Bowling Green State University Athletics
Memorable Season For BG Women
March 29, 2004 | Women's Basketball
March 29, 2004
By DAMON BECK, Sentinel Sports Writer - Two seniors who got the most out of their last season, coupled with a talented group of freshmen and a few upper class role players, led the Bowling Green women's basketball team to its most memorable year in a long time.
After finishing tied for last in the Mid-American Conference West Division in 2003, the Falcons, 21-10 overall, came up just one game short of a trip to the NCAA Tournament when BG fell to Eastern Michigan in the finals of the MAC Tournament.
The Falcons did it with three freshmen starters.
"We had a lot of pieces to the puzzle, but when it was all going to come together, I was unsure," BG third-year coach Curt Miller said. "I felt it was going to take some time with a young team like that."
BG's nine-win turnaround was the 11th-best win-loss jump in the country. The Falcons also reversed their conference mark to 11-5 (tied for second in the MAC West) after a 5-11 league record in 2003.
The two biggest shots of the year came from senior Lindsay Austin. The 5-foot-7 point guard hit heart-stopping buzzer-beaters in the MAC Tournament quarterfinals and semifinals as the Falcons advanced to the tourney finals for the first time in a decade.
Even with the strong finish, the Falcons got off to a bumpy start.
The first rut was a 12-point season-opening loss to Youngstown State, which finished 3-26.
"We knew Youngstown State wasn't the strongest team on our schedule, and you couldn't have convinced me we were going to win 21 games this year on the bus ride home that day," Miller joked.
As bad was a 15-point loss at IUPUI (7-21 overall) just before Christmas that dropped BG to 4-4. Miller points to a team meeting in the lockerroom that night in Indianapolis as the turning point.
"We had a very open discussion after that game. Both the players and the coaches put some things on the table," Miller said of the 90-minute meeting. "It made all of us look at ourselves in the mirror over Christmas break. The team really came together after that loss.
"This group was confident all year that we were going to win games, but we learned early (in the season) that you have to back that up with the proper preparation and effort day in and day out in practice," Miller added. "Just because we had more talent, we learned we couldn't just show up and win."
BG returned from the break and won eight of its next 10 games. The two losses were two-point squeakers to MAC foes Ball State and Eastern Michigan.
Later in the MAC season, with a West Division title in sight, the Falcons lost a pair of consecutive home games, including a record four-overtime loss to Northern Illinois.
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"The freshmen ... brought a higher intensity level to practice from the first day than we had seen here in my first two years."
Curt Miller, BG women's head coach
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Austin, who was named the MAC Defensive Player of the Year, scored her 1,000th career point on her last basket against EMU. The four-year starter had some monster games this year. Her 10 steals against Miami in the regular-season meeting were the best single-game theft effort in the NCAA this year. She also had a nine-steal game and her 15 assists at Bucknell were the seventh-best effort in the nation this season.
Fellow senior guard Stefanie Wenzel was the team's high scorer with a 14.7 point average. She finished 17th in the nation in 3-point percentage by hitting 65-of-158 (41 percent) from long range and was named second-team All-MAC. She scored 1,099 career points.
MAC Freshman of the Year Ali Mann led BG on the boards with a 7.9 rebound average, just ahead of classmate Liz Honegger (7.5) rpg). The posts also averaged double figure scoring with Mann hitting for 12.9 ppg and Honegger scoring 10.2 ppg. Two other freshmen, Megan Thorburn (6.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg) and Carin Horne (7.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg) shared the fifth starting position.
"The freshmen were recruited to make an impact," Miller said of the seven-member class. "One of the reasons a lot of them chose BG was because they were going to have a chance to play right away. They are a very competitive group that hates to lose. They brought a higher intensity level to practice from the first day than we had seen here in my first two years."
Junior 6-2 center Kelly Kapferer, 5-7 sophomore guard Casey McDowell and 5-8 junior guard Tene Lewis provided depth all year.
With a couple of blue-chip guards coming in, Miller said BG could start all freshmen and sophomores next year.
(NOTE: This story appeared in the Sentinel-Tribune on Sat., March 27, 2004)
