Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Head to St. Bonaventure
December 08, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 8, 2006
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Game Notes, Stats & Boxscores (24 pages) in PDF Format
#22 BGSU at ST. BONAVENTURE
Sat., December 9, 2006 • 4:45 p.m.
Reilly Center (5,780) • St. Bonaventure, N.Y.
RECORDS: BGSU 6-1 (28-3 in 2005-06) // SBU 4-4 (9-18 in '05-06)
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1) - Alex Mikos and Mike Castellano
SERIES: Tied, 1-1
LAST MEETING: at St. Bonaventure 87, BGSU 85 (Dec. 5, 2000)
THE GAME
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, coming off a 35-point home win over a Big Ten Conference opponent, takes to the road for the final game before exams ... the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller travel to New York for a Saturday (Dec. 9) contest vs. St. Bonaventure University ... tipoff is scheduled for 4:45 p.m. at the Reilly Center (5,780) ... the game is the first half of a doubleheader, as the SBU men host Wright State University at approximately 7:00 p.m. ... BGSU, the two-time defending Mid-American Conference regular-season and tournament champions, has won 21-straight home games after Wednesday's (Dec. 6) 82-47 win over Indiana, and the Falcons have won 40 of the last 45 overall contests.
SHOOTING FOR 100
Wednesday's win over IU gave Falcon head coach Curt Miller his 99th career win ... Miller is now 99-57 in his sixth year, and is looking to become only the third BGSU women's basketball coach to reach the century mark ... Fran Voll had a 144-60 mark in seven years at BGSU (1984-91), while Jaci Clark had a 135-65 mark in her seven years at the Falcon helm (1991-98).
HONEGGER NEARS BGSU CAREER 3-POINT RECORD
Senior Liz Honegger already holds the BGSU career record for blocked shots ... now, she is nearing the school record for three-point field goals made ... Honegger has moved into a tie for second place on that BG career list with 171 treys made, and is just two triples shy of tying Sara Puthoff (1994-98) for the record ... Honegger is second on the list of 3-point field goals attempted.
FORMER FALCON
St. Bonaventure Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Dr. Ron Zwierlein is a BGSU graduate ... Zwierlein worked at his alma mater for 24 years, including five years as the Falcons' A.D. ... he earned a bachelor of science degree from BGSU in 1968, and also earned his master's degree at the University ... Zwierlein is scheduled to retire from SBU at the end of this month ... his son, Chad, currently works in the BGSU Athletics Department.
HONEGGER HAS HABIT OF HITTING HUGE HOOPS VS. HOOSIERS
Senior Liz Honegger, a native of Lafayette, Ind., has been instrumental in the Falcons' wins over Indiana in each of the last two seasons ... in both games, she has displayed the ability to score a great many points in a short time ... in last season's 68-50 win over the Hoosiers in Bloomington (Nov. 26, 2005), Honegger was held scoreless in the first half ... but, in the second half, she scored 12 consecutive BGSU points - on four three-pointers - in a four-minute span to give the Brown and Orange a 15-point lead ... that win came in IU's Hampton Inn Classic, and Honegger was named the tourney's MVP ... Wednesday, Honegger had 17 points in the first half, and scored the Falcons' last nine points - again, all on shots from beyond the arc - to give the Falcons a 43-19 halftime lead.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the St. Bonaventure game with a 6-1 record on the season ... five of BGSU's wins have come by over 30 points, including Wednesday's (Dec. 6) 82-47 victory over Indiana at Anderson Arena ... 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 ... since then, however, BGSU has picked up five consecutive wins, beginning with victories over Albany (76-40) and Fairleigh Dickinson (87-56) in the UCF Tournament (Nov. 17-18) ... the Falcons opened the home slate with an 86-67 win over Temple (Nov. 24), then topped Oakland by an 89-58 count five days later (Nov. 29) before the win over IU.
• Through seven games, no fewer than six BG players are averaging over 7.9 points per game, with four scoring in double digits ... senior Ali Mann has 15.0 points to lead the way, while seniors Carin Horne (12.6) and Liz Honegger (12.3) and junior Kate Achter (11.1) all are averaging between 11.1 and 12.6 ppg to date ... Horne paces the Falcons in rebounding, with 6.0 per game, while Achter has team-high averages of 5.4 assists and 1.7 steals per contest ... Honegger leads BG with 1.3 blocked shots per outing, and also has a team-high 20 three-point field goals made (in 32 attempts) this year.
• Senior Amber Flynn is averaging 9.0 points per game off the bench, and is second in rebounding with 5.3 rpg ... senior Megan Thorburn has 7.9 ppg, and has 14 three-pointers made and a 51.9 percent 3-point field-goal rate to rank second on the team in both categories.
• In addition to Flynn, junior Whitney Taylor and sophomore Jasmine McCall each have seen action in all seven games off the bench ... McCall has 4.1 ppg and is second on the Falcons in assists (2.3 apg), while Taylor has 3.7 ppg.
• Through seven games, BGSU is averaging a whopping 81.3 points per game, while allowing just 55.7 ... the Falcons are shooting 49.7 percent from the field, and have made 61 three-point field goals - 8.71 per game - in 141 tries (43.3%) ... BG has limited the foes to just a 35.3% field-goal rate and a 27.4% effort from long range (32-for-117 from beyond the arc) ... BGSU has made nearly as many free throws (116) as the opponents have attempted (118) ... the Falcons and the opposition have virtually identical 71.2% success rates from the stripe.
• Miller and Company returned all five starters, and nine total letterwinners, from last year's team that finished 28-3 overall and won the MAC with a perfect 16-0 league ledger ... sophomore Lindsey Goldsberry and freshmen Tara Breske, Laura Bugher and Sarah Clapper round out the active roster ... Goldsberry has played in six games, while the three frosh each have seen action in five.
• 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.
HORNE REACHES 1,000-POINT MARK ...
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 St. Bonaventure game, she now ranks 20th in school history with 1,012 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 ... last Jan. 7, 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 ... Mann currently has a career total of 1,388 points, placing her ninth on the school list ... last Jan. 28, Liz Honegger became the 20th BGSU player (seventh prior to her senior year) to reach 1,000 points ... Honegger passed Michelle Shade in the Oakland game to move into 11th place, and now has 1,265 points ... and, don't look now, but Kate Achter - after just over two seasons - already has 757 points during her BGSU career.
CENTURY MARK FOR FALCON SENIORS
Wednesday's IU game marked the 100th game since the Falcons' current senior class arrived on campus ... through three years plus seven games, that group - tri-captains Amber Flynn, Liz Honegger and Ali Mann along with Julie Gompers, Carin Horne and Megan Thorburn - has helped the Brown and Orange to a record of 78-22 ... BGSU also has won a pair of MAC regular-season titles and made three-straight appearances in the MAC Tournament's championship game, winning the last two.
LAST TIME OUT
The Falcons outscored visiting Indiana by a 26-7 margin over the last nine minutes of the first half, building a large halftime lead on the way to a 35-point victory, 82-47, Wednesday night (Dec. 6) ... the win increases the Falcons' home winning streak, the second-longest in the country, to 21 games ... senior Liz Honegger, one of two Indiana natives on the BGSU roster, scored 17 points, all in the first half ... Honegger went 4-for-5 from three-point land during the opening half, including three treys in the final two-and-a-half minutes (one shown at right) ... she scored BG's final nine points to send the Falcons to the lockerroom with a 43-19 lead ... senior Ali Mann had 14 points, while junior Kate Achter scored 10 points to round out BGSU's trio of double-digit scorers ... for the visitors, Nikki Smith and Shanice Billington each had nine points to lead the way ... all nine of Billington's points came in the game's final seven minutes ... the game was tied twice in the early going, but BG went on a 12-2 run, holding the visitors without a field goal for a span of 5:12, to take a 17-7 lead ... after a 5-0 IU run, the Falcons scored the next 12 points to take a 29-12 lead, and BG was never headed ... BG allowed the Hoosiers to make only five baskets in the first half en route to that 43-19 advantage at the intermission ... the Falcons had another 12-0 run in the second half, and led by as many as 40 points in the late stages of the game, before IU scored the last five points to provide the final margin ... 11 different Falcons found the scoresheet in the game ... the Falcons shot 41.7% on the night, while holding the Hoosiers to just a 16-for-54 performance (29.6%) from the field ... BG had a 45-36 rebounding advantage, and made 23 free throws to the visitors' nine.
SCOUTING ST. BONAVENTURE
St. Bonaventure enters the BGSU game with a 4-4 record on the season ... the Bonnies have won two of the last three games, including a 56-43 win at Cleveland State in the team's last game, on Monday (Dec. 4) ... SBU has a 2-1 home record to date, with wins over Siena and Colgate and a 13-point loss to undefeated Pittsburgh at the Reilly Center ... individually, senior forward Audrey Latendresse leads the team in scoring, with 16.3 points per game, and she also has 6.9 rebounds per contest ... Latendresse is the only player scoring in double digits, but four other players are averaging between 7.8 and 9.4 points per game ... freshman forward Dana Mitchell has 9.4 ppg and 5.7 rpg off the bench, while sophomore forward Ashley Edwards has 9.3 ppg and a team-high 7.5 rpg ... Latendresse, Ashley Edwards, sophomore guard Katelyn Murray (8.3 ppg) and junior guard Priscilla Edwards (7.8 ppg, a team-high 3.0 apg) each have started all eight games to date ... freshman G/F Andrea Doneth (6.1 ppg) joins those four in the probable starting lineup for head coach Jim Crowley ... a year ago, the Bonnies went 9-18 overall and 3-13 in Atlantic 10 Conference play ... Crowley, in his seventh year as head coach of the Bonnies, has a record of 57-118 ... the school's athletics web site is www.gobonnies.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons and St. Bonaventure are tied, 1-1, in the all-time series between the teams, having met in back-to-back years at the turn of the century (the most recent one) ... the home team won each game of the home-and-home series ... just over seven years ago (Nov. 22, 1999), the Falcons downed the Bonnies by an 88-69 count at Anderson Arena ... the following year in the Reilly Center (Dec. 5, 2000), the Bonnies got a layup at the buzzer for an 87-85 win over the Falcons ... more information on that game can be found in the next note.
BGSU-SBU: THE LAST MEETING
Gellaine Clarke's layup as the buzzer sounded gave host St. Bonaventure an 87-85 victory in a wild game at the Reilly Center (Dec. 5, 2000) ... BGSU lost despite shooting 60.6 percent in the first half and 55.4% for the game ... four players scored in double digits for the Falcons, led by Pam Brown's 22 ... BGSU rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit with a 27-5 run to begin the second half ... that gave the Falcons a 71-60 lead before the Bonnies battled back ... the hosts led, 85-82, but BG's Dana Western tied the game with a three-pointer with 1:19 left ... the score remained the same until the final seconds ... Western took a three-point shot that bounced off the rim ... Kim Griech tracked down the rebound, but her follow-up shot was blocked and grabbed by an SBU defender, and a long outlet pass found Clarke way ahead of the pack and streaking downcourt ... she laid the ball up and in as the horn sounded ... Melissa Fazio led the Bonnies with 22 points, while Clarke had 21 ... Courtney Mattingly, now an assistant coach for SBU, had 12 points in the contest.
BGSU-SBU WACKY FACT
In the aforementioned game at St. Bonaventure, played over six years ago (Dec. 5, 2000), the Falcons lost despite a field-goal percentage of 55.4% ... that marks the last time BGSU has shot over 50.0%, but hasn't won the game ... the Falcons have won the last 21 such games, and BG has a 17-0 record when shooting 50 percent or higher in the Curt Miller Era.
HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE
BGSU went a perfect 11-0 in home games last season ... after downing Indiana on Wednesday (Dec. 6), the Falcons have won 21 consecutive games at Anderson Arena ... BGSU's homecourt winning streak is the second longest in the nation, trailing only LSU's 36-game streak.
BGSU BACK IN THE RANKINGS
The Falcons have moved up a couple spots in the national rankings ... BGSU is tied for 22nd in the nation according to the latest (Tuesday, Dec. 5) USA Today/ESPN Division I Women's Basketball Coaches poll ... the Falcons had broken into the poll the week before (Nov. 28), with a national ranking of 24th ... BGSU had received votes in the first few USA Today/ESPN polls, and in every Associated Press poll this season to date.
LEADERS OF THE MAC
The Falcons are at the top of numerous team categories in the latest Mid-American Conference statistics (as of Thursday morning, Dec. 7) ... BGSU leads all league schools in scoring offense (81.3 ppg), scoring margin (+25.6), field-goal percentage (49.7), three-point field goals per game (8.71), three-point FG pct. (43.3), blocked shots (3.86), assists (17.57), turnover margin (+5.71) and assist/turnover ratio (1.23) ... individually, senior Ali Mann leads the league in field-goal pct. (60.3), while classmates Liz Honegger (62.5) and Megan Thorburn (51.9) rank 1-2 in three-point FG pct. ... Honegger also leads the league in three-pointers made per game (2.19).
HEAD COACH Curt Miller
BGSU head coach Curt Miller has turned the Falcon program around, to say the least ... 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 99-57, in his sixth year ... over the last three-plus seasons, Miller and the Falcons are 78-22 ... 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).
THE FALCONS ARE ...
• 99-57 in the five years (plus seven games) since Curt Miller took the BG helm in May of 2001;
• 51-29 in MAC games in that time;
• 78-22 overall and 40-8 in the MAC over the last three-plus seasons, since the current senior class arrived on campus in the fall of 2003;
• 40-5 in the last 45 overall games since February of 2005 (with the losses coming to Kansas State [2005 NCAA Tournament], Delaware, Kentucky, UCLA [2006 NCAA Tournament] and Notre Dame);
• 5-0 in games after a loss during that time;
• 9-1 in the MAC Tournament in the last 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);
• 9-1 in the last 10 road games (with the overtime loss at Notre Dame snapping a nine-game road winning streak since an OT setback at Kentucky last Jan. 2);
• 41-0 when outrebounding the opponent since the start of the 2004-05 season;
• 34-2 when allowing the opponent to score fewer than 70 points since the start of the 2005-06 season (BGSU has only allowed two teams - UCLA and Notre Dame - to top the 70-point mark in the last 38 games);
• 4-2 in games played on Dec. 9 (including a loss in the only road game on that date, at Wrght State way back in 1979); and
• 0-0 in games played on Dec. 9 during the Curt Miller Era (last game on that date was a neutral-site win over Fresno State in Tucson, Ariz., in 2000).
A VETERAN STARTING LINEUP
BGSU's starting lineup features four seniors - Liz Honegger, Carin Horne, Ali Mann and Megan Thorburn - as well as a junior, Kate Achter ... entering the St. Bonaventure game, that group has combined to make no fewer than 384 starts in their respective Falcon careers to date.
MORE ON THE START CHART
As mentioned, the five BGSU starters have combined to make a total of 384 starts in the Brown and Orange ... two members of that group, seniors Liz Honegger and Ali Mann, have moved onto the individual career list for games started ... Honegger has made 99 career starts, while Mann has started 98 games ... Honegger has moved into sixth place on that list, while Mann is seventh ... Jackie Motycka (1985-89) holds the school record with 115 starts, a record that both Honegger and Mann have a chance to break before the year is out.
A MODEL OF CONSISTENCY
Senior Ali Mann scored 23 points in the Temple game, tying for team honors, and had 11 points in the Oakland contest and 14 vs. IU ... Mann, who has played in 100 games as a Falcon, now has scored in double digits 77 times ... Mann, the lone Falcon to score 10 points or more in all seven games this season, has hit double figures in 14-straight games dating to last year.
SHOOTING THE LIGHTS OUT
BGSU shot over 50 percent from the field in each of three-straight games, including a 51.6% rate vs. Oakland ... the Falcons shot 61.2% against Temple after a 62.3% success rate in the Fairleigh Dickinson game ... BG has shot over 50 percent three times this year after doing so in four games during all of last season ... vs. FDU, BG made 11 of the team's first 12 shots from the field, scoring 30 points in the game's first 7:05 ... BGSU shot 75.0 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes vs. the Knights, a school record for field-goal percentage in a half ... in fact, the Falcons shot a combined 66.3% (59-for-89) before halftime in the last three contests.
FLYNN-TASTIC
Senior Amber Flynn has become a force off the bench for the Falcons ... Flynn scored 12 points off the bench in each of three-straight games ... Flynn entered that three-game stretch with a career total of five double-digit scoring games ... she scored eight points in both the Oakland and Indiana games, going a combined 7-of-9 from the field ... she added a career-high three blocked shots vs. OU ... on the year, Flynn is averaging 9.0 points and 5.3 rebounds per game ... she has 10.4 ppg over the last five contests.
FLYNN-TASTIC FROM BEYOND THE ARC, TOO
Senior Amber Flynn entered the Temple game with a total of one three-point field goal made, but hit a pair of triples in the first half vs. the Owls ... her lone prior three-ball had come in last year's win over Eastern Michigan (Feb. 1, 2006) ... vs. Indiana, Flynn was successful on her only shot attempt from beyond the arc.
RUNNING WITH THE FALCONS
The Falcons had a 10-0 first-half run, an 11-0 run spanning the end of the opening half and the start of the second, and a 13-0 run midway through the second stanza vs. Oakland ... then, the Brown and Orange had a 12-0 run in each half in the Indiana game ... BGSU has had at least one run of 10 points or more during each of the season's first seven games ... BGSU reeled off 16-straight points at Detroit, a run that was larger than any the Falcons had during all of the 2005-06 season ... and, BG had first-half runs of 10-0 and 11-0 at Notre Dame, along with 10-0 first-half streaks vs. both Albany and FDU and an 11-0 run against Temple ... the Falcons have had 12 double-digit scoring runs in the seven contests this year, after having a total of 15 during all of last season.
TREY BIEN!
The Falcons have shot the ball well from behind the three-point line this season to date, to say the least ... through seven games, BGSU has made 8.71 treys per game and shot 43.3 percent (61-of-141) from long range ... in the last four contests, BG is 39-for-84 (46.4%) from beyond the arc ... BGSU made 7-of-8 three-point tries to end the first half vs. Indiana.
THOR, GODDESS OF THREE-POINTERS
Twice in the span of less than a week, senior Megan Thorburn had an uber-successful night from beyond the three-point line ... at Notre Dame (Nov. 13), 'Thor' made her first three long-range attempts en route to a career night beyond the arc ... she was 5-of-6 from three-point land, scoring a total of 17 points vs. the Irish ... just five days later, Thorburn went 5-for-7 from long distance vs. FDU, tying her newly-set career best for successful treys ... Thorburn has made 14 triples through seven games this season, good for second on the team ... she is 14-for-27 from long range, for a 51.9% rate.
HONEGGER HITS FROM LONG RANGE AS WELL
There is only one person on the team with a better three-point field-goal percentage than Megan Thorburn ... that would be senior Liz Honegger ... Honegger, poised to become the Falcons' career leader in three-pointers made, has made 62.5% of her attempts this season to date, having gone 20-for-32 from beyond the arc ... Honegger has made 171 treys in her career, just two shy of the school record.
MORE ON THE INDIANA GAME
Senior Carin Horne had four assists in the win over IU, tying her career best for the second consecutive game • sophomore Jasmine McCall scored nine points off the bench, a season high and just one point off of her career best • Indiana had entered the game with a 7-1 record, with road wins over Kentucky and Notre Dame and a neutral-site victory over Wake Forest ... the Hoosiers had been averaging 74.0 points per game and shooting 46.6 percent from the field, but the Falcons limited IU to 47 points and a 29.6% field-goal rate.
HONEGGER SETS A(NOTHER) RECORD
It was only a matter of time before senior Liz Honegger became the Falcons' all-time record-holder in blocked shots .... and, for the Lafayette, Ind., native, the record came in her home state ... Honegger blocked four Notre Dame shot attempts (Nov. 13), moving her past Angie Bonner (155) into first place on the all-time list ... Honegger now has 161 career blocks, and owns all of the BGSU blocking records ... 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 ... not surprisingly, Honegger is on pace to obliterate the school career mark for blocks per game.
FALCONS SIGN EIGHT
BGSU coach Curt Miller announced the signing of eight student-athletes to National Letters of Intent during the early signing period ... Chelsea Albert (Brighton, Mich./Brighton), Bianca Hooten (North Canton, Ohio/Canton McKinley), Liana (Lee) Jennings (Stow, Ohio/Stow), Crystal Murdaugh (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Scioto), Tracy Pontius (Morton, Ill./Morton), Lauren Prochaska (Plain City, Ohio/Jonathan Alder), Jen Uhl (Wadsworth, Ohio/Wadsworth) and Kelly Zuercher (Orrville, Ohio/Apple Creek Waynedale) will join the Falcon program for the 2007-08 academic year.
UP NEXT
The Falcons take a break for exams, then will head to Cancun, Mexico, for the Caribbean Classic ... BGSU will meet defending national runner-up Duke (Dec. 19) along with Texas-Arlington (Dec. 20) on that trip.
