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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Begin 2006-07 Season With Trip to the Motor City
November 08, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 8, 2006
Game Notes (20 pages) in PDF Format
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
BGSU at DETROIT
Fri., November 10, 2006 • 5:00 p.m.
Calihan Hall (8,295) • Detroit, Mich.
2005-06 RECORDS: BGSU 28-3, 16-0 MAC // UDM 11-17, 8-8 Horizon
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1) - Mike Castellano and Andrew Goetz
SERIES: Detroit leads, 10-8
LAST MEETING: BGSU 78, at Detroit 67 (Nov. 30, 2005)
THE GAME
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, after posting back-to-back Mid-American Conference regular-season and tournament titles in the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons, opens the '06-07 campaign Friday (Nov. 10) ... the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller begin the 34th season in the program's history by heading to the Motor City to face the University of Detroit Mercy ... tipoff is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. at UDM's Calihan Hall (8,295) ... the game is the first half of a doubleheader, as Detroit's men's basketball team will host Ferris State in an exhibition game following the BGSU-UDM women's contest ... Miller and his staff return nine letterwinners, including all five starters, from last year's 28-3 team that set school and MAC single-season records for victories ... BG went a perfect 16-0 in conference play a year ago.
FALCONS RECEIVE SOME PRESEASON PUB
BGSU has been listed in several 2006-07 preseason polls ... the Falcons were ranked 20th in the nation in the Athlon Sports poll, 21st by Lindy's and 25th in the country in the CSTV.com preseason poll ... additionally, ESPN women's basketball analyst Nancy Lieberman ranked the Falcons 24th in the nation on her preseason chart ... BGSU was listed 30th (fifth team under 'receiving votes') in the USA Today/ESPN coaches preseason poll, released on Nov. 1 ... and, earlier this week (Nov. 6), Charlie Creme had the Falcons ranked 32nd on his list of "64 teams we like heading into 2006-07" on ESPN.com.
FALCONS PREDICTED TO THREE-PEAT
VOTES TO WIN MAC TOURNAMENT
Bowling Green 35; Kent State, Western Michigan 2; Toledo 1
The Falcons have been picked to win the MAC's East Division and repeat as MAC Tournament champions in 2007, according to the league's preseason poll ... the poll is the result of voting by members of the MAC News Media Association and the league's 12 head coaches ... the Falcons received 245 points and 40 of the 41 first-place votes in the poll ... Eastern Michigan, the preseason choice in the West Division, received 214 points and garnered 21 first-place votes ... a total of 35 voters chose BGSU to win the MAC Tournament, with Kent State (two), Western Michigan (two) and Toledo (one) also receiving votes ... the complete poll, with first-place votes and points received ...
MAC NEWS MEDIA ASSOCIATION PRESEASON POLL
EAST DIVISION WEST DIVISION
1. Bowling Green (40) 245 1. Eastern Michigan (21) 214
2. Kent State (1) 193 2. Western Michigan (8) 188
3. Miami 136 3. Ball State (6) 157
4. Ohio 115 4. Northern Illinois (6) 142
5. Buffalo 112 5. Toledo 94
6. Akron 60 6. Central Michigan 66
THREE NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-MAC TEAM
Seniors Liz Honegger and Ali Mann and junior Kate Achter were named to the Preseason All-MAC Team ... the trio joined head coach Curt Miller in downtown Cleveland for the MAC Basketball Preview on Oct. 24 ... five players from each of the MAC's two divisions were named to the preseason all-conference team ... BG was the only school with more than one player selected ... Mann was named to the Preseason All-MAC Team for the third consecutive season, while Honegger earned the honor for the second-straight year and Achter was a first-time recipient.
FLYNN, HONEGGER AND MANN TO CAPTAIN FALCONS
A trio of seniors - Amber Flynn, Liz Honegger and Ali Mann - have been named tri-captains of the 2006-07 Falcons ... the three were selected in a vote of team members as well as coaching staff ... Mann is a second-year captain, having been a unanimous selection last year as a junior.
HONEGGER NEARING A(NOTHER) RECORD
Senior Liz Honegger's name is all over the BGSU lists for blocked shots ... she set the single-game record as a freshman, and has tied or broken the school season marks - both overall and in MAC games - in each of her first three seasons ... now, Honegger is just three rejections away from tying Angie Bonner's BG career record ... Honegger, of course, is on pace to obliterate the school career mark for blocks per game.
BGSU CAREER BLOCKED SHOTS Player Games Blk. BPG 1. Angie Bonner (1986-90) 122 155 1.27 2. Liz Honegger (2003-SA) 93 152 1.63 3. Megan McGuire (1985-89) 118 98 0.83 4. Joelyn Shoup (1982-86) 90 83 0.92 5. Sue Pokelsek (1979-83) 102 63 0.62
BGSU SINGLE-SEASON BLOCKED SHOTS OVERALL MAC GAMES 1. Liz Honegger (2005-06) 52 1. Liz Honegger (2005-06) 28 2. Liz Honegger (2004-05) 50 2. Liz Honegger (2004-05) 27 Liz Honegger (2003-04) 50 Liz Honegger (2003-04) 27 Angie Bonner (1989-90) 50 4. Angie Bonner (1988-89) 26
THE FALCONS ARE ...
• 93-56 in the five years since Curt Miller took the BG helm in May of 2001;
• 51-29 in MAC games in that time;
• 72-21 overall and 40-8 in the MAC over the last three seasons, since the current senior class arrived on campus in the fall of 2003;
• 9-1 in the MAC Tournament in those three seasons;
• 25-0 in the last 25 games against MAC opponents, since a loss at Eastern Michigan on Feb. 19, 2005 (the Falcons won the final three regular-season games of 2004-05, then won three-straight games in the MAC Tournament, before going 16-0 in league regular-season play and winning three more conference tourney contests in '05-06);
• 0-0 all-time in regular-season games played on November 10 (this marks the earliest start to the season in school history - BG began the 2004-05 season on Nov. 12, with a Preseason WNIT game at Ohio State);
• 14-19 in season-opening games in program history (2-3 in the Miller Era);
• 10-23 in road openers (3-2 under Miller);
• 6-13 when the regular-season opener is also the road opener (1-2 under Miller);
• 2-3 when facing Detroit in the season's first game, with the last such meeting coming in 1985 (the teams played each other in the season opener in four-straight years, from 1982-83 to 1985-86, splitting those four games).
A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THE FALCONS
The Falcons return nine letterwinners from last year's team that finished 28-3 overall and won the MAC with a perfect 16-0 league ledger ... BGSU, after winning the conference's regular-season title for the second year in a row, went on to win the Kraft MAC Tournament for the second-straight March ... head coach Curt Miller and Company return all five starters from last season ... the returning players combined for 92.9 percent of the team's scoring and 90.7% of the Falcons' rebounding total.
THE SENIORS
BGSU's senior class is one of the finest in school history ... that group includes four returning starters in Liz Honegger, Carin Horne, Ali Mann and Megan Thorburn ... additionally, Amber Flynn was one of the most improved players in the MAC last season ... a sixth senior, Julie Gompers, missed each of the last two seasons due to injury and will again be sidelined in 2006-07 ... the class has been an integral part of the Falcons' 72-21 overall mark in the last three years, and BG has advanced to the championship game of the MAC Tournament every year since they arrived.
THE JUNIORS
The Falcons' two juniors, Kate Achter and Whitney Taylor, have helped BGSU win MAC regular-season and tournament titles in each of their two seasons ... BG has an overall record of 51-11 since the two arrived on campus, and the Falcons are 48-7 when Achter is in the starting lineup.
THE SOPHOMORES
Lindsey Goldsberry and Jasmine McCall have seen their team win over 90 percent of its games, and the two players have never been a part of a loss to a MAC opponent ... McCall played in every game last year, while Goldsberry saw action in 30 of the 31 games, making two starts.
THE FRESHMEN
Tara Breske (Temperance, Mich.), Laura Bugher (Greenwood, Ind.) and Sarah Clapper (Newark, Ohio) join the Falcons for the 2006-07 season.
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
• In 2005-06, the Falcons went 9-2 in non-conference play, posting a winning record for the fourth consecutive year ... BGSU is the only Mid-American Conference school to have turned that trick.
• BG had not had as many as three consecutive winning non-league campaigns in over a decade (since 1991-92 to 1992-93) ... now, of course, BGSU has posted four-straight winning seasons in non-conference action, for the first time since five consecutive teams from 1985-86 through 1989-90 turned the trick.
• BGSU's total of nine non-conference wins last year tied the school record, and the Falcons have had at least seven non-league victories in each of the last four seasons.
• Since the start of the 2002-03 season, BG is 30-14 in regular-season, non-league games, for the most wins and highest winning percentage (68.2%) of any MAC school during that time.
• In 2004-05, the Falcons' 7-4 non-league mark enabled BG to tie the school record for most wins in a three-year period, with 21 (the Falcons also went 7-4 in non-conference action during the 2002-03 and '03-04 seasons) ... with nine non-league wins last season, the Falcons have broken that record, as BG has a total of 23 non-conference victories over the last three years ... not surprisingly, BGSU's total of 30 non-league wins since the start of the 2002-03 campaign is a school record for non-league wins in a four-year period.
• Year-by-year information on BGSU's non-league results can be found in the pdf version of these game notes.
THIS YEAR, THOUGH ...
The Falcons' 2006-07 non-conference schedule will provide a stern test ... BGSU's challenging non-league slate features six games against opponents that advanced to national post-season play last year, as well as two extended trips to exotic locales ... a few notes ...
• The Falcons will play a total of five non-league home games, the most in 16 years;
• BGSU will meet four teams - Duke, Notre Dame, Oakland and Temple - that advanced to the NCAA Championships last year, and two more - Delaware and Indiana - that participated in the WNIT;
• Two more non-league foes, Robert Morris and Texas-Arlington, won 20 games a year ago;
• All five home games are against teams that won 20 games last year and/or advanced to national postseason play;
• The Caribbean Classic in Cancun, Mexico, will mark the first games played outside the United States in program history;
• The Chicago State game (Jan. 30) will mark the first non-conference matchup in the middle of the MAC schedule since January of 1995.
SCOUTING DETROIT
Detroit, like BGSU, opens the 2006-07 season with Friday's game at Calihan Hall ... the Titans defeated Northwood, 60-51, in an exhibition contest at Calihan Tuesday (Nov. 7) ... a total of eight letterwinners, including one starter, return from last year's team that went 11-17 and finished fifth in the Horizon League with an 8-8 league ledger ... that one returning starter is the team's lone senior, forward Lauren Yurgens ... according to the school's athletics web site, however, Yurgens will miss the majority of this season with a hip injury ... UDM must replace the team's top-six scorers from a year ago ... junior guard Kandace Evans is the Titans' top returning scorer and rebounder from a year ago, having averaged 4.9 points and 3.1 rebounds for head coach Mickey Barrett in 2005-06 ... junior Joyce Massey, a transfer from Massachusetts, scored 22 points and pulled down nine rebounds in the exhibition win over Northwood ... Barrett enters his fourth season at Detroit with a record of 35-50 ... the school's athletics web site is www.DetroitTitans.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons trail Detroit, 10-8, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU is 3-6 in road games vs. the Titans ... BGSU has won the last two overall meetings, however, including a come-from-behind 78-67 win at Calihan Hall last season (Nov. 30, 2005) ... in that contest, all five BGSU starters scored in double digits ... that win broke a two-game road losing streak in the series, including a 67-62 decision there on Nov. 20, 2001, in Curt Miller's second game as the BGSU head coach ... the boxscore from this year's regular-season meeting can be found in the pdf version of this game notes package.
LAST TIME(S) OUT
The Falcons roared out to a 32-3 lead en route to a 90-47 win over Findlay last Wednesday (Nov. 1) in exhibition play at Anderson Arena ... all 12 players on BGSU's active roster saw between 11 and 23 minutes of action, with 11 of those 12 players finding the scoresheet ... senior Carin Horne had 18 points, all in the opening half of play, to pace four Falcon double-digit scorers ... BG committed just five turnovers, while forcing UF into 31 miscues ... the Falcons held a whopping 40-0 advantage in points off turnovers, and BG also had sizable margins in fast-break points (26-0) and points in the paint (44-10) ... BGSU also played a closed scrimmage at Xavier on Saturday (Nov. 4) ... after trailing by seven points after the first 15-minute 'half,' the Brown and Orange outscored XU by 13 points in the second half to win the game portion of the scrimmage by six.
FAMILIAR FACE ON THE OTHER BENCH
Nikki Sefcik, after being a part of the Falcons' NCAA Tournament teams over the last two years, now resides in the Motor City ... Sefcik worked with the BGSU women's basketball team as a graduate assistant trainer ... in August of 2006, she joined the Detroit staff as the assistant director of sports medicine ... Sefcik works directly with the Titan's women's hoops program ... she earned both her Bachelor's (2003) and Master's (2006) degrees at BGSU.
HEADING HOME
For the second time in her young career, sophomore Jasmine McCall will play in her hometown ... McCall, a Detroit native, attended Communication Media Arts (CMU) High School ... she played 10 minutes in the Falcons' win at UDM last season, scoring two points and adding an assist and two steals.
MOST. WINS. EVER.
The Falcons' 64-39 victory over Kent State in last March's Kraft MAC Tournament championship gave BGSU a total of 28 wins on the season ... the Falcons set a new school - and Mid-American Conference - single-season record for victories ... a total of four teams had posted 27 wins in conference annals ... that group included the 1986-87 and 1988-89 Falcon teams, as well as the 1983-84 Central Michigan squad and the 1996-97 Toledo club.
PERFECT IN THE MAC
The 2005-06 Falcons became just the fifth team in MAC history, and the first in eight years, to complete the league regular-season schedule without a loss ... Curt Miller's club was the third BGSU team to go 16-0 in league play ... the two prior BG teams to turn the trick were coached by Fran Voll, as his 1986-87 and 1988-89 clubs each went 16-0 in league regular-season action ... Central Michigan was the first-ever MAC team to go undefeated in conference action, with a mark of 18-0 in 1983-84 ... prior to '05-06, the most recent league team to do so was the 18-0 Kent State squad in 1997-98.
BACK TO THE BIG DANCE
In '05-06, BGSU qualified for the NCAA Championships for the second consecutive season and the eighth time in school history ... BG's 2004-05 appearance in the national tourney had been the Falcons' first since 1994 ... that year, BGSU was the #13 seed in the Kansas City Regional, and dropped a 70-60 decision to fourth-seeded and nationally-ranked Kansas State in the first round (March 19, 2005), at Bank of America Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion in Seattle, Wash. ... last year, BGSU was a #12 seed in the Cleveland Regional, and fell to fifth-seeded UCLA in a matchup of nationally-ranked teams at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind.
MILLER AGREES TO CONTRACT EXTENSION
BGSU agreed in principle with women's basketball coach Curt Miller on a two-year contract extension, it was announced in early May of 2006 ... his contract now runs through June 30, 2011 ... Miller has an overall mark of 93-56 through five seasons at BGSU, along with a Mid-American Conference ledger of 51-29 ... over the last three seasons, Miller and the Falcons are 72-21 overall and 40-8 in MAC regular-season play.
BACK TO BACK IN THE MAC
As mentioned earlier (and we'll probably mention it again), BGSU has won both the Mid-American Conference regular-season and tournament titles for the second consecutive year ... this marks only the fourth time that such an event has occurred, and the first time in over a decade ... Bowling Green teams have pulled off the feat on three of those four occasions ... the list ...
BACK-TO-BACK MAC REGULAR-SEASON AND TOURNEY TITLES
School Years Bowling Green 1986-87, 1987-88 and 1988-89 Toledo 1990-91 and 1991-92 Bowling Green 1992-93 and 1993-94 Bowling Green 2004-05 and 2005-06
BACK TO BACK IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT
BGSU's back-to-back Kraft MAC Tournament titles mark the sixth time in league history that the same school has put together a tourney title streak ... the Falcons' 2005 and 2006 crowns make BG the first team since Toledo in the mid-1990s to win the league tournament in consecutive years ... the Fran Voll-coached BGSU teams from 1987-90 hold the record with four-straight conference tourney titles ...
BACK-TO-BACK MAC TOURNAMENT TITLES
School Years Central Mich. 1983 and 1984 Bowling Green 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1990 Toledo 1991 and 1992 Bowling Green 1993 and 1994 Toledo 1995, 1996 and 1997 Bowling Green 2005 and 2006
DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS
With four starters averaging in double digits in scoring, the Falcons enjoyed great balance offensively en route to a 28-3 record last year ... but, a storyline just as important has been BGSU's defense, with the Kraft MAC Tournament providing the latest example ... in the three games in the tournament, the Brown and Orange allowed an average of just 48.7 points per game ... BGSU surrendered just 42.5 ppg in the final two games, wins over Toledo (68-46) and Kent State (64-39) ... those two teams shot a combined 29.8 percent, going 34-for-114 from the field against the BGSU defense.
MANN NAMED BGSU PLAYER OF YEAR
Ali Mann was named the BGSU Player of the Year for the 2005-06 season ... Mann, who was a co-POY honoree in 2004-05, earned the '05-06 award in a vote of team members ... Liz Honegger was named the team's Power Player of the Year, while Carin Horne was honored as the Impact Player of the Year ... both players earned those respective awards for the second consecutive season ... Amber Flynn picked up the team's Most Improved Player award, while Horne and Kate Achter were co-recipients of the Playmaker-of-the-Year award ... Jill Lause garnered the team's Falcon Award, while Whitney Taylor was named BG's Student-Athlete of the Year and Casey McDowell received the inaugural Fran & Marty Voll Award.
FALCONS IN THE NCAA
Last March, BGSU qualified for the NCAA Championships for the second-straight season, and for the eighth time in school history ... the Falcons are now 1-8 in tourney appearances, with a 1-2 mark at home and a record of 0-4 on the road ... the Kansas State game in 2005 marked the first NCAA neutral-site game in school history, and BG is now 0-2 in neutral-site national-tourney affairs ...
Year (BGSU's seed) Opponent Score
1987 (#9 Mideast) at #8 Illinois L, 64-80
1988 (#10 Mideast) at #7 St. Joseph's L, 66-68
1989 (#9 West) #8 CINCINNATI W, 69-59
at #1 Maryland L, 65-78
1990 (#12 West) at #5 S. Carolina L, 50-93
1993 (#10 East) #7 FLORIDA L, 67-69
1994 (#7 Midwest) #10 CREIGHTON L, 73-84
2005 (#13 Kansas City) vs. #4 Kansas St. ^ L, 60-70
2006 (#12 Cleveland) vs. #5 UCLA % L, 61-74
^ at Seattle, Wash.
% at West Lafayette, Ind.
IT'S AN EAST-WEST THING
In the last two seasons, the Falcons accomplished a rare double, one so rare that it has never happened in the history of MAC women's basketball, and likely will never happen again ... BG won the East Division title last season, after winning the prior year's West Division crown ... BG was moved from the West to the East prior to the 2005-06 campaign, after Marshall's departure from the conference.
FALCONS AMONG NATION'S ELITE
BGSU finished the 2005-06 season ranked third in the nation in winning percentage ... the Falcons' pct. of .903 trailed only North Carolina (33-2, .943) and Ohio State (29-3, .906) ... BGSU's total of three losses on the season tied for the second-fewest in the country, tied with OSU and behind only UNC ... the Falcons also ranked in the top-10 in the nation in fewest turnovers per game (13.2, eighth).
MILLER REPEATS AS MAC COACH OF THE YEAR
In 2006, BGSU coach Curt Miller was named the MAC Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season, becoming the fourth coach in league history to win the league honor in back-to-back seasons ... he guided the Falcons to just the fifth undefeated record in MAC history, and concluded his fifth season at BGSU with an overall head-coaching record of 93-56 ... Miller and the Falcons are 72-21 overall and 40-8 in conference play over the last three seasons.
MILLER NAMED REGION COACH OF YEAR
The honors kept rolling in for Curt Miller, as he was named the Region 4 Coach of the Year for 2005-06, the WBCA announced ... as such, he was one of eight finalists for the WBCA's national-coach-of-the-year award ... Miller was joined on the national C-O-Y ballot by C. Vivian Stringer (Rutgers), Sylvia Hatchell (North Carolina), Pat Summitt (Tennessee), Sherri Coale (Oklahoma), Jim Wiedie (Indiana State), Don Flanagan (New Mexico) and Charli Thorne (Arizona State).
FOUR FALCONS EARN ALL-MAC HONORS IN '05-06
For the first time in 12 years, the Falcons had four players named to the All-MAC Team ... the team is the result of voting by the league's 12 head coaches ... Ali Mann became the school's first All-MAC First-Team honoree in six years, while Liz Honegger and Kate Achter each were named to the second team ... Carin Horne picked up third-team accolades ... BGSU's total of four all-league honorees tied for the most in school history.
MANN NAMED 2006 TOURNAMENT MVP
Ali Mann was named the Kraft MAC Tournament's Most Valuable Player, while Liz Honegger and Kate Achter joined her on the all-tournament team ... Mann averaged a double-double, with 13.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per game in the three tourney contests ... Mann also had 3.3 assists per game and shot 55.6 percent from the field ... Achter had 10.0 points, 5.3 boards and 6.0 assists in the three games, while Honegger had a team-high 16.0 points per game, along with 5.0 boards per contest ... Honegger shot 60.0% in the league tourney.
STREAKY FALCONS
Through the 2005-06 season, BGSU compiled several lengthy streaks ... heading into '06-07, BG has won 25 games in a row (regular-season and tournament) vs. MAC opponents ... additionally, the Falcons finished the '05-06 campaign with a perfect 11-0 home record, and have won 18-straight games at Anderson Arena, one of the longest homecourt streaks in the nation ... and, the Falcons closed the regular-season schedule with wins in eight consecutive road games.
HOT STREAK: 25 IN A ROW VS. THE MAC
Dating to the 2004-05 season, the Falcons have won 25 consecutive games against MAC opposition ... BGSU suffered a loss at Eastern Michigan on Feb. 19, 2005, then won three consecutive games to close the regular season ... the Falcons went 3-0 in the 2005 Kraft MAC Tournament to win the tourney title and advance to the NCAA Championships ... the '05-06 edition of the Brown and Orange reeled off 16 consecutive victories in conference play, and captured three more wins vs. league foes in the MAC Tournament.
HOT STREAK II (AND III)
The Falcons increased several other streaks over the season's late going ... entering the NCAA Tournament, BGSU had won 19-straight games overall ... according to the NCAA statistics, that streak was tied for third in the country ... of course, 63 NCAA Tournament participants all saw their winning streaks come to an end ... the Falcons have won 18 consecutive games at Anderson Arena, heading into '06-07 ... BG's homecourt winning streak is the fourth longest in the nation ... the lists ...
NCAA DIVISION I HOMECOURT WINNING STREAKS
(entering 2006-07 season)
Rank Team Next Opponent (Date) Streak 1 LSU vs. West Virginia (Nov. 12) 31 2 Louisiana Tech vs. Western Kentucky (Nov. 11) 21 3 Hartford vs. Dartmouth (Nov. 10) 19 4 Bowling Green vs. Temple (Nov. 24) 18 5 W. Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt (Nov. 16) 16
HEAD COACH Curt Miller
BGSU head coach Curt Miller has been named the MAC Coach of the Year in each of the last two seasons, and was the 2006 Russell Athletic/WBCA Region Four Coach of the Year as well ... his career record currently stands at 93-56, in five years ... over the last three seasons, Miller and the Falcons are 72-21 ... BGSU has gone 40-8 in MAC regular-season play in that time, and 49-9 in all games vs. league foes during that span (9-1 in league tourney play).
Curt Miller - YEAR BY YEAR AT BGSU
Season Overall MAC 2001-02 9-19 (.321) 6-10 (.375) 2002-03 12-16 (.429) 5-11 (.313) 2003-04 21-10 (.677) 11-5 (.688) 2004-05 23-8 (.742) 13-3 (.813) 2005-06 28-3 (.903) 16-0 (1.000) TOTALS 93-56 (.624) 51-29 (.638) LAST 3 YRS. 72-21 (.774) 40-8 (.833)
BGSU BREAKS INTO NATIONAL RANKINGS ...
It isn't every day that a MAC school breaks into the top-25 of the national polls ... on Feb. 14, the Falcons were ranked 25th in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches Poll, marking BG's first time in a national poll in 12 years, and the first for a MAC team in over four years ... BGSU was ranked in the USA Today/ESPN poll in five consecutive weeks, the longest-ever run by a league institution ... the Falcons again had a ranking of 25th on Feb. 21, before moving up a spot to #24 the next week (Feb. 28) and two more notches to 22nd in the March 7 poll ... on March 13, prior to the NCAA Tournament, BGSU was 21st in the country in the USA Today/ESPN poll ... the Falcons received 36 votes in the season's final poll.
... IN BOTH POLLS
On March 6, 2006, the Falcons cracked the Associated Press poll as well ... BGSU picked up a ranking of 24th in that poll, and moved up to 23rd on March 13 ... the Falcons had received votes in each of the first seven AP polls of the 2005-06 season, and made a return in the Jan. 23 poll, receiving votes in the next six weeks before breaking into the top 25.
BGSU AND THE POLLS: A COMPLETE HISTORY
• BGSU's '05-06 run in the USA Today/ESPN poll marked the first time in MAC history that a team has spent five consecutive weeks in the rankings.
• The Falcons' highest-ever ranking was 19th, in the final Associated Press poll of the 1992-93 season (March 16, 1993) ... that capped a run of four-straight weeks in that poll, the longest previous such run.
• The March 13 USA Today/ESPN poll marked only the 12th week in MAC history that a league institution has been listed in the USA Today poll, and BGSU has been that team in nine of the 12 weeks.
• Similarly, a MAC school has been ranked in the Associated Press poll in a total of 12 weeks, and BGSU has been the team in eight of those 12 weeks.
34 OF THE LAST 38
Despite the 2005-06 losses to Delaware (by four points), Kentucky (in overtime) and UCLA (NCAA Championships), the Falcons have won 34 of the last 38 games, dating to Feb. 19, 2005 ... the Falcons' only other loss in that time was to Kansas State in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Championships.
THE FALCONS VS. THE MAC
The Falcons have a proud history in the MAC ... BGSU now leads the all-time series with all 11 MAC opponents ... BGSU and Northern Illinois entered the 2005-06 season tied in their series, but the Falcons' two wins over the Huskies moved BG's record to 14-12 in that series ... BGSU is the only team in the league with a winning series mark against every other MAC school.
FALCONS VS. THE MAC II
In addition to leading the all-time series with every other Mid-American Conference school, BGSU is the lone MAC team to currently hold a winning streak against each of the other 11 league institutions ... the Falcons went 13-3 in MAC regular season play in '04-05, 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 2005 championship game ... and, BG picked up wins in all 19 games vs. league foes in 2005-06.
STATE PRIDE
For the third-straight season, the Falcons had the second-most victories among the 13 NCAA Division-I schools in the state of Ohio ... BGSU's 28 wins trailed only Ohio State (29) in 2005-06 ... the prior year, the Falcons' had 23 wins, behind only the Buckeyes' 30 ... in '03-04, BG's 21-10 record trailed only Miami (22-9) ... OSU matched the Falcons' 21-10 record that winter.
HONEGGER IN A CLASS BY HERSELF
Liz Honegger is making her mark as one of the top players in school history, and as one of the most versatile players in the history of the MAC ... three years into her career, Honegger has accomplished something that no other MAC player has ever done ... Honegger is the only player in MAC history to block at least 125 shots and make at least 125 three-point field goals in her career ... she enters the 2006-07 season with totals of 151 treys and 152 rejections ... only two other players in MAC annals reached 100 in both categories (Stephanie Smiley [Eastern Michigan, 1998-2002], 174 three-pointers, 103 blocks; Tamara Bowie [Ball State, 2000-03], 100 three-pointers, 152 blocks).
SHE'S THE ONLY MEMBER OF THIS CLASS, TOO
Liz Honegger is the only player in BGSU history to make more than 40 three-point field goals and block 40 shots in the same season ... and, in 2005-06, the junior joined that 40-40 club for the second-straight year ... Honegger made 59 triples and blocked 50 shots in her sophomore season, and had 57 treys and a school-record 52 blocks last winter ... her 2005-06 totals make her the first member of the 50-50 club as well.
TWENTY AGAIN
The Falcons' win at Ball State last Feb. 11 enabled BGSU to reach 20 victories for the third consecutive season ... BGSU has posted a total of 11 seasons of at least 20 wins, the second-highest total in MAC annals ... Toledo has had 12 20-win seasons ... additionally, BGSU has posted three consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time since Jaci Clark's first three teams, the 1991-92 through 1993-94 squads, turned the trick.
X-FACTOR
One of the phrases Curt Miller used often in the 2005-06 season was 'X-factor,' as in 'Who will be the X-factor, the player that steps up and makes a difference?' ... more often than not, junior Amber Flynn was that player ... Flynn stepped up her production off the bench in the latter part of the season ... the Cincinnati native averaged 5.1 points per game off the bench last season, and had 5.4 ppg in MAC games ... in the 10-game span that culminated with the MAC Tournament championship, Flynn averaged 8.1 points per game and shot a team-best 54.1 percent (33-of-61) from the field ... that 10-game span includes the win at Akron (Feb. 15), in which she was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor en route to a career-high 14 points ... Flynn made five of her seven shot attempts at Miami, and went 5-for-9 with 13 points in the MAC Tournament semifinal win over Toledo.
'HOUSE THAT ROARS' INDEED: BG ELEVEN-AND-OH AT ANDERSON
BGSU's win over Kent State (Feb. 22) culminated a perfect 11-0 record in home games last season, and the Falcons have won 18 consecutive games at Anderson Arena, the fourth-longest current homecourt winning streak in the nation ... the 2005-06 team was just the third in school history to finish with an unbeaten home record, and last year's club is the fifth in BG annals to go unbeaten at Anderson through regular-season play ... the 1974-75 (7-0) and 1975-76 (6-0) teams completed their seasons with an unblemished home record ... both the '92-93 (13-1) and '93-94 (12-1) squads were undefeated through the regular season at Anderson, before losing an NCAA Tournament game at home ... the '93-94 team started the year 12-0 at home, but fell to Creighton in the national tourney ... BGSU's best-ever home start was in 1992-93, a 13-0 start at 'The House That Roars,' before an NCAA loss to Florida.
MILLENNIUM FALCONS: MANN & HONEGGER ...
Last Jan. 7, Ali Mann added another accomplishment to her already-impressive list ... in the MAC opener vs. Akron, Mann became just the 19th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point mark for her career, and only the sixth BGSU player to reach the millennium mark prior to her senior season ... Mann currently a career total of 1,283 points, ranking 10th on the school list ... on Jan. 28, Liz Honegger scored her 1,000th career points, becoming only the 20th player (seventh prior to her senior year) to do so ... Honegger now has 1,179 points to rank 14th on the BG list.
... SOON TO BE JOINED BY THEIR TEAMMATE(S)?
Carin Horne is rapidly moving up the BGSU scoring list as well ... Horne ended her junior season with 924 points, good for a 23rd-place standing on the school career list ... and, don't look now, but Kate Achter - after just two seasons - has 679 points during her BGSU career ... the list resides in the pdf version o' these notes.
NOTES AND NUMBERS
A few random notes and statistics ... the Falcons are 46-0 over the last two seasons when leading with 10 minutes left in the second half, and 47-0 during that time when holding the lead with five minutes remaining • BGSU was 19-0 last season and 35-0 over the last two years when outrebounding the opponent • BGSU is a perfect 14-0 in the Curt Miller Era when shooting 50.0 percent or better from the field • The Falcons are 48-7 when Kate Achter is in the starting lineup.
HOME SWEET HOME
As mentioned, the Falcons' win over Kent State moved the team's record to 11-0 at Anderson Arena last winter, and continued the team's recent success at home ... the Falcons have won 18 in a row at home, and have captured 21 of the last 22 at 'The House That Roars,' dating to late in the 2003-04 campaign.
ROAD SWEET ROAD?
BGSU was 12-1 in road games last year, with the only blemish being an overtime loss to Kentucky ... in 2004-05, BG went 6-2 in MAC road games for the second-straight winter, and last year's Falcons were a perfect 8-0 on the road in conference play ... since the start of the 2003-04 season, the Falcons are 20-4 on the road in league action, and 29-10 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.
UP NEXT
The Falcons head to the state of Indiana to take on Notre Dame on Monday (Nov. 13) ... that game will begin at 7:00 p.m. at the Joyce Center ... the Falcon Club is sponsoring a bus trip to the Notre Dame game ... the bus will depart from Lot L, just north of Doyt Perry Stadium, at 3:30 p.m. on Monday ... for more information, or to make reservations, contact the Falcon Club at 419.372.7063.
