Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Return Home to Face Central Michigan
February 14, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 14, 2005
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
GAME #23
BGSU
vs.
CENTRAL MICHIGAN
Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2005
7:00 p.m.
Anderson Arena (4,700)
Bowling Green, Ohio
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1)
SERIES: BGSU leads, 36-12
LAST MEETING: at BGSU 66, Central Michigan 54 (March 6, 2004)
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, after picking up a pair of Mid-American Conference road wins last week, now will play three of the next four contests at home ... the Falcons (16-6, 9-2 MAC) of fourth-year head coach Curt Miller, currently unbeaten in the month of February, host Central Michigan University in Tuesday (Feb. 15) action, beginning at 7:00 p.m. at venerable Anderson Arena (4,700) ... then, the Falcons head to Ypsilanti for a Saturday (Feb. 19) game vs. Eastern Michigan University ... BGSU enters the week in first place in the MAC's West Division, just a game ahead of Eastern.
GREAT START
For the second consecutive year, the Falcons are off to a solid start ... BGSU is 16-6 this season, after going 15-7 through the first 22 games last winter ... the Falcons are 9-2 in MAC play, a game ahead of last year's pace through 11 conference contests (8-3) ... BG's 2004-05 overall record is the team's best since the 1997-98 squad was 18-4 after 22 games ... the Falcons' MAC record is the best since that '97-98 team went 10-1 to start league play.
THE STREAK IS OVER
A lengthy streak came to an end for the Falcons in Saturday's (Feb. 12) 61-52 win at Akron ... BGSU had made at least one three-point field goal in 193 consecutive games, but went 0-for-13 from beyond the arc vs. the Zips ... prior to the UA game, the last time the Falcons were held without a trey was on March 1, 1998, in a loss to Toledo in the semifinal round of the MAC Tournament ... the last time BG won a game without making a triple came on Dec. 21, 1996, in a 66-64 win over Detroit ... prior to the 193-game streak, 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.
POINTS OF PRIDE
DEFENSE FUELS THE OFFENSE
The Falcons have averaged 74.0 points over the last four games, all wins ... much of the offensive success has been created by the play of the Falcon defense ... BGSU has allowed just 51.0 points per game in that time, allowing the four opponents to shoot a collective 30.5 percent from the field in the four games and forcing a total of 87 turnovers (21.8 per game) ... the Brown and Orange have blocked 16 shots and had 41 steals in the four wins ... on the season, BG is allowing foes to shoot 37.5%, and the Falcons have 10.1 steals per game ... in MAC games, the Falcons have a field-goal percentage defense of 35.7% and are averaging 11.0 steals per contest.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
The Falcons take an overall record of 16-6 into Tuesday's game, and BGSU is 9-2 in MAC play, atop the MAC's West Division ... the Falcons have won four consecutive games to begin the month of February, with home wins over Northern Illinois (80-44, Feb. 2) and Ohio (86-59; Feb. 5) and road victories vs. Ball State (69-49; Feb. 8) and Akron (61-52; Feb. 12) ... the Falcons' last loss came at Kent State, 62-53, on Jan. 26 ... BG has won seven of the last eight games and 13 of 15 contests ... 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 ... BGSU finished the non-conference portion of the schedule with a 7-4 mark for the third consecutive season.
BGSU is averaging 70.8 points per game, ranking second in the MAC and 38th in the country ... the Falcons are 51st in the nation in scoring margin, and currently have three sophomores and a freshman comprising the team's top-four scorers ... soph Liz Honegger paces the Brown and Orange in scoring (14.4 ppg), and also leads the team in rebounding (8.0), steals (2.0) and blocks (2.0) ... classmate Ali Mann has 13.3 points and 7.5 boards per game to rank second on the team in each category, while another soph, Carin Horne, has 11.4 points per outing ... freshman Kate Achter is averaging 9.9 points and a team-high 3.9 assists per game, and is third on the team with 4.2 rebounds ... redshirt junior Casey McDowell has 5.6 points per contest, while sophomore Megan Thorburn averages 4.5 points ... Honegger and Mann are the only players to have started all 22 games this year, while McDowell has made 21 starts and Achter 15 ... Horne has started 12 games and Thorburn 10 ... Achter, Horne and McDowell have joined Honegger and Mann in the starting lineup for each of the last eight games.
BGSU is shooting 42.2 percent from the field and 69.7% from the free-throw line ... the Falcons have allowed opponents to shoot just 37.5% from the floor, and the foes have a 70.1% success rate from the stripe.
In MAC play, Mann leads the Falcons with 14.0 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, while Honegger is close behind, with 13.9 points and 7.2 boards ... Horne and Achter average 12.1 and 9.5 points per game, respectively ... BGSU has 69.5 points per game and a scoring margin of +13.8 in league action to date ... BG is shooting 41.8% in conference games, while allowing MAC opponents to shoot just 35.7% from the floor.
SCOUTING CENTRAL MICHIGAN
Central Michigan enters the week with an overall record of 9-13, and the Chippewas bring a MAC record of 3-8 into Tuesday's game ... CMU snapped a three-game losing streak with Saturday's (Feb. 12) 69-45 win over visiting Buffalo ... Central is 1-9 on the road this year, including 0-5 in MAC away games ... junior guard Casey Manning leads the Chippewas' balanced scoring attack, with 10.5 points, and also has 4.8 rebounds and a team-high 3.2 assists ... junior forward Chasidy Myers and senior guard Lindy Hatfield have 8.6 and 7.6 points per game, respectively, while sophomore forward Ann Skufca has 7.0 points and 4.9 boards ... freshman forward Dana Westover and sophomore guard Sharonda Hurd average 6.2 points apiece, and are the team's top-two rebounders ... Hurd has 6.3 boards per outing, with Westover at 5.7 ... Hatfield, Manning, Myers, Westover and junior guard Erin Kuhl (5.0 ppg) comprised the starting lineup for coach Eileen Kleinfelter in Saturday's UB game ... last year, the Chippewas had an overall record of 5-23, and finished with a 1-15 MAC mark ... Kleinfelter has a record of 35-71 in her fourth season in Mount Pleasant, and is 257-152 in her 14th year overall ... the school's athletics web site is www.cmuchippewas.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Central Michigan, 36-12, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU is 19-4 in home games vs. the Chippewas ... the Brown and Orange won all three of last year's meetings, including two at Anderson ... the latter game, a 66-54 decision, came in the first round of the Kraft MAC Tournament (March 6, 2004) ... the Falcons have won the last eight home games vs. Central, since a 60-58 CMU win on Feb. 8, 1995 ... BGSU won last year's two regular-season meetings, a 68-60 victory at home (Jan. 17, 2004) and a 69-51 win in Mount Pleasant (Feb. 14, 2004) ... BG has an overall three-game winning streak in the series ... none of the last eight games, and only one of the last 14 meetings, has been decided by fewer than nine points.
THE FALCONS VS. THE MAC
The Falcons lead the all-time series with 11 of the 12 MAC opponents, and are narrowing the gap with that 12th team ... after the 80-44 win over Northern Illinois on Feb. 2, BGSU trails that series by a slim 12-11 margin.
LAST TIME OUT
Sophomore Ali Mann had 15 of her game-high 17 points in the second half, helping the Falcons to a 61-52 win over host Akron Saturday afternoon (Feb. 12) ... sophomore Carin Horne joined Mann in double digits, scoring 12 points, while senior Kelly Kapferer scored nine, all in the first half ... the Falcons held a rebounding advantage of 37-30 in the game, pulling down 14 offensive boards ... BGSU had 18 second-chance points to the Zips' four ... Jessica Deville led the hosts with 16 points in the game, going 5-for-7 from the field and making all six of her free-throw attempts ... sophomore starter Liz Honegger was whistled for two fouls in the first three minutes of the opening half, and was forced to the bench for most of the opening 20 minutes ... but, Kapferer stepped up with a team-leading nine points in that half ... BG led by as many as nine points in the first half, but the Zips cut the lead to two points, 29-27, at the break ... the Falcons started the second half on a 6-0 run, with Honegger and Mann each hitting their first baskets of the game during that time ... the BG defense forced the Zips into turnovers on the first five possessions of the half ... the Falcons' second-half start eventually opened the lead to 12 points, at the 14:17 mark ... the lead was as high as 14 points, 55-41, with 3:59 left, and UA could get no closer than the final nine-point margin.
ROAD SWEET ROAD?
The Falcons currently have the Mid-American Conference's top road record, with a 5-1 league record away from home this year ... since the start of last season, the Falcons are 11-3 on the road in conference play, and 16-9 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 ... overall this season, BGSU is 8-4 in away games ... the Falcons' loss at Kent State (Jan. 26) was the first road setback in a month and a half, since a Dec. 10 loss at New Mexico ... BG bounced back, however, with a pair of road wins last week.
HOME SWEET HOME!
The Falcons' win over Ohio (Feb. 5) moved BGSU's record to 6-1 at home this season ... BG has outscored the opponents by 21 points per game (75.0 to 56.0) at Anderson Arena this season, and by almost 23 points per outing (79.5 to 56.8) in the six wins ... the lone home loss was by three points to defending champion Eastern Michigan.
MILESTONES FOR MILLER...
Falcon head coach Curt Miller's career record stands at 58-51 heading into the Central Michigan game, marking the first time in his tenure that he has been as many as seven games over .500 ... the win over Ohio on Feb. 5 put the Falcons' MAC record over .500 for the first time since Miller arrived ... Miller, in his fourth year at the BGSU helm, currently has a mark of 31-28 in league play ... overall, the Falcons' win at Buffalo (Jan. 5) was the 50th of his career, and moved his record over the .500 mark for the first time since his head-coaching debut.
...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, a statement exemplified by the fact that the victory at Buffalo (Jan. 5) was the 250th conference win in program history ... entering the Central Michigan game, BGSU's all-time record in conference games is 258-134 (.658) ... only Toledo (266) has more MAC wins than the Falcons over the years.
BACK HOME AGAIN IN INDIANA
Sophomore Liz Honegger, a native of Lafayette, Ind., matched her career high with 27 points in the Falcons' 69-49 win at Ball State last Tuesday (Feb. 8) ... her other 27-point game came on BGSU's other trip to her home state this season, in a 115-84 win over IPFW on Nov. 19 ... 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.
AN ADVANTAGE AGAINST AKRON
BGSU now holds a 33-2 lead in the all-time series with Akron ... the Falcons are now 15-2 in road games vs. the Zips.
STEALING VICTORIES
According to the official statistics, the Falcons had seven steals in Saturday's (Feb. 12) win at Akron ... that snapped an eight-game streak of double-digit steal totals for the Brown and Orange, the longest such streak in over a decade ... the 1993-94 Falcons put together streaks of 17 and nine games with double-digit steal numbers ... this year's Falcons forced 24 Ohio turnovers (Feb. 5), and BGSU had a total of 12 steals in that win, then had 10 more steals at Ball State three days later.
CAN ONLY HOLD THEM DOWN FOR SO LONG
The Falcons' top-two scorers, sophomores Ali Mann and Liz Honegger, were held without a field goal in the first half of the game at Akron ... likewise, UA's leading scorer, Jessie Crooks, did not have a first-half field goal ... Honegger, saddled with two quick fouls, was scoreless at the intermission, while Mann's only two points came at the free-throw stripe ... Crooks, like Honegger, had two first-half fouls and was scoreless ... Mann responded with 15 second-half markers en route to a game-high 17, while Honegger ended up with six points ... Crooks was scoreless until hitting two free throws at the 2:04 mark, and made her only field goal with just 21 seconds left in the game.
KAPFERER KEEPS FALCONS ALIVE
When sophomore Liz Honegger, the Falcons' top scorer, was whistled for two early fouls at Akron, senior Kelly Kapferer stepped in and led the Brown and Orange with nine points, all in the first half, to help BG to a road victory ... in addition to the nine points, the co-captain had five rebounds, a game-high two blocked shots and a steal in 21 minutes of action ... in last week's two road wins (at Ball State and UA), Kapferer averaged 7.5 points and 5.0 rebounds, and made 6-of-9 shots (66.7 percent) from the field.
LEWIS LOGS MINUTES
The Falcons' other captain, senior Tene Lewis, has provided a spark off the bench all season ... last week, she averaged 28.5 minutes per game, ranking second on the team ... Lewis took only three shots on the week (making two), but averaged 5.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.5 steals in the two wins ... her career high for minutes played had been 28 prior to the month of February ... in the four February games to date, she has played at least 28 minutes in each.
STANDS FOR TENACIOUS
The Akron game was the 100th in a BGSU uniform for senior co-captain Tene Lewis, who has had some of the finest games of her career over the past few weeks ... Lewis scored four points in that game, going 2-for-3, and had six rebounds, four assists and two steals ... she did not take a shot in the win at Ball State (Feb. 8), but had a game-high seven assists, five rebounds, three steals and a blocked shot in 28 minutes ... three days earlier, had six points, six rebounds, seven assists, three steals and the first two-block game of her career in the win over Ohio ... Lewis, BGSU's active career steals leader, now has 108 career thefts ... in the last four games, Lewis has shot 61.5% (8-for-13) and averaged 4.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.5 steals.
IT STANDS TO REASON
Not surprisingly, the Falcons have enjoyed success in games in which they have shot and rebounded well ... BGSU is 16-0 this season, and 48-6 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 13-0 when outrebounding the opponent ... BGSU is now 33-7 in such games in Miller's tenure ... the Brown and Orange also have gone 13-0 when leading at the half this season to date.
CONVERTING TURNOVERS INTO POINTS
BGSU had 19 points off turnovers to Akron's 13 in Saturday's win ... the Falcons have outscored the opponent in that category 18 times in this season's 22 games, including in each of the last seven games and in 14 of the last 15 contests.
PAINT BY NUMBERS
The Falcons have enjoyed success in the inside game this year ... BGSU has outscored the opponents in the paint 16 times in 22 games ... BGSU's four highest point totals in the paint have come at home, vs. Youngstown State (48), Ohio (46), Western Michigan (44) and Bucknell (40) ... the Falcons have outscored the opponents, 249-160, in the paint in the seven home games to date.
WE'RE GLAD YOU'RE HERE
The Northern Illinois game marked the 50th BGSU contest since the current sophomore class arrived on campus ... that class includes Amber Flynn, Julie Gompers, Liz Honegger, Carin Horne, Ali Mann and Megan Thorburn ... after going 21-35 in the two years before their arrival, the Falcons have posted a record of 37-16 since.
DOUBLE VISION
Sophomores Liz Honegger and Ali Mann have been in double digits in the scoring column much more often than not over their careers ... Honegger has scored at least 10 points in a team-high 17 of this year's 22 games ... Mann scored 17 points at Akron, and now has 16 double-figure games this winter to date ... Mann has hit double digits in scoring 35 times in her 53 career games, while Honegger - who has also played 53 career games - has had 31 games of 10 points or more in a Falcon uniform.
20-20 VISION
The Falcons have won 10 games this season by at least 20 points, including five in MAC play ... to put those totals in perspective, only five of BG's 21 wins last season, and two league victories, came by over 20 points ... so, simple math shows that the Falcons have had 15 20-point wins since the start of the 2003-04 season, including seven in the MAC ... over the eight previous years (since the start of the 1996-97 campaign), BG teams totalled 10 wins by 20 or more points, including seven in MAC action.
THE DEFENSE NEVER RESTS
With BGSU struggling on offense at Akron, the Falcon defense rose to the occasion ... BG allowed just 52 points and held the Zips to 34.0 percent shooting, forcing 20 turnovers, including five UA turnovers on as many possessions to start the second half ... Akron didn't even attempt a second-half shot from the field until 3:29 had elapsed.
FREE THROWS (OR LACK THEREOF)
The Falcons were 0-for-2 at the free-throw line in the win at Ball State (Feb. 8) ... BGSU's previous season lows in free throws made and attempted came at New Mexico (Dec. 10), when BG was 5-for-8 ... single-game records are not readily available for all BGSU seasons, but the Falcons had made at least one free throw in every game as far back as 1987-88 ... BG was held to a 1-for-2 free-throw performance four years ago at Western Michigan (Jan. 31, 2001) ... two seasons later, the Falcons went back-to-back halves without a free-throw attempt, in the second half at Ball State (Jan. 22, 2003) and the first half at WMU (Jan. 29, 2003).
THE FALCON 500
With four points in the win at Toledo on Jan. 15, senior Kelly Kapferer became the latest Falcon to reach 500 career points ... the co-captain currently has 536 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 692 points in 53 career games ... another soph, Liz Honegger, surpassed the 500-point mark for her career in the win at Western Michigan (Jan. 8), and ended the Akron game with 633 career points through 53 games ... a total of 44 players in BGSU history have scored at least 500 points, and sophomore Carin Horne will most likely be the 45th ... Horne has 470 career points.
CROWDED AT THE TOP OF THE REBOUNDING LIST
Over the last few weeks, sophomores Ali Mann and Liz Honegger have traded places at the top of the BGSU active career rebounding list ... currently, the two are separated by just a single rebound, as Mann has 410 career boards and Honegger 409 ... senior Kelly Kapferer has 344 rebounds in her career.
BLOCK PARTY: HONEGGER MOVING UP THE LISTS
Liz Honegger, just a sophomore, is rapidly moving up the BGSU lists for blocked shots ... she is currently third on the career chart, with 93, 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 43 rejections through 22 games this season - currently averages 1.95 per game ... Honegger 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 43 blocks through 22 games, including 21 blocks through 11 MAC games this year ... Honegger owns the seasonal record for blocks in conference games, with 27 a year ago.
