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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Head To Marshall
February 24, 2004 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 24, 2004
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
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BGSU (15-9, 8-5)
at
MARSHALL (14-10, 6-7)
Game #25Wed., Feb. 25, 2004
7:00 p.m.
Henderson Center (9,043)
Huntington, W.Va.
Radio: WBGU-FM (88.1)
Series: BGSU leads, 8-3
Last Meeting: Marshall 69, at BGSU 50 (Feb. 26, 2003)
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, after a pair of narrow home Mid-American Conference losses, now must hit the road for the next two games, beginning Wednesday (Feb. 25) ... the Falcons of third-year head coach Curt Miller head to the state of West Virginia to face Marshall University ... the game, which will be broadcast on student station WBGU-FM (88.1), will begin at 7:00 p.m. at the Cam Henderson Center (9,043).
Following the MU game, the Falcons will return to intra-divisional competition, facing Ball State University in a Sunday (Feb. 29) game at Worthen Arena (11,500) ... the Falcons and Cardinals will meet in a noon start, and the game will be televised on Fox Sports Net Ohio as part of the MAC TV package ... BGSU then returns home to close the regular season with a contest vs. the arch-rival University of Toledo on Tuesday, March 2, at venerable Anderson Arena (4,700) ... tipoff for the "Senior Night" game is at 7:00 p.m. ... BGSU has clinched at least a home game for the first round of the MAC Tournament, and the Falcons are still in contention for a first-round bye.
WENZEL REACHES 1,000-POINT PLATEAU
On Saturday (Feb. 21), Falcon senior Stefanie Wenzel became the 17th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point plateau for her career ... Wenzel hit the millennium mark by converting a three-point play with 11:09 left in the second half of the Kent State game ... she now has a career total of 1,001 points, ranking her 17th on the BGSU career scoring list ... 965 of those points have come since her freshman year, an average of 12.1 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 ... she has topped that total this season, with double-digit efforts in a team-high 21 of BGSU's 24 games, including in each of the last seven contests ... over the last month, Wenzel has upped her career scoring average into double figures, and she now averages 10.4 ppg through 96 career games.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
BGSU enters Wednesday's Marshall game with an overall record of 15-9, and the Falcons are 8-5 in MAC play ... BG, having surpassed last year's win totals by three games, has clinched a winning regular-season record for the first time in six years ... the Falcons, 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) ... most recently, however, the Falcons dropped a pair of home games - a four-OT game to Northern Illinois, 102-97 (Feb. 18) and Saturday's (Feb. 21) 71-62 loss to Kent State ... despite the losses, BG has won eight of the last 12 games, all in MAC play ... since Christmas, the Falcons have captured 11 of 16 contests ... the Falcons' total of eight league wins includes four road victories, at NIU (66-58; Jan. 10), Toledo (57-54; Jan. 21), Ohio and Central.
Senior Stefanie Wenzel leads the Falcons with 14.9 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 11.8 points and 7.9 rebounds, leading BG in rebounding and ranking second in scoring ... Mann has a BGSU-high seven double-doubles on the year ... another frosh, Liz Honegger, has 10.8 points and is second on the Falcons in rebounding, with 7.5 boards per game ... Honegger also leads the Brown and Orange with 1.6 blocked shots per outing.
Senior Lindsay Austin has 10.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and team-leading totals of 5.4 assists and 2.6 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) ... freshman Carin Horne has 7.7 points and 3.5 caroms on the year, while classmate Megan Thorburn is averaging 7.2 points ... junior Kelly Kapferer and sophomore Casey McDowell average 4.1 and 2.6 points, respectively, off the bench.
Austin and Wenzel each have started all 24 games, while frosh Honegger and Mann have started 23 and Thorburn 17 ... Horne has started the last seven contests, while Kapferer has made a pair of starts this winter.
The Falcons are shooting .408 from the field this season, including a .324 rate from three-point land, and .749 from the free-throw line ... the opponents have shot .389 from the floor, .340 from the arc and .697 from the line to date.
BGSU is 7-4 at home, 6-5 in road games and 2-0 in neutral-site contests this year ... in league play, the Falcons are 4-3 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 MARSHALL
Marshall enters Wednesday's game with an overall record of 14-10 and a MAC mark of 6-7 ... the Thundering Herd has won two of the last three games, including a 58-55 win over visiting Northern Illinois Sunday (Feb. 22) ... Marshall is now 7-4 at the Henderson Center this year, including 2-3 in MAC action ... the NIU game snapped a three-game home losing streak for the Herd ... individually, sophomore guard Sikeetha Shepard-Hall leads the team with 10.4 points per game, while senior F/C Catie Knable has 9.8 points and a team-high 9.5 rebounds ... sophomore guard Mary Pat Statler has 7.4 points, while freshman guard Teyonka Hodge has 6.5 points and team-leading averages of 3.2 assists and 2.0 steals ... junior guard Kim Griffin has 6.3 points per game ... no fewer than 13 different players have started at least one game this season ... Griffin, Knable, Shepard-Hall, senior forward Nadia Swanigan (4.1 ppg) and junior guard L'erin Scott (1.6 ppg) comprised the starting lineup on Sunday for coach Royce Chadwick ... Chadwick welcomed back six letterwinners, including two starters, from last year's team that went 12-17 overall and 7-9 in MAC action ... Chadwick has a record of 35-46 in his third season in Huntington ... he is 435-178 in his 20th season as a collegiate head coach ... the school's athletics web site is www.HerdZone.com.
THE BGSU-MARSHALL SERIES
The Falcons lead Marshall, 8-3, in the all-time series between the teams, but the Thundering Herd has won the last two meetings and three of the last five contests ... BGSU holds a 5-3 lead since the Herd returned to the MAC prior to the 1997-98 season ... the Falcons and Marshall are 2-2 in games in Huntington, with MU holding a two-game home winning streak ... last year, the Herd came to Bowling Green and gave the Falcons their worst home loss of the season, 69-50 (Feb. 26, 2003) ... in the last matchup at the Henderson Center, MU posted a 56-43 win over the Brown and Orange (Feb. 16, 2002) ... after three of the first four series meetings were decided by five points or fewer, none of the last seven have been closer than 10 points.
MAC SERIES INFORMATION
The Falcons lead the all-time series with 10 of the 12 MAC opponents, and one other series is tied ... BG's win over Buffalo (Jan. 31) evened that series at 5-5 ... the Falcons trail only one MAC school, as Northern Illinois holds a 12-10 series lead over BGSU.
MAC TOURNAMENT PICTURE
If the regular season ended today, the Falcons would be the fifth seed for the MAC Tournament, and would open tourney play with a first-round home game vs. #12 Akron ... according to the MAC's weekly release, BGSU has clinched at least a top-eight seed and a home berth for the first round ... the Falcons are still in the race for a bye ... 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 6 ... 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 10 ... the semifinals and championship are scheduled for March 12 and 13, 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 Miami 12-1 vs. Ball State, vs. Buffalo, vs. Kent State Eastern Michigan 11-3 @Ohio, @Central Michigan Kent State 9-4 vs. Buffalo, @Akron, @MiamiWestern Michigan 9-5 vs. Central Michigan (Tuesday), vs. Toledo Bowling Green 8-5 @Marshall, @Ball State, vs. Toledo Toledo 7-6 vs. Akron, @WMU, @BGSU Ball State 7-6 @Miami, vs. BGSU, @Northern Illinois Marshall 6-7 vs. BGSU, vs. Ohio, vs. Akron
Ohio 5-8 vs. Eastern Michigan, @Marshall, @Buffalo Northern Illinois 5-9 vs. Central Michigan, vs. Ball State Buffalo 4-9 @Kent State, @Miami, vs. Ohio Akron 2-11 vs. Kent State, @Marshall Central Michigan 1-12 @WMU (Tuesday), @NIU, vs. EMU
LAST TIME OUT
Visiting Kent State used a game-ending 14-2 run to post a road win over the Falcons Saturday afternoon (Feb. 21) at Anderson Arena ... BG has lost back-to-back games for the first time since December ... La'Kia Stewart led the Flashes with a double-double off the bench, scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds ... three other KSU players joined her in double digits, as Lindsay Shearer had 12 points and Malika Willoughby and Melissa DeGrate 10 apiece ... for the Falcons, freshmen Carin Horne and Ali Mann each had double-doubles for the second consecutive game ... both players had 15 points, with Mann grabbing a game- and career-high 16 rebounds and Horne corralling 10 ... eight of Mann's boards came at the offensive end of the floor ... senior Stefanie Wenzel had 10 points, and became the 17th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point career plateau ... the Falcons struggled offensively, shooting just .258 from the floor in the first half and .300 for the game ... BGSU made only four three-point field goals in 29 attempts on the day ... by contrast, KSU's .410 field-goal percentage included a 6-for-12 performance from three-point land ... the Brown and Orange fell behind by eight points, 14-6, with five minutes gone, but slowly battled back ... BGSU used a 7-0 run, with a Liz Honegger triple bringing the Falcons within a point and two Megan Thorburn free throws putting the Falcons up, 20-19, with 7:33 left ... the lead changed hands several times before a Willoughby trey with 53 seconds on the clock gave the Flashes a 29-28 halftime lead ... in the second half, the Falcons did not lead in the first eight minutes ... but, a pair of free throws by junior Kelly Kapferer tied the score with 11:58 left, and a Horne layup gave the Falcons a 45-43 lead just 23 seconds later ... an Andrea Csaszar three-point play gave KSU the lead again, but Wenzel duplicated that feat at the other end. ... the free throw to cap that play was her 1,000th career point, and put the Falcons up by a 48-46 count ... a Horne trey put the Brown and Orange ahead by five, and her layup with 8:52 left gave the hosts a 55-48 lead ... the teams traded points over the next few minutes, with a Honegger layup restoring BG's seven-point edge, 59-52, with 7:18 remaining ... that, however, would be the Falcons' final field goal of the afternoon ... KSU scored the next five points before a Wenzel free throw gave BG a 60-57 lead with 6:15 left ... a Csaszar free throw was the only scoring over the next two-plus minutes, before two Shearer tosses tied the score at 60-60 heading into the final media timeout ... after that break, BG was called for an offensive foul, Shearer hit a jumper, and Stewart got a steal and layup to put KSU up by four with three minutes left ... Mann made the second of two free-throw tries with 2:53 left, but the Falcons could not score again until only 17 seconds remained ... KSU made 5-of-7 free throws, one of which capped a Stewart three-point play with 43 seconds left.
THE FALCONS...
FOUR OVERTIMES FOR THE FALCONS AND HUSKIES
Fans at Anderson Arena for last Wednesday's (Feb. 18) game certainly got more than they bargained for ... they saw a game-and-a-half, as the Falcons and Northern Illinois battled through 40 minutes of regulation, plus four overtime periods ... NIU came out on top, 102-97, as the teams tied the NCAA Division I record for most overtime periods in a game ... the NCAA Record Book lists eight OT games prior to 2003-04, and a totally random check of Xavier's media guide turned up another ... so, the game was only the 11th in NCAA Division I history to require as many as four overtimes (one such game earlier in 2003-04)... the Falcons are one of only two schools (joining TCU) to have played in two of those four-OT games ... BGSU also went to four OTs on a snowy night in Muncie, Ind. ... on that evening (Jan. 6, 1999), the Falcons picked up a 106-105 victory over Ball State.
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 three games remaining in the regular season, Miller and the Falcons have earned at least that home berth, on March 6 ... BGSU currently holds down the fifth spot in the seedings, and one more victory would clinch a winning record in MAC play ... additionally, the Falcons still are in the hunt for a first-round bye ... BG was picked to finish sixth in the West in the MAC News Media Association's preseason poll.
'TENE' STANDS FOR 'TENACIOUS'
Junior Tene Lewis provided a spark off the bench in the Kent State game ... Lewis had four points, two rebounds and a game-high four steals in just nine minutes of action ... additionally, she had an assist and took a charge ... Lewis' point total tied a season high, while her steals total matches her career best.
SMART ... VERY SMART
The Falcons' two senior co-captains received more honors last week ... on Thursday (Feb. 19), Stefanie Wenzel and Lindsay Austin were named to the Academic All-District IV Teams presented by CoSIDA ... Wenzel was named to the first team, while Austin was chosen to the third team ... for Wenzel, the honor marked the second-straight season she has been named to the all-district team, after earning second-team honors last year ... she is the first Falcon to earn first-team accolades since Jacki Raterman in 1999 ... as a first-team selection, Wenzel will have her name placed on the Academic All-America ballot ... Austin earns Academic All-District honors for the first time in her Falcon career ... the team is made up of student-athletes from Division I schools in the states of Alabama, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee ... to be nominated, student-athletes must be at least a sophomore, a starter or important reserve, and must carry a cumulative GPA of 3.20 or higher ... Wenzel was one of four MAC student-athletes named to the five-member first team ... at the time of nomination, she maintained a 3.97 cumulative GPA as an integrated language arts major ... Austin carried a 3.57 cumulative GPA as a visual communication technology (VCT) major ... BG was one of just three schools (along with Cleveland State and Kent State) to have two student-athletes named to the team.
DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE...
A trio of freshmen -- Liz Honegger, Carin Horne and Ali Mann -- had double-doubles in the Northern Illinois game ... the last time three Falcon players had double-doubles in the same game was Jan. 25, 1995 ... the NIU game is believed to be the first time three freshmen have had double-doubles in the same game ... Horne's double-double was her first of the year, making a total of six different BGSU players that have had at least one double-double this year to date ... through the KSU contest, Mann now has seven, while senior Lindsay Austin has five ... Honegger now has four double-doubles, while Horne has two and freshman Megan Thorburn and senior Stefanie Wenzel each have one in 2003-04.
...DOUBLE YOUR FUN
Falcon freshmen Carin Horne and Ali Mann each had double-doubles in the Kent State game, marking the second consecutive game each had turned the trick ... Mann had a career-high 16 rebounds vs. the Flashes, and averaged 14.0 points and 14.0 boards on the week (NIU and KSU games) ... Horne averaged 21.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in the two games.
DOUBLY GOOD
As mentioned, Ali Mann has seven double-doubles on the year to date ... that total is the highest for a BGSU player in a season in four years, since Francine Miller had nine in 1999-2000 ... as a team, the Falcons have a whopping 20 double-doubles, after totalling four during all of last season ... the team total is BGSU's highest since at least the 1987-88 season.
START ME UP
Senior Lindsay Austin's starting assignment vs. NIU was the 103rd of her career, ranking her fourth on that Falcon career list ... with at least four games remaining (three 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 HIGH ON OTHER BGSU CAREER LISTS AS WELL
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 at CMU (Feb. 14), and enters the Marshall game with career totals of 928 points, 466 assists and 220 steals ... Austin became just the fourth player in school history to reach the 400 career assists barrier, and in the Kent State game (Feb. 21), she moved past Dee Knoblauch (218 from 1979-83) into second place on the steals list ... Austin is 21 away from school record-holder Lori Albers (241 from 1989-94) ... she also has an outside chance to crack the 1,000-point plateau ... 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 seven times in 24 contests ... the Falcons have outboarded the opponent 15 times, battling to a draw in two other games ... BG has a +2.6 rebounding margin this season to date (+2.2 in MAC games).
BOARDWORK PAYING OFF, PART II
BGSU, as mentioned, has had more rebounds than the opposition 15 times in 24 games in 2003-04, and the Falcons are 11-4 in such contests ... the Brown and Orange had held the rebounding advantage only nine times (in 56 games) over the previous two years, going 7-2 in such games (4-0 in 2002-03, 3-2 in 2001-02).
IT'S A SEASON-LONG BLOCK PARTY FOR HONEGGER
Freshman Liz Honegger had four blocked shots in the Northern Illinois game, and is rapidly moving up that BGSU single-season list ... with another block vs. KSU, Honegger now has 39 to tie Megan McGuire (1988-89) for fourth place on that chart ... Angie Bonner holds the top-three spots on the list, including a school-record 50 in 1989-90 ... Honegger has 20 blocks in MAC games, six shy of that school record (26 by Bonner in 1988-89).
