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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Head to KSU to Close January Slate
January 25, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 25, 2005
BGSU Game Notes (18 pages) in PDF Format
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GAME #18
BGSU at KENT STATE
Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2005
7:00 p.m.
M.A.C. Center (6,327)
Kent, Ohio
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1) - Brian George and Greg Gania
SERIES: BGSU leads, 31-26
LAST MEETING: Kent State 71, at BGSU 62 (Feb. 21, 2004)
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, having won five of six games to begin the Mid-American Conference schedule, end the month of January with another tough test ... the Falcons (12-5, 5-1 MAC) of fourth-year head coach Curt Miller head to Northeast Ohio to face Kent State University in Wednesday (Jan. 26) action ... tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Memorial Athletic & Convocation Center (6,327) in Kent, Ohio ... then, the Falcons have a week off before opening February with two home games ... BGSU will face Northern Illinois University on Wed., Feb. 2, before hosting Ohio University three days later at venerable Anderson Arena (4,700).
AND THEN THERE WAS ONE
The Falcons have started the season with a 5-1 MAC record, and BGSU is 19-7 against league opposition since the start of the 2003-04 campaign ... but, there remains one conference school that the Falcons have yet to beat in the Curt Miller Era ... that team, of course, is Kent State (why else would we mention it?) ... the Falcons are 0-4 against the Golden Flashes since Miller took the helm prior to the 2001-02 season ... BG is looking to break several lengthy losing streaks to the Flashes ... those streaks are detailed in the 'series information' section in this notes.
FAMILIAR FOES
Falcon head coach Curt Miller has ties to KSU mentor Bob Lindsay and the Golden Flash program ... Miller spent a year at Kent State as a graduate assistant, and was a volunteer coach on Lindsay's staff during the 1990-91 season ... the Flashes finished 17-12 that year, and enjoyed the second-best turnaround in the nation ... Lori Bodnar, the associate head coach on the current KSU staff, also was a part of that 1990-91 coaching staff.
TOUGH CROWD
The Falcons were picked to finish third in the MAC's West Division in the MAC News Media Association's preseason poll ... the Kent State game closes a six-game stretch in which the Falcons play five games vs. teams picked to place either first or second ... Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan were tabbed to finish in the top-two spots in the West, while Miami and KSU were chosen as the first and second place teams, respectively, in the East ... the other game during that time was a road game against arch-rival Toledo.
POINTS OF PRIDE
MILESTONES FOR MILLER...
The Falcons' 70-45 win at Buffalo (Jan. 5) was the 50th win of head coach Curt Miller's career ... that win moved his record over the .500 mark for the first time since his head-coaching debut ... Saturday's (Jan. 22) win over Western Michigan improved Miller's conference winning percentage to .500 for the first time in his tenure ... Miller, in his fourth year at the BGSU helm, now has a mark of 27-27 in league play ... overall, he has a coaching record of 54-50, marking the first time he has been as many as four games.
...AND FOR THE PROGRAM
Curt Miller is in the process of restoring the Falcons' place among the perennial MAC contenders ... BG has been one of the most successful teams in league history over the years, a statement exemplified by the fact that the victory at Buffalo (Jan. 5) was the 250th conference win in program history ... entering the KSU game, BGSU's all-time record in conference games is 254-133 (.656) ... only Toledo (263) has more MAC wins than the Falcons.
FALCONS IN THE RPI
Bowling Green is currently ranked from 84th to 96th in each of four Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) related polls, as of Tuesday, Jan. 25 ... among MAC schools, only Eastern Michigan is ranked higher in each of the four polls.
THIS WAY MIGHT BE BETTER
After rarely holding the lead in the prior two games, the Falcons have hardly trailed in each of the last two contests ... in the Miami (Jan. 19) and Western Michigan (Jan. 22) games, BGSU was behind for a total of just 10 seconds of the 80 minutes ... the Falcons never trailed in the MU game, and fell behind, 2-0, early in the WMU contest ... but, a BG hoop tied that game just 10 seconds later, and began a 16-0 run that gave the hosts the lead for good ... that came after the Brown and Orange led for a total of just 11:42 of the 85 minutes over the previous 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).
BLOCK PARTY: HONEGGER MOVES INTO THIRD
Liz Honegger, just a sophomore, is rapidly moving up the BGSU lists for blocked shots ... she is currently third on the career chart, with 85, 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 35 rejections through 17 games this season -- currently averages 2.06 per game ... Honegger's has moved past Joelyn Shoup on the career list, and her 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.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
The Falcons take an overall record of 12-5 into Wednesday's game at KSU, and BGSU is 5-1 in MAC play after a win over Western Michigan, 80-58, on Saturday (Jan. 22) ... that was BG's third consecutive win, following victories at Toledo (69-66 in OT; Jan. 15) and against Miami (68-59; Jan. 19) ... the Falcons' lone MAC loss came against Eastern Michigan, 51-48 on Jan. 12, in a rematch of last year's MAC Tournament championship ... that loss snapped a six-game winning streak which had included pair of double-digit league wins on the road to open league play ... BG began the MAC slate with victories at Buffalo and WMU ... BGSU finished the non-conference portion of the schedule with a 7-4 mark for the third consecutive season.
The Falcons, averaging 71.1 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 (14.9 ppg), and also leads the team in rebounding (8.1), steals (2.4) 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 10.5 points per outing ... freshman Kate Achter is averaging 10.4 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 5.4 points ... Honegger and Mann are the only players to have started all 17 games this year, while McDowell has made 16 starts and Achter and Thorburn 10 apiece ... eight of the 12 healthy Falcons have started at least one game this season ... Achter, Horne (seven starts) and McDowell have joined Honegger and Mann in the starting lineup for the last three 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 KENT STATE
Kent State will bring an overall record of 10-7 into Wednesday's game, and the Golden Flashes have a MAC record of 3-3 ... KSU is coming off a 75-70 loss at Ball State Saturday (Jan. 22), which snapped a two-game winning streak ... the latter of those two victories was a 69-67 decision over Western Michigan last Tuesday (Jan. 18), on a buzzer-beating shot by junior Malika Willoughby ... junior forward Lindsay Shearer is the MAC's scoring leader, with 17.4 points per game, and also leads the Flashes in rebounding (7.4 rpg) ... senior guard Melissa DeGrate is averaging 13.8 points and 5.2 boards, while Willoughby, a guard, averages 10.1 points and a team-high 4.8 assists per outing ... DeGrate, Shearer and Willoughby each have started all 17 games to date for head coach Bob Lindsay ... sophomores Tiffany LaFleur (4.1 ppg) and Kerrie James (3.2 ppg) round out the team's probable starting lineup ... a year ago, the Golden Flashes went 19-10 overall, finished second in the MAC's East Division at 12-4 and received an invite to the WNIT ... Lindsay, the winningest coach in MAC history, has a record of 297-159 in his 16th year with the Flashes ... the school's athletics web site is www.kentstatesports.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Kent State, 31-26, in the all-time series between the teams, but the Golden Flashes have owned the series as of late ... Kent State has captured the last 11 games and 16 of the last 17 meetings ... BG's last victory came nearly eight years ago -- when the Flashes were going by 'Kent' -- in an 87-77 decision at Anderson Arena (Feb. 12, 1997) ... BGSU has not defeated the Golden Flashes in Northeast Ohio in almost 11 years, since a 102-92 Falcon win at the M.A.C. Center on Feb. 5, 1994 ... Kent/Kent State has won the last nine meetings there, and the Flashes are 14-12 overall in series meetings in Kent ... in last season's lone matchup, KSU left Anderson with a 71-62 win (Feb. 21, 2004) ... the nine-point margin of defeat was the closest in a BGSU-KSU game since January of 1998 ... the Flashes have won the last 10 games by an average of 20.5 points ... the complete list of series meetings and the boxscore from last year's meeting can be found on elsewhere in this game notes packet.
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.
189 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 189 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 reeled off 16-straight points early in the first half, en route to an 80-58 win over Western Michigan at Anderson Arena Saturday (Jan. 22) ... sophomore Liz Honegger had a game-high 21 points to pace four double-figure scorers for the Falcons ... classmate Ali Mann had 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting, while freshman Kate Achter had 11 ... senior co-captain Tene Lewis matched her career high with 10 points off the bench ... for the Broncos, Kelly Koerber had 13 points while Brittany Tyson added 12 ... WMU's Kate Verseput opened the scoring with a layup in the first minute of play ... but, Honegger answered just 10 seconds later, sparking a 16-0 Falcon run, and the BG lead remained in double digits the rest of the game ... the Falcons, who led by as many as 25 points on several occasions in the second half, held a 42-28 rebounding margin, with a total of 18 of BG's boards coming at the offensive end.
HONEGGER, MANN IN DOUBLE DIGITS
Sophomores Liz Honegger and Ali Mann have been consistent scorers for the Falcons since arriving on campus ... Honegger had a game-high 21 points in Saturday's (Jan. 22) win over Western Michigan, and has hit double digits in the scoring column a team-high 14 times in this season's 17 games ... Mann's double-figure game vs. the Broncos was her 12th of the season ... Mann has hit double digits in scoring 31 times in her 48 career games, while Honegger has 28 games of 10 points or more.
20-20 VISION
Sophomore Liz Honegger's 21-point game vs. Western Michigan was her third game of 20 or more points this season and the fifth of her career ... her two highest-scoring efforts in MAC action this season have come against the Broncos, as she had 23 points in the teams' first meeting, Jan. 8 in Kalamazoo ... classmate Ali Mann has had a total of eight career 20-point games, the most of any current Falcon.
MORE NOTES FROM THE WMU GAME
ROAD SWEET ROAD
The Falcons are currently a perfect 3-0 in Mid-American Conference road games this season ... since the beginning of last season, BGSU is 9-2 on the road vs. league foes ... the Brown and Orange had had a total of eight league road victories in the previous four seasons combined ... as of last week, the Falcons were tied for seventh in the nation in road wins, with six (neutral-site games not included).
STRONG OPPOSITION
The Falcons enter the KSU game with a record of 12-5 ... the losses have come to some strong opposition, as the teams that have beaten BGSU have a combined record of 66-21 (.759) through Monday (Jan. 24) ... 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 59-12 (.831).
DOING IT WITH DEFENSE ...
The Falcons' had a total of 10 steals in the win over Western Michigan Saturday (Jan. 22), and held the Broncos scoreless for a first-half span of 4:34 while scoring 16-straight points to go up by a 16-2 count ... senior Tene Lewis and sophomore Carin Horne each had four steals in the win.
... AND REBOUNDING
The Falcons' fast start vs. Western Michigan also was aided by a strong performance on the boards ... BGSU held a 42-28 rebounding margin for the game, including a 15-5 advantage in the first eight minutes ... at that point, the Falcons had a total of eight offensive boards to the Broncos' zero ... senior Tene Lewis and sophomore Carin Horne had three offensive caroms apiece during that time, and the two combined for nine on the day.
HOLDING ON TO THE BALL
The Falcons' built a double-digit lead in the first half vs. WMU, in large part due to the ability to take care of the ball ... the first BGSU turnover did not come until only 5:10 remained in the opening half ... by that point, the Falcons led by a 37-16 count.
DOING IT WITH DEFENSE II
The Falcons had a season-high seven blocked shots in the win over Miami, and BGSU also had 11 steals ... after getting 10 more steals vs. WMU, BG has hit double digits in the steals department nine times this season, including in each of the last four contests.
STANDS FOR TENACIOUS
Senior Tene Lewis tied her career high with 10 points in the WMU game ... she also had season bests of six rebounds -- including five at the offensive end -- and four free throws made, and tied her season high with 26 minutes played ... Lewis, a career .474 free-throw shooter, has made nine of her last 10 charity tosses, including a 7-for-8 performance over the last two games ... Lewis was 4-of-4 from the line vs. Western Michigan.
KOMEBACK KIDS
In the span of less than a month, the Falcons won three games by rallying from second-half deficits on the road ... at Toledo (Jan. 15), the Falcons trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half, and BG was down by 11 early in the second half ... BG rallied from second-half deficits in back-to-back road games just before Christmas, winning at Saint Francis (trailed by nine, Dec. 18) and Robert Morris (trailed by 11, Dec. 20) ... in the Curt Miller Era, the Falcons are 12-35 after trailing at the half ... but, BGSU has won three of the last four such games.
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 508 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 win at Saint Francis (Dec. 18) ... Mann, BGSU's active career scoring leader, has surpassed 600 points, and currently has a total of 618 points in 48 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 571 career points in 48 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.
MERRY CHRISTMAS, INDEED
The Falcons have gone 6-1 since Christmas ... since Christmas of 2003, BGSU has posted a record of 29-11, including a 19-7 mark vs. MAC schools.
SMART ... VERY SMART
The Falcons had a successful start to the 2004-05 season, both on the court and in the classroom ... nine of the 13 student-athletes on the roster had a grade-point average above 3.00 for the fall semester ... additionally, nine student-athletes currently maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.97 or higher through the fall.
FALCONS IN THE MAC
A number of Falcons are represented in the latest Mid-American Conference individual statistics, as of Tuesday (Jan. 25) ...
IT STANDS TO REASON
Not surprisingly, the Falcons have enjoyed success in games in which they have shot and rebounded well ... BGSU is 12-0 this season, and 44-6 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 9-0 when outrebounding the opponent ... BGSU is 29-7 in such games in Miller's tenure.
PAINT BY NUMBERS
For the most part, the Falcons have enjoyed success inside this year ... BGSU has outscored the opponents in the paint in 11 of the first 17 games ... BGSU's three highest point totals in the paint have come in home games, vs. Youngstown State (48), Western Michigan (44) and Bucknell (40) ... the Falcons have outscored the opponents, 172-108, in the paint in the five home games.
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.
CROWDED AT THE TOP OF THE REBOUNDING LIST
Over the last few weeks, sophomores Ali Mann and Liz Honegger have traded places at the top of the BGSU active career rebounding list ... currently, the two are separated by just a single rebound, as Mann has 372 and Honegger 371 ... senior Kelly Kapferer has 328 rebounds in her career.
