Bowling Green State University Athletics
Wenzel Improves Throughout Career With Falcon Women
March 05, 2004 | Women's Basketball
March 4, 2004
By JACK CARLE, Sentinel Sports Editor - Jogging around campus and through the streets of Bowling Green is therapy for Stefanie Wenzel.
The 6-foot senior for Bowling Green's women's basketball team uses running as her release from the pressures of basketball and school work.
"If she is disappointed with herself, she's a kid you'll see around the community, probably too much, jogging mile after mile after mile to keep herself in shape," said BG head coach Curt Miller.
Of late, Wenzel, who recently went over the 1,000-point mark for her Bowling Green career, hasn't had to put many miles on her running shoes.
On the court, she's averaging a team-high 15.1 points a game as the Falcons have gone 18-9 overall and 11-5 in the Mid-American Conference, while securing the No. 4 seed for the post-season tournament which starts Saturday. This is BG's first winning season in Wenzel's four years.
With the leadership of Wenzel and fellow senior Lindsay Austin, the Falcons have developed into a legitimate candidate to contend for the MAC tournament championship.
"This has been an awesome year for me, it's been so much fun," Wenzel said. "The chemistry is 100 times better than it ever has been since I've been here.
"Lindsay and I, we hated losing, so it makes it that much sweeter this year."
In the classroom, Wenzel has a 3.97 grade-point-average and today was named a national first-team Academic All-America.
"I work hard at it. It's nice to be recognized," Wenzel said about the academic honors.
At the start of her Bowling Green career, Wenzel was classified as a player who could hit a 3-point shot if left open. She played in only 16 games as a freshman and scored a total of 36 points.
"My freshman year was really hard for a lot of reasons," Wenzel said. "One of the reasons was that I felt I wasn't given a chance to play."
Also because of some health problems, Wenzel didn't come to Bowling Green at the top of her game.
Early in her sophomore year, Wenzel was thrown into the mix when standout Francine Miller, who would finish No. 3 on BG's career scoring list, went down with a knee injury.
Since then, Wenzel has been a staple in BG's lineup and is one of only 17 players in school history to score more than 1,000 points in her career. She's made 71 career starts.
"She's a perfect match for the offense we play," coach Miller said earlier this year. "She runs up and down the floor and she has a great release on the 3-point shot."
Through hard work on all aspects of her game, Wenzel has developed into a player who can create her own shot off the dribble, take the ball to the basket, shoot free throws and hit the 3-pointer. She's fifth all-time at Bowling Green with 133 made 3-pointers.
"I've definitely worked hard to get where I am. I don't think I'm a great player," Wenzel said. "It's really weird for me that it's coming to an end. My whole life has been about getting better at basketball.
"The only reason I've gotten to where I am, I've worked my butt off."
She's second on the team to Austin in minutes played this season, averaging 32.4 minutes per game.
"I pride myself in coming back in the best shape of the whole team; that's my goal every summer," Wenzel said.
Wenzel says she runs, lifts and shoots occasionally during the summer, but doesn't play that much organized basketball.
"For me it's more of a mental game and summer is kind of my time to refresh and think about what I need to do for the next year and get my focus," she said.
The summer strategy has worked as Wenzel is having the best season of her career. She's third in the MAC in scoring and free throw shooting.
Wenzel's especially been strong down the stretch for the Falcons, who are 7-3 in their last 10 games. In that span Wenzel has averaged 16.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game while shooting 39.8 percent from the field, with 24 3-pointers, and 82.3 percent from the free-throw line. In six of the 10 games, Wenzel has played 35 or more minutes.
"From my sophomore year to now, I think I've definitely improved becoming more than a one-dimensional player," she said.
"Sometimes I catch myself not being aggressive and just taking a 3-point shot.
"It's been my goal to improve on aspects of the game that I haven't been that strong in."
