Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Head to Hampton Inn Classic for Holiday
November 22, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 22, 2005
BGSU Notes & Stats (11 pages) in PDF Format
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
GAME #3
BGSU vs. IUPUI
Fri., November 25, 2005
4:30 p.m. CT
Hampton Inn Classic
Assembly Hall (13,456)
Bloomington, Ind.
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1) - Paul Braverman
SERIES: Tied, 1-1
LAST MEETING: at IUPUI 89, BGSU 74 (Dec. 22, 2003)
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, after beginning the season with a pair of home wins, now takes its act on the road for the first time in 2005-06 ... the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller will spend the Thanksgiving holiday in Bloomington, Ind., for the Hampton Inn Classic, hosted by Indiana University ... BG begins tourney play with a Friday (Nov. 25) contest vs. IUPUI ... that game will begin at 4:30 p.m. locally (5:30 p.m. Eastern) ... the second game of the day will pit Youngstown State University against host IU ... Saturday's (Nov. 26) consolation game begins at 4:30 p.m. local time, with the championship scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ... all four games will be held at IU's Assembly Hall (17,456).
IT'S BEEN A WHILE
The Falcons, as mentioned, are off to a 2-0 start this season ... believe it or not, that marks BG's best start since the 1997-98 team won three consecutive games to begin the year ... after the '97-98 campaign, each of the next seven BGSU squads started the season at 1-1.
PACK THOSE BAGS
Monday's (Nov. 21) win over Saint Francis (Pa.) was the second home game in four days for the Falcons ... now, the Brown and Orange will play the next three contests, and eight of the next nine games, away from home ... BGSU's game vs. Duquesne (Dec. 6) is the Falcons' lone home contest of the month of December ... then, the Falcons will be away from the friendly confines of venerable Anderson Arena for over a month, until the MAC opener vs. Akron on Jan. 7, 2006.
(IN-SEASON) TOURNEY TIME
It has been quite a while since the Falcons have won a regular-season tournament ... BGSU went 1-1 at each of last year's two in-season tourneys, the Brown Classic (Providence, R.I.) and the Lobo Shootout (Albuquerque, N.M.) ... in the 2003-04 campaign, the Falcons posted a 2-0 record in the Comfort Suites Classic, picking up wins over host Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State ... that marks the only time BGSU has gone undefeated in an in-season tourney setting in the last 16 seasons ... on Dec. 2-3, 1988, the Brown and Orange downed Villanova and Iowa State to win the Illini Classic ... that 1988 tourney is the last time the Falcons have won an in-season championship game (the EKU Comfort Suites Classic featured predetermined matchups on each day, with Georgia, the fourth team in the classic, matching the Falcons' 2-0 mark) ... since the Illini Classic, BGSU teams have gone 1-1 in 18 different in-season tournaments, 2-1 in one tourney and 0-2 three times, in addition to the 2-0 record at EKU ... it should be noted, however, that the Falcons have won the MAC Tournament title four times during that span, including in 2005.
BACK HOME AGAIN IN INDIANA
Junior Liz Honegger is the lone Indiana native on the Falcons' 2005-06 roster ... a native of Lafayette, Ind., Honegger has had two of the best games of her career to date in her home state ... her career scoring high is 27 points, and she reached that total in each of BGSU's two games in the state of Indiana last year ... she set her career mark with 27 points in the Falcons' 115-84 win at IPFW last Nov. 19 ... then, she matched that total in BG's 69-49 win at Ball State several months later (Feb. 8, 2005) ... at BSU, Honegger hit a three-point field goal with 14:27 left in the game, capping a 15-0 run to start the second half and giving BG a 51-23 lead ... at that point, Honegger had 25 points, two more than the entire Ball State team.
IT'S ALWAYS DARKEST BEFORE THE DAWN
The Falcons open play in the Hampton Inn Classic with Friday's game vs. IUPUI ... ironically, BG's last game vs. the Jaguars marked a turning point for the program ... on Dec. 22, 2003, IUPUI thrashed the Falcons, 89-74, in the teams' last game before the Christmas break ... that gave the 2003-04 BG team a 4-4 record, and saw head coach Curt Miller ejected for the only time in his career ... following the loss, the Falcons had a 90-minute locker room meeting, designed both to clear the air and delay the team's holiday break for as long as possible ... the meeting seemed to work, however, as the team returned after the Christmas holiday, headed to Eastern Kentucky and won a pair of games ... following that IUPUI game, the Falcons went 17-6 over the remainder of the 2003-04 season, advancing all the way to the MAC Tournament's championship game after being picked to finish sixth in their division.
HAMPTON INN CLASSIC NOTES AND NUMBERS
(A note or two about each of the three teams joining BGSU in this weekend's tournament field)
THE FALCON 500
The Falcons' win over IPFW Friday (Nov. 18) was the 500th victory in the history of the program ... BGSU enters the IUPUI game with an all-time record of 501-338 (.597) ... among current league schools, the Falcons became just the second to reach the 500-victory plateau (according to the MAC media guide) ... Northern Illinois picked up win number 508 Friday, while Toledo earned the 500th win in that program's history on Sunday (Nov. 20) ... the 2005-06 season marks the Falcons' 33rd as a varsity program.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
Bowling Green heads to Bloomington with a 2-0 record on the young season, after a pair of 20-plus point wins at home ... the Falcons opened the year with 78-50 win over IPFW (Nov. 18), and followed that with a 77-55 victory against Saint Francis (Pa.) on Monday (Nov. 21) ... head coach Curt Miller and his staff returned nine letterwinners, including all five starters, from last year's MAC Championship team ... the 2004-05 Falcons finished 23-8 overall and 13-3 in league play, winning the West Division title and earning the number-one seed for the Kraft MAC Tournament ... then, Miller's team picked up three wins to earn the league tourney title ... senior Casey McDowell, juniors Liz Honegger, Carin Horne and Ali Mann and sophomore Kate Achter are the returning starters ... each of the five earned some sort of MAC honor in 2004-05 ... Honegger and Mann each were named to the All-MAC Second Team, while Horne earned honorable mention and Achter was named to the MAC's All-Freshman Team ... Achter was named the MAC Tournament MVP, with Honegger and McDowell joining her on the all-tournament team ... other returning letterwinners include senior Jill Lause, juniors Amber Flynn and Megan Thorburn and sophomore Whitney Taylor ... Mann is averaging 17.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, leading the Falcons in both categories, while Honegger has 11.5 points per contest ... Flynn and Achter are averaging 10.0 and 9.5 ppg, respectively, and each player has 5.5 rebounds per game to date ... Achter has dished out 16 assists in the two games ... Horne and Thorburn have scored 7.0 and 5.0 points per outing ... the Falcons are shooting 45.2 percent from the field, while holding opponents to just a 37.1% success rate.
SCOUTING IUPUI
IUPUI enters Friday's BGSU game with an overall record of 0-2 ... the Jaguars have played two tough opponents on the road, falling to Kentucky (52-81, Nov. 18) and Iowa State (55-70, Nov. 20) ... freshman guard Brittany Mingo has scored 11.5 points per game to lead a balanced attack ... Mingo also paces the Jaguars with 5.0 assists per contests ... senior guard Kia Hayes has 10.5 points per game, while freshman forward Tanika Mays has 10.0 points and a team-best 7.0 rebounds per outing ... sophomore guard Alicia Booyer and senior forward Brooke McAfee have 8.0 and 7.0 ppg, respectively ... Booyer, Hayes, Mays and McAfee each have started both games this season to date, while Mingo joined them in the starting lineup at ISU, scoring a team-high 21 points ... a total of six letterwinners, including three starters, returned for head coach Shann Hart ... the Jaguars went 7-21 overall last year, finishing with a 5-11 Mid-Continent Conference record ... Hart is in her second season at IUPUI, and has a record of 134-118 in her 10th season as a collegiate head coach ... the school's athletics web site is www.iupuijags.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons and IUPUI are tied, 1-1, in the all-time series between the teams ... BGSU downed the visiting Jaguars, 69-59, at Anderson Arena three years ago (Dec. 30, 2002), but IUPUI returned the favor in Indianapolis the following season, with an 89-74 victory (Dec. 22, 2003).
LAST TIME OUT
Ali Mann scored 21 points and the Falcons led from wire to wire in a 77-55 win over Saint Francis Monday night (Nov. 21) ... with the win, in a matchup of 2005 NCAA Tournament teams, the Falcons improved to 2-0 on the season for the first time since the 1997-98 campaign ... Mann had a team-high nine rebounds, falling just one board shy of a double-double for the second consecutive game ... junior Carin Horne and sophomore Kate Achter each had 12 points for the Brown and Orange ... Amber Hein, SFU's lone returning starter from last season, was the team's lone double-digit scorer with 17 points ... for the second-straight game, the Falcons held a sizable advantage in points in the paint, with a 48-20 margin over the Red Flash ... BG also had 18 fast-break points to the visitors' four ... the Falcons led by 13 at the half, then began the second half on a 14-4 run to take a 53-30 lead with just under 15 minutes left, and the lead never slipped below 20 points again.
HOME SWEET HOME
The Falcons' win over Saint Francis continued the team's recent success at home ... last season, BGSU posted a record of 9-1 at Anderson Arena ... the Falcons have won 13 of the last 14 home games, dating to late in the 2003-04 campaign ... BG outscored the opponents by 15.9 points per game at Anderson last season, and by 18 points per outing (77.1 to 59.1) in the nine wins ... the lone home loss a year ago was by three points to defending champion Eastern Michigan ... this year, BG has outscored foes by an average of 25.0 points through the first two home games.
THE MIGHTY FLYNN
All during the offseason, Falcon head coach Curt Miller told anyone who would listen that junior Amber Flynn had made perhaps as much improvement as anyone on the team ... yes, the season is only two games old ... but Flynn has shown that maybe, just maybe, her coach knows what he is talking about ... Flynn had a career-high 13 points in BG's win over IPFW ... the Cincinnati native also set career bests in field goals made (five) and attempted (10) and minutes played (17) ... Flynn tied her career standards with four rebounds and a steal ... she had seven points and set a new career rebounding best, with seven, in the win over SFU ... Flynn is now averaging 10.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game ... the rebound total in Monday's win nearly doubled her previous career high.
FLYNN HAS 20-20-20 VISION
After just two games, junior Amber Flynn already has matched her scoring total for each of her first two seasons at BGSU ... Flynn scored 20 points in 11 games off the bench as a freshman, for an average of 1.8 points per game ... she had 20 points again last year, averaging 1.1 ppg (18 games played) ... this year, of course, Flynn's 20 points have come in just two games ... she currently ranks third on the team in scoring.
HONEGGER, MANN HAVE DOUBLE VISION
Juniors Liz Honegger and Ali Mann have been in double digits in the scoring column much more often than not over their careers ... Honegger scored at least 10 points in 25 of last year's 31 games, while Mann had 24 double-figure games of her own ... both players were at it again last Friday (Nov. 18), as Mann and Honegger each reached double digits in scoring in the win over IPFW ... Honegger was held to five points in Monday's (Nov. 21) victory vs. Saint Francis, but Mann had a game-high 21 points ... Mann now has scored 10 points or more 45 times in her 64 career games, while Honegger - who has also played 64 games - has had 40 games of at least 10 points in a Falcon uniform.
MANN NEARLY HAS DOUBLE-DOUBLE VISION
Junior Ali Mann has fallen a single rebound shy of a double-double in each of the Falcons' first two games of the season ... she had 14 points and grabbed nine boards in the win over IPFW, then had a game-high 21 points and nine more rebounds against Saint Francis ... Mann has 12 career double-doubles, tied with classmate Liz Honegger for the most among active Falcons.
ACHTER A TRIPLE THREAT
It is believed that no Falcon women's basketball player ever has recorded a triple-double in a game ... in the first game of her sophomore season, however, Kate Achter was not too far away from hitting double digits in three categories ... Achter scored seven points, and set career marks with nine rebounds and 10 assists vs. IPFW ... she played 28 minutes in the win ... Achter played just 10 minutes of the second half, sitting out the final 8:36 of the contest ... she had six more assists vs. Saint Francis, and has 16 assists and just three turnovers through the first two games.
FALCONS ON THE RADIO
Nearly all of the Falcons' regular-season games, plus any postseason action, are scheduled to be on the air again in 2005-06 ... student station WBGU-FM (88.1), the flagship station for the women's basketball Falcons, is scheduled to air nearly every regular-season contest, including the entire home schedule ... the 2005-06 academic year marks the fourth season of an agreement between the BGSU department of athletics and the Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization (BGRSO) to have WBGU serve as the flagship station for both hockey and women's basketball ... games produced by BGRSO can be heard on the web, both at bgrso.org and via BGSU Falcons All-Access package available through BGSUFalcons.com.
LAUSE, MANN, McDOWELL NAMED CAPTAINS
Seniors Jill Lause and Casey McDowell and junior Ali Mann have been named tri-captains of the 2005-06 Falcons ... the three were selected in a vote of team members as well as coaching staff ... in the last three seasons, since Lause began her collegiate career and McDowell transferred from Indiana State, the Falcons have averaged almost 19 wins per year ... over the last two seasons (plus one game), since the start of Mann's freshman year, BG has gone 46-18 and twice advanced to the MAC Tournament's championship game.
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
For the third consecutive season, BGSU completed the non-conference portion of the schedule at 7-4 in 2004-05 ... the Falcons had not had three consecutive winning non-league campaigns in over a decade (1991-92 to 1993-94) ... additionally, the Falcons recorded 21 non-league victories over the last three years, tying a school record for a three-year period (BGSU also had 21 such wins from the 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 ... and, of course, BGSU has started the 2005-06 season with a 2-0 record in non-league play.
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS II
The Falcons' win over Bucknell last Dec. 30 closed the 2004-05 non-conference season, and extended one of the most successful non-league stretches in school history ... since the start of the 2002-03 season, BGSU is 23-12 in regular-season, non-league games, the most wins of any MAC school ... BG's .657 winning pct. in such games also is the MAC's best.
