Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons, Eagles Meet For MAC Championship
March 12, 2004 | Women's Basketball
March 12, 2004
CLEVELAND, Ohio -
Falcons vs. Eastern Michigan - Sat., March 13, 2004
Kraft MAC Tournament Championship Game
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, having advanced to the championship round of the Kraft Mid-American Conference Tournament for the first time since 1994, will take on second-seeded Eastern Michigan University Saturday (March 13). The game is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. at Gund Arena (11,000) in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. The contest will be televised as part of the MAC TV package, with Dave Weekley and Debbie Leonard on the call. Student radio station WBGU-FM (88.1) also will broadcast the game, with Kevin Wernert and Aaron Rund mikeside.
TELEVISION/SATELLITE INFORMATION
The BGSU-EMU game will be aired live on Fox Sports Ohio and Fox Sports Chicago ... Fox Sports Detroit will air the game on same-day tape delay, showing the contest on Saturday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. ... Fox Sports Midwest also will air the game on a tape-delay basis, with the date and time TBA ... the satellite coordinates: Galaxy 11, 12K.
BGSU'S MAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Falcons are participating in the MAC Tournament for the 20th time in the tourney's 23-year history . . . BGSU has won three tournament games for the first time since the 1994 team won the league tourney title . . . BG has posted an overall record of 24-13 since the MAC Tournament was instituted in 1982 . . . BGSU's win total ranks the Falcons third among league teams, and the .649 winning percentage also is the third-highest of any MAC school . . . BGSU is 9-0 all-time in home games, 2-5 in road games and 13-8 in neutral-site contests . . . BG is now 8-6 in the quarterfinal round and 7-5 in semifinal-round contests . . . the Falcons have advanced to the championship game six times prior to this season, with a perfect 6-0 mark in such games . . . BGSU has won six tourney titles, with the last coming in 1994.
THE BGSU-EASTERN MICHIGAN SERIES
The Falcons lead Eastern Michigan, 37-11, in the all-time series between the teams, and Saturday's game will mark the first-ever neutral-site contest in the series . . . Eastern won this season's only meeting, a 69-67 decision in Ypsilanti (Feb. 27, 2004) . . . the Eagles have a two-game series winning streak, and EMU has won five of the last eight meetings since a 16-game BGSU win streak from 1991-98 . . . last season, the Falcons met the Eagles twice within a five-day span, with the home team winning each time . . . BGSU downed Eastern on 'Senior Night' for the second consecutive year, with a 70-69 decision at Anderson Arena (March 4, 2003) . . . then, the Falcons were sent to EMU for the first round of the MAC Tournament, and the host Eagles pulled out a 66-54 win (March 8, 2003).
BGSU vs. EMU IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT
The Falcons are meeting Eastern Michigan for the fourth time in the MAC Tournament, and the first time in the league tourney championship . . . BG has a 2-1 lead in the previous MAC Tournament games . . . the Falcons won home quarterfinal games in back-to-back years, with a 77-71 win at Anderson Arena in the 1990 tournament, and a 97-75 victory in the 1991 tourney . . . last season, in a first-round game, the Eagles picked up a 66-54 win over the visiting Falcons.
FALCONS WIN AGAIN AT BUZZER; BGSU DOWNS MIAMI IN SEMIFINALS
For the second consecutive game, BGSU senior Lindsay Austin hit a jumper at the buzzer, giving the Falcons a one-point victory . . . this time, the victim was top-seeded Miami, and the final score was 75-74 in Friday's (March 12) semifinal round of the Kraft MAC Tournament . . . with the win, the fourth-seeded Falcons advance to the league tournament's championship game for the first time since 1994 . . . Austin's jumper capped a 9-0 BG run to end the game, as the Falcons held the RedHawks scoreless for the final three minutes . . . freshman Ali Mann had 21 points to pace four Falcons in double digits in the scoring column, as BGSU rallied from a 15-point halftime deficit . . . Melanie Kozlowski had 15 points off the bench to lead five RedHawk players in double figures . . . the trip to the MAC Championship is the first for the Falcons since 1994 . . . BGSU jumped out to a 16-6 lead early in the first half, but Miami countered with a 10-0 run of its own to tie the game, before taking a 20-18 lead on Cindi Merrill's two free throws with 7:55 remaining . . . after over three scoreless minutes, Merrill sank two from the charity stripe, launching another RedHawk run . . . Miami's run continued, as the RedHawks ended the half on a 34-9 streak to take a 40-25 lead at the intermission . . . after the teams split the first two hoops of the second half, the Falcons scored nine consecutive points to creep within 42-36 at the 17:29 mark . . . Austin and freshman Liz Honegger combined for 13 consecutive Falcon points after a Stefanie Wenzel layup to begin the half . . . after BG got within that six-point margin, the RedHawks answered by restoring the double-digit lead . . . a Kim Lancaster jumper with 12:38 left gave MU a 58-45 lead. Then, the Falcons went to work . . . BGSU scored the next 15 points of the game, with Mann and fellow freshman Carin Horne combining for the first 13, to take a 60-58 lead . . . Horne hit a three-point field goal at the 11:03 mark, and Mann followed with a triple of her own to cut the MU lead to 58-55 with 10:30 left . . . another Horne trey tied the contest at the 9:38 mark . . . a pair of Wenzel free throws completed the 15-0 run and gave BG a two-point lead, and two more Wenzel tosses gave BGSU a 62-61 lead with 8:20 remaining . . . the RedHawks responded with a pair of treys, by Nicki Motto and Colleen Day, to take a 67-62 lead with 6:03 on the clock . . . after BG narrowed the lead to a single point, the RedHawks scored seven-straight points, capped by another Motto triple that gave MU a 74-66 lead with 2:59 left . . . but, the 'Hawks would not score again . . . after Mann split a pair of free throws, Wenzel hit a three-pointer at the 1:24 mark, cutting the MU lead to four points . . . then, Honegger got a steal, and Wenzel drew a foul with 36.2 seconds left . . . she made both free throws to cut the lead to two points . . . the Falcons got another steal, and Mann grabbed the ball and was fouled with 9.2 seconds remaining . . . she made the first free throw, cutting the MU lead to 74-73, but missed the second . . . Day grabbed the rebound and was fouled by Honegger with 7.0 ticks on the clock . . . Day missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity, and Horne rebounded . . . BGSU headed the other way, and Austin drove against MU's Cindi Merrill . . . with time winding down, she took a 14-foot jumper from just to the left of the free-throw line, and her shot found nothing but net . . . Austin ended the game with 12 points, while Wenzel (14) and Honegger (10) joined her in double digits . . . Honegger grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, tying for game honors, and had six steals.
FOURTH-SEED SUCCESS?
The Falcons are looking to become only the second #4 seed in the history of the MAC Tournament, but the second in as many years, to win the league tourney . . . over the first 21 years of the league tourney, the number-one seed won the tournament 16 times, with the second seed winning three titles and the third seed winning on two occasions . . . last season, fourth-seeded Western Michigan downed third-seeded Ball State, 81-76, to capture the crown.
LOOKING FOR LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN
The Falcons are looking for the seventh MAC Tournament title in school history . . . BGSU won four consecutive crowns under head coach Fran Voll from 1986-89 . . . then, Jaci Clark-coached squads won the 1993 and 1994 tournament championships . . . prior to the three wins in this year's tourney, the Falcons had won a total of only four MAC Tournament games since that 1994 title.
MOST-IMPROVED TEAMS GO HEAD TO HEAD
The MAC Tournament championship game, perhaps not surprisingly, features a matchup of the two most-improved teams in the league, in terms of wins compared to a year ago . . . the Falcons have posted a nine-game improvement, coming into Saturday's game with a 21-9 record after finishing with a 12-16 mark last year . . . BGSU was picked to finish sixth in the West Division in the MAC News Media Association preseason poll . . . Eastern Michigan had a record of 13-16 last winter, and the Eagles have won a school-record 21 games this season.
IT TAKES A THIEF: AUSTIN BREAKS BGSU CAREER STEALS RECORD
With her first steal in Friday's win over Miami, senior Lindsay Austin broke the BGSU career steals record . . . Austin, the MAC's Defensive Player of the Year, picked Nicki Motto's pocket and went in for an uncontested layup with 2:25 left in the first half . . . that steal moved her past Lori Albers (241 from 1989-94) into first place . . . Austin had three steals, and now has 244 in her Falcon career . . . Austin's five assists vs. Miami give her a total of 505 in her career . . . that ranks her fourth in school history.
AUSTIN EYES 1,000
Senior point guard Lindsay Austin is moving ever closer to the 1,000-point mark for her career . . . Austin enters the Eastern Michigan game with a total of 990 points in her Falcon tenure . . . only 17 previous BGSU players have reached the millennium mark, including Austin's co-captain, Stefanie Wenzel.
21 WINS FOR THE FALCONS
BGSU has 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, Jaci Clark's last BGSU squad, went 21-8 . . . that team, which lost in the MAC Tournament's semifinal round, received a WNIT bid, BG's last national postseason berth.
SHE DID IT AGAIN
Senior Lindsay Austin now has made three game-winning shots at the buzzer this year, all on jumpers near the foul line . . . she hit a shot to win the Falcons' regular-season meeting with Western Michigan, 69-67 at Anderson Arena on Feb. 7 . . . then, on Wednesday (March 10), Austin hit another buzzer-beater to best the Broncos in quarterfinal-round action . . . and, of course, her 14-foot shot hit nothing but net as the Falcons topped Miami, 75-74, Friday (March 12).
WENZEL DIALS LONG DISTANCE
Senior Stefanie Wenzel tied her season and career bests, making five three-point field goals in the win over Western Michigan in the quarterfinals . . . Wenzel had two more treys against Miami, and now has made a total of 63 three-pointers this season, the second-highest single-season total in BGSU annals . . . Angie Farmer holds the school record with 78 successful treys in the 1999-2000 campaign.
A(NOTHER) WIN AT THE NEUTRAL SITE
The win over the Broncos marked BGSU's first MAC Tournament win at a neutral site since the 1993-94 team won the league tourney crown, and BGSU duplicated the feat with another one-point victory over Miami . . . the Falcons advanced to the semifinals in both 1997 and 1998, but the quarterfinal-round games were held at campus sites in both of those seasons.
MOST-IMPROVED TEAM IN THE MAC?
A case can be made that the Falcons are the MAC's most-improved team . . . BGSU is currently 21-9 overall, and the Falcons finished at 11-5 in conference play . . . BGSU has topped the overall win total from a year ago by nine games, the highest improvement in the league . . . last year's squad went 12-16 overall and 5-11 in the MAC . . . BGSU, six games better than last season in league play, was the only team to improve by more than three games over last season in MAC action.
BGSU AT THE GUND
The Falcons now have a 2-1 record at Gund Arena . . . in the lone meeting prior to Wednesday's win over Western, BGSU dropped an 81-63 decision to Toledo in the 2001 tourney . . . BGSU, the ninth-seed that year, led at the half, but the top-seeded Rockets took the lead for good with 16 minutes left . . . that was the final game before the Curt Miller Era began.
ARE YOU EXPERIENCED? HAVE YOU EVER BEEN EXPERIENCED?
Prior to this season, only four members of the current BGSU team had been involved in a game at Gund Arena . . . seniors Lindsay Austin and Stefanie Wenzel and redshirt junior Kelly Kapferer all were freshmen on the 2000-01 Falcon squad that lost to Toledo . . . Austin started that game, scoring four points, while Kapferer had four points off the bench . . . Wenzel did not see action in that game . . . additionally, assistant coach Kevin Eckert had been involved in one prior game at Gund Arena, as a member of the Buffalo coaching staff.
SENIORS STEP IT UP
The Falcon seniors, Lindsay Austin and Stefanie Wenzel, combined for only three points on 1-of-11 shooting from the field in the first half vs. Miami . . . but, in the second half, the two teamed up to score 23 of the Falcons' 50 points . . . Austin shot 4-of-5 from the field after the intermission, including the game-winning shot at the buzzer . . . Wenzel had a 3-for-4 half, and also was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw stripe en route to scoring all 14 of her points after the break . . . Wenzel now has 1,089 career points (10.7 ppg) in 102 career contests.
TURNOVERS AID THE COMEBACK
BGSU turned the ball over a whopping 15 times in the first half of the Miami game, while the RedHawks committed only four turnovers en route to a 40-25 halftime lead . . . but, the Falcons forced 16 Miami second-half turnovers, while giving it up only six times themselves . . . for the game, BG had 33 points off the 20 MU turnovers, while the Falcons' 21 turnovers led to 22 RedHawk points.
FINE FALCON FRESHMAN
BGSU freshman Ali Mann had a game-high 21 points in the Falcons' win over Miami . . . Mann, the MAC Freshman of the Year, now has six games of 20 or more points this season . . . Mann is averaging 12.9 points per game to rank second on the Falcons . . . the Chelsea, Mich., native leads the team with 7.9 rebounds per contest.
MILLER TIME
BGSU head coach Curt Miller's Falcons have 21 wins this season, matching the total for his first two seasons combined . . . Miller enters the EMU game with a record of 42-44 in his third season in Bowling Green.
CLOSE CALLS
The Falcons are now 3-0 in one-point games this season, and BGSU is 5-2 in games decided by three points or less . . . one of those two losses came at Eastern Michigan's Convocation Center, as the Eagles picked up a 61-59 win on Jan. 27.
A FEW MORE FALCON NOTES
The Falcons have won six-straight games, a season high and the longest streak since an eight-game streak in the 1997-98 season . . . BGSU's 50-point second half vs. Miami marked the most points the Falcons had scored in a half since BG racked up 51 first-half points in a 91-68 win over IPFW on Dec. 6 . . . freshman Liz Honegger set a season best with six steals vs. the RedHawks . . . Honegger's previous best was four steals on two occasions . . . with a blocked shot vs. Miami, Honegger now has 49 rejections this season, tying her for second on that list . . . she is one shy of BGSU Hall-of-Famer Angie Bonner's school record . . . senior Lindsay Austin, as mentioned, set the BG career steals record in Friday's win over Miami . . . Austin had set the school's single-game steals mark in the teams' regular-season meeting, with 10 thefts in a Feb. 3 game at Oxford . . . Austin now has 87 steals this season, just five shy of that school record, held by Talita Scott (92 in 1993-94) . . . Miami was the number-one seed in the MAC Tournament for the first time since 1990 . . . that year, BGSU downed the then-Redskins in the league tourney's championship game . . . Friday's game featured the top-two vote-getters in the final MAC Coach-of-the-Year balloting . . . Miami's Maria Fantanarosa earned the nod with 34 votes to Curt Miller's 17 . . . the two coaches are both 1990 graduates of Ohio schools (Miller from Baldwin-Wallace, Fantanarosa from Miami) and are good friends . . . Miami entered the game ranked #61 in the ratings percentage index (according to collegerpi.com), while BGSU was listed at 110 in the RPI . . . BG had defeated only one school ranked higher, as Western Michigan was #57 in the RPI prior to the Falcons' regular-season meeting (Feb. 7) . . . Miami had been a perfect 14-for-14 at the foul line against the Falcons, prior to Colleen Day's missing the front end of a one-and-one situation with only 7.0 seconds left in the game.
