Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU Meets Western Michigan Saturday
January 07, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2005
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
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GAME #13
BGSU
at
WESTERN MICHIGAN
Saturday, Jan. 8, 2005
2:00 p.m.
University Arena (5,649)
Kalamazoo, Mich.
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1) - Marc Tackett and Brian Scullin
SERIES: BGSU leads, 26-20
LAST MEETING: BGSU 63, Western Michigan 62 (March 10, 2004)
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, after opening Mid-American Conference play with a win on the road, will take to the road once again ... the Falcons (8-4, 1-0 MAC) of fourth-year head coach Curt Miller head to Kalamazoo for a Saturday (Jan. 8) contest vs. Western Michigan University ... tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at WMU's University Arena (5,649) ... following Saturday's contest, the Falcons return to Ohio to open the home portion of the schedule Wednesday (Jan. 12) ... the Brown and Orange will face Eastern Michigan University in a rematch of the 2004 Kraft MAC Tournament's championship game.
MILESTONES FOR MILLER...
The Falcons' 70-45 win at Buffalo Wednesday (Jan. 5) was the 50th win of head coach Curt Miller's career ... Miller, in his fourth year at the BGSU reins, currently has a record of 50-49 ... the win at UB moved his coaching record over the .500 mark for the first time since his head-coaching debut ... the Falcons beat Youngstown State in Miller's first game with the Falcons (Nov. 17, 2001).
...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, and Wedneday marked yet another example of that fact ... the win at Buffalo was the 250th conference win in program history ... only Toledo (260) has more MAC wins than the Falcons ... BGSU's all-time record in conference games improves to 250-132 (.654).
FALCONS LOOK TO EXTEND WINNING STREAK
The Falcons will head to Kalamazoo riding a five-game winning streak ... through nine games this season (including the team's lone exhibition), BGSU had not put together any kind of a streak, having alternated wins and losses during that time ... finally, the 'non-streak' streak came to an end, as the Falcons have downed Utah State, Saint Francis (Pa.), Robert Morris, Bucknell and Buffalo ... prior to the current run, the last BG streak of any kind began last Feb. 25, with a win at Marshall ... that victory kick-started a six-game winning streak that took the Falcons all the way to the championship game of the Kraft MAC Tournament.
STRONG OPPOSITION
The Falcons have played 10 out of the season's first 12 games away from home, and have a record of 8-4 ... the four losses have come to some strong opposition, as the teams that have beaten BGSU have a combined record of 36-14 (.720) heading into the weekend ... two of those four teams are ranked in the top 25, as Ohio State (13-2) is ninth in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today coaches polls, and New Mexico (10-1) is 23rd in former and 26th in the latter poll ... additionally, Lehigh is 8-4 on the year, while Duquesne currently is 5-7.
FALCONS IN THE RPI
Bowling Green is currently ranked 107th in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), according to the CollegeRPI.com website ... the rankings are as of Friday morning, Jan. 7 ... among MAC schools, only Eastern Michigan (56th) and Miami (66th) are ranked higher than BG ... two of BG's early-season opponents, Ohio State (#9) and New Mexico (#17), are ranked in the top-20 ... BGSU is also third among MAC teams in the latest Sagarin ratings (according to an unofficial MAC web site, www.geocities.com/mu1809).
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
The Falcons' 80-60 win over Bucknell (Dec. 30) closed the non-conference season, and extended one of the most successful non-league stretches in school history ... since the beginning of the 2002-03 season, BGSU has posted a 21-12 mark in regular-season, non-league games, the best of any MAC school ... BGSU's .636 winning pct. in such games also is the MAC's best.
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS II
For the third consecutive season, BGSU has completed the non-conference portion of the schedule with a 7-4 record ... the Falcons had not had three consecutive winning non-conference campaigns in over a decade (1991-92 to 1993-94) ... additionally, the Falcons have recorded 21 non-league victories in the last three years, tying a school record for a three-year period (BGSU also had 21 non-conference, regular-season wins from 1986-87 through 1988-89 seasons) ... BG is the only MAC school to post winning non-league records in each of the last three seasons.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
The Falcons will take an overall record of 8-4 to WMU, and BGSU is 1-0 in MAC play ... the Falcons are riding a five-game win streak after a 70-45 win at Buffalo Wednesday (Jan. 5) ... prior to that win, the Brown and Orange had closed the non-conference schedule with an 80-60 win over Bucknell (Dec. 30) in a rare home game ... that came after the Falcons had closed a six-game road swing with a 4-2 record, including victories at Saint Francis (80-74 in OT; Dec. 18) and Robert Morris (66-51; Dec. 20) prior to breaking for the holidays ... two of the Falcons' four losses this season have come on the road to teams currently in the national rankings (Ohio State and New Mexico).
The Falcons, averaging 72.0 points per game, currently have four players - three sophomores and a freshman - with double-digit averages in that department ... soph Liz Honegger paces the Brown and Orange in scoring (14.8 ppg), and also leads the team in rebounding (8.3), steals (2.3) and blocks (1.9) ... classmate Ali Mann has 12.6 points and 7.4 boards per game to rank second on the team in each category, while another soph, Carin Horne, has 10.8 points per outing ... freshman Kate Achter is averaging 10.0 points and a team-high 4.3 assists per game, and is third on the team with 4.3 rebounds ... sophomore Megan Thorburn has 7.3 points per contest, while redshirt junior Casey McDowell has 6.0 points ... Honegger and Mann are the only players to have started all 12 games this year, while McDowell has made 11 starts and Thorburn eight ... eight of the 12 healthy Falcons have started at least one game this season ... Achter, McDowell and Thorburn have joined Honegger and Mann in the starting five for the last four 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 brings an overall record of 4-8 into Saturday's contest ... like the Falcons, the Broncos are 1-0 in the MAC, having opened with a road win ... Western downed Central Michigan, 69-64, on Wednesday ... the team, without the services of two starters, has won three of the last four games after opening the season with a 1-7 record ... senior guards Casey Rost and Maria Jilian are out for the season with injuries ... Rost is the reigning MAC Player of the Year, while Jilian was the league's defensive P-O-Y two seasons ago ... sophomore guard Carrie Moore leads the remaining Broncos in both scoring (15.4 ppg) and rebounding (8.3 rpg), while senior F/C Kelly Koerber (13.5 ppg, 6.6 rpg) is second on the team in each category ... sophomore guard Brittany Tyson and senior guard Kim Driggett average 5.7 and 5.3 points, respectively ... junior forward Kate Verseput (5.0 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 with a league mark of 11-5 ... Stewart is 112-108 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, 26-20, in the all-time series between the teams ... 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 Gund Arena ... the teams have not met in Kalamazoo in nearly two years, since a 75-51 Western Michigan win on Jan. 29, 2003 ... the Falcons hold a narrow 11-10 lead in road games vs. the Broncos.
SEE YOU SOON
The Falcons and Broncos will meet twice in a two-week span, as Western Michigan will travel to BG for the return match on Sat., Jan. 22 ... prior to this year, BGSU and Western had had only one regular-season meeting in each of the previous five seasons.
THE FALCONS VS. THE MAC
The Falcons lead the all-time series with 11 of the 12 MAC opponents, after taking a series lead (6-5) with the win at Buffalo on Jan. 5 ... BG trails only one MAC school, as Northern Illinois holds a 12-10 series lead over the Brown and Orange.
LAST TIME OUT
The Falcons held host Buffalo without a field goal for a first-half span of 11:52, en route to a 70-45 win over the Bulls Wednesday night (Jan. 5) ... the game was the MAC opener for both teams ... the Falcons made eight three-point field goals in the first half, paced by a 3-for-3 long-range effort from sophomore Carin Horne in the opening 20 minutes ... Horne wound up with 13 points, as did classmate Ali Mann ... soph Liz Honegger had a game-high 14 points, along with five steals and four assists ... with the teams tied, 5-5, the Falcons went on a 10-0 run to take the lead for good ... BG led by a 43-21 count at the half ... with the Bulls still within 21 points midway through the second half, the Falcons went on a 9-0 run to remove all doubt ... Stephanie Bennett led the Bulls with 13 points, while sister Allison Bennett had 10.
DEFENSE!
The Falcons have had some prodigious defensive stretches over the last few games ... BG held Bucknell without a field goal for a span of 8:17 in the first half of that game ... after BU's Lindsey Hollobaugh made a shot to tie the game at 4-4, the Bison had only three free throws before the team's next field goal, at the 10:17 mark ... by that time, the Falcons led by a 25-7 count ... then, at Buffalo, the Falcons held the Bulls without a field goal for a first-half stretch of 11:52 ... after Stephanie Bennett's three-point field goal tied the score at 5-5, UB did not hit another shot from the field until only 2:37 remained in the first half ... but, the Falcons already had taken a 33-11 lead.
THREE FOR BG
The Falcons made a season-high nine three-point field goals at Buffalo ... in fact, BG had matched the season best by halftime, going 8-for-17 vs. the Bulls in the opening 20 minutes ... the Falcons' long-range success was the team's best in over a year, since an 8-for-16 first-half performance at Bucknell in aa 100-77 win (Dec. 3, 2003).
WE'RE FINE EITHER WAY
In the past, Falcon teams have lived and died by the three-point shot ... that is not the case this year ... the Falcons have a record of 4-2 when making more three-point field goals than the opposition this season ... BGSU is also 4-2 when making fewer treys than the opponent in 2004-05.
ALI SURPASSES 500-POINT MARK; LIZ IS CLOSING IN
Forward Ali Mann, just a sophomore, is BGSU's active career scoring leader ... with her 19-point performance at Saint Francis, Mann surpassed the 500-point mark for her career ... after scoring 13 points at Buffalo, she now has 551 points in a total of 43 games as a Falcon ... classmate Liz Honegger is closing in on the 500-point plateau, with 494 career points.
BIG WIN AT BUFFALO
The Falcons' 25-point win at Buffalo marked BG's biggest margin of victory in a MAC game in nearly a year, since an 85-48 home win vs. Akron on Jan. 14, 2004 ... it was the Falcons' biggest conference win on the road, however, in nearly a decade, since a 29-point win at Eastern Michigan (90-61) on Jan. 18, 1995.
184 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 184 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.
BLOCK PARTY
In her first season on campus, Liz Honegger tied the school record with 50 blocked shots ... so, it is no surprise that the sophomore again leads the team in that category this season ... but, Honegger is blocking shots at an even more prolific pace this year ... she had 1.61 blocks per contest last winter, and - with 23 rejections through 12 games this season - currently averages 1.9 per game ... she already has 73 blocks in her Falcon tenure, ranking her fourth on that list ... she moved past both Michelle Terry (62 from 1994-97) and Sue Pokelsek (63 from 1979-83) earlier this season ... Honegger's next target is third-place Joelyn Shoup, who had 83 blocks from 1982-86.
HONEGGER, MANN HIT DOUBLE DIGITS
Sophomore Liz Honegger had a game-high 14 points at Buffalo ... she has scored in double digits a team-high 10 times this season, including in each of the last nine games ... Honegger now has reached the double-figure mark 24 times in her 43 career contests, and has surpassed the 20-point mark three times ... classmate Ali Mann has scored in double digits in each of the last five games, and in a total of eight games this year ... Mann has scored 20 or more points seven times in her career, the most of any current Falcon, and has hit double digits in scoring 27 times in 43 career games.
HONEGGER, MANN ARE DOUBLE TROUBLE
Sophomore Liz Honegger had a double-double in the win over Bucknell, with game-high totals of 19 points and 10 rebounds ... Honegger now has four double-doubles this season, matching her total for all of last year ... classmate Ali Mann had double-doubles in back-to-back games, wins over Utah State and Saint Francis ... Mann now has nine career double-doubles, the most among active Falcons, while Honegger is right behind with eight.
HONEGGER DISHES 'EM OUT
Sophomore Liz Honegger had a career-high four assists in the Falcons' win at Buffalo ... Honegger had had three assists on seven previous occasions in her career ... she also had five steals vs. UB, just one shy of her career best.
CROWDED AT THE TOP
Over the last few games, sophomores Liz Honegger and Ali Mann have traded places at the top of the BGSU active career rebounding list ... currently, the two are tied at the top of that chart, with 334 rebounds apiece ... senior Kelly Kapferer has 318 in her career.
FALCONS IN THE MAC
A number of Falcons are represented in the latest Mid-American Conference individual statistics, as of Friday (Jan. 7) ...
MORE ON THE BUFFALO WIN
The Falcons' 25-point win at Buffalo gives BG a 6-5 lead in the series between the teams ... it was the Falcons' largest margin of victory over the Bulls, and broke a recent trend of close games between the schools ... prior to Wednesday, seven of the last eight series meetings had been decided by 10 points or less, including six by four points or fewer.
DURING THE WINNING STREAK
Over the last five games, sophomore Liz Honegger has averaged 16.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game, while classmate Ali Mann has averaged 15.0 points and 8.4 boards ... sophomore Carin Horne has averages of 12.0 points and 4.8 rebounds, while freshman Kate Achter is averaging 11.2 points, 6.2 boards and 4.8 assists during that time ... senior Tene Lewis has 2.4 assists and 3.0 steals per contest during the streak.
FIRST STREAK IN THIS CATEGORY
BG has outrebounded the opponent in each of the last three contests ... the current streak marks the first time this year that the Falcons have held the advantage in that category in back-to-back games ... BGSU has had more rebounds than the opponent in seven of the 12 games this season.
PAINT BY NUMBERS
The Falcons have enjoyed success inside this year ... BGSU has outscored the opponents in the paint in 10 of the first 12 games, and the Falcons have had more 'points in the paint' in each of the last seven contests ... BG has enjoyed success in the lane in the two home games, outscoring opponents by a combined 88-24 in the paint at Anderson Arena ... those totals include BG's top-two points-in-the-paint efforts this year to date, with 48 such points vs. Youngstown State and 40 against Bucknell.
