ended the 2002-03 season with a record of 12-16, and the Falcons finished the MAC campaign with a 5-11 league record ... the Falcons tied for sixth in the MAC's West Division last year ... in 2003-04, head coach Curt Miller's Falcons returned six letterwinners from that team, including a pair of senior co-captains in starters Austin and Wenzel ... in addition, the Falcons also welcomed back two juniors, Tene Lewis and Sakima Smith, along with a pair of sophomores in Jill Lause and Marisa Smith.
Austin and Wenzel each have started all 22 games, while frosh Honegger and Mann have started 21 and Thorburn 17 ... Horne has started the last five contests, while Kapferer has made a pair of starts this winter.
The Falcons are shooting .414 from the field this season, including a .340 rate from three-point land, and .756 from the free-throw line ... the opponents have shot .393 from the floor, .328 from the arc and .689 from the line to date.
BGSU is 7-2 at home, 6-5 in road games and 2-0 in neutral-site contests this year ... in league play, the Falcons are 4-1 at Anderson Arena and 4-2 away from home ... last season, BG went 6-6 at home, 5-9 on the road and 1-1 on neutral courts ... in MAC contests, the Falcons finished 4-4 at home and 1-7 away from Anderson in 2002-03.
SCOUTING NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Northern Illinois comes to Anderson Arena with an overall record of 9-14, and the Huskies are 4-8 in MAC play ... NIU is looking to snap a five-game losing streak, with the most recent setback coming Saturday (Feb. 14), a 63-56 loss to Eastern Michigan ... Northern is 3-9 on the road this season to date, including a 1-5 road mark in MAC play ... individually, senior forward Jennifer Youngblood leads the way, with team-high averages of 10.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game ... fellow senior Lindsay Secrest, a guard, averages 10.3 points and has a team-high 44 three-point field goals, while sophomore center Joi Scott has 10.0 points and 5.7 rebounds ... freshman guard Stephanie Raymond has 8.6 points and team-best averages of 2.9 assists and 1.8 steals ... junior guard Rachel Sillar (2.1 ppg) joins the aforementioned four players in head coach Carol Hammerle's probable starting lineup ... Hammerle welcomed back nine letterwinners, including four starters, from last year's team that went 12-16 overall and 8-8 in MAC action ... Hammerle has a record of 70-97 in her sixth season in DeKalb ... she is 526-323 in her 31st season as a collegiate head coach ... the school's athletics web site is www.niuhuskies.com.
THE BGSU-NIU SERIES
The Falcons trail Northern Illinois, 11-10, in the all-time series between the teams, but BGSU won the first meeting of the 2003-04 season, 66-58 in DeKalb last month (Jan. 10, 2004) ... that Falcon win snapped a four-game series winning streak for the Huskies ... NIU won both of last year's meetings, including a 73-72 thriller at Anderson Arena (Feb. 1, 2003) ... the Falcons are 7-4 in home games vs. the Huskies, but NIU has taken the last two games at Anderson ... overall, NIU holds a 5-4 advantage since the Huskies rejoined the MAC, and the teams have split the four meetings in BG during that time ... six of the last 10 games have been decided by eight points or fewer.
MAC SERIES INFORMATION
The Falcons lead the all-time series with 10 of the 12 MAC opponents, and are tied with one other foe ... BGSU's win over Buffalo (Jan. 31) evened that series at 5-5 ... the Falcons trail only one MAC school, by the slimmest of margins ... Wednesday's opponent, Northern Illinois, holds an 11-10 series advantage over BGSU, after the Falcons' win at DeKalb on Jan. 10.
LAST TIME OUT
The Falcons traveled to Rose Arena on Valentine's Day, and came away with a 69-51 victory over host Central Michigan Saturday afternoon (Feb. 14) ... senior Lindsay Austin, who fueled a 7-0 Falcon run to open the second half, finished with a game-high 17 points ... classmate Stefanie Wenzel joined Austin in double digits with 13 points on the afternoon ... for the Chippewas, Lindy Hatfield was the lone double-figure scorer, with 12 points ... Erin Kuhl had nine points before fouling out ... for more information on the CMU game, click here.
FALCONS CLINCH WINNING REGULAR-SEASON RECORD
The Falcons have clinched a winning regular-season record for the first time in six years ... with five regular-season games remaining, BGSU is eight games above .500, at 15-7 ... the last Falcon team to have a winning overall record was the 1997-98 squad that went 21-8 and earned a WNIT berth in head coach Jaci Clark's final season in Bowling Green.
BREAKING THAT ELUSIVE 30-POINT BARRIER
In last year's game at CMU, the Falcons were held to a school record-low 30 points in a 12-point loss (Feb. 5, 2003) ... this season, BGSU hit the 30-point plateau with just five seconds gone in the second half en route to 69 points for the game ... BGSU made only 11 baskets and shot just .234 from the floor in last year's game at Rose Arena ... the Falcons made 11 field goals in the first half of this year's game and shot .466 from the field.
HOME, AND LOOKING TO STAY THERE
Since the beginning of the 2003-04 season, Falcon head coach Curt Miller has stated that a primary goal of his team is to finish among the top-eight teams in the MAC, thereby earning a home game for the first round of the league tournament ... with five games remaining in the regular season, Miller and the Falcons have put themselves in position to earn that home berth ... BGSU currently holds down the fourth spot in the seedings, and the Falcons are four-and-a-half games ahead of the ninth seed ... one more BGSU win would clinch a winning record in MAC play, and would go a long way toward that home game on March 6 ... of course, the Falcons still are in the hunt for a first-round bye, as well as the West Division championship ... BG was picked to finish sixth in the West in the MAC News Media Association's preseason poll.
BIGGEST MAC ROAD WIN SINCE...
The Falcons' 76-55 win at Ohio last Wednesday (Feb. 11) was the team's biggest MAC road victory in over seven years ... the 21-point margin was the largest on the road vs. a league opponent since a 68-44 triumph at Western Michigan on Feb. 1, 1997.
BIGGEST BACK-TO-BACK ROAD WINS SINCE...
After winning by 21 points at Ohio, the Falcons headed to Central Michigan and posted an 18-point win over the Chippewas Saturday (Feb. 14) ... to put those wins into perspective, consider that...
FRESHMAN HELD TO SINGLE DIGITS
News flash ... no BGSU freshman scored in double digits in Saturday's win at Central Michigan ... seniors Lindsay Austin (17 points) and Stefanie Wenzel (13) were the lone Falcons in double figures in the 69-51 victory ... that marks only the fourth time this year that a first-year Falcon did not score at least 10 points (TAMU-Corpus Christi, Morehead State and Buffalo games) ... the Falcons are now 3-1 in such games this season.
A FEW MORE NOTES FROM THE CMU GAME
BGSU TOPS LAST YEAR'S WIN TOTALS (BY THREE GAMES)
The Falcons have surpassed the team's victory totals for all of last season, by three games ... BGSU enters the NIU game at 15-7 overall and 8-3 in MAC play ... the 2002-03 version of the Brown and Orange finished with an overall record of 12-16 and a MAC mark of 5-11 ... last year, the Falcons tied for sixth in the West Division ... BGSU will have a winning overall record for the first time since the WNIT team of 1997-98 (21-8 overall) ... the Falcons have not finished MAC play on the positive side of .500 since 1998-99 (9-7).
WENZEL APPROACHING 1,000 POINTS
Falcon senior Stefanie Wenzel has a chance to reach the 1,000-point plateau for her career, perhaps as soon as this week ... Wenzel needs only 27 more points to reach the millennium mark ... she enters the NIU game with a career total of 973 points, ranking her 17th on the BGSU career scoring list ... 937 of those points have come since her freshman year, an average of 12.0 points per game over the last two-plus seasons ... the lone returnee to have averaged double digits in scoring in each of the last two years, Wenzel had 15 games of 10 or more points last year, the most among returning Falcons ... already, she has topped that total this season, with double-digit efforts in a team-high 19 of BGSU's 22 games, including in each of the last five games ... her 23-point effort vs. Western Michigan upped her career scoring average into double figures, and she now averages 10.4 ppg through 94 career games.
HOME COOKIN': BGSU HOLDING SERVE AT HOME ...
The Falcons have a record of 7-2 at home, including a MAC mark of 4-1 at Anderson Arena this year ... BGSU's home win total is the highest since the 1998-99 season, when the Falcons went 8-4 ... the Falcons are looking for the first winning MAC home record in three years.
...AND LOOKING TO STEAL SOME ON THE ROAD
After just two games, the Falcons had surpassed last season's total of MAC road victories ... BGSU is currently 4-2 in conference road games this season ... last winter, the Brown and Orange went 1-7 in MAC games away from home, with only a three-point win at Akron (65-62) going in the plus column for the Falcons ... overall, the Falcons are 6-5 in road games this year, and BG is 8-5 in all games played away from home.
FALCONS' GAME VS. KENT STATE TO START AT 1:00 P.M.
The starting time for Saturday's (Feb. 21) Falcons' game vs. Kent State has been set ... BGSU will face the Golden Flashes in a 1:00 p.m. tipoff at Anderson Arena ... the game will be part of a doubleheader at Anderson -- the fifth DH this season -- with the Falcon men taking on Youngstown State at 3:30 p.m. ... the latter game is a result of ESPN Bracket Buster Saturday.
START ME UP (THE CAREER STARTS LIST)
Senior Lindsay Austin's starting assignment at CMU was the 101st of her career, tying her with former teammate Francine Miller for fourth on that Falcon career list ... with at least six games remaining (five regular-season games plus the MAC Tournament's first round), Austin has a chance to move into second place on the all-time list, currently held by Susie Cassell (106 games) ... the legendary Jackie Motycka holds the BGSU record with 115 games started.
AUSTIN COULD ENTER UNCHARTED WATERS
Senior Lindsay Austin is on a number of other BGSU career lists, and has a chance to go where no Falcon has gone before ... she surpassed the 900-point mark on Saturday at CMU, and enters the Northern game with career totals of 916 points, 457 assists and 217 steals ... Austin became just the fourth player in school history to reach the 400 career assists barrier, and -- after her school-record total of 10 steals in the Miami game (Feb. 3) -- now ranks third in career steals at BG ... Austin is just one steal behind second-place Dee Knoblauch (218 from 1979-83), and is 24 away from school record-holder Lori Albers (241 from 1989-94) ... Austin also has an outside chance to crack the 1,000-point barrier ... no Falcon ever has totalled 1,000 points and 400 assists in a career, much less 200 steals as well ... only one BGSU player, Judit Lendvay (1989-93), had 1,000 points (1,078) and as many as 300 assists (304) ... Austin is one of only two players (joining Susie Cassell) to be ranked among the top-five on the career games started, assists and steals charts at BG.
BGSU'S BOARDWORK PAYING OFF
Last year, the Falcons held a rebounding advantage just four times in 28 games ... in 2003-04, BG has BEEN outrebounded only six times in 22 contests ... the Falcons have outboarded the opponent 14 times, battling to a draw in two other games ... BG has a +2.7 rebounding margin this season to date (+2.5 in MAC games).
LAUSE LIGHTS IT UP
Sophomore Jill Lause set season bests in numerous categories in the win at Central Michigan ... Lause, who had entered the game with totals of 14 points and 12 rebounds, scored eight points and added five boards vs. the Chippewas ... in addition to those two categories, Lause also set personal season standards in field goals made (four) and attempted (six) and minutes played (13) ... she tied her career bests in both rebounding and field goals attempted.
