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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Austin is 'a Warrior' at Point Guard for Falcons
March 05, 2004 | Women's Basketball
March 5, 2004
By JACK CARLE, Sentinel Sports Editor - Lindsay Austin has been doing her high-wire act without a net for so long it's not even a factor anymore.
The senior point guard has been playing without a true backup since the first day of her Bowling Green career. She'll make her 107th career start Saturday when the Falcons host Central Michigan in the first-round of the Mid-American Conference tournament. Tipoff is at 1 p.m. in Anderson Arena.
"The last four years, I've gotten a lot of experience about when to do things and when not to do things," Austin said. "Usually you want to have an upperclassman or someone to show you the ropes. That didn't happen, but I was able to learn quickly and it just built up from my experience."
It's not that the Falcons go into a shell when Austin is sitting on the bench, it's just that everything works better at both ends of the floor when Austin is playing. She's averaging a team-high 33.4 minutes a game this season.
"She just covers up a lot of our weaknesses, offensively and defensively," BG head coach Curt Miller said. "Without question she has to be considered our MVP."
Stefanie Wenzel has been Austin's teammate for the last four years and knows her true worth.
"It's great to have a point guard who is so in control of the ball and just everything. I don't think she gets enough credit for what she does for this team," said Wenzel, who is a co-captain with Austin this year. "I think she's the glue ... She is a warrior.
"She does all the little things. When we need a rebound, we count on her to get it. She has assists, steals, she plays great defense every day."
Austin is fourth in the MAC in assists (5.52) and second in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.07).
"There's no secret that we're one of the lowest teams, not only in the conference, but in the country, in turnovers," Miller said. "Lindsay has the ball so much, it's just a big credit to her."
Austin said the most important line for her on the statistics sheet is the assists. It's her job to make sure everyone on the team gets the ball in a position where they can have the most success.
"You can trust that she's going to be able to control the ball. She's not going to get stripped," Wenzel said. "She's an awesome point guard."
At the defensive end, Austin is third in the conference in steals (2.81).
"Our whole defensive philosophy starts with her ball pressure," Miller said. ""Man or zone, she spearheads what we're trying to do defensively.
"We have borderline bad defenders on the floor. But Lindsay's that good that she helps hide some very, very poor defenders, that will go nameless."
Austin's performance last Sunday in Bowling Green's 84-79 overtime victory over Ball State illustrates her value to the team. She matched her career-high with 11 rebounds and finished with nine points, seven in overtime, nine assists and nine steals. It was very close to a rare quadruple-double.
"Lindsay not only took control of the overtime, she took control of the whole game pretty much," said BG's Ali Mann. "She would not let us quit, she keeps us fighting. When everyone else was kind of slowing down, she was out there pushing ... making plays.
"Everyone kind of looked to her and noticed that she wasn't ever going to say die."
After three straight losing seasons, the influx of a talented freshman class along with the contributions of Austin and Wenzel have turned the Falcons into one of the top teams in the MAC this season.
"I think this is as much fun as my last three years combined," Austin said. "It's just a really good atmosphere."
While the Falcons are 18-9 overall and the No. 4 seed for the tournament, Austin says it's possible for the team to still do more this season.
"We really do believe we can win," Austin said. "We've played everybody in the MAC and there's no one that we really think is dominant ... It's up for grabs and we're right there with everybody else trying to grab it."
