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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Face Miami Saturday
January 20, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 20, 2006
BGSU Notes & Statistics in PDF Format
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
GAME #16
BGSU vs. MIAMI
Sat., January 21, 2006
1:00 p.m.
Anderson Arena (4,700)
Bowling Green, Ohio
RECORDS: BGSU 13-2, 4-0 MAC // Miami 6-9, 1-3 MAC
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1) - Rob Trautman and Ryan Gasser
TELEVISION: BCSN (live)
SERIES: BGSU leads, 32-23
LAST MEETING: BGSU 84, Miami 68 (March 9, 2005)
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team completes phase one of the Mid-American Conference schedule Saturday afternoon (Jan. 21) ... the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller will conclude a two-game homestand by facing Miami University ... tipoff is set for 1:00 p.m. at venerable Anderson Arena (4,700).
INITIAL PHASE ALMOST COMPLETE
The 2005-06 season is the first utilizing a new women's basketball format for the MAC ... the schedule can be divided into three phases ... as in each of the last seven years, each MAC team plays 16 league games ... this season, however, each school opens with five intra-divisional games, so BG plays five-straight contests vs. the East Division, concluding with the Miami game ... beginning Wednesday (Jan. 25), the Falcons and the rest of the league will play the first of six cross-divisional games ... finally, schools will return to intra-divisional play for the last five regular-season games.
HOT START
BGSU's 13-2 record ties the school record for best start through 15 games ... three other Falcon teams have begun a season with a 13-2 mark ... the 1974-75 squad was the first to do so, and the 1986-87 team also had 13 wins in the first 15 games.
HOT START II
BGSU's 4-0 start in conference play is the Falcons' best in five years, since the 2000-01 team also opened league action with four consecutive wins ... this year's team is the sixth in school history to begin MAC action with four victories ... two of those teams, the 1986-87 and 1988-89 squads, ran the table, going a perfect 16-0 in MAC action.
A RARE DOUBLE
The Falcons currently lead the MAC in both scoring offense (68.9 ppg) and scoring defense (55.0 ppg) ... only once in league history has a team led the MAC in both categories in the same season ... that team was the Falcons in 1987 ... this year's BG team is currently 18th in the nation in scoring defense and 21st in scoring margin (through games of Monday, Jan. 16).
HEAD COACH Curt Miller
BGSU head coach Curt Miller picked up the 70th victory of his career at Detroit on Nov. 30, and garnered win number 75 on Jan. 7 vs. Akron ... his career record currently stands at 78-55, in his fifth year ... over the last two-plus seasons, however, Miller and the Falcons have a record of 57-20 ... BGSU has gone 28-8 in MAC regular-season play over the last two-plus seasons, and 34-9 in all games vs. conference foes during that span (6-1 in league tournament play).
MILLENNIUM FALCONS: MANN IS THE LATEST ...
On January 7, junior Ali Mann added another accomplishment to her already-impressive list ... in the Akron game, Mann became just the 19th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point mark for her career ... the Chelsea, Mich., native became only the sixth BGSU player to reach the millennium mark in her junior season ... heading into the Miami game, Mann has a career total of 1,060 points.
... AND HONEGGER'S GOT NEXT
It may not happen Saturday ... it may not be Sunday ... in fact, it definitely won't be Sunday, because BG does not have a game Sunday, but we digress ... but, sometime in the near future, junior Liz Honegger very likely will become the 20th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point mark for her career ... Honegger enters the Miami game just 30 points shy of the milestone ... she moved into the BGSU Top-20 in career scoring in Wednesday's (Jan. 18) win over Ohio ... in that game, Honegger moved past Rhonda Moore on the BG career chart ... Honegger's classmate, Ali Mann, currently ranks 17th, just two points behind 16th-place Megan McGuire ... as mentioned above, a total of 19 players have scored 1,000 points at BG, with only six (Mann, Jackie Motycka, Sara Puthoff, Francine Miller, Lori Albers and Chris Tuttle) reaching that plateau in their junior season ... both Mann (fourth) and Honegger (ninth) rank among BGSU's top 10 in career points per game ... and, don't look now, but junior Carin Horne is rapidly moving up the list as well ... Horne currently has 747 points, good for 32nd on the BGSU career scoring list.
THEY'RE FAST, TOO
Junior Ali Mann has reached the 1,000-point plateau, and classmate Liz Honegger is just 30 points away ... Mann was the fourth-fastest Falcon to amass 1,000 points, and Honegger is on pace to be one of the fastest players to do so as well.
MANN NAMED MAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK, AGAIN
Junior Ali Mann was named a MAC Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday (Jan. 16) ... Mann averaged 14.5 points and 9.0 rebounds as the Falcons posted a pair of road wins last week, over Buffalo and Kent State ... Mann earned a league P-O-W honor for the second time this season and the fifth time in her Falcon career.
BGSU Q&A (ABOUT THE FALCONS)
With the season at roughly its midway point, hoops doctor I. Ziggy Zoomba, a noted BGSU women's basketball expert, graciously agreed to make a rare appearance on these pages, to answer a few rudimentary questions about the Falcons ...
Q: How is the team faring this season, Doctor I?
I. Ziggy Zoomba: Glad you asked. Bowling Green enters the Miami game with a record of 13-2 on the season, and the Falcons are 4-0 in MAC play to date. BG is 5-0 at home, 6-1 on the road and 2-1 in neutral-site contests. The Falcons' most recent win came at home over Ohio, 77-63, on Wednesday night (Jan. 18). BGSU opened the MAC schedule with a pair of wins, over Akron and Buffalo, before heading to Kent State and coming away with a 61-58 victory last Saturday (Jan. 14).
Q: That's a great start in the MAC. Did the non-conference schedule help to prepare the Falcons for league play?
IZZ: It sure didn't hurt. You ask some great questions.
Q: Thanks.
IZZ: That's not a question, but I'll allow it. In non-conference play, the Falcons began with a school-record 8-0 start. BG started the season with home wins over IPFW and Saint Francis (Pa.), then headed to Bloomington, Ind., and won the Hampton Inn Classic by downing IUPUI and host Indiana. The Falcons ended November with a win at Detroit, then started December with a home victory vs. Duquesne. Then, BG picked up wins at Florida International and Oakland, for that school-record 8-0 mark. Delaware finally snapped the team's winning streak with a 48-44 verdict in the opening round of the Hawk Classic in Philadelphia, Pa. But, BG bounced back with a win over Iona in the consolation game the following day. The Brown and Orange took an SEC school, Kentucky, to overtime on the Wildcats' home floor, but UK was able to outlast the Falcons by a 66-62 score.
Q: Fascinating, simply fascinating. So, if I were to head to Anderson Arena on Saturday, are there any players in particular that I should keep an eye on?
IZZ: Well, head coach Curt Miller and his staff returned nine letterwinners, including all five starters, from last year's MAC Championship team. Juniors Ali Mann and Liz Honegger lead a balanced BG offensive attack, and Mann leads the team in both scoring and rebounding, with 15.4 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. Honegger, second in both categories (13.5 ppg, 7.7 rpg), paces the Falcons with 26 blocked shots 27 three-point field goals made. Junior Carin Horne and sophomore Kate Achter have 11.5 and 10.7 ppg, respectively. Horne has a team-high 2.8 steals per game, and is tied with Honegger for the BG lead, with 27 successful three-pointers. Achter leads the Falcons with 5.1 assists per outing. Junior Amber Flynn is averaging 3.8 points and 2.9 boards off the bench, while classmate Megan Thorburn is averaging 3.7 points, including 7.5 in the four MAC games to date. The Falcons are shooting 40.5 percent from the field, while holding opponents to a 38.2% success rate to date. BG has made 92 three-point field goals to the opponents' 58, and 212 free throws to the foes' 167.
Q: You sure are long-winded, Doctor, but I'll ask another question in spite of myself. You mentioned 'last year's MAC Championship team' in your last rambling soliloquy. Can you tell me a little bit more about that team?
IZZ: You flatter me with your kind words. 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 tournament title and earn a trip to the NCAA Championships. In the national tournament, BGSU led Kansas State at the half, but fell to the Wildcats by a 70-60 final. Achter, Honegger, Horne, Mann and senior Casey McDowell are the returning starters from that team, with each of the five having earned some sort of MAC honor in '04-05. Both 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.
Q: What else can you tell me about this year's team?
IZZ: Well, in addition to the five returning starters, other letterwinners back this year include senior Jill Lause, juniors Flynn and Thorburn and sophomore Whitney Taylor. Achter, Honegger, Horne and Mann each have started all 15 games this season, while McDowell has made 10 starts. Thorburn has started in each of the last three wins. Freshman Jasmine McCall has played in all 15 games to date, while classmate Lindsey Goldsberry has seen action in 14 contests, starting two. The team's other freshman, Jessica McKenzie, made her collegiate debut in the Iona game just after Christmas, and also has seen action in all four MAC matches. She missed all of November and most of December due to an injury suffered in practice just before the season opener.
Q: So, Doctor - if that is your real name - one final question. If I were making a movie about the Falcons, would you recommend that I title it Prognosis: Positive or Prescription for Success?
IZZ: Don't try to be clever. Your questions have become tiresome to me - this interview is over.
SCOUTING MIAMI
Miami enters the BGSU game with an overall record of 6-9 on the season, and the RedHawks are 1-3 in MAC play to date ... Miami is 3-5 on the road, including a 1-1 mark in league road action ... the 'Hawks are coming off an overtime home loss to Kent State, 83-78, on Tuesday (Jan. 17) ... that came three days after a 65-54 win at Akron ... senior guard Cindi Merrill is the team's leading scorer, with 17.3 points per game, and she also has 4.8 rebounds per contest ... freshman guard Jenna Schone has 9.8 ppg to date, and leads the team in three-point field goals made (31), assists (77) and steals (25) ... no fewer than seven other RedHawks are averaging from 5.0 to 8.3 points ... that group includes redshirt sophomore guard Sarah Hull (8.3), and a pair of true sophs, G/F Jaclyn Leininger (7.9) and F/C Laura Markwood (6.6) ... freshman forward Eve Pyle has 6.3 points and a team-best 6.6 rebounds per contest ... coach Maria Fantanarosa's team has been hit hard by injuries this season ... junior Amanda Jackson, an honorable-mention All-MAC pick last year, suffered a season-ending injury in the season opener, and Markwood and Pyle missed seven games apiece earlier this year ... and, Merrill missed three games at the start of the year ... she has played in each of the last 12 contests, starting 10 ... Hull, Schone and Miller each have started all 15 games ... Markwood has joined those four players in the starting five for every MAC game to date ... MU has six letterwinners (not counting Jackson), including only one starter, from last year's 14-15 team that went 8-8 in league action ... Fantanarosa is 124-93 in her eighth season at her alma mater, and 131-113 in her ninth year as a collegiate head coach ... the school's athletics web site is MURedHawks.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Miami, 32-23, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU has won each of the last three meetings ... the Falcons captured last year's lone regular-season matchup, 68-59, in Anderson Arena (Jan. 19, 2005), then downed MU by an 84-68 count in the MAC Tournament's quarterfinal round at Gund (now Quicken Loans) Arena in Cleveland ... BGSU is 15-10 all-time vs. the Redskins/RedHawks at Anderson Arena ... prior to the Falcons' wins in the last three meetings, MU had won five consecutive games and six of seven from BG.
THE FALCONS VS. THE MAC
The Falcons have a proud history in the MAC ... BGSU leads the all-time series with 10 of the 11 MAC opponents, and the Falcons evened the series with that 11th team, with a win at Northern Illinois in the teams' last meeting (March 1, 2005) ... BG is the only team in the league with at least a .500 mark against every other MAC school.
FALCONS VS. THE MAC II
BGSU is the lone Mid-American Conference team to currently hold a winning streak against each of the other 11 league schools ... the Falcons went 13-3 in MAC regular season play last year, with the only losses coming to Eastern Michigan (two) and Kent State ... but, BGSU avenged those setbacks by beating EMU in the Kraft MAC Tournament's semifinal round and KSU in the championship game ... and, BG has wins over all four league foes this year to date.
LAST TIME OUT
Trailing by three points at the half, the Falcons erupted for a season-high 54 points in the second half to pick up a 77-63 win over visiting Ohio University Wednesday night (Jan. 18) ... the win was the Falcons' fifth in as many games at home this season, and BG's 12th-straight victory at Anderson Arena ... junior Ali Mann, saddled with foul trouble in the first half, scored 14 of her team-best 17 points after the break ... Mann led four Falcon double-digit scorers in the win ... junior Carin Horne had 16 points, while sophomore Kate Achter had 14 points and a game-high nine assists ... junior Liz Honegger scored 13 points and had a team-high seven rebounds ... the visitors shot at least 50 percent in each half ... but, Ohio committed 27 turnovers, tying a season high for a BGSU opponent ... the Falcons, after shooting only 27.8% in the opening half, went 17-for-30 (56.7%) in the second 20 minutes ... and, BG had only nine turnovers on the night ... BG opened the game on a 14-2 run, but OU came roaring back to take the lead in the final minute of the half ... after a back-and-forth first few minutes of the second half, BG went on a 12-0 run to take a 43-34 lead with 12:06 left ... that was part of a 20-3 Falcon run, and the hosts were never headed thereafter.
THE DEFENSE NEVER RESTS
DEFENSE DOES IT AGAIN
The Falcons have greatly improved defensively during the Curt Miller Era ... in the 2003-04 season, Miller, 'defensive coordinator' Jennifer Roos and the rest of the Falcons allowed opponents to shoot just 38.8% from the field ... that marked the third-lowest opponent FG pct. in school history, and the lowest since 1977-78 ... the 2004-05 squad nearly matched that success, allowing foes to shoot just 39.1% from the floor ... the 1976-77 team owns the school record, allowing opponents to shoot only 34.8% ... that '76-77 season is the first year that such statistics are available ... since Miller and Roos arrived, the Falcons have posted three of the top-six totals in that category in school history ... this year, through 15 games, the BG defense has allowed foes to shoot just 38.2% from the floor.
GET A STOP
The Falcons have played some solid defense in the early portion of the season, as evidenced by opponents' 55.0 points-per-game average through 15 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 13 of the 15 games (and, in the other two games, held the foes - Saint Francis and Kent State - without a point for over three-and-a-half minutes during at least one segment) ... through those 15 games this season, BGSU has ...
A RARE DEFICIT
Iona's eight-point lead late in the first half of that game (Dec. 29) matched BGSU's largest deficit of the season to date ... Delaware also had an eight-point advantage over the Falcons, late in the second half of the teams' contest the day before.
RARE DEFICIT II
Wednesday's (Jan. 18) game marked the first time the Falcons had trailed at halftime of a home game since last Jan. 12 ... that date marked BGSU's last home loss, to Eastern Michigan ... in the interim, the Falcons had been tied at the half once at home, in last year's Toledo game (Feb. 26, 2005).
TURNOVERS TELL THE TALE
The Falcons have forced a total of 91 turnovers in the first four MAC games, an average of 22.75 per contest ... BGSU hounded Ohio into 27 turnovers on Wednesday (Jan. 18), after forcing Akron into 27 and Buffalo into 26 in back-to-back games to start league action ... a few related notes ...
STEALING VICTORIES
BGSU had a season-high 17 steals vs. Akron, and followed that performance with 15 thefts at Buffalo ... those marked the team's top-two seasonal totals ... the Falcons had not had back-to-back games of 15 or more steals since early December of 2000 (15 vs. both Detroit and St. Bonaventure) ... the Falcons had 15 more steals in the Ohio game, giving BG 53 steals through four league games.
McKENZIE McCOMES ON STRONG
The beginning of freshman Jessica McKenzie's collegiate career was delayed by several weeks, as she suffered an injury just prior to the season opener that caused her to miss the first six weeks of her initial season ... but, McKenzie has displayed the potential to be another valuable asset in Curt Miller's post rotation ... she had seven points, the highest total of her brief BGSU career, in Wednesday's win over Ohio ... in the win over the Bobcats, she scored five-straight points during BG's game-changing 20-3 second-half run ... McKenzie has played in five games, including all four MAC contests, and has averaged 3.2 points.
FALCONS WIN AT KSU FOR FIRST TIME IN 12 YEARS
BGSU posted a 61-58 win over Kent State last Saturday (Jan. 14) at KSU's M.A.C. Center ... the victory was the Falcons' first road win over the Golden Flashes in almost 12 years, since the foes were still going by 'Kent' ... BG had lost 10 road games, by an average of 20.0 points, vs. Kent/Kent State since a 102-92 Falcon victory back on Feb. 5, 1994.
NOT BAD, NOT BAD AT ALL
Despite this year's losses to Delaware (by four points) and Kentucky (in overtime), the Falcons have won 19 of the last 22 games, dating to Feb. 19, 2005 ... the only other loss in that time was to Kansas State in the NCAA Championships in March.
FALCONS FIVE-AND-OH AT ANDERSON
BGSU's win over Ohio moved the Falcons to 5-0 in home games this season, and the Falcons have won 12 consecutive games at Anderson Arena ... the 5-0 start is the best for BG at home in eight years ... the 1997-98 team started the year with an 8-0 home record ... BGSU's best-ever home start was in 1992-93, when the Falcons won the first 13 games of the year at 'The House That Roars' ... the 1974-75 (7-0) and 1975-76 (6-0) teams are the only BG squads to complete the season with an unblemished home record ... both the 1992-93 (13-1) and '93-94 (12-1) squads were undefeated through the regular season at Anderson, before losing an NCAA Tournament game at home.
HOME SWEET HOME
As mentioned, the Falcons' win over Ohio moved the team's record to 5-0 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 ... the Falcons have won 12 in a row at home, and have captured 15 of the last 16 at 'The House That Roars,' dating to late in the 2003-04 campaign ... BG has outscored the opponents by an average of 21.2 points in the five home games this season, after posting a +15.9 scoring margin at Anderson last winter.
ROAD SWEET ROAD?
With a win at Indiana, the Falcons opened the road portion of the schedule on a successful note ... BGSU is now 6-1 in road games this year, with wins at Detroit, FIU, Oakland, Buffalo and Kent State and an overtime loss to Kentucky ... 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 14-4 on the road in conference play, and 23-10 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.
MANN, HONEGGER HAVE DOUBLE VISION
Juniors Ali Mann and Liz Honegger have been in double digits in the scoring column much more often than not over their careers ... this season, Mann has scored at least 10 points in 14 of the 15 games, including each of the last 12 ... she had 24 double-figure games last year, and has 57 in her 77 career games ... Honegger has 10 double-digit games this winter to date, after 25 such games last season ... she has hit twin figures in 49 of her 77 career contests.
HONEGGER, MANN HAVE DOUBLE-DOUBLE VISION
Junior Liz Honegger recorded a double-double at Buffalo (Jan. 10), her third of the season and the 15th of her BGSU career ... classmate Ali Mann is right behind, with two double-doubles on the year and 14 as a Falcon ... they are the top-two active Falcons in both categories ... Honegger recorded her first double-double of the season at Oakland (19p-16r), and was at it again in the Iona game, exploding for 24 points and adding 12 boards ... Mann came close to posting a double-double in three of the season's first five games, before turning the trick in the Duquesne (14p-11r) and Kentucky (24p-11r) games ... Mann has been a single rebound shy of a double-double in five additional games this season.
SHE BLOCKS SHOTS, TOO
With arms long enough to change the radio station from the second row of a van, it is no surprise that Liz Honegger, in less than two-and-a-half seasons, has placed her name all over the BGSU lists for blocked shots ... this season, Honegger has 26 blocks through 15 games to lead the Falcons ... she tied two of her own single-season marks in 2004-05, and is moving up the career list ... Honegger, who matched the BG record with 50 blocks as a freshman, had 50 more rejections last season ... she set a school mark with 27 blocks in MAC games as a frosh, and matched that record in league games last winter ... Honegger is in second place on the career list, and is on pace to obliterate the BGSU career record for blocks per game.
BACK TO THE EAST
The Falcons' game vs. Akron on Jan. 7 was BGSU's first conference contest as a member of the MAC's East Division in four years ... BG spent five seasons in the East after the MAC instituted divisional play prior to the 1997-98 academic year ... in 2002, BG was moved to the West Division ... the Falcons spent three seasons in the West, winning the divisional title in 2004-05 ... in early February of 2005, the MAC Council of Presidents approved the return of Bowling Green to the league's East Division in all sports, effective in 2005-06.
400 MAC GAMES
Saturday's game at Kent State marked BGSU's 400th Mid-American Conference regular-season contest ... the Falcons now have an all-time MAC record of 266-135, good for a winning percentage of .663, through the first 401 such games.
FALCONS ON THE RADIO
All of the Falcons' regular-season games, plus any postseason action, are scheduled to be on the air again in 2005-06 ... student station WBGU-FM (88.1), the flagship station for the women's basketball Falcons, is scheduled to air every regular-season game (subject to change) ... the 2005-06 academic year marks the fourth season of an agreement between the BGSU department of athletics and the Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization (BGRSO) to have WBGU serve as the flagship station for both hockey and women's basketball ... games produced by BGRSO can be heard on the web, both at bgrso.org and via BGSU Falcons All-Access package available through BGSUFalcons.com.
LAUSE, MANN, McDOWELL NAMED CAPTAINS
Seniors Jill Lause and Casey McDowell and junior Ali Mann are the tri-captains of the 2005-06 Falcons ... the three were selected in a vote of team members as well as coaching staff ... in the last three seasons, since Lause began her collegiate career and McDowell transferred from Indiana State, the Falcons averaged almost 19 wins per year ... over the last two-plus seasons, since the start of Mann's freshman year, BG has gone 57-20 and twice advanced to the MAC Tournament's championship game.
