Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Travel To EMU For Saturday Showdown
February 18, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 18, 2005
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
GAME #24
BGSU
at
EASTERN MICHIGAN
Saturday, Feb. 19, 2005
7:00 p.m.
Convocation Center (8,824)
Ypsilanti, Michigan
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1)
SERIES: BGSU leads, 37-13
LAST MEETING: Eastern Michigan 51, at BGSU 48 (Jan. 12, 2005)
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, currently leading the Mid-American Conference's West Division, takes to the road to face one of its closest pursuers ... the Falcons (17-6, 10-2 MAC) of fourth-year head coach Curt Miller, currently unbeaten in the month of February, head to Ypsilanti, Mich., for a Saturday (Feb. 19) game against Eastern Michigan University, beginning at 7:00 p.m. at the Convocation Center (8,824) ... the Eagles (18-5, 8-4 MAC) are tied for second place, two games behind the Brown and Orange in the West Division race ... then, the Falcons will return home for a pair of games at venerable Anderson Arena (4,700), beginning Wednesday (Feb. 23) vs. East-leading Marshall University.
STREAK BUSTERS
For the third time in the last year, the Falcons take a lengthy winning streak into a game against Eastern Michigan ... BG has won five consecutive games heading into Saturday, but the Falcons have seen a pair of six-game streaks snapped by the Eagles over the last 11 months ... Eastern beat BG, 65-56, in the championship of the 2004 Kraft MAC Tournament (March 13, 2004), then handed the Falcons their lone home loss this season (51-48) on Jan. 12.
ROUND ROBIN
A unique round-robin format is shaping up as the MAC's regular-season race nears the finish ... three of the top teams in the standings - BG, Marshall (both 10-2) and EMU (8-4; tied for third) - have combined for only eight losses in MAC play to date, but will combine for at least three more losses by Feb. 26 ... the Falcons face Eastern on Saturday (Feb. 19) before hosting Marshall Wednesday (Feb. 23) ... three days after heading to BG, Marshall will be in Ypsilanti to face EMU ... the top-three teams in the final regular-season standings will earn first-round byes for the Kraft MAC Tournament.
POINTS OF PRIDE
LOOKING TO WIN THERE
Granted, Eastern Michigan's Convocation Center is one of the newer facilities in the MAC ... but, it remains the only building in the league in which the Falcons are winless ... BG is 0-4 at the Convocation Center entering Saturday ... the losses include two of the four worst setbacks in school history - a 31-point Eastern win in the teams' first meeting there (84-53; Jan. 9, 1999), and a 36-point blowout, 86-50, two years later (Feb. 21, 2001) ... in the Curt Miller Era, the two BGSU-EMU games in Ypsilanti have resulted in a 66-54 win for the Eagles in the MAC Tournament's first round (March 8, 2003) and last year's 61-59 contest (Jan. 27, 2004).
VOTE OF CONFIDENCE
For the first time this season, the Falcons have received a vote in a national poll ... BGSU received one vote in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches' Poll, released Tuesday afternoon (Feb. 15).
GREAT START
For the second consecutive year, the Falcons are off to a solid start ... BGSU is 17-6 overall and 10-2 in MAC play, two games ahead of last year's pace in each case ... last winter, BGSU went 15-8 through the first 23 games, and the Falcons were 8-4 after 12 conference contests ... BG's 2004-05 overall record is the team's best since the 1997-98 squad was 18-5 after 23 games ... the Falcons' MAC record is the best since that '97-98 team went 11-1 to start league play.
FALCONS IN THE RPI
Bowling Green is currently ranked anywhere from 92nd to 97th in the various Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) related polls ... BGSU is the top-ranked team among MAC schools on three of the lists, trailing only Eastern Michigan in the other.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
The Falcons take an overall record of 17-6 into Saturday's game, and BGSU is 10-2 in MAC play, atop the MAC's West Division ... the Falcons have won five consecutive games to begin the month of February, with home wins over Northern Illinois (80-44, Feb. 2), Ohio (86-59; Feb. 5) and Central Michigan (72-58, Tuesday), 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 eight of the last nine 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 70.9 points per game, ranking second in the MAC and 37th in the country ... the Falcons are 44th 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 (14.3 ppg), and also leads the team in rebounding (7.8), steals (2.0) and blocks (2.0) ... classmate Ali Mann has 13.4 points and 7.4 boards per game to rank second on the team in each category, while another soph, Carin Horne, has 11.6 points per outing ... freshman Kate Achter is averaging 9.8 points and a team-high 4.0 assists per game, and is third on the team with 4.2 rebounds ... redshirt junior Casey McDowell has 5.9 points per contest, while sophomore Megan Thorburn averages 4.3 points ... Honegger and Mann are the only players to have started all 23 games this year, while McDowell has made 22 starts and Achter 16 ... Horne has started 13 games and Thorburn 10 ... Achter, Horne and McDowell have joined Honegger and Mann in the starting lineup for each of the last nine games.
BGSU is shooting 42.6 percent from the field and 69.7% from the free-throw line ... the Falcons have allowed opponents to shoot just 37.9% from the floor, and the foes have a 69.6% success rate from the stripe.
In MAC play, Mann leads the Falcons with 14.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, while Honegger is close behind, with 13.8 points and 6.9 boards ... Horne and Achter average 12.4 and 9.4 points per game, respectively ... BGSU has 69.7 points per game and a scoring margin of +13.8 in league action to date ... BG is shooting 42.5% in conference games, while allowing MAC opponents to shoot just 36.5% from the floor.
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 EASTERN MICHIGAN
Eastern Michigan enters the weekend with an overall record of 18-5, and the Eagles check into Saturday's game with a MAC record of 8-4, good for a second-place tie in the West Division ... Eastern saw a four-game winning streak come to an end Wednesday (Feb. 16), suffering a 73-55 setback at Miami ... the Eagles have a 7-1 home record this year to date, including a 4-1 mark in MAC action at the Convocation Center ... senior guard Ryan Coleman paces Eastern's potent attack with a team-high 17.1 points per game ... Coleman also has 6.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.4 steals, tying for the team lead in the latter category and ranking second on the Eagles in the other two ... junior forward Nikki Knapp has 12.5 points and a team-best 7.7 rebounds per game, while sophomore G/F Sarah VanMetre averages 7.3 points ... senior guard Erika Ford has 6.3 points and 6.0 assists per game, and leads the entire league in both assists and assist/turnover ratio ... the Kilgore sisters, junior Kristen and senior Ryann, average 6.2 and 5.5 points, respectively ... junior center Melis Ulker (4.5 ppg) joins Coleman, Ford, Knapp and VanMetre in the probable starting lineup for coach Suzy Merchant ... a year ago, the Eagles had an overall record of 22-8 and won the MAC's West Division with a league mark of 12-4 ... Eastern went on to win the Kraft MAC Tournament, defeating BGSU in the championship game ... Merchant has a record of 117-79 in her seventh year in Ypsilanti, and is 171-108 in her ninth year overall ... the school's athletics web site is www.emich.edu/goeagles.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Eastern Michigan, 37-13, in the all-time series between the teams, but the Eagles have won four-straight contests ... Eastern took each of last year's two meetings, with the latter game coming in the Kraft MAC Tournament championship, a 65-56 win at Cleveland's Gund Arena (March 13, 2004) ... in the lone regular-season meeting, and the last meeting in Ypsilanti, the Eagles picked up a 61-59 win (Jan. 27, 2004) ... this year's initial meeting also went to Eastern, 51-48 at Anderson Arena (Jan. 12, 2005) ... the Falcons are 15-8 all-time in road games in the series, but BG is 0-4 in the Convocation Center ... overall, Eastern has won seven of the last 10 series meetings, after the Falcons took 33-of-34 contests vs. the Hurons/Eagles from 1983 to 1998.
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
The Falcons used a balanced scoring attack and a hot three-point shooting touch to pick up a 72-58 win over visiting Central Michigan Tuesday night (Feb. 15) ... four BGSU starters hit double digits in the scoring column, with sophomores Carin Horne and Ali Mann each netting 16 points in the win ... another soph, Liz Honegger, scored 13, while redshirt junior Casey McDowell tied her career high with four three-pointers en route to 12 points ... McDowell's scoring total set a season high ... Erin Kuhl led the Chippewas with 14 points, all in the first half ... Kuhl, 5-for-7 in the opening 20 minutes, including a 3-for-3 performance from three-point land, was held to just one unsuccessful shot from the field in the second half ... Lindy Hatfield also hit double digits for the visitors, with 12 points ... the Falcons shot 50.9 percent from the field, including a 56.0% success rate in the second half ... just one game after seeing a 193-game three-point streak come to an end, the Falcons made 10 treys in 17 tries (58.8%) ... Central shot 45.3% for the game, cooling off after a 57.1% performance in the first half.
THE STREAK IS OVER ... LONG LIVE THE STREAK
The Falcons had made at least one three-point field goal in 193 consecutive games before going 0-for-13 at Akron (Feb. 12) ... but, BGSU wasted little time in starting a new streak, as sophomore Liz Honegger hit a triple with just 11 seconds elapsed in Tuesday's (Feb. 15) Central Michigan game ... prior to the UA game, the last time the Falcons had been 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 had 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.
McDEADLY FROM DOWNTOWN
Redshirt junior Casey McDowell tied her career high by hitting four three-point field goals in the win over Central Michigan ... McDowell had a season-high 12 points, all on shots from beyond the arc, where she went 4-of-5 ... three of McDowell's treys came in the first 5:04 of the second half, helping the Falcons extend a five-point halftime lead into a 14-point advantage ... McDowell also had four triples in last season's win at Bucknell (Dec. 3, 2003), scoring a career-high 19 points that night.
MANN EARNS ANOTHER PLAYER-OF-THE-WEEK HONOR
On Monday (Feb. 14), sophomore Ali Mann was named a MAC Player of the Week ... Mann earned the honor after averaging 15.5 points and a team-high 8.5 rebounds per game as BG picked up a pair of road wins, at Ball State and Akron ... she shot a combined 52.4 percent from the field in the two games ... Mann earned the league weekly award for the second time this season and the third time in her Falcon career.
DEFENSE FUELS THE OFFENSE
The Falcons have averaged 73.6 points over the last five games, all wins ... much of the offensive success has been created by the play of the Falcon defense ... BGSU has allowed just 52.4 points per game in that time, allowing the four opponents to shoot a collective 33.3 percent from the field in the five games (that figure was 30.5% in the first four games) and forcing a total of 106 turnovers (21.2 per game) ... the Brown and Orange have blocked 24 shots and had 53 steals in the five wins ... on the season, BG is allowing foes to shoot 37.9%, and the Falcons have 10.2 steals per game ... in MAC games, the Falcons have a field-goal percentage defense of 36.5% and are averaging 11.1 steals per contest.
POINTS ARE HARD TO COME BY
The Falcons held Central Michigan to 58 points in Tuesday's (Feb. 15) win, continuing a long streak in which BGSU's opponents have failed to reach the 70-point mark ... BG has not allowed 70 points since Dec. 18, in an overtime win at Saint Francis (Pa.) ... the Falcons have not surrendered 70 points in a regulation game since facing New Mexico on the road on Dec. 10 ... after allowing more than 70 points in five of the season's first nine games, BG has held the opponents under 70 in 14 consecutive games, including all 12 MAC matches to date ... 10 of the last 14 foes, including each of the last five, have failed to reach the 60-point plateau ... the Falcon defense has held 12 teams under 60 points this season.
RPI = RATINGS PERCENTAGE IMPROVEMENT
As of Thursday evening (Feb. 17), the Falcons were ranked 92nd in the Ratings Percentage Index, according to CollegeRPI.com ... last year's BG team finished 104th in that web site's rankings ... those numbers represent a vast improvement over the prior four seasons, when the Falcons finished with RPI rankings of 246th, 272nd, 202nd and 199th.
A TOURNAMENT-TYPE ATMOSPHERE
The Falcons and Eastern Michigan met in last year's Kraft MAC Tournament championship game, and this season's initial meeting had a similar atmosphere ... in the latter game (Jan. 12 in Anderson Arena), the Eagles came away with a 51-48 win, with both teams playing tenacious defense on seemingly every possession ... the teams' 99 combined points in that game marked the second-lowest two-team total in the 50 series meetings, and the lowest in nearly 28 years ... EMU's last win over BG was the lowest-scoring series game since Eastern's first-ever win over the Falcons, 47-44 on Feb. 25, 1977.
BACK TO THE EAST
If the Falcons want to win a West Division title, they had better do it this season ... in early February, the MAC Council of Presidents approved the return of Bowling Green to the league's East Division in all sports, effective next academic year ... when the league began divisional play in 1997, BGSU was a member of the East Division ... in 2002, to accommodate the addition of UCF as a football-playing member of the league, BG was moved to the West ... UCF and Marshall are leaving the MAC at the end of the 2004-05 academic year.
FALCONS CLINCH (AT LEAST A) HOMECOURT BERTH
On Saturday, March 5, the Falcons will either have a home game or be idle ... BGSU became the first team to clinch at least a top-eight seed, ensuring that the Falcons will not have to go on the road that day ... March 5 is the first round of the Kraft MAC Tournament ... the top-three seeds will get byes and proceed directly to Cleveland's Gund Arena for the quarterfinals (March 9) ... seeds four through eight will host first-round games on the 5th.
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 96, 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 46 rejections through 23 games this season - currently averages 2.00 per game ... Honegger's next target on the career list 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
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 46 blocks through 23 games, including 24 blocks through 12 MAC games this year ... Honegger owns the seasonal record for blocks in conference games, with 27 a year ago.
HOME SWEET HOME!
The Falcons' win over Central Michigan Tuesday (Feb. 15) moved BGSU's record to 7-1 at home this season ... BG has outscored the opponents by 18.4 points per game (74.6 to 56.2) at Anderson Arena this season, and by over 21 points per outing (78.4 to 57.0) in the seven wins ... the lone home loss was by three points to defending champion Eastern Michigan.
HOW'S THIS FOR BALANCE?
In the eight home games to date, the Falcons' top-four scorers - Liz Honegger (13.6), Ali Mann (13.5), Kate Achter (13.3) and Carin Horne (13.1) - all are averaging between 13.1 and 13.6 points per game ... each of the four players have scored between 105 and 109 points at Anderson Arena this year to date.
MILESTONES FOR MILLER...
Falcon head coach Curt Miller's career record stands at 59-51 heading into the Eastern Michigan game, marking the first time in his tenure that he has been as many as eight games over .500 ... on Jan. 5, BG's win at Buffalo moved Miller's overall record above the .500 mark for the first time since his head-coaching debut in November of 2001 ... one month later, the win over Ohio (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 32-28 in league play.
...AND FOR THE PROGRAM
BGSU has been one of the most successful teams in MAC history over the years, and Curt Miller and staff are in the process of restoring the Falcons' place among the perennial league contenders ... the win at Buffalo (Jan. 5) was the 250th conference victory in program history ... entering the Eastern Michigan game, BGSU's all-time record in conference games is 259-134 (.659) ... only Toledo (267) has more MAC wins than the Falcons over the years.
THREE BALL, SIDE POCKET
The Falcons' total of 10 three-point field goals made in the Central Michigan game fell just one shy of matching a season best (11 vs. Northern Illinois on Feb. 2) ... BGSU's 58.8% rate from three-point range vs. the Chippewas set a new season high, surpassing the 50.0% mark set in that NIU game.
FIFTY IS NIFTY
BGSU had a field-goal percentage of 50.9% in the win over CMU ... the game marked the third time this season, and the first in MAC play, that the Falcons shot better than 50 percent from the floor ... the Brown and Orange shot 53.0% at IPFW (Nov. 19) and 52.5% in the Youngstown State game (Nov. 30) ... BG is 8-0 over the last four years when shooting at least 50 percent.
STEALING VICTORIES
According to the official statistics, the Falcons had seven steals in last 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 ... BGSU was back in double digits in the Central Michigan game (Feb. 15), with a total of 12 steals ... the Falcons have now reached double figures in steals 14 times this year.
FALCONS IN THE MAC
The Falcons are well-represented in the latest Mid-American Conference statistics, as of Saturday morning (Feb. 19) ...
AN ADVANTAGE AGAINST AKRON...
After the win on Feb. 12, 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.
...AND CENTRAL
The Falcons now lead the all-time series with Central Michigan by a 37-12 margin, and BG is 20-4 in home games vs. the Chippewas ... the Falcons have won nine consecutive games against Central at Anderson ... CMU's last win in Bowling Green came over a decade ago, on Feb. 8, 1995.
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 38-16 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 18 of this year's 23 games ... Mann now has 17 double-figure games this winter to date ... Mann has hit double digits in scoring 36 times in her 54 career games, while Honegger - who has also played 54 games - has had 32 games of 10 points or more in a Falcon uniform.
