Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Head to Akron for Midweek Matchup
February 14, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 14, 2006
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
GAME #23
BGSU at AKRON
Wed., February 15, 2006
7:00 p.m.
James A. Rhodes Arena (5,500)
Akron, Ohio
RECORDS: BGSU 20-2, 11-0 MAC // Akron 4-18, 1-10 MAC
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1) - Shawn Dunagan
SERIES: BGSU leads, 34-2
LAST MEETING: at BGSU 71, Akron 54 (Jan. 7, 2006)
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, having concluded play against the Mid-American Conference's West Division, now turns its attention to the East Division for the remainder of the regular season ... the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller conclude a two-game road swing with Wednesday's (Feb. 15) contest vs. the University of Akron ... tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at James A. Rhodes Arena (5,500).
FALCONS HEADED TO CLEVELAND
The Falcons hit the road to face Akron ... but, Wednesday's game will not be the last time BGSU heads to Northeast Ohio this season ... BGSU's win over Ball State Saturday (Feb. 11) clinched 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 now seven games ahead of third-place Ohio with five games to play.
HONEGGER NAMED MAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior Liz Honegger was named the MAC's Player of the Week for the East Division, the league office announced on Monday (Feb. 13) ... Honegger, a native of Lafayette, Ind. (Jefferson H.S.), earned the honor for the second time this season and the sixth time in her Falcon career ... she averaged a team-high 16.0 points in BGSU's wins over Northern Illinois (66-58, Feb. 8) and Ball State (72-60, Feb. 11), and also averaged 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 blocked shots and 2.5 steals, leading the Falcons in each of the latter two categories ... Honegger's honor marks the second-straight week, and the fifth time this season, that a Falcon has been named the league's player of the week ... sophomore Kate Achter earned last week's award for the East Division.
STREAKS ON THE LINE
When the Falcons meet Akron Wednesday, BGSU will be putting several lengthy streaks on the line ... BG has won 11 consecutive games overall and 17 games in a row (regular-season and tournament) vs. MAC opponents ... additionally, the Falcons have won six-straight road conference games.
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 Akron game with totals of 134 treys and 141 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).
HONEGGER ALSO THE ONLY MEMBER OF THIS CLASS
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, the junior has joined that 40-40 club for the second consecutive year ... Honegger made 59 triples and blocked 50 shots last year, and has 40 treys and 41 blocks this season to date.
DOUBLE-DIGIT WINNING STREAK
The Falcons' 11-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.
HOT START
BGSU's 20-2 record ties the school record for best start through 22 games ... only one other Falcon team has begun a season with that mark ... the 1986-87 BG squad also had 20 wins in the first 22 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 11-0 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 11 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 17 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 11 consecutive victories to begin conference play.
HOT STREAK II (AND III)
The Falcons increased several other streaks last week ... after the 66-58 win over Northern Illinois on Wednesday (Feb. 8), BGSU has now won 16 consecutive games at Anderson Arena ... the win at Ball State means that the Falcons also have won the last 11 overall games ... BG's homecourt winning streak is the third longest in the nation, while the overall win streak is seventh in the country.
MORE STREAKS
As mentioned, the Falcons' win over Ball State increased BG's overall winning streak to 11 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 13 votes in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll, released Monday (Feb. 13) ... 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 last Tuesday (Feb. 7), the Falcons earned a season-most 19 votes, just two shy of #25 Texas A&M.
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.
NOT BAD, NOT BAD AT ALL
Despite this year's losses to Delaware (by four points) and Kentucky (in overtime), the Falcons have won 26 of the last 29 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 ... Miller got his 85th win Saturday (Feb. 11) at Ball State, and his career record currently stands at 85-55, in his fifth year ... over the last two-plus seasons, however, Miller and the Falcons have a record of 64-20 ... BGSU has gone 35-8 in MAC regular-season play in that time, and 41-9 in all games vs. conference foes during that span (6-1 in league tournament play).
TWENTY AGAIN
The Falcons' win at Ball State Saturday (Feb. 11) enabled BGSU to reach 20 victories for the third consecutive season ... BGSU has now 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.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
SCOUTING AKRON
Akron enters the BGSU game with an overall record of 4-18 on the season, and the Zips are 1-10 in MAC play to date ... UA picked up a 69-66 road win over Toledo Wednesday (Feb. 8), before losing to visiting Central Michigan, 60-44, Saturday (Feb. 11) ... the Zips suffered five-straight losses by single-digits to end the month of January ... Akron is 2-7 at home this season to date ... individually, junior forward Jessie Crooks leads the team in scoring, with 13.8 points per game, and ranks second on the Zips with 4.3 rebounds per contest ... freshman guard Niki McCoy has 11.0 points, a team-high 5.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game, while senior guard Courtney Stewart averages 10.5 points per outing ... Stewart leads the Zips with 43 three-point field goals made this season, and also paces the team with 2.9 steals ... senior forward Krissy Marco (2.9 ppg) and junior center Mandy Holzer join the aforementioned trio in the probable starting lineup for head coach Kelly Kennedy ... Crooks and Stewart each have started all 22 games this winter to date, while Marco has made 21 starts and McCoy 20 ... the Zips returned six letterwinners, including three starters, from last year's team that went 3-15 overall and 3-13 in MAC play ... Kennedy has a record of 16-90 in her fourth year as a collegiate head coach, all in the Rubber City ... the school's athletics web site is www.GoZips.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Akron, 34-2, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU has won the last five meetings ... BG is 15-2 in road games vs. the Zips, and the Falcons have won in each of the last two trips to Rhodes Arena ... in the teams' first 2005-06 meeting, the host Falcons captured a 71-54 victory at Anderson Arena last month (Jan. 7), in the MAC opener for both teams ... in last year's lone matchup, the Falcons pulled out a 61-52 win in the Rubber City (Feb. 12, 2005), despite going 0-for-13 from three-point range ... overall, the Falcons won the first 26 series meetings, before UA's initial win, in the 1999 MAC Tournament ... the Zips' other win was an 88-63 decision at the JAR, on Feb. 10, 2001 ... the teams have met only once in each of the last four seasons, but Wednesday's meeting is the second of 2005-06.
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 ... last 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 11 league foes this year to date.
LAST TIME OUT
Trailing by four points at halftime, the Falcons used a pair of second-half runs to surge past Ball State, 72-60, Saturday afternoon (Feb. 11) ... the win moved the Falcons to a perfect 11-0 in the MAC, and clinched a first-round bye for the Kraft MAC Tournament ... junior Ali Mann had a game-high 18 points in the win, adding a BG-best nine rebounds ... sophomore Kate Achter scored 15 points, and had five boards and a team-leading five assists ... she did not commit a turnover in 35 minutes of play ... junior Liz Honegger, a native of Lafayette, Ind., had 14 points, and game-best totals of five blocked shots and four steals ... Honegger's 5-for-8 day from the field included a perfect 3-for-3 effort from three-point land ... BGSU, trailing by a 36-32 count at halftime, scored the first seven points out of the lockerroom to take the lead for good ... then, the Falcons used a 15-0 run to take a 60-44 advantage with 7:35 left in the game ... BGSU shot 58.6 percent in the second half, while holding Ball State to just a 29.4% rate after halftime ... the Falcons made 7-of-12 three-pointers (58.3%) on the afternoon ... Erica Cotton led the Cardinals with 16 points, while Raechelle Hampton had 14 off the bench ... BGSU trailed by as many as 13 points, late in the first half ... after falling behind by a 30-17 margin, however, the Falcons outscored the Cards, 43-14, over the game's next 20 minutes.
CLOSE GAMES IN THE WEST
The Falcons' first 14 wins of the season included 13 by double digits ... each of BGSU's next five games, however, were victories by eight points or less, with all coming vs. MAC West Division foes ... the Brown and Orange downed Central Michigan, Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Toledo and Northern Illinois by an average of 6.8 points ... Saturday's (Feb. 11) 12-point win at Ball State was BGSU's lone double-digit decision against a West Division team.
HONEGGER AT HOME IN HOOSIER STATE
Junior Liz Honegger has experienced a great deal of success in the Falcons' last four trips to her home state ... Honegger, a native of Lafayette, Ind., has posted the three highest-scoring totals of her career in BG visits to the state of Indiana ... last season, she scored a career-high 27 points at IPFW (Nov. 19, 2004), then matched that total in a win 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 she had scored at least 25 points in a game ... Saturday (Feb. 11) at BSU, Honegger had 'only' 14 points, but also had five blocks, four steals and was 3-for-3 from three-point land.
FALCONS NINE-AND-OH AT ANDERSON
BGSU's win over Northern Illinois last 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 Akron rematch, Mann has a career total of 1,160 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 1,063 points to rank 18th on the BG list ... she moved past former Falcon Megan McGuire in the win at Ball State ... 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 833 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 20 of the 22 games, including a span of 13-straight double-figure games at one point ... she had 24 double-figure games last year, and has 63 in her 84 career games ... Honegger has 14 double-digit games this winter to date, after 25 such games last season ... she has hit twin figures in 53 of her 84 career contests ... junior Carin Horne now has 38 career double-digit games, while sophomore Kate Achter has hit double digits in 32 of her 53 games as a Falcon.
HONEGGER, MANN HAVE DOUBLE-DOUBLE VISION
Junior Liz Honegger recorded a double-double at Toledo (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 six additional games this season.
FALCON 500 (PLUS 19): BG IS THE MAC'S WINNINGEST PROGRAM
BGSU's' win over IPFW in the season opener (Nov. 18) was the 500th victory in the history of the program ... the Falcons enter the Akron game with an all-time record of 519-340 (.604) ... among current league schools, BG became just the second to reach the 500-victory plateau ... 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 508, while Kent State recently went over the 500-win mark ... the 2005-06 season marks the Falcons' 33rd as a varsity program.
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 41 blocks through 22 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 has 20 blocks in MAC games this year to date ... she 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 9-1 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 17-4 on the road in conference play, and 26-10 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 (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.
FALCONS IN THE MAC
Heading into the week's 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 five team categories - scoring margin, blocked shots, turnover margin, assist/turnover ratio and three-point field goals made ... the Falcons are second in scoring offense, free-throw percentage, three-point FG pct. defense and assists, and BG ranks third in scoring defense, FG pct. defense and steals ... in MAC games only, BGSU ranks first in scoring offense, 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-plus seasons, since Lause began her collegiate career and McDowell transferred from Indiana State, the Falcons averaged 19 wins per year ... over the last two-plus seasons, since the start of Mann's freshman year, BG has gone 64-20 and twice advanced to the MAC Tournament's championship game.
