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Bowling Green State University Athletics
BG Battles Ball State Saturday in Muncie
February 10, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 10, 2006
BGSU Notes & Statistics in PDF Format
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
GAME #22
BGSU at BALL STATE
Sat., February 11, 2006
3:00 p.m.
John E. Worthen Arena (11,500)
Muncie, Ind.
RECORDS: BGSU 19-2, 10-0 MAC // Ball State 13-8, 6-4 MAC
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1) - Brian Scullin and Alex Mikos
SERIES: BGSU leads, 35-12
LAST MEETING: BGSU 69, at Ball State 49 (Feb. 8, 2005)
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, having posted five consecutive single-digit wins over Mid-American Conference West Division foes, concludes cross-divisional play this weekend ... the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller begin a two-game road swing with Saturday's (Feb. 11) contest vs. Ball State University ... tipoff is set for 3:00 p.m. at John E. Worthen Arena (11,500).
CLOSING IN ON CLEVELAND
The Falcons' 66-58 win over Northern Illinois Wednesday (Feb. 8), coupled with Ohio's loss to Eastern Michigan, gives the Falcons a magic number of one to clinch a first-round bye and a trip to Cleveland for the quarterfinal round of the Kraft MAC Tournament ... the top-two teams in each division earn byes, and BGSU is six games ahead of third-place OU with six games to play ... one more BG win, or one Ohio loss, will give the Falcons an off-day on March 4, the date of the opening round of the league tourney.
MANN EARNS ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT HONORS
Junior Ali Mann has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Team, it was announced Thursday (Feb. 9) ... Mann was chosen to the third team ... the District IV team is made up of student-athletes from Division I schools in the states of Alabama, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee ... to be nominated, student-athletes must be at least a sophomore, a starter or important reserve, and must carry a cumulative grade point average or higher ... Mann, a native of Chelsea, Mich., maintains a 3.39 cumulative GPA as an accounting major.
ACHTER NAMED MAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sophomore Kate Achter was named the MAC's Player of the Week for the East Division, the league office announced on Monday (Feb. 6) ... Achter, a native of Oregon, Ohio (Clay H.S.), earned the honor for the first time in her Falcon career ... she posted team-best averages of 17.0 points and 4.5 assists per game as BG picked up a pair of wins, over Eastern Michigan (76-69; Feb. 1) and Toledo (71-65; Feb. 5).
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 ... less than three years into her career, Honegger has accomplished something that no one else in Mid-American Conference annals 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 Ball State game with totals of 131 treys and 136 rejections ... only two other players in MAC annals reached 100 in both categories (Stephanie Smiley [Eastern Michigan, 1998-2002], 174 3s, 103 blocks; Tamara Bowie [Ball State, 2000-03], 100 3s, 152 blocks).
STREAKS ON THE LINE
When the Falcons meet Ball State Saturday, BGSU will be putting several lengthy streaks on the line ... BG has won 10 consecutive games overall and 16 games in a row (regular-season and tournament) vs. MAC opponents ... additionally, the Falcons have won five-straight road conference games.
DOUBLE-DIGIT WINNING STREAK
The Falcons' 10-game winning streak is the team's longest in nearly 12 years, since a 20-game streak in the 1993-94 season ... the current run by the 2005-06 team is the fifth double-digit winning streak in school history ... each of the first four double-figure streaks in BG annals took those Falcon teams all the way to the NCAA Tournament.
BGSU'S LONGEST WINNING STREAKS
Year -- Streak -- Notes 1986-87 -- 21 -- Falcons, at 6-2, did not lose again until NCAA Tourney 1988-89 -- 20 -- Final win came vs. Cincinnati in NCAA first round 1993-94 -- 20 -- Falcons lost MAC opener, then won out until NCAAs 1992-93 -- 17 -- BG, 8-4, won final 14 MAC games, 3 league tourney games 2005-06 -- 10 -- BGSU faces Ball State Saturday
HOT START
BGSU's 19-2 record ties the school record for best start through 21 games ... only one other Falcon team has begun a season with that mark ... the 1986-87 BG squad also had 19 wins in the first 21 games ... that Falcon team, as mentioned above, won a school-record 21 consecutive games to enter the NCAA Tournament with a 27-2 record.
HOT START II
BGSU's 10-0 start in conference play is the Falcons' best in 17 years ... this year's team is the third in school history to begin MAC action with 10 victories ... the other two teams, the 1986-87 and 1988-89 squads, ran the table, going a perfect 16-0 in MAC action.
HOT STREAK
Dating to last season, the Falcons have won 16 consecutive games against MAC opposition ... BGSU suffered a loss at Eastern Michigan last Feb. 19, then won three consecutive games to close the regular season ... the Falcons went 3-0 in the Kraft MAC Tournament to win the tourney title and advance to the NCAA Championships ... this year, the Brown and Orange have reeled off 10 consecutive victories to begin conference play.
HOT STREAK II (AND III)
The Falcons increased several other streaks on Wednesday (Feb. 8) ... after the 66-58 win over Northern Illinois, BGSU has now won 16 consecutive games at Anderson Arena ... as mentioned, the Falcons also have won the last 10 overall games ... after several teams above the Brown and Orange lost on Thursday night (Feb. 9), BG's homecourt winning streak is the third longest in the nation, while the overall win streak is tied for fifth in the country ... the lists are in the pdf at the top of this page.
MORE STREAKS
As mentioned, the Falcons' win over Northern Illinois increased BG's overall winning streak to 10 games ... the Falcons have now had two winning streaks of at least eight games this year ... BG opened the year with a school-record 8-0 start.
BACK IN THE POLLS
The Falcons are once again receiving votes in the national polls ... BGSU received a season-high seven votes in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll, released Monday (Feb. 6) ... the Falcons got votes in each of the first seven polls of the 2005-06 season, and made a return in the Jan. 23 poll ... in the latest USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches' poll, released Tuesday (Feb. 7), the Falcons earned a season-most 19 votes, just two shy of #25 Texas A&M.
NOT BAD, NOT BAD AT ALL
Despite this year's losses to Delaware (by four points) and Kentucky (in overtime), the Falcons have won 25 of the last 28 games, dating to Feb. 19, 2005 ... the only other loss in that time was to Kansas State in the NCAA Championships in March.
HEAD COACH Curt Miller
BGSU head coach Curt Miller picked up the 75th victory of his career vs. Akron on Jan. 7, and garnered win number 80 at Central Michigan on Jan. 25 ... his career record currently stands at 84-55, in his fifth year ... over the last two-plus seasons, however, Miller and the Falcons have a record of 63-20 ... BGSU has gone 34-8 in MAC regular-season play in that time, and 40-9 in all games vs. conference foes during that span (6-1 in league tournament play).
ONE FROM TWENTY
The Falcons need one win to reach 20 victories for the third consecutive season ... BGSU has posted a total of 10 seasons of at least 20 wins, the second-highest total in MAC annals ... Toledo has had 12 20-win seasons.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
SCOUTING BALL STATE
Ball State enters the BGSU game with an overall record of 13-8 on the season, and the Cardinals are currently 6-4 in MAC play to date ... BSU saw a three-game winning streak come to an end Wednesday (Feb. 8), with a 68-55 loss at Kent State ... the Cards have a record of 7-2 at home this year, including a 3-1 mark in MAC games at Worthen Arena ... the lone home loss in conference action came by single digits to West Division-leading Eastern Michigan ... individually, sophomore guard Julie DeMuth leads the team in scoring, with 12.4 points per game ... DeMuth also leads the Cardinals in rebounding (9.4 ppg), steals (2.1 spg) and blocked shots (0.5 bpg) ... junior guards Tina Bolte and Kelsey Corbin are averaging 10.8 and 9.0 points, respectively ... Bolte leads the Cards with 44 three-pointers made, while Corbin has a BSU-best 4.0 assists per outing ... senior F/C Raechelle Hampton has 7.4 points and 4.6 boards per game, ranking second in the latter category ... three other players are averaging at least 5.3 points ... Bolte, Corbin, DeMuth and Hampton each have started 20 games this year to date, while junior guard Erica Cotton (6.9 ppg) has made 15 starts ... junior center Becca Bajorek (6.1 ppg in seven games) joined Bolte, Corbin, Cotton and DeMuth in the starting five at KSU for head coach Tracy Roller ... the Cardinals returned nine letterwinners, including four starters, from last year's team that went 16-13 overall and finished 11-5 in MAC play ... Roller has a record of 87-55 in her fifth year as a collegiate head coach, all in Muncie ... the school's athletics web site is www.ballstatesports.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Ball State, 35-12, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU is 14-9 in road games vs. the Cardinals ... in last year's lone meeting, the Falcons captured a 69-49 victory in Muncie (Feb. 8, 2005) ... BGSU has won two consecutive series meetings, both at Worthen Arena, after the Cardinals had had a four-game win streak over the Brown and Orange ... prior to those four wins, the Falcons had won 17 of 18 meetings against the Cards ... last year's BG win snapped a string of three consecutive meetings decided by five points or fewer.
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 ... Wednesday's (Feb. 8) win over Northern Illinois gave the Brown and Orange a 13-12 lead in that series ... BG is the only team in the league with a winning series 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 10 league foes this year to date.
LAST TIME OUT
The Falcons held off a spirited Northern Illinois club for a 66-58 win over the Huskies Wednesday night (Feb. 8) at Anderson Arena ... junior Liz Honegger had a game-high 18 points in the Falcons' 10th consecutive win, while classmate Ali Mann and sophomore Kate Achter added 12 apiece ... Mary Basic had 15 points to pace three double-digit scorers for the Huskies ... neither team ever led by more than six points in the game's first 36-plus minutes ... out of the game's final media timeout, however, Honegger took an Achter pass and drilled a line-drive three-pointer from the right elbow, giving the Falcons a 62-53 lead with 3:17 on the clock ... the Huskies responded, though, as Basic hit a trey at the 2:52 mark to cut the lead back to six points ... the teams traded misses, before Kristin Wiener drew Honegger's fifth foul with 1:36 left, and hit two free throws to get the visitors within four, 62-58 ... BG turned the ball over, but Basic was called for an offensive foul with 45.3 seconds left ... Achter was fouled and went to the line with 30.2 seconds remaining, splitting a pair of free throws for a five-point lead ... after another NIU turnover, Achter was back at the line with 18.1 seconds left, again splitting her charity tosses ... NIU struggled to get a good shot, and a three-point try was off the mark and grabbed by Achter in the waning seconds ... she was fouled again, with nine-tenths of a second remaining, and hit both free throws to close the scoring ... Carin Horne had nine points for the Falcons, while Amber Flynn scored eight points in just 14 minutes off the bench.
CLOSE GAMES IN THE WEST
The Falcons' first 14 wins of the season included 13 by double digits ... each of BGSU's last five games, however, have been victories by eight points or less, with all coming vs. MAC West Division foes ... the Brown and Orange have downed Central Michigan (by five points), Western Michigan (eight), Eastern Michigan (seven), Toledo (six) and Northern Illinois (eight).
GOIN' BACK TO INDIANA: HONEGGER AT HOME IN HOOSIER STATE
Junior Liz Honegger has experienced a great deal of success in the Falcons' last three trips to her home state ... Honegger, a native of Lafayette, Ind., has posted the three highest-scoring totals of her career in the team's last three visits to the state of Indiana ... she scored a career-high 27 points in BGSU's win at IPFW last season (Nov. 19, 2004), then matched that total in the Falcons' victory at Ball State (Feb. 8, 2005) ... her 25-point game vs. IUPUI this year (Nov. 25) marked the third time in her career - all in Indiana - that Honegger had scored at least 25 points in a game.
FALCONS NINE-AND-OH AT ANDERSON
BGSU's win over Northern Illinois Wednesday (Feb. 8) moved the Falcons to 9-0 in home games this season, and the Falcons have won 16 consecutive games at Anderson Arena, the third-longest current homecourt winning streak in the nation ... the 9-0 start is the best for BG at home in 12 years, since the 1993-94 team started the year with an 12-0 home mark ... 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 '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.
MILLENNIUM FALCONS: MANN IS ONE ...
On Jan. 7, junior 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 ... the Chelsea, Mich., native became only the sixth BGSU player to reach the millennium mark in her junior season ... heading into the Ball State game, Mann has a career total of 1,142 points.
... AND SO IS HONEGGER
On Jan. 28, junior Liz Honegger became only the 20th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point mark for her career ... Honegger now has 1,049 points to rank 18th on the BG list ... she moved past former Falcon (and current MAC official) Cary McGehee in the win over Toledo ... her classmate, Ali Mann, is 14th on the career list ... only seven players (Mann, Honegger, Jackie Motycka, Sara Puthoff, Francine Miller, Lori Albers and Chris Tuttle) have reached the 1,000-point plateau prior to their senior seasons ... both Mann (fourth) and Honegger (ninth) rank among BGSU's top 10 in career points per game ... and, junior Carin Horne is rapidly moving up the list as well ... Horne currently has 826 points, good for a 28th-place standing on the BGSU career scoring list.
THEY'RE FAST, TOO
Junior Ali Mann reached the 1,000-point plateau on Jan. 7, and classmate Liz Honegger joined her three weeks later ... Mann was the fourth-fastest Falcon to amass 1,000 points, and Honegger tied for sixth on that list.
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 19 of the 21 games, including a span of 13-straight double-figure games at one point ... she had 24 double-figure games last year, and has 62 in her 83 career games ... Honegger has 13 double-digit games this winter to date, after 25 such games last season ... she has hit twin figures in 52 of her 83 career contests ... junior Carin Horne now has 38 career double-digit games, while sophomore Kate Achter has hit double digits in 31 of her 52 games as a Falcon.
HONEGGER, MANN HAVE DOUBLE-DOUBLE VISION
Junior Liz Honegger recorded a double-double at Toledo Sunday (Feb. 5), her fourth of the season and the 16th of her BGSU career ... classmate Ali Mann has 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 ... she also recorded a double-double at Buffalo on Jan. 10 ... 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 36 blocks through 21 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.
HOME SWEET HOME
As mentioned, the Falcons' win over Northern Illinois moved the team's record to 9-0 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 16 in a row at home, and have captured 19 of the last 20 at 'The House That Roars,' dating to late in the 2003-04 campaign ... BG has outscored the opponents by an average of 16.8 points in the eight 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 8-1 in road games this year, with the only blemish being 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 16-4 on the road in conference play, and 25-10 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.
WINNING THE BATTLE OF I-75
The Falcons' win over Toledo Sunday (Feb. 5) was BGSU's sixth-straight victory over the arch-rival Rockets ... that current series winning streak is the Falcons' longest in the BG-UT series since a nine-game BG win streak from 1986-89 ... BGSU has won three consective road games over the Rockets, the most since a five-game BG road winning streak during that same '86-89 span.
THE FALCON 500 (PLUS 18)
The Falcons' win over IPFW in the season opener (Nov. 18) was the 500th victory in the history of the program ... BGSU enters the Ball State game with an all-time record of 518-340 (.604) ... among current league schools, the Falcons became just the second to reach the 500-victory plateau (according to the MAC media guide) ... Northern Illinois picked up win number 508 on the same night BG got victory number 500, while Toledo earned the 500th win in that program's history two days after BG ... the Falcons have since passed Northern to assume first place on the all-time victories list ... NIU currently has 516 wins and UT 507, while Kent State recently went over the 500-win mark ... the 2005-06 season marks the Falcons' 33rd as a varsity program.
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% ... 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 21 games, the BG defense has allowed foes to shoot just 38.7% from the floor.
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 ... the Falcons spent three seasons in the West, winning the divisional title in 2004-05 ... in early February, 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.
FALCONS IN THE MAC
Heading into weekend action, the Falcons are ranked among the top-three MAC teams in no fewer than 12 statistical categories ... according to the latest MAC stats, BGSU leads the league in a whopping six team categories - scoring margin, blocked shots, assists, turnover margin, assist/turnover ratio and three-point field goals made ... the Falcons are second in scoring offense, field-goal percentage and three-point FG pct. defense, and BG ranks third in scoring defense, free-throw pct. and steals ... in MAC games only, BGSU ranks first in scoring offense, assists, TO margin, asst./TO ratio and three-point FG made.
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 63-20 and twice advanced to the MAC Tournament's championship game.
