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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Host Northern Illinois in First of Five February Games
February 01, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 1, 2005
THIS WEEK IN FALCON WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Game Notes (19 pages) in PDF Format
2004-05 Season Boxscores (5 pages) in PDF Format
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
GAME #19
BGSU
vs.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2005
7:00 p.m.
Anderson Arena (4,700)
Bowling Green, Ohio
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1)
TELEVISION: BCSN (live) - Dave Horger and Fran Voll
SERIES: NIU leads, 12-10
LAST MEETING: Northern Ill. 102, at BGSU 97 (4-OT) (Feb. 18, 2004)
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, after completing a grueling January schedule with a 5-2 Mid-American Conference record, now eyes a February slate that includes five home games, including two this week ... the Falcons (12-6, 5-2 MAC) of fourth-year head coach Curt Miller host Northern Illinois University in Wednesday (Feb. 2) action ... tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at venerable Anderson Arena (4,700) ... then, BG will face Ohio University Saturday (Feb. 5), in the MAC TV Game of the Week ... that contest is slated to begin at 2:00 p.m. at Anderson.
A GAME-AND-A-HALF
Fans who saw the last BGSU-Northern Illinois meeting got more than they bargained for ... NIU came to Anderson Arena last February 18, and the teams played a game for the ages ... the Falcons and Huskies battled through four overtimes, tying the NCAA record, with Northern coming out on top, 102-97 ... the teams combined for 118 points in regulation, and 81 more (an NCAA record) in the OT periods ... entering the 2004-05 season, only 11 games in NCAA Division I history have required four OT periods, and the Falcons are one of just two schools to play in two such games ... NIU comes to BG after playing a double-OT game on Saturday (Jan. 29) at Central Michigan.
TALES FROM THE ROAD
The Falcons are coming off a 62-53 loss at Kent State Wednesday (Jan. 26) ... despite that setback, BGSU still is 3-1 in MAC road games this season, tied for the best mark in the league ... since the start of last season, the Falcons are 9-3 on the road in conference play, and 14-9 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.
FALCONS IN THE RPI
Bowling Green is currently ranked from 99th to 109th in the various Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) related polls ... among MAC schools, only Eastern Michigan is ranked higher ... below are the top MAC teams in the collegerpi.com, Collegiate Basketball News, WBCA/Summerville polls and the Sagarin ratings ...
School (Coll.RPI - CBN - WBCA - Sagarin) Eastern Michigan (96 - 96 - 85 - 69) Bowling Green (102 - 102 - 99 - 109) Kent State (120 - 120 - 153 - 122) Marshall (134 - 134 - 148 - 141) Miami (169 - 169 - 170 - 157)
POINTS OF PRIDE
ABOUT THE FALCONS
The Falcons take an overall record of 12-6 into Wednesday's NIU game, and BGSU is 5-2 in MAC play, a half-game behind first-place Ball State in the West Division ... BG saw a three-game win streak come to an end with last Wednesday's (Jan. 26) nine-point loss at Kent State, 62-53 ... the Falcons' win streak had come against Toledo (69-66 in OT; Jan. 15), Miami (68-59; Jan. 19) and Western Michigan (80-58; Jan. 22) ... BG's other 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 70.1 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 (14.2 ppg), and also leads the team in rebounding (7.8), steals (2.3) 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 11.1 points per outing ... freshman Kate Achter is averaging 10.2 points and a team-high 4.1 assists per game, and is third on the team with 4.5 rebounds ... redshirt junior Casey McDowell has 5.9 points per contest, while sophomore Megan Thorburn averages 5.1 points ... Honegger and Mann are the only players to have started all 18 games this year, while McDowell has made 17 starts and Achter 11 ... Achter, Horne (eight starts) and McDowell have joined Honegger and Mann in the starting lineup for each of 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 NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Northern Illinois will bring an overall record of 6-12 into Anderson Arena, and the Huskies have a MAC record of 3-4 heading into Wednesday's game ... Northern is coming off a double-overtime loss at Central Michigan, 64-58, Saturday (Jan. 29) ... the Huskies are 2-2 in league road games, with wins at Toledo and preseason MAC favorite Eastern Michigan ... after starting the season with a 2-8 record, Northern went 4-4 in the month of January ... sophomore guard Stephanie Raymond, the lone returning starter from last year's team, leads the Huskies in a veritable plethora of categories ... the 5-5 Raymond paces NIU in scoring (15.7 ppg), rebounding (6.3 rpg), assists (2.9 apg) and steals (4.1 spg) ... she leads the entire league in steals, defensive rebounds (5.67 pg) and minutes played (38.39 mpg) ... sophomore center Kristin Wiener has 9.6 points and 5.0 rebounds, while junior forward Jamie Wilson averages 7.9 points and 5.7 boards ... sophomore guard Mary Basic averages 7.8 points and 4.7 rebounds ... the aforementioned four players each have started every game for head coach Carol Hammerle this year, while junior guard Keishonda Williamson (4.8 ppg) has made 11 starts ... a year ago, the Huskies had an overall record of 12-16, and finished with a 7-9 MAC mark ... Hammerle is 79-111 in her seventh season in DeKalb ... she has an overall head-coaching record of 535-337 in her 32nd year ... the school's athletics web site is www.niuhuskies.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons trail Northern Illinois, 12-10, in the all-time series between the teams, and the Huskies have won five of the last six meetings ... NIU leads the series, 6-4, since returning to the MAC prior to the 1997-98 season ... last year, the road teams each emerged victorious, as the Falcons captured a 66-58 decision in DeKalb (Jan. 10, 2004), while the Huskies won an epic, 102-97 contest the next month (Feb. 18, 2004) ... BGSU is 7-5 in home games against NIU, but the visiting Huskies have a three-game Anderson Arena winning streak ... those three wins have come by a combined nine points, with the biggest margin coming in last year's four-OT game ... BG's last home win over Northern was a 36-point game, 86-50, five years ago (Feb. 7, 2000) ... overall, four of the last five meetings have been decided by single digits ... the complete list of series meetings and the boxscore from last year's marathon in Anderson can be found in the pdf version of these game notes.
THE FALCONS VS. THE MAC
The Falcons lead the all-time series with 11 MAC opponents ... BGSU trails only one MAC school, Wednesday's foe ... Northern Illinois holds a 12-10 series lead over the Brown and Orange.
190 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 190 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
Melissa DeGrate and Lindsay Shearer combined for 40 points as host Kent State snapped the Falcons' three-game winning streak with a 62-53 decision Wednesday (Jan. 26) ... DeGrate scored 21 points, including 11 consecutive KSU points, as the Flashes opened an early 13-4 lead ... Shearer added 19 points for the hosts ... sophomore Carin Horne led the Falcons with 20 points, including 17 in the second half, while classmate Ali Mann added 14 ... KSU led for nearly the entire game, and had a 15-point margin at the half ... the lead grew to 19 points early in the second half, and BG could get no closer than nine points before the game's final moments ... the Falcon defense forced KSU into 26 turnovers, and held the Flashes to a field-goal pct. of .419 ... but, BG could not overcome the team's poorest-shooting game of the season ... the Falcons shot just 26.2% from the field, including a rate of 18.8% in the first half, and BGSU made only 3-of-25 three-point tries (12.0%).
STAT SHEET STUFFER
Sophomore Carin Horne paced the Falcons in a number of categories at Kent State ... Horne tied her season high with 20 points, and set a career high with six steals ... she also had season bests in rebounds (nine), offensive rebounds (five) and minutes played (35), and tied her season high with three three-point field goals made ... Horne, now averaging 11.1 points and 3.3 rebounds on the year, has had 15 rebounds (including nine at the offensive end) over the last two games.
RARE ROAD LOSS
For the Falcons, the loss at Kent State was the first road setback in a month and a half, since a Dec. 10 loss at New Mexico ... BGSU had won five consecutive road games, including three in MAC play ... the Falcons are 6-4 on the road this year, including 3-1 in the conference.
LEAD, TRAIL OR GET OUT OF THE WAY
The Falcons have not played many back-and-forth games over the past several weeks ... BGSU led for a total of just 25 seconds in the game at Kent State (Jan. 26) ... that came on the heels of two games - the Miami (Jan. 19) and Western Michigan (Jan. 22) contests - in which the Falcons trailed for a total of just 10 seconds in the 80 minutes ... that, in turn, came after the Brown and Orange led for a total of just 11:42 of the 85 minutes over the previous two games, vs. Eastern Michigan (Jan. 12) and Toledo (Jan. 15) ... BG led for only 59 seconds of the EMU game and 10:43 of the win at UT.
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 closed 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 ... of course, in the wacky MAC, where upsets are the norm, BGSU's remaining opponents have a combined MAC record of 35-31 (.530).
BLOCK PARTY: HONEGGER THIRD ON CAREER LIST
Liz Honegger, just a sophomore, is rapidly moving up the BGSU lists for blocked shots ... she is currently third on the career chart, with 87, 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 37 rejections through 18 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.
ANOTHER BLOCK PARTY
As mentioned, Liz Honegger is on a pace to break the BGSU single-season record for blocked shots ... Honegger tied that record, originally set by Angie Bonner, with 50 rejections last year ... this season, Honegger has 37 blocks through 18 games, including 15 blocks through seven MAC games this year ... Honegger owns the seasonal record for blocks in conference games, with 27 a year ago.
20-20 VISION
Sophomore Carin Horne had 20 points at Kent State, marking her second 20-point game of the year and the fourth of her career ... one game earlier, classmate Liz Honegger scored 21 points vs. Western Michigan, 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.
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 0-6 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.
FALCONS IN THE MAC
A number of Falcons are represented in the latest Mid-American Conference individual statistics, as of Monday (Jan. 31) ...
BGSU-OHIO GAME PART OF MAC TV PACKAGE
The Falcons' Saturday (Feb. 5) home game vs. Ohio University 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.
DEFENSE DOES OK
Obviously, the BG offense struggled at Kent State ... but, for the most part, the Falcon defense kept the Golden Flashes in check ... BGSU forced KSU into 26 turnovers on the night, and the Flashes shot 41.9% from the field ... BGSU held advantages over the hosts in points in the paint (24-22), points off turnovers (20-13) and second-chance points (10-6).
PAINT BY NUMBERS
For the most part, the Falcons have enjoyed success inside this year ... BGSU has outscored the opponents in the paint in 12 of the first 18 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.
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 515 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 633 points in 49 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 572 career points in 49 games ... a total of 44 players in BGSU history have scored at least 500 points.
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.
