Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons' Road Swing Continues with Thursday Tilt vs. Oakland
December 21, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 21, 2005
BGSU Game Notes & Statistics (22 pages!) in PDF Format
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
GAME #8
BGSU at OAKLAND
Thu., December 22, 2005
7:00 p.m.
Athletics Center 'O'Rena (4,000)
Rochester, Mich.
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1) - Brian Scullin
SERIES: Oakland leads, 3-1
LAST MEETING: Oakland 70, at BGSU 63 (Dec. 13, 2003)
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, having set a school record for best start to a season, now looks to continue that success ... the road gets no easier for the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller, however, as BGSU continues a five-game road stretch with a Thursday (Dec. 22) game at Oakland University ... tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the Athletics Center 'O'Rena (4,000) in Rochester, Mich.
SCHOOL-RECORD SEVEN-AND-OH FALCONS
The Falcons are off to a 7-0 start this season, the best in school history ... BGSU's 67-56 win at Florida International (Dec. 10) broke the record of the 1974-75 team ... that team posted six wins to begin the year, en route to a final mark of 15-5 ... the 1988-89 squad also went 6-0 to start the season ... that Falcon team finished with a 27-4 record, winning the Mid-American Conference regular-season and tournament titles for a third-straight year.
EXAMS, EXAMS, EXAMS ... WILL THEY NEVER END?
The Falcons had a stretch of over a week-and-a-half without a game, as last week (Dec. 12-16) marked exam week on the BGSU campus ... for the women's basketball Falcons, however, the tough tests are just beginning ... starting with the Oakland contest, BG will begin a four-game stretch in which the Falcons face three teams - OU (21-8), Delaware (25-6) and Kentucky (18-16) - that won at least 18 games last year ... this year, UK is 8-1 and UD is 7-1 ... BG's fourth game in that time could come against Saint Joseph's, a team that, at 7-1 (heading into a Wednesday game vs. Hartford), already has matched its win total for all of last year ... SJU, like BGSU, is receiving votes in both national polls.
ABOUT THOSE POLLS...
The Falcons have received votes in each of this year's six Associated Press Top 25 polls to date ... BGSU garnered one vote in each of the first two polls, received two votes in each of the next two, and picked up three votes in each of the last two polls, including the latest, released on Monday (Dec. 19) ... last week (Dec. 13), BG picked up votes in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll for the first time this year, getting two votes ... on Tuesday (Dec. 20), the Falcons were up to five votes in that poll.
MANN NAMED MAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior Ali Mann was named the MAC's Player of the Week for the East Division, the league office announced on Monday, Dec. 12 ... Mann, a native of Chelsea, Mich. (Chelsea H.S.), earned the honor for the first time this season and the fourth time in her Falcon career ... she averaged 15.0 points and a team-high 8.5 rebounds as BG posted a pair of wins, over Duquesne (76-51; Dec. 6) and Florida International (67-56; Dec. 10).
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
BGSU's win against Duquesne ensured the Falcons a winning record in non-conference play for the fourth consecutive year ... BG is the only Mid-American Conference school to have turned that trick ... the win at Florida International four days later ensured the Falcons of at least seven wins in each of the last four non-conference seasons ... since the start of the 2002-03 season, BGSU is 28-12 in regular-season, non-league games, for the most wins and highest winning percentage (70.0%) of any MAC school during that time.
A FEW MORE NON-CONFERENCE FALCON FACTS
In 2004-05, BGSU completed the non-conference portion of the schedule with a 7-4 record for the third consecutive season ... the Falcons had not had three consecutive winning non-league campaigns in over a decade (1991-92 to 1993-94) ... additionally, the Falcons' 21 non-league victories tied the school record for a three-year period ... BGSU also had 21 non-conference wins from the 1986-87 through 1988-89 seasons.
FALCONS IN THE LEAD
It doesn't take a degree in rocket science to realize that the team in the lead at the end of the game is the winner ... through the first seven games, the Falcons have done their part to be the team in the lead nearly all of the time ... BGSU has held the lead for nearly 91 percent of the time in the team's seven games to date ... the Falcons have trailed for less than 15 of this year's 280 minutes (5.3%), and BG has been tied for 3.7% of the time this winter ... the Falcons have trailed after halftime in only two games, Detroit and Florida International, this year, and BG has held the lead 97.0% of the time in the second half of 2005-06 games (135:52 of the 140 minutes) ... the numbers are below ... we're not quite sure what it all means, but we know that the most important column is the one on the far right ...
LEAD, TRAIL OR GET OUT OF THE WAY
BGSU BGSU Game was Who Led
Opponent Led For Trailed For Tied For at the End?
IPFW 36:03 3:35 0:22 BGSU
Saint Francis (Pa.) 39:51 0 0:09 BGSU
IUPUI 38:55 0 1:05 BGSU
Indiana 37:18 0:46 1:56 BGSU
Detroit 34:54 2:20 2:46 BGSU
Duquesne 34:42 2:56 2:22 BGSU
Florida Int'l 32:53 5:19 1:48 BGSU
Totals 254:36 14:56 10:28
ABOUT THE FALCONS
Bowling Green enters the Oakland game with a 7-0 record on the season ... the Falcons are 3-0 at home, 3-0 on the road and 1-0 in neutral-site contests to date ... BG opened the year with home wins over IPFW (78-50; Nov. 18) Saint Francis (Pa.) (77-55; Nov. 21), then headed to Bloomington, Ind., and won the Hampton Inn Classic with wins over IUPUI (66-55; Nov. 25) and host Indiana (68-50; Nov. 26) ... the Falcons ended November with a 78-67 win at Detroit (Nov. 30), then began December with a home win over Duquesne (76-51; Dec. 6) ... most recently, BG picked up a 67-56 win at Florida International (Dec. 10) ... head coach Curt Miller and his staff returned nine letterwinners, including all five starters, from last year's MAC Championship team ... junior Liz Honegger leads a balanced BG scoring attack, averaging a team-best 13.7 points per game ... Honegger also leads the Falcons with 12 blocked shots and 12 three-point field goals made ... she has 5.4 rebounds per contest ... classmate Ali Mann is averaging 13.6 points and a BG-best 8.6 rebounds, while sophomore Kate Achter and junior Carin Horne have 13.1 and 10.9 points per game, respectively ... Horne has a team-high 3.1 steals per game, while Achter leads the team with 5.6 assists per outing ... junior Amber Flynn is averaging 6.3 points and 4.7 boards off the bench ... the Falcons are shooting 44.1 percent from the field, while holding opponents to just a 36.2% success rate to date ... 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 ... Achter, Honegger, Horne, Mann and senior Casey McDowell are the returning starters, with each of the five having earned some sort of MAC honor in '04-05 ... Honegger and Mann 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 the MAC Tournament MVP, with Honegger and McDowell joining her on the all-tournament team ... other returning letterwinners include senior Jill Lause, juniors Flynn and Megan Thorburn and sophomore Whitney Taylor ... freshmen Lindsey Goldsberry and Jasmine McCall each have played in all seven games to date, with Goldsberry making her first career start at FIU ... the team's other freshman, Jessica McKenzie, has yet to play due to an injury suffered in practice just before the season opener.
SCOUTING OAKLAND
Oakland enters Thursday's BGSU game with an overall record of 4-5 ... the Golden Grizzlies worked overtime for a win over visiting Buffalo, 82-80, Tuesday (Dec. 20) ... BG marks the third consecutive MAC foe for OU, as the Grizzlies lost at Toledo, 74-47, Saturday (Dec. 17) ... the UB game began a seven-game homestand for OU, and the Grizzlies are now 2-1 at the 'O'Rena on the year ... senior guards Jayme Wilson and Anne Hafeli rank 1-2 on the team in scoring ... Wilson averages 16.8 points per game and Hafeli 16.4 ... Hafeli also has 5.1 rebounds, while Wilson has 4.6 caroms per game ... junior forward Nicole Piggott is also in double digits in scoring, and has 13.6 points and a team-best 5.9 rebounds per game ... junior forward Bonnie Baker has 5.2 points, 4.0 boards and a team-high 2.9 assists ... the aforementioned four players each have started all nine games, and were joined in the starting lineup vs. UB by senior forward Lakeshia White (1.7 ppg) ... six letterwinners, including four starters, returned from last year's team that went 21-8 overall and 12-4 in Mid-Continent Conference play ... Beckie Francis is in the first year of her second stint as the Golden Grizzlies' head coach ... she has a record of 94-59 in her sixth year at OU, and is 124-107 in her ninth year as a collegiate head coach ... the school's athletics web site is www.ougrizzlies.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons trail Oakland, 3-1, in the all-time series between the teams, and the teams have split the two meetings in Rochester ... Oakland won February games in both 1981 and 1982, and the schools did not meet again for over two decades, before playing twice in calendar year 2003 ... in the last meeting at the 'O'Rena, the Falcons survived a wild finish for a 70-69 win on Jan. 2, 2003 (more below) ... in the most recent meeting, the Grizzlies posted a 70-63 win at Anderson Arena (Dec. 13, 2003) ... the boxscore from that game can be found in the pdf version of these notes.
A WILD ONE AT THE 'O'RENA
The Falcons and Golden Grizzlies hooked up in a wild game the last time BG traveled to Rochester, on Jan. 2, 2003 ... BGSU built a 15-point halftime lead, then saw the hosts cut the lead to three points, 59-56, midway through the second half ... OU was still within four points when BG went on an 11-3 run to take a 70-59 lead with 3:46 remaining ... the Falcons would not score again ... OU's Jayme Wilson scored seven consecutive points before BG threw the ball away with a minute remaining ... OU hit a three-point field goal with 40.1 seconds left, cutting the lead to 70-69 ... those were the final points of the game, but the heart-stopping action was far from over ... the hosts fouled, but BG missed the front end of two one-and-one opportunities in those final 40 seconds ... after the first miss, Oakland came the other way, missed a shot, and got the rebound ... but, a travelling violation was called, giving the ball to the Falcons with 18.6 seconds left ... after a BG timeout with 13.6 ticks on the clock, OU's Romica Clint stole the inbounds pass and raced the other way ... but, she missed a breakaway layup attempt, and BG's Kim Griech rebounded the ball and was fouled with 7.6 seconds left ... Griech, who entered the game a perfect 23-for-23 from the line on the year, missed her free-throw try, though, and OU rebounded and took time with 4.0 seconds left ... but, BG's Tene Lewis stole the Oakland inbounds pass and ran out the clock ... more people watched the Ohio State football team defeat Miami (Fla.) in double overtime in the Fiesta Bowl that night, but the folks in the 'O'Rena saw just as many twists and turns in their game as the national-television audience did.
LAST TIME OUT
Trailing by two points at the half, the Falcons used a second-half run to surge past host Florida International, 67-56 (Dec. 10) ... with the win, BG improved to 7-0 on the year, setting a school record for best start to a season ... the victory came against a team that rarely loses at home, as FIU exited the game with a 247-54 all-time record at Pharmed Arena ... sophomore Kate Achter scored a game-high 20 points, while junior Ali Mann had 16 in the win ... junior Carin Horne joined that pair in double digits with a 12-point night, and Horne also had a game-best five steals as the Falcons forced the Golden Panthers into 26 turnovers ... for the hosts, Lasma Jekabsone led the way with 17 points and a game-high nine rebounds, while Faeza Bouderra had 16 points ... the Falcons got off to a solid start in each half ... in the opening stanza, BG scored the first eight points ... a late first-half run, however, gave FIU the lead for the first time, at 28-24 ... in the second half, as in the first, the Falcons started quickly ... a Mann jumper tied the game at 28-28, before a Bouderra three-point field goal gave the hosts the lead once again ... but, BG then went on a 19-1 run over the next 7:11, taking a 47-32 lead ... FIU never got closer than eight points the rest of the evening.
THE DEFENSE NEVER RESTS
BGSU has held six of the season's first seven opponents, including each of the first four foes, to 56 points or fewer ... despite allowing 67 points to Detroit, the Falcons have limited opponents to a combined field-goal percentage of 36.2 percent and an average of just 54.9 points per game.
MANN, HONEGGER APPROACHING MILLENNIUM MARK
Juniors Ali Mann and Liz Honegger, in just over two seasons, already have added their names to the Falcon career scoring chart ... Mann surpassed the 900-point mark for her BGSU career in the win over Duquesne, and enters the Oakland game with a total of 924 points ... she is just seven points away from moving into the BGSU top-20 ... Honegger currently stands at 863 points ... a total of 18 players have scored 1,000 points at BG, with only five (Jackie Motycka, Sara Puthoff, Francine Miller, Lori Albers and Chris Tuttle) reaching that plateau in their junior season ... both Mann (fifth) and Honegger (ninth) currently rank among BGSU's top 10 in career points per game ...
BGSU CAREER SCORING
Player Games Pts. PPG 1. Jackie Motycka (1985-89) 117 2,122 18.1 ... 20. Kim Griech (1999-2003) 112 931 8.3 21. Ali Mann (2003-SA) 69 924 13.4 22. Sue Pokelsek (1979-83) 102 903 8.9 23. Tecca Thompson (1986-90) 109 902 8.3 24. Sherry Kahle (1996-2000) 112 886 7.9 25. Dee Knoblauch (1979-83) 107 885 8.3 26. Traci Gorman (1987-91) 120 870 7.3 27. Liz Honegger (2003-SA) 69 863 12.5
MILLER MAKES HIS MARK IN THE MAC
BGSU head coach Curt Miller picked up the 70th victory of his career at Detroit on Nov. 30 ... his career record currently stands at 72-53, in his fifth year ... over the last two-plus seasons, however, Miller and the Falcons have a record of 51-18 ... BGSU has gone 24-8 in MAC regular-season play over the last two seasons, and 30-9 in all games vs. conference foes during that span (6-1 in league tournament play).
PACK THOSE BAGS (AND KEEP 'EM PACKED)
The Falcons are in a stretch which will see the team play eight of nine contests away from home ... the Dec. 6 win over Duquesne marked the Falcons' lone home action of the month of December ... the Falcons are now away from the friendly confines of venerable Anderson Arena for over a month, until the MAC opener vs. Akron on Jan. 7, 2006.
NOT BAD
The Falcons have won 13 of the last 14 games, dating to Feb. 19 ... the only loss in that time was to Kansas State in the NCAA Championships.
HOME SWEET HOME
The Falcons' win over Duquesne moved the team's record to 3-0 at Anderson Arena this winter, and continued the team's recent success at home ... last season, BGSU posted a record of 9-1 at Anderson Arena ... the Falcons have won 14 of the last 15 home games, dating to late in the 2003-04 campaign ... BG outscored the opponents by 15.9 points per game at Anderson last season ... this year, BG has outscored foes by an average of 25.0 points in the three home games.
ROAD SWEET ROAD?
With a win at Indiana, the Falcons opened the road portion of the schedule on a successful note ... BGSU is now 3-0 in road games this year, after the victories at Detroit and FIU ... last year, BG went 6-2 in MAC road games for the second-straight winter ... since the start of the 2003-04 season, the Falcons are 12-4 on the road in conference play, and 20-10 overall ... that comes on the heels of a four-year span in which BG was 15-39 on the road and 8-24 in MAC road games ... overall last season, BGSU went 9-5 in away games, the team's highest road win total since the 1993-94 team went 11-2.
GAME-WINNING GOLDSBERRY
In each of the last three games, freshman Lindsey Goldsberry has hit a key basket to spark a run that has given the Falcons the lead for good ... at Detroit (Nov. 30), her lone shot attempt of the game was a three-point field goal with 7:21 left, that lifted the Brown and Orange into a 57-57 tie ... that kick-started a 10-0 BG run, and BGSU never trailed again ... in the Duquesne game (Dec. 6), her steal and layup led to a three-point play that broke a 17-all tie late in the first half ... that began a 7-0 run, and BG never trailed again ... at Florida International (Dec. 10), her three-pointer early in the second half gave BGSU the lead for good ... she hit a trey with just under 18 minutes left to snap a 31-31 tie.
GET A STOP
The Falcons have played some solid defense in the early portion of the season, as evidenced by opponents' 54.9 points-per-game average through seven games ... BG has shown the ability to shut the opposing offense down for long stretches ... in fact, the Falcons have held the opponent to a scoreless stretch of at least four minutes in six of the seven games (and, in the other game, held Saint Francis without a point for 3:48 during one segment) ... in the last two games, vs. Duquesne and Florida International, the Falcons have had several impressive streaks ... against DU, BGSU held the Dukes pointless for a span of nearly five minutes in the first half ... in the second half, the Falcons held DU without a field goal for a span of 8:33 ... then, after allowing a basket, the Brown and Orange went over five more minutes without allowing another hoop ... vs. FIU, the Brown and Orange went on a 19-1 run early in the second half, turning a three-point deficit into a 15-point lead.
THE FALCON 500
The Falcons' win over IPFW (Nov. 18) was the 500th victory in the history of the program ... BGSU enters the Oakland game with an all-time record of 506-338 (.600) ... 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 on the same night BG got victory number 500, while Toledo earned the 500th win in that program's history two days after BG ... NIU currently has 509 wins and UT 504 ... the 2005-06 season marks the Falcons' 33rd as a varsity program.
