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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Division Leaders Collide at Anderson Wednesday
February 22, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 22, 2005
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
GAME #25
BGSU
vs.
MARSHALL
Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2005
7:00 p.m.
Anderson Arena (4,700)
Bowling Green, Ohio
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1) - Paul Braverman and Ryan Gasser
TELEVISION: BCSN (tape delay) - Dave Horger and Fran Voll
SERIES: BGSU leads, 9-3
LAST MEETING: BGSU 77, at Marshall 67 (Feb. 25, 2004)
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, still atop the Mid-American Conference's West Division, returns home to face the East Division leader ... the Falcons (17-7, 10-3 MAC) of fourth-year head coach Curt Miller, looking to rebound from the first loss in the month of February, will host Marshall University in Wednesday (Feb. 23) action, beginning at 7:00 p.m. at venerable Anderson Arena (4,700) ... then, the Falcons will host the arch-rival University of Toledo Saturday afternoon (Feb. 26), with tipoff set for 1:00 p.m. on 'Senior Day' ... BG closes the regular season with a trip to Northern Illinois University on Tuesday, March 1.
TOURNAMENT TIME APPROACHES
The Falcons have just three regular-season games remaining ... if the Kraft MAC Tournament began today, BGSU would be the second seed, and the Brown and Orange would receive a first-round bye for the first time since the MAC went to the current tourney format in the 1999-2000 season ... the top-three seeds in the conference tourney will earn first-round byes, with the division winners earning the first and second seeds ... the team with the best record among the remaining 11 schools will earn the third seed and the final first-round bye, with seeds four through eight hosting first-round games on Saturday, March 5 ... the five first-round winners will join the top-three teams in Cleveland for the quarterfinals on Wednesday, March 9 ... and, while we're on the subject...
MAC TOURNAMENT PICTURE
With only a week-and-a-half's worth of regular-season action remaining, here is a look at the conference record of each school, along with remaining regular-season games...
School W-L Remaining Games Marshall # 11-2 at BGSU (2/23), at EMU (2/26), vs. Akron (3/1) Bowling Green # 10-3 vs. Marshall (2/23), vs. Toledo (2/26), at NIU (3/1) Kent State # 9-4 vs. Ohio (2/23), at Miami (2/26), vs. Buffalo (3/1)Eastern Mich. # 9-4 vs. CMU (2/23), vs. Marshall (2/26), at Toledo (3/1) Toledo # 8-5 at Ball State (2/23), at BGSU (2/26), vs. EMU (3/1) Ball State # 8-5 vs. Toledo (2/23), vs. Ohio (2/26), at CMU (3/1) Miami % 7-6 vs. Buffalo (2/23), vs. KSU (2/26), at Ohio (3/1) Ohio % 7-6 at KSU (2/23), at Ball State (2/26), vs. Miami (3/1)
Western Mich. $ 5-9 at NIU (2/22), vs. CMU (2/26) Central Mich. $ 4-9 at EMU (2/23), at WMU (2/26), vs. BSU (3/1) Northern Ill. $ 3-10 vs. WMU (2/22), at Buffalo (2/26), vs. BGSU (3/1) Akron $ 3-12 at Marshall (3/1) Buffalo $ 2-11 at Miami (2/23), vs. NIU (2/26), at KSU (3/1)
# has clinched at least a first-round home game % will play a first-round home game $ will play on the road in the first round The MAC Fast Break web site (www.geocities.com/mu1809) provides daily
updates regarding seeds and strength of schedule of remaining games
STREAK BUSTERS
For the third time in the last year, the Falcons have seen a modest winning streak snapped by Eastern Michigan ... BG had won five consecutive games before suffering a 57-52 loss to the Eagles Saturday (Feb. 19) ... prior to that, the Falcons had 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.
POINTS OF PRIDE
VOTE OF CONFIDENCE
For the first time this season, the Falcons 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 ... despite the loss to EMU, BGSU is 17-7 overall and 10-3 in MAC play, two games ahead of last year's pace in each case ... last winter, BGSU went 15-9 through the first 24 games, and the Falcons were 8-5 after 13 conference contests ... BG's 2004-05 overall record is the team's best since the 1997-98 squad was 19-5 after 24 games ... the Falcons' MAC record is the best since that '97-98 team went 12-1 to start league play.
FALCONS IN THE RPI
Bowling Green is currently ranked 95th in no fewer than four 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 17-7 into Wednesday's game, and BGSU is 10-3 in MAC play, atop the MAC's West Division ... the Falcons lost at Eastern Michigan, 57-52, Saturday (Feb. 19), snapping a streak of five consecutive wins to begin the month of February ... prior to the EMU game, the Falcons' last loss had come at Kent State, 62-53, on Jan. 26 ... still, though, BG has won eight of the last 10 games and 14 of 17 contests ... BG's other MAC loss came in the first EMU meeting, 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 70.1 points per game, ranking second in the MAC and 40th in the country ... the Falcons are 53rd 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 (14.1 ppg), and also leads the team in rebounding (7.8), steals (2.1) and blocks (2.0) ... classmate Ali Mann has 13.5 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 9.6 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 5.8 points per contest, while sophomore Megan Thorburn averages 4.1 points ... Honegger and Mann are the only players to have started all 24 games this year, while McDowell has made 23 starts and Achter 17 ... Horne has started 14 games and Thorburn 10 ... Achter, Horne and McDowell have joined Honegger and Mann in the starting lineup for each of the last 10 games.
BGSU is shooting 42.1 percent from the field and 69.7% from the free-throw line ... the Falcons have allowed opponents to shoot just 37.8% from the floor, and the foes have a 69.6% success rate from the stripe.
In MAC play, Mann leads the Falcons with 14.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, while Honegger is close behind, with 13.5 points and 6.9 boards ... Horne and Achter average 12.5 and 9.1 points per game, respectively ... BGSU has 68.3 points per game and a scoring margin of +12.4 in league action to date ... BG is shooting 41.6% 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 MARSHALL
Marshall enters the week with an overall record of 17-7, and the Thundering Herd check into Wednesday's game with a MAC record of 11-2 ... MU leads the league's East Division by two games over Kent State ... if the regular season ended today, the Herd would be the top seed, while BGSU would be the second seed ... Marshall is one of the hottest teams in the nation, having won 12 consecutive games ... MU has not lost since a 78-62 setback at Kent State way back on Jan. 8 ... the Herd has a road record of 5-3, including a 5-1 mark in MAC games away from home ... redshirt junior guard Sikeetha Shepard-Hall paces the team with 14.9 points per game, and has made a team-high 34 three-point field goals ... sophomore forward Crystal Champion averages 10.5 points and a league-leading 8.4 rebounds per game, while senior guard Kim Griffin has 9.8 points and a team-high 3.1 assists per contest ... redshirt sophomore center Modupe Ishola has 8.3 points and 7.1 rebounds, and junior guard Reshundra Smiley is scoring at a 7.5 points-per-game clip ... sophomores Teyonka Hodge (7.1 ppg) and KaShawna Curry (7.0 ppg) give the Herd a total of seven players averaging at least seven points per game ... redshirt junior guard Mary Pat Statler (4.0 ppg) joined Champion, Curry, Griffin and Shepard-Hall in the starting lineup in the team's last game, Saturday's 66-46 win over Buffalo ... a year ago, the Herd had an overall record of 18-12 and finished 8-8 in MAC play ... head coach Royce Chadwick has a record of 56-55 in his fourth year in Huntington, and and is 456-187 in his 21st year overall ... the school's athletics web site is www.Herdzone.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Marshall, 9-3, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU won last year's lone meeting, 77-67 in Huntington (Feb. 25, 2004) ... in that game, the Falcons led from wire to wire, but BG saw a 22-point second-half lead nearly disappear ... MU got within four points before the Falcons held off the Herd for the win ... BGSU holds a 6-3 lead since the Herd returned to the MAC prior to the 1997-98 season ... BGSU is 5-1 all-time in home games vs. the Herd ... but, in the last meeting in Bowling Green, MU dealt the Falcons their worst home loss of that season, 69-50 (Feb. 26, 2003) ... after three of the first four series meetings were decided by five points or fewer, none of the last eight have been closer than 10 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
The Falcons stayed close with host Eastern Michigan, but just could not get over the hump, and the result was a 57-52 loss to the Eagles Saturday night (Feb. 19) in Ypsilanti ... Ryan Coleman led all scorers with 18 points for the hosts, while teammate Nikki Knapp had 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds ... Melis Ulker added 11 points for Eastern ... for the Falcons, sophomore Ali Mann had 16 points to lead three double-digit scorers, while classmates Carin Horne and Liz Honegger added 13 and 10, respectively ... Honegger and Mann tied for team honors with seven rebounds apiece ... the Falcons led only once, at 2-0 after a Horne jumper in the game's first minute ... the EMU lead never reached double digits in the game, but the Falcons never drew even again after the Eagles took a 5-2 lead ... the Falcons trailed, 26-20, at the half ... BG got within two points on several occasions in the second half, and the Falcons got within a single point on a Horne three-pointer with 29.9 seconds left ... but, the Eagles broke BG's press on the ensuing possession, and Knapp slipped behind the Falcon defense, hitting a layup and drawing a foul ... her free throw gave EMU a four-point lead with 24.1 seconds left, and the Falcons could not respond ... BG shot 34.5% for the game, to Eastern's 36.4%.
GETTING IT OUT OF THEIR SYSTEM
The Falcons trailed by a 26-20 count at halftime at Eastern Michigan ... the Falcons' 20-point total was the team's lowest in a half since the last loss, at Kent State on Jan. 26 ... that KSU game marked the only time BG had a lower first-half field-goal percentage than Saturday's 27.6% rate at EMU.
SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE
The Falcons enter Wednesday's game with five consecutive home wins ... but, Marshall has won its last 12 games overall, and the Herd has captured five-straight road games.
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 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.
RPI = RATINGS PERCENTAGE IMPROVEMENT
As of Monday evening (Feb. 21), the Falcons were ranked 95th 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.
BLOCK PARTY: HONEGGER MOVING UP THE LISTS
Liz Honegger, just a sophomore, is rapidly moving up the BGSU lists for blocked shots ... she is threatening to break the single-season marks ... Honegger, who tied the BG record with 50 blocks as a freshman, set a school mark with 27 rejections in MAC games a year ago ... this season, she is blocking shots at an even more prolific pace ... she had 1.61 blocks per contest last winter, and - with 47 rejections through 24 games this season - currently averages 1.96 per game ... in MAC play, Honegger has 25 blocked shots this year ... Honegger currently ranks third in school history in career blocks, with 97 ... her 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.
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.
ROAD SWEET ROAD?
Despite Saturday's loss at Eastern Michigan, the Falcons currently have a 5-2 road record in MAC play ... since the start of last season, the Falcons are 11-4 on the road in conference play, and 16-10 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 this season, BGSU is 8-5 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.
HOME SWEET HOME!
The Falcons' win over Central Michigan (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.
MILESTONES FOR MILLER...
Falcon head coach Curt Miller's career record stands at 59-52 heading into the Marshall game ... prior to the loss at EMU, his record had been eight games over .500 for the time in his tenure ... 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 32-29 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 Marshall game, BGSU's all-time record in conference games is 259-135 (.657) ... only Toledo (267) has more MAC wins than the Falcons over the years.
FALCONS IN THE MAC
The Falcons are well-represented in the latest Mid-American Conference statistics, as of Monday morning (Feb. 21) ...
A HIGH-SCORING AFFAIR?
Wednesday's game will feature the top-two scoring teams in the league ... Marshall currently leads the MAC in points per game, with the Falcons ranked second ... in league games only, MU also leads the league in scoring, with 73.2 ppg ... but, BGSU paces the conference in scoring defense in MAC games, allowing only 55.9 ppg.
MANN MAKES MORE THAN SHE MISSES
After shooting 52.4% from the field en route to that player-of-the-week award, sophomore Ali Mann shot a team-best 59.1% in last week's two games, going 7-for-10 vs. Central Michigan and 6-of-12 at Eastern Michigan ... over the last four games, Mann is shooting 55.8% from the floor, having made 24 of 43 shots in that time ... she leads the Falcons in scoring (15.8), rebounding (7.5) and minutes per game (32.8), in addition to FG pct., during that time.
POINTS ARE HARD TO COME BY FOR FALCON FOES
The Falcons held Eastern Michigan to 57 points in Saturday's (Feb. 19) game, 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 15 consecutive games, including all 13 MAC matches to date ... 11 of the last 15 foes, including each of the last six, have failed to reach the 60-point plateau ... the Falcon defense has held 13 teams under 60 points this season.
GETTING DEFENSIVE
Despite the loss to Eastern Michigan, the Falcons' defense played well enough to win ... BGSU held EMU to a field-goal pct. of 36.4% and forced 18 Eagle turnovers ... the Falcons held the Eagles scoreless for a first-half span of 5:44, forcing 11 consecutive EMU missed shots during that time ... in the second half, the Brown and Orange held Eastern without a point for a stretch of 4:37.
THE FALCON 500
With four points in the win at Toledo (Jan. 15), senior Kelly Kapferer became the latest Falcon to reach 500 career points ... the co-captain currently has 538 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 700 points, and currently has a total of 724 points in 55 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 EMU game with 656 career points through 55 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 499 career points.
TOTALLY USELESS NOTE OF THE WEEK
The start of the BGSU-Eastern Michigan game featured two jump balls ... after the opening tip, the ball hit the floor, with EMU's Ryan Coleman and BG's Casey McDowell in pursuit ... another jump ball was called, with Coleman and McDowell in the center circle ... McDowell won the jump, but BGSU was immediately called for an over-and-back violation, as a teammate grabbed the ball in the frontcourt and dribbled into the backcourt.
STANDS FOR TENACIOUS
Senior co-captain Tene Lewis has had some of the finest games of her career over the past few weeks ... in the six February games, Lewis has averaged 4.3 points and 5.2 rebounds, ranking third on the team in the latter category ... in those six games, Lewis leads the Falcons in assists (5.5) and steals (2.3), and has averaged 28.3 minutes per game ... prior to this month, her career high for minutes played had been 28 ... she has played at least 27 minutes in each of the six February games to date ... Lewis, BGSU's active career steals leader, now has 112 career thefts.
IT STANDS TO REASON
Not surprisingly, the Falcons have enjoyed success in games in which they have shot and rebounded well ... BGSU is 17-0 this season, and 49-6 in the Curt Miller Era, when the Falcons have a higher field-goal percentage than the opponent ... BG is 0-7 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 33-7 in such games in Miller's tenure ... the Brown and Orange also have gone 14-0 when leading at the half this season to date.
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 19 of this year's 24 games ... Mann now has 18 double-figure games this winter to date ... Mann has hit double digits in scoring 37 times in her 55 career games, while Honegger - who has also played 55 games - has had 33 games of 10 points or more in a Falcon uniform.
A 'MODERN-DAY' RECORD
The Falcons have greatly improved defensively during the Curt Miller Era ... in fact, BGSU set a 'modern-day' record by allowing opponents to shoot just 38.8% from the field last season ... that marked the third-lowest opponent field-goal pct. in school history, and the lowest since 1977-78 ... the 1976-77 team set the school record (34.8%) ... that '76-77 season is the first year that such statistics are available ... Miller-coached teams have posted two of the top-five totals in that category in school history ... this year, BGSU is looking to break last year's mark, as the Falcons have allowed opponents to shoot only 37.8% in 2004-05.
CONVERTING TURNOVERS INTO POINTS
Eastern Michigan had a slim 11-10 lead in points off turnovers in Saturday's game, snapping an eight-game streak in which the Falcons had led in that category ... still, however, BGSU has outscored the opponent in that category 19 times in this season's 24 games, including in 15 of the last 17 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 24 games, and has been deadlocked in that category on two other occasions ... 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, 279-190, in the paint in the eight 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 38-17 since.
STEALING VICTORIES
According to the official statistics, the Falcons had seven steals in the 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, and the Falcons had 10 more thefts at EMU ... the Falcons have now reached double figures in steals 15 times this year.
ROUND-ROBIN FORMAT
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 (10-3), Marshall (11-2) and EMU (9-4; tied for third) - had combined for only eight losses in MAC play prior to Saturday (Feb. 19), but will combine for at least three more losses by Feb. 26 ... the Falcons fell at Eastern, and BG hosts Marshall Wednesday (Feb. 23) ... three days after heading to BGSU, 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, and will proceed directly to Cleveland's Gund Arena.
