Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons End Calendar Year With Sunday Home Game vs. Robert Morris
December 31, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 30, 2006
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) -
#21/25 BGSU vs. ROBERT MORRIS
Sun., December 31, 2006 • 1:00 p.m.
Anderson Arena (4,700) • Bowling Green, Ohio
RECORDS: BGSU 9-2 (28-3 in 2005-06) // Robert Morris 7-3 (20-9 in '05-06)
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1) - Ryan Gasser and Rich Ehrbar
TELEVISION: BCSN - Dave Horger and John Heagney
SERIES: BGSU leads, 1-0
LAST MEETING: BGSU 66, at Robert Morris 51 (Dec. 20, 2004)
BGSU Game Notes & Statistics (24 pages) in PDF Format
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THE GAME The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, after an emotional, come-from-behind win on Friday, has little time to enjoy that victory ... the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller, currently ranked 21st in the nation in the USA Today ESPN poll and 25th by the Associated Press, will end the calendar year and the pre-conference schedule with Sunday's (Dec. 31) game against Robert Morris University ... tipoff for the New Year's Eve contest is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at venerable Anderson Arena (4,700) ... the Falcons, the defending back-to-back Mid-American Conference champions, have won 43 of the last 49 overall games, including 22-straight home games at "The House That Roars."
IT'S A BUSY TIME OF YEAR The Falcons, after enjoying a few days off for the Christmas holiday, have entered a busy portion of the 2006-07 schedule as the New Year approaches ... Friday's 70-59 win over Delaware began a stretch in which BGSU plays three times in six days, and four games in a nine-day span.
BGSU TIES SCHOOL RECORD FOR NON-CONFERENCE WINS BGSU enters Sunday's game with a record of 9-2, having tied the school record for non-conference wins in a season ... this year's team is just the third to win as many as nine non-league games since the MAC went to a double round-robin schedule in 1982-83 season ... the 1991-92 team set the mark with a 9-2 non-league ledger, and last year's BG club matched that 9-2 slate in pre-MAC play ... this year, BG still has non-league tilts vs. RMU and Chicago State (Jan. 30).
HE KNOWS OF WHAT HE SPEAKS BGSU head coach Curt Miller had stated that Friday's game vs. Delaware was a big game for both teams in terms of the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) ... if a scan of the latest RPI rankings is any indication, Miller has once again been proven a prophet ... on Saturday morning (Dec. 30), a glance at some of the various lists showed that BGSU was ranked 10th by RealTimeRPI and 18th by collegerpi.com, RPIratings.com and the Sagarin ratings.
HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE BGSU will be putting a lengthy streak on the line Sunday ... the Falcons went a perfect 11-0 in home games last season, and - after downing Delaware by a 70-59 count Friday night (Dec. 29) - have won 22 consecutive games at Anderson Arena ... BG's homecourt winning streak is the second longest in the nation, trailing only LSU (38).
INJURY UPDATE Junior Whitney Taylor suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in Tuesday evening's (Dec. 26) practice ... she missed the Delaware game, and is likely out for the remainder of the season ... Taylor played in nine of BGSU's first 10 games of the season, averaging 3.1 points and 12.2 minutes per game ... a wing player, she also played several minutes at the point-guard position in the UT-Arlington game and did not commit a turnover.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
* The Falcons enter the Robert Morris contest with a 9-2 record on the season, and BGSU is 4-0 at Anderson Arena after Friday's (Dec. 29) 70-59 victory over Delaware ... five of BG's wins have come by over 30 points, including back-to-back wins over Oakland (89-58, Nov. 29) and Indiana (82-47, Dec. 6) at "The House That Roars" ... the other home win came against Temple (86-67, Nov. 24) ... prior to the Delaware game, the Falcons split a pair of contests in Cancun, Mexico ... BGSU suffered a nine-point loss against fourth-ranked Duke, 55-46, to snap a six-game winning streak (Dec. 19) ... the next day, the Falcons bounced back with a 59-48 win over Texas-Arlington ... after posting a 68-37 win at Detroit (Nov. 10) to open the season, head coach Curt Miller's squad suffered a narrow overtime loss at Notre Dame (85-81, Nov. 13) in a matchup of two NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago ... then, however, BGSU picked up victories over Albany (76-40) and Fairleigh Dickinson (87-56) in the UCF Tournament (Nov. 17-18), before opening the home slate with three-straight wins, over the Owls, the Golden Grizzlies and the Hoosiers ... the Falcons then posted a win at St. Bonaventure (71-46, Dec. 9) prior to final exams and the Cancun trip.
* Through 11 games, five BG players are averaging over nine points per game ... senior Ali Mann has 15.7 points to lead the way, while classmates Carin Horne (11.4) and Liz Honegger (11.0) are also in double digits ... junior Kate Achter (9.6) and senior Amber Flynn (9.4) also have scored over nine points per contest ... Honegger paces the Falcons in rebounding, with 5.5 per game, while Horne has 4.7 rebounds per outing ... Achter has a team-high 5.4 assists per contest ... Horne (1.9 spg), Achter (1.6 spg) rank 1-2 on the team in steals, but seven total players average over one steal per game ... Honegger leads BG with 1.1 blocked shots per outing, and also has a team-high 27 three-point field goals made (in 55 attempts) this year.
* Flynn is shooting a team-best 66.2 percent from the field and is fourth on the team in rebounding (4.0 rpg; Mann is third at 4.2 rpg) ... senior Megan Thorburn has 5.6 ppg, and has 15 three-pointers made and a 41.7% 3-point field-goal rate ... she ranks third on the team in both 3s made (behind Honegger and Horne [17]) and three-point pct. (trailing Mann [51.9%] and Honegger [49.1%]).
* In addition to Flynn, sophomore Jasmine McCall has seen action in all 11 games off the bench, while junior Whitney Taylor has played in nine ... Taylor, however, missed the Delaware game, and is likely out for the season, due to injury ... McCall has 3.4 points and 1.9 assists per outing ... sophomore Lindsey Goldsberry has played in 10 of the 11 games, and has 3.2 ppg on the year.
* Through 11 games, BGSU is averaging 74.1 points per game, while allowing just 54.4 ... the Falcons are shooting 48.2 percent from the field, and have made 87 three-point field goals - 7.91 per game - in 215 tries (40.5%) ... BG has limited the foes to just a 36.4% field-goal rate and a 27.7% effort from long range (49-for-177 from beyond the arc) ... BGSU has made nearly 30 more free throws than the opponents (150 to 121) ... the Falcons have a 68.2% success rate from the free-throw line, while the opposition is shooting 70.3% from the stripe.
* Miller and Company returned all five starters, and nine total letterwinners, from last year's team that finished 28-3 and won the MAC with a perfect 16-0 league ledger ... freshmen Tara Breske, Laura Bugher and Sarah Clapper round out the active roster ... Clapper has played in eight contests and Breske and Bugher seven apiece.
* Last year's 28-win total set school and conference records for victories in a season ... BGSU, after winning the league's regular-season title for the second year in a row, went on to win the Kraft MAC Tournament for the second-straight March ... the returning players combined for 92.9 percent of the team's scoring and 90.7% of the Falcons' rebounding total.
A GAME OF RUNS The Falcons went over 12 minutes without hitting a field goal in the Delaware game ... that included a streak of 8:59 without a point as UD went on a 14-0 run to take a 37-29 lead ... finally, senior Ali Mann hit a three-pointer with 14:10 left in the game ... after UD responded with a 3, the Falcons proceeded to score the next 15 points as part of a 28-3 run ... when the smoke had cleared, BG led by a 60-43 score with under six minutes remaining.
STRONG SHOOTING The Falcons shot 65.2 percent from the field in the second half of the win over Delaware ... the Brown and Orange went 15-for-23 in that half ... after missing the first four shot attempts after halftime, BG made 12 of the next 14, including nine consecutive shots over a six-minute span ... that 9-for-9 run included four three-point attempts.
STRONG SHOOTING II The Falcons shot 56.8 percent from the field in the Delaware game ... it marked the second consecutive game and the fifth time in 11 games this season that BG has shot 50% or better ... that tops the total for all of last season (four games) ... BG is now a perfect 19-0 in such games during the Curt Miller Era.
SHE'S THE MANN Is there anything that Ali Mann can't do on the basketball court? The senior scored 15 second-half points en route to 18 for the game in Friday's (Dec. 29) win over Delaware ... after the Falcons went more than 12 minutes without a field goal, Mann scored eight-straight BG points in a span of under two minutes to spark a major Falcon run ... in addition to her 18 points, Mann dished out a career-high six assists in the win over the Fightin' Blue Hens.
MANN A MODEL OF CONSISTENCY Senior Ali Mann had 15 second-half points in the Duke game, including the first eight of the second half to give BG a 31-25 lead and force the Blue Devils to take a timeout ... then, she had 16 more points in the Texas-Arlington game and 18 (including 15 second-half points) vs. Delaware ... Mann, who has played in 104 games as a Falcon, now has scored in double digits 81 times ... the lone Falcon to score 10 points or more in all 11 games this season, she has hit double figures in 18-straight games dating to last year.
FLYNN-TASTIC Senior Amber Flynn has become a force off the bench for the Falcons ... Flynn had a career-high 16 points in the Falcons' win over UT-Arlington (Dec. 20) ... she was 7-for-9 from the field, and also had two assists to set a career standard in that area as well ... then, she was a perfect 5-for-5 en route to 12 points vs. Delaware, her sixth double-figure scoring effort of the year ... Flynn is averaging 9.6 points and 4.0 rebounds on the year, and has an otherworldly field-goal percentage of 66.2% (43-for-65).
MANN NOW RANKED FOURTH ON BG SCORING LIST In the Falcons' two games in Cancun, senior Ali Mann moved up five spots on the school's career scoring list ... Mann headed to Mexico ranked ninth in BGSU history, but returned to the States as the fourth-ranked scorer in Falcon annals ... entering the Robert Morris game, Mann now has a total of 1,456 points, trailing only Jackie Motycka, Sara Puthoff and Francine Miller on that list.
HONEGGER REACHES 1,300 CAREER POINTS Senior Liz Honegger scored a game-high 24 points vs. Delaware, giving her an even 1,300 points for her BGSU career ... Honegger is just the 11th player to reach the 1,300-point plateau.
HORNE GIVES BGSU THREE 1,000-POINT SCORERS ... Senior Carin Horne surpassed the 1,000-point plateau for her career in the Oakland game (Nov. 29) ... Horne, needing 21 points to reach the millennium mark entering the game, had a game-high 25 ... she scored 19 in the first half, and hit a three-pointer with 16:28 left in the second half to reach the milestone ... Horne became just the 21st player to add her name to the 1,000-point list ... entering the RMU game, she ranks 19th in BG history with 1,049 career points.
... JOINING MANN AND HONEGGER ON THAT LIST Carin Horne joined an exclusive group that currently includes only 21 players in the history of Falcon women's basketball ... that group - the list of 1,000-point scorers - includes three members of the current team ... in January of 2006, Ali Mann became just the 19th player in school history to reach the millennium mark for her career, and only the sixth to do so prior to her senior year ... as mentioned, Mann now has a career total of 1,456 points to rank fourth ... three weeks after Mann reached 1,000 points, Liz Honegger became the 20th BGSU player (seventh prior to her senior year) to do so ... Honegger currently ranks 11th on the school list, with 1,300 career points ... and, don't look now, but Kate Achter - just a third of the way through her junior season - already has 782 points during her BGSU career, giving the 2006-07 Falcons no fewer than four players among the top-30 in career scoring at the University.
SHE CAN DISH IT OUT AND TAKE IT Junior Kate Achter, as mentioned, has 782 career points, tying her for 30th in school history ... the point guard has moved onto the BGSU assists list as well as the scoring chart ... she tied her career high in that category with 10 vs. Delaware, and now has a career total of 333, good for seventh in BG annals.
SHE CAN DISH IT OUT, PART DEUX Junior Kate Achter's 10 assists vs. Delaware tied a career high ... that total was the highest by a BG player since Achter dropped a dollar (10 dimes - no, we don't expect the phrase to catch on) in the season-opening win over IPFW last year (Nov. 18, 2005).
HEAD COACH Curt Miller BGSU head coach Curt Miller has turned the Falcon program around, to say the least, during his time in Northwest Ohio ... 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 102-58, in his sixth year ... over the last three-plus seasons, Miller and the Falcons are 81-23 ... 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).
SCOUTING ROBERT MORRIS Robert Morris brings a 7-3 record to Anderson Arena, and the Colonials have won four consecutive games ... that winning streak includes a trio of road victories, against Wagner, Youngstown State and Longwood, as well as a nine-point home victory over the MAC's Ohio ... all three of the road wins were by at least 30 points, with the most recent contest being Thursday's (Dec. 28) 92-62 triumph at Longwood ... RMU is averaging 76.4 points per game ... the Colonials are 3-2 in road games, with the losses having come to Marshall and nationally-ranked Pittsburgh ... individually, junior forward Chinata Nesbit leads the team in scoring and rebounding, and is averaging a double-double with 18.2 points and 10.5 rebounds per game ... senior F/C Sugeiry Monsac is very nearly averaging a double-double as well, with 16.2 points and 9.1 boards per outing ... senior guards Natasha Summerville and Psyche Butler each are scoring in double digits as well ... Summerville has 11.9 ppg and Butler 11.2 ... Butler has 5.6 rebounds per contest ... sophomore guard Kendra Williams (3.3 ppg) joins the aforementioned players in the probable starting lineup for head coach Sal Buscaglia ... Buscaglia welcomed back eight letterwinners, including four starters, from last year's team that went 20-9 overall and tied for second in the Northeast Conference with a 15-3 league ledger ... Buscaglia, in his fourth season in Moon Township, Pa., has a record of 50-46 ... after a 3-24 mark in his first season, the Colonials have gone 47-22 in the last two-plus seasons ... Buscaglia has a career record of 268-271 as a Division I collegiate head coach ... the school's athletics web site is www.rmucolonials.com.
THE SERIES The Falcons lead Robert Morris, 1-0, in the all-time series between the teams ... the lone prior meeting came just over two years ago (Dec. 20, 2004) in Western Pennsylvania, as the Falcons rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit for a 66-51 win ... the Brown and Orange used an 18-0 run to take the lead for good, and held host RMU to a 29.7 percent field-goal rate on the morning ... the game began at 10:00 a.m. and was to be played in front of a large number of elementary school-aged children ... but, frigid weather had most area schools on a two-hour delay, and RMU's chilly Sewall Center was devoid of screaming kids.
I REMEMBER THAT GAME ... I THINK I PLAYED IN IT Bowling Green has a large number of players that saw action in the team's prior meeting with Robert Morris in December of 2004 ... in fact, BGSU's current roster includes players that combined to score 58 of the Falcons' 66 points in that game two years ago ... RMU has two players on the current squad that played in the '04-05 meeting ... Sugiery Monsac and Jenna Burkett each started that game, and Monsac had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
MAC EAST LEADERS? For Robert Morris, the Falcons mark the fourth opponent from the MAC's East Division this season ... the Colonials have a 3-0 record vs. MAC schools to date, including a pair of one-point wins to open the season ... RMU downed Miami by a 90-89 final in the season- and home-opening game, then defeated Kent State, 74-73, in a tournament hosted by Marshall ... earlier in December, the Colonials posted a 79-70 home win over Ohio.
BGSU-ROBERT MORRIS-MAC TIES
* Even prior to the teams' last meeting, BGSU head coach Curt Miller and RMU's Sal Buscaglia had been on opposing benches before ... Buscaglia has MAC ties (sort of), having spent eight years as the head coach at the University at Buffalo (UB entered the MAC the year after Buscaglia left) ... Buscaglia is the winningest coach in UB history, with a record of 155-71 there ... Miller was an assistant coach at Syracuse University for four years, and SU faced the Bulls in each of his last two seasons ... UB picked up a 94-76 win on Dec. 21, 1996, and a 67-58 victory on Dec. 20, 1997.
* The latter game came less than a month after both teams (Syracuse and UB) particpated in the UCF Turkey Shootout in Orlando, Fla. ... one of the other teams in that eight-team tourney was Bowling Green ... the Falcons lost to Miller and Syracuse, 71-67, in the semifinal round (Nov. 29, 1997) before beating UB in the third-place game by a 74-54 count the following day ... the 1997-98 campaign marked the last for both Miller at SU and Buscaglia at RMU, as Miller took an assistant head-coaching position at Colorado State, while Buscaglia was named the head coach at Manhattan.
* RMU senior Crystal Champion is in her first playing season with the Colonials, after transferring from Marshall ... Champion played for MU when the Thundering Herd was still a MAC member, and started the team's game at Anderson Arena on Feb. 23, 2005, in a battle of division leaders ... she had six points and six rebounds in that contest, but the Falcons came out on top by a 73-62 count.
* Shekinah Brazzle is in her first year as an assistant coach at RMU ... Brazzle played two seasons at the University of Toledo, helping the Rockets to a MAC crown during that time.
HONEGGER SETS ANOTHER BGSU CAREER RECORD ... In November, senior Liz Honegger broke the BGSU career record for blocked shots ... now, in December, she has set the school record for three-point field goals made ... Honegger was a perfect 3-for-3 from long range in the Texas-Arlington game (Dec. 20) ... the third trey came with 45 seconds left in the opening half, and was the 174th of her career ... she broke the record of 173 set by Sara Puthoff (1994-98).
... AND SHE ISN'T FINISHED Senior Liz Honegger is about to break the BGSU career record for three-point field goals attempted ... Honegger has hoisted 489 triple tries in her career, just two shy of Kim Griech's school record of 491.
A FEW MORE NOTES FROM THE DELAWARE GAME The Falcons' win evened the all-time series with Delaware at 1-1 ... UD was one of just three teams to defeat BGSU last year, with a 48-44 win in the Hawk Classic in Philadelphia (Dec. 28, 2005) • after scoring a total of 44 points in last year's game against the Fightin' Blue Hens, the Falcons scored 43 points in the second half alone on Friday • BGSU is now 3-0 on assistant coach Kevin Eckert's birthday (Dec. 29) since Eckert joined the staff ... the Falcons had a 2003 win at Eastern Kentucky on that date, and a neutral-site victory over Iona last year ... the latter game came in the consolation contest of the Hawk Classic, one day after BG's loss to UD.
