Bowling Green State University Athletics
The Word is Out: BG is the Real Deal
November 17, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 17, 2005
By JACK CARLE, Sentinel Sports Editor - The word is out.
Bowling Green's women's basketball team is the real deal.
And every other team in the Mid-American Conference will be ready to play the Falcons.
Bowling Green was 23-8 overall a year ago, including the best regular season mark in the conference at 13-3, while winning the MAC's postseason tournament and advancing to the NCAA tournament.
This year the Falcons are the preseason pick to win the MAC East and repeat as MAC tournament champions.
"Our kids aren't going to get carried away with getting picked first or picked last. We know who we are and we know we're a blue-collar team that needs to come out and play hard and earn each and every victory ... It's a new season with new challenges," said head coach Curt Miller, who is starting his fifth season with the Falcons. "(It's) a wide-open MAC race, where I think as many as eight teams legitimately have an opportunity to win this league."
Even with five starters, including four players who averaged in double figures, returning this season, the Falcons know they cannot rest on their laurels. Miller has challenged his team to improve their conditioning, while adding strength and endurance.
"We can't be happy with what happened last year; we have to get better," said BG's Ali Mann, one of the team captains this season. "We have a lot of things we can work on. We just can't take a walk in the park and go out and expect to win games."
"We're going to have to come out and prove ourselves again this year," said Liz Honegger, the team's leading scorer last season.
Mann, 6-feet-1, and Honegger, 5-11, are both juniors and preseason first-team all-conference selections. Mann averaged 13.8 points and 7.4 rebounds a game last season while Honegger checked in at 14.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Honegger can also shoot the 3-pointer, hitting 59-of-172 from beyond the arc.
Carin Horne, a 6-1 junior, Casey McDowell, a 5-7 senior, and Kate Achter, a 5-8 sophomore, are the other returning starters. Horne averaged 11.4 points per game. McDowell made 44 3-pointers and scored 31 points against Miami in the MAC quarterfinals.
Achter was one of the top freshmen in the MAC last season and was the MVP of the conference tournament. A point guard, Achter averaged 11.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, while starting 24 times. She averaged 18.0 points and 5.8 assists per game in the MAC tournament. Achter went to the free-throw line a team-high 156 times last season.
"It's comforting to know that all five starters return from a team that really played well down the stretch," Miller said. "We're not as concerned as who starts the game, but who's going to be on the floor at crunch time to make big plays for us.
"More than in past years we have quality depth that different combinations of players could be on the floor at crunch time."
Also returning are Jill Lause, a 6-2 senior, and Amber Flynn, a 6-0 junior, inside; Megan Thorburn, a 6-1 junior, on the wing; and Whitney Taylor, a 5-7 sophomore, at guard. Julie Gompers is unable to continue as a member of the team because of a medical condition. Gompers played in 16 games two seasons ago, but missed all of last season.
"We have some returning players, who are not settling for the position they may have settled into last year," Miller said.
A total of four freshmen are also looking for playing time -- Lindsey Goldsberry, 5-9; Jasmine McCall, 5-6; Jessica McKenzie, 6-0; and DePrice Taylor, 5-7.
"They bring a new energy to practice and that youthfulness is nice to have around," Mann said about the newcomers. "They keep us on our toes. They push us on the court and they are stepping right into their roles."
"One of the goals of that recruiting class was to get more athletic and Jasmine McCall, a point guard out of Detroit, has done just that," Miller said. "For the first time in my tenure at Bowling Green we have a quality one-two punch at point guard."
Miller said that Achter and McCall could also be on the floor at the same time.
McKenzie is a very mature and strong post player already, Miller said, who is expected to back up Mann.
Bowling Green opens its season Friday hosting IPFW with tipoff at 7 p.m.
Also on the schedule are tournaments at Indiana and St. Joseph's (Pa.) as well as a road game with Kentucky.
"Without question it's our hardest non-conference schedule in the last five years," Miller said.
