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Bowling Green State University Athletics
League-Leading Falcons Host Western Saturday
January 21, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 21, 2005
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
Game Notes (18 pages) in PDF Format
2004-05 Boxscores (4 pages) in PDF Format
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GAME #17
BGSU
vs.
WESTERN MICHIGAN
Saturday, Jan. 22, 2005
3:00 p.m.
Anderson Arena (4,700)
Bowling Green, Ohio
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1)
SERIES: BGSU leads, 27-20
LAST MEETING: BGSU 80, at Western Michigan 67 (Jan. 8, 2005)
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, currently in first place in the Mid-American Conference's West Division, faces one of the teams that is just a game out of first ... the Falcons (11-5, 4-1 MAC) of fourth-year head coach Curt Miller meet Western Michigan University for the second time in two weeks, concluding the season series with a Saturday (Jan. 22) game at venerable Anderson Arena (4,700) ... tipoff for the contest, the first half of a doubleheader, is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. ... the Falcons are in the midst of a stretch which will see the team play four-of-five games at home ... following the WMU game, the Brown and Orange will head to Kent State University for a Wednesday (Jan. 26) game vs. the Golden Flashes ... that contest will tip off at 7:00 p.m. at the M.A.C. Center.
YOU LOOK FAMILIAR ... VERY FAMILIAR
The Falcons, as mentioned, are meeting Western Michigan for the second time in a span of two weeks ... the teams' first 2004-05 matchup came on Jan. 8 in Kalamazoo ... BGSU has not had such a short turnaround in a regular-season home-and-home series in two years, since playing Central Michigan on Jan. 18 and Feb. 5, 2003.
TOUGH CROWD
The Falcons were picked to finish third in the MAC's West Division in the MAC News Media Association's preseason poll ... BGSU is in the middle of a six-game stretch in which the Falcons play five games vs. teams picked to place either first or second ... Eastern Michigan and WMU were tabbed to finish in the top-two spots in the West, while Miami and Kent State were chosen as the first and second place teams, respectively, in the East ... the sixth game during that time was a road game against arch-rival Toledo.
POINTS OF PRIDE
DEJA VU? ALL OVER AGAIN?
The Falcons went 21-10 overall last year, and finished 11-5 in MAC regular-season play before advancing all the way to the championship game of the league tournament ... on January 21, 2004, after 16 games, the Falcons were 11-5 overall and 4-1 in MAC action ... this year, once again, the team's record sits at 11-5 and 4-1.
FALCONS IN THE RPI
Bowling Green is currently ranked from 90th to 96th in each of four Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) related polls, as of Thursday, Jan. 20 ... among MAC schools, only Eastern Michigan is ranked higher in each of the four polls -- the collegerpi.com, Collegiate Basketball News (through Jan. 16), WBCA/Summerville polls and the Sagarin ratings.
BLOCK PARTY: HONEGGER TIED FOR THIRD
Liz Honegger, just a sophomore, is rapidly moving up the BGSU lists for blocked shots ... she is currently tied for third place on the career chart, with 83, and is threatening to break the single-season record ... Honegger already owns a piece of the latter mark, having tied the BG record with 50 blocks in her first season on campus ... but, she is blocking shots at an even more prolific pace this year ... Honegger had 1.61 blocks per contest last winter, and - with 33 rejections through 16 games this season - currently averages 2.06 per game ... Honegger's next target is second-place Megan McGuire, who had 98 blocks from 1985-89 ... Honegger is on pace to obliterate the BGSU career record for blocks per game.
ANOTHER BLOCK PARTY
As mentioned, Liz Honegger is on a pace to break the BGSU single-season record for blocked shots ... Honegger tied that record, originally set by Angie Bonner, with 50 rejections last year ... this season, Honegger has 33 blocks through 16 games ... she has 11 blocks through five MAC games this year ... Honegger owns the seasonal record for blocks in conference games, with 27 a year ago.
THIS WAY MIGHT BE BETTER
After rarely holding the lead in the previous two games, the Falcons never trailed in Wednesday's Miami game ... BG opened the scoring with just 37 seconds elapsed, and led for the remaining 39:23 against the RedHawks ... that came after the Brown and Orange led for a total of just 11:42 of the 85 minutes over the prior two games ... BG led for only 59 seconds of the Eastern Michigan game (Jan. 12) and 10:43 of the win at Toledo (Jan. 15).
MANN, HONEGGER ARE DOUBLE TROUBLE
Sophomore Ali Mann had a double-double in the win over Miami, with 13 points and 11 rebounds ... Mann now has 10 career double-doubles, the most among active Falcons ... three of those have come this season ... classmate Liz Honegger has a team-high four double-doubles this winter, matching her total for all of last year.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
The Falcons take an overall record of 11-5 into Saturday's game vs. WMU, and BGSU is 4-1 in MAC play after a 68-59 win over visiting Miami Wednesday (Jan. 19) ... last week, BGSU split a pair of three-point games ... the Falcons suffered a 51-48 loss to visiting Eastern Michigan (Jan. 12) in a rematch of last year's MAC Tournament championship ... the loss snapped a six-game winning streak which had included pair of double-digit league wins on the road to open league play ... but, BG bounced back for a 69-66 overtime win at Toledo (Jan. 15) ... the Falcons' other MAC victories came at Buffalo (70-45; Jan. 5) and Western Michigan (80-67; Jan. 8) ... BGSU finished the non-conference portion of the schedule with a 7-4 mark for the third consecutive season.
The Falcons, averaging 70.6 points per game, currently have four players - three sophomores and a freshman - with double-digit scoring averages ... soph Liz Honegger paces the Brown and Orange in scoring (14.6 ppg), and also leads the team in rebounding (8.3), steals (2.3) and blocks (2.1) ... classmate Ali Mann has 12.9 points and 7.5 boards per game to rank second on the team in each category, while another soph, Carin Horne, has 10.9 points per outing ... freshman Kate Achter is averaging 10.3 points and a team-high 4.1 assists per game, and is third on the team with 4.6 rebounds ... redshirt junior Casey McDowell has 6.3 points per contest, while sophomore Megan Thorburn averages 5.7 points ... Honegger and Mann are the only players to have started all 16 games this year, while McDowell has made 15 starts and Thorburn 10 ... eight of the 12 healthy Falcons have started at least one game this season ... Achter has started nine games this winter, and she, Horne and McDowell have joined Honegger and Mann in the starting lineup for the last two games.
BGSU ended the 2003-04 season with a record of 21-10, and the Falcons finished the MAC campaign with an 11-5 slate ... BG tied for second in the West Division, then posted a pair of buzzer-beating wins in the league tourney to advance to the championship game ... head coach Curt Miller welcomed back 11 letterwinners, including three starters, from that team ... the returning starters, all sophomores, are Honegger, Mann and Thorburn ... Miller's team includes three seniors in Kelly Kapferer, Tene Lewis and Sakima Smith ... a pair of juniors, Jill Lause and McDowell, also return ... in addition to the three returning starters, the sophomore class consists of Amber Flynn, Julie Gompers and Horne ... Gompers has yet to see action this season due to injury ... two freshmen, guards Achter and Whitney Taylor, round out the Falcon squad.
SCOUTING WESTERN MICHIGAN
Western Michigan enters Saturday's game with an overall record of 6-10, and the Broncos have a 3-2 record in MAC play ... WMU suffered a 69-67 loss on a shot at the buzzer against Kent State Tuesday (Jan. 18), snapping a two-game winning streak that included an overtime victory at Ball State (77-74; Jan. 12) and a win over the MAC's preseason favorite, Eastern Michigan (85-80; Jan. 15) ... Western is playing without a pair of senior starters, Maria Jilian and Casey Rost, who are redshirting due to injury ... Rost is the reigning MAC Player of the Year, while Jilian was the league's Defensive P-O-Y two years ago ... sophomore guard Carrie Moore leads the remaining Broncos in both scoring (16.9 ppg) and rebounding (8.6 rpg), while senior F/C Kelly Koerber (15.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg) is second on the team in each category ... Moore and Koerber rank second and third, respectively, in the league in scoring in MAC games, as each player averages over 20 points ... sophomore guard Brittany Tyson and senior guard Kim Driggett average 6..4 and 5.9 points, respectively, this season ... junior forward Kate Verseput (5.8 ppg) joins the aforementioned four players in the probable starting lineup for head coach Ron Stewart ... a year ago, the Broncos went 19-13 overall and tied with the Falcons for second in the MAC's West Division at 11-5 ... Stewart is 114-110 in his eighth year as a collegiate head coach, all with the Broncos ... the school's athletics web site is www.wmubroncos.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Western Michigan, 27-20, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU has captured the last three meetings ... just two weeks ago (Jan. 8, 2005), the Falcons won an 80-67 game in Kalamazoo ... BGSU won last year's two meetings in nearly identical fashion ... in the lone regular-season matchup, Lindsay Austin's shot at the buzzer gave the host Falcons a 69-67 victory (Feb. 7, 2004) ... a month later (March 10, 2004), another Austin buzzer-beater lifted BG over the Broncos, 63-62, in the quarterfinals of the Kraft MAC Tournament at Cleveland's Guna Arena ... the Falcons hold a 13-9 advantage in series meetings in Anderson Arena, and last year's regular-season win broke a three-game home losing streak to the Broncos.
THE FALCONS VS. THE MAC
The Falcons lead the all-time series with 11 MAC opponents ... BGSU trails only one MAC school, as Northern Illinois holds a 12-10 series lead over the Brown and Orange.
188 GAMES AND COUNTING
The Falcons have made at least one three-point field goal in every game during the past six-plus years ... in fact, BGSU has drained a triple in each of the last 188 games, a school record by far ... the last time the Falcons were held without a trey was on March 1, 1998 ... the previous school record had been 29-straight games on two occasions - most recently, in the 1993-94 (last five games) and 1994-95 (first 24 games) seasons.
LAST TIME OUT
The Falcons led from wire to wire, holding off several late charges from visiting Miami, en route to a 68-59 win over the RedHawks Wednesday night (Jan. 19) at Anderson Arena ... sophomore Carin Horne had 15 points and a career-high five steals, while freshman Kate Achter tied Horne for team scoring honors ... Achter had 13 of her 15 points in the first half as BGSU built a 34-23 lead at the intermission ... sophs Ali Mann and Liz Honegger each hit double digits in scoring ... Mann, despite struggling from the field, had a double-double, with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds ... Mann also had a career-high five assists and matched her career best with two blocked shots ... Honegger narrowly missed a double-double of her own, with 10 points and nine boards ... she also had three blocks ... Cindi Merrill led the RedHawks with 17 points, while Amanda Jackson had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
DOING IT WITH DEFENSE
The Falcons had a season-high seven blocked shots in the win over Miami, and BGSU also had 11 steals ... BG has hit double digits in the steals department eight times this season, including in each of the last three contests.
DOING IT WITH DEFENSE II
Sophomore Carin Horne has had a total of nine steals over the last two games ... Horne tied her career best with four steals in the win at Toledo (Jan. 15), then had five thefts against Miami Wednesday ... Horne now has 25 steals to rank third on the team, and is second on the Falcons with an average of 3.0 steals per 40 minutes.
HONEGGER, MANN BACK IN DOUBLE DIGITS
Sophomores Liz Honegger and Ali Mann both were held to single digits in the scoring column vs. Eastern Michigan (Jan. 12) ... Honegger was held to a season-low four points in that game, snapping a career-long streak of 10 consecutive double-digit scoring games ... Mann had nine points in that game, breaking her double-digit streak at six games ... but, the two combined for 41 points in the win at Toledo (Jan. 15), and both were in double figures again in the Miami game ... Mann had 22 points vs. the Rockets, including 19 in the second half ... Honegger's 19 points included a key three-pointer in overtime ... Mann had 13 points and Honegger 10 against the RedHawks ... Honegger has scored in double digits a team-high 13 times in this season's 16 games ... she has reached the double-figure mark 27 times in her 47 career contests, and has surpassed the 20-point mark four times ... Mann has now scored in double figures in a total of 11 games this year ... she has scored 20 or more points eight times in her career, the most of any current Falcon, and has hit double digits 30 times in her 47 career games.
CONTRIBUTING IN OTHER WAYS
Sophomore Ali Mann did not have her finest shooting night vs. Miami, making only two of her 12 field-goal attempts ... but, the forward found other ways to help her team pick up a victory ... Mann got herself to the foul line for a total of 14 shots, making nine ... she pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds, dished out a career-high five assists (also a game high) and matched her career best with two blocked shots ... and, late in the game, Mann came up with a key basket ... with the Falcons leading by five points, and the shot clock running down, Mann hit a right-side jumper with 54 seconds left to all but seal the deal.
NO TURNOVERS
Redshirt junior guard Casey McDowell did not commit a turnover in the win over Miami ... McDowell has had seven turnover-less games this season to date.
STRONG OPPOSITION
The Falcons enter the WMU game with a record of 11-5 ... the losses have come to some strong opposition, as the teams that have beaten BGSU have a combined record of 60-21 (.741) through Thursday (Jan. 20) ... three of those teams have been ranked or received votes in the national polls, including Ohio State, rated third by the Associated Press and fourth in the ESPN/USA Today coaches rankings ... four of the five teams that have beaten BG - OSU, New Mexico, Eastern Michigan and Lehigh - have a combined record of 54-12 (.818).
THE FALCON 500
With four points in the win at Toledo, senior Kelly Kapferer became the latest Falcon to reach 500 career points ... the co-captain currently has exactly 500 points in her BG tenure ... Kapferer was the third Falcon to reach the 500-point mark this season ... sophomore Ali Mann reached that plateau in the Falcons' win at Saint Francis (Dec. 18) ... Mann, BGSU's active career scoring leader, has surpassed 600 points, and currently has a total of 606 points in 47 career games ... another soph, Liz Honegger, surpassed the 500-point mark for her career in the win at Western Michigan (Jan. 8) ... Honegger now has 550 career points in 47 games ... a total of 44 players in BGSU history have scored at least 500 points.
BGSU-OHIO GAME PART OF MAC TV PACKAGE
The Falcons' home game vs. Ohio University, scheduled for Feb. 5, will be televised as part of the league's seven-game package on Fox Sports Net Ohio ... start time for the game has been moved to 2:00 p.m. ... this is a change from the previously published start time listed in the media guide and on schedule cards, posters and season ticket information ... Comcast Local will also air the game, with additional clearances possibly being announced at a later date.
IT STANDS TO REASON
Not surprisingly, the Falcons have enjoyed success in games in which they have shot and rebounded well ... BGSU is 11-0 this season, and 43-6 in the Curt Miller Era, when the Falcons have a higher field-goal percentage than the opponent ... BG is 0-5 when the opposition has a higher FG pct. in 2004-05 ... this year, the Falcons have a record of 8-0 when outrebounding the opponent ... BGSU is 28-7 in such games in Miller's tenure.
