Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Face Ohio Saturday
February 24, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 24, 2006
BGSU Notes & Statistics in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
GAME #26
#25 BGSU at OHIO
Sat., February 25, 2006
1:00 p.m.
Convocation Center (13,080)
Athens, Ohio
RECORDS: BGSU 23-2, 14-0 MAC // Ohio 7-18, 4-10 MAC
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1) - Rob Trautman and Ryan Gasser
SERIES: BGSU leads, 39-18
LAST MEETING: at BGSU 77, Ohio 63 (Jan. 18, 2006)
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, having clinched the Mid-American Conference's East Division title, hits the road for the regular season's final two games ... the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller travel to Athens to face Ohio University in Saturday (Feb. 25) action, with tipoff set for 1:00 p.m. at the Convocation Center (13,080) ... the Brown and Orange will close regular-season play with a Tuesday (Feb. 28) game at Miami, before heading to Cleveland for the Kraft MAC Tournament ... the Falcons have earned a first-round bye for the tourney, and will play in the quarterfinal round on March 8 at Quicken Loans Arena (formerly Gund Arena) in downtown Cleveland ... BGSU, as the East's top seed, will play in the 5:30 p.m. game against an opponent to be determined.
AN EAST-WEST THING
The Falcons' 62-50 win over Kent State Wednesday (Feb. 22) gave BGSU the MAC's East Division title outright ... BG has 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 ... the Falcons have won the East Division title this season, after winning last year's West Division crown ... BGSU was moved from the West to the East prior to the 2005-06 campaign, after Marshall's departure from the conference.
OHIO STANDS ALONE
In 25 games this season to date, the Falcons have seen only one opponent shoot as well as 50.0 percent in a game ... and, BGSU trailed at the half only once during the entire, 11-game home schedule this year ... Ohio was the opponent in each case ... the Bobcats held a three-point halftime lead and shot exactly 50% for the game in the teams' Jan. 18 meeting in BG.
SENIOR NIGHT A SUCCESS, AGAIN
Wednesday's game marked 'Senior Night' for the Falcon women's basketball program, with the team's two seniors, Jill Lause and Casey McDowell, were recognized in ceremonies prior to the game ... BGSU's win over Kent State gives the Falcons a perfect 5-0 record in 'Senior Day/Night' games at Anderson Arena in the Curt Miller Era.
TURNAROUND BEGAN WITH THESE SENIORS
Senior Jill Lause was the first student-athlete to commit to the Bowling Green women's basketball program after Curt Miller became head coach ... in Lause's freshman season of 2002-03, Casey McDowell was part of the program, but sat out the year after transferring from Indiana State ... the Falcons posted a 9-19 record in the year before Lause and McDowell arrived, but BGSU has averaged 19.8 wins per year since ... starting with the 2003-04 season - the first year McDowell suited up for the Brown and Orange - BG has posted a record of 67-20, including a mark of 43-9 against MAC opponents.
FALCONS HEADED TO CLEVELAND
The Falcons' win over Ball State (Feb. 11) clinched a first-round bye and a trip to Cleveland for the quarterfinal round of the Kraft MAC Tournament ... Wednesday's (Feb. 22) win over KSU clinched the East Division's #1 seed for the tourney ... the top-two teams in each division earn byes for the tournament, which begins with first-round matches on Saturday, March 4 ... the quarterfinals will be held at Quicken Loans Arena on Wednesday, March 8, with the Falcons playing in the 5:30 p.m. game.
STREAKS ON THE LINE
When the Falcons meet Ohio Saturday, BGSU will be putting several lengthy streaks on the line ... BG has won 14 consecutive games overall and 20 games in a row (regular-season and tournament) vs. MAC opponents ... additionally, the Falcons have won each of the last six road games ... BG finished the home portion of the schedule at 11-0, and the Falcons now have won 18-straight games at Anderson Arena, one of the longest homecourt winning streaks in the nation.
NOT BAD, NOT BAD AT ALL
Despite this year's losses to Delaware (by four points) and Kentucky (in overtime), the Falcons have won 29 of the last 32 games, dating to Feb. 19, 2005 ... the only other loss in that time was to Kansas State in the NCAA Championships in March.
DOUBLE-DIGIT WINNING STREAK
The Falcons' 14-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 23-2 record ties the school record for best start through 25 games ... only one other Falcon team has begun a season with that mark ... the 1986-87 BG squad also had 23 wins in the first 25 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 14-0 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 14 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 20 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 14 consecutive victories to begin conference play.
HOT STREAK II (AND III)
The Falcons have increased several other streaks over the last few games ... after the 62-50 win over Kent State on Wednesday (Feb. 22), BGSU has now won 14 overall games and 18 consecutive games at Anderson Arena ... BG's homecourt winning streak is the third longest in the nation, while the overall win streak is tied for third in the country.
MORE STREAKS
As mentioned, the Falcons' win over Kent State increased BG's overall winning streak to 14 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.
HEAD COACH Curt Miller
BGSU head coach Curt Miller picked up the 75th victory of his career vs. Akron on Jan. 7, garnered win number 80 at Central Michigan on Jan. 25 and recorded win number 85 on Feb. 11 at Ball State ... Miller's career record currently stands at 88-55, in his fifth year ... over the last two-plus seasons, Miller and the Falcons are 67-20 ... BGSU has gone 38-8 in MAC regular-season play in that time, and 44-9 in all games vs. league foes during that span (6-1 in league tourney play).
BGSU BREAKS INTO NATIONAL RANKINGS
On Feb. 14, for the first time in nearly 12 years, BGSU broke into a national poll ... the Falcons were ranked 25th in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches Poll, and BG is 25th again in this week's poll (released Feb. 21) ... BGSU's appearance in the poll is the Falcons' first since March 15, 1994 ... the Falcons appeared in the USA Today poll in three consecutive weeks in March of 1993, peaking at #20, and the lone poll appearance in March of 1994 saw the Falcons ranked 24th ... this week's ranking marks only the ninth week in MAC history that a league institution has been listed in the USA Today poll, and BG has been that team in six of those nine weeks.
FALCONS KNOCKING ON THE DOOR IN THE OTHER POLL
The Falcons, as mentioned, broke into the national polls for the first time in 12 years, with a 25th-place ranking in the Feb. 14 USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches poll ... the Falcons also had a season-high total in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll, released Monday (Feb. 20) ... in that poll, BGSU moved up three spots to rank 26th (first team listed among 'also receiving votes') this week ... the Falcons' 69 votes was up from the team's 13-point total in last week's poll, and was more than in the entire season to that time ... the Falcons got votes in each of the first seven AP polls of the 2005-06 season, and made a return in the Jan. 23 poll.
HERE'S YOUR SIGN
Earning a national ranking is one sign that a team is having a successful season to date ... here's another ... this season, through 25 games, the Falcons have not allowed a single opponent to score 70 points ... meanwhile, BGSU is averaging nearly 70 points per game (69.6 ppg).
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 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 Ohio game with totals of 140 treys and 144 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, the junior has joined that 40-40 club for the second-straight year ... Honegger made 59 triples and blocked 50 shots last year, and has 46 treys and 44 blocks this winter to date.
IN LIKE FLYNN
Junior Amber Flynn has stepped up her production off the bench over the last several weeks ... the Cincinnati native is averaging 4.6 points per game off the bench this season, and 4.9 ppg in MAC games ... in the last five contests, Flynn has averaged 8.2 points per game and shot a team-best 63.0 percent from the field ... that five-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.
STELLAR SECOND-HALF SHOOTING
The Falcons shot 40.0 percent from the field in the first half of the win at Akron on Feb. 15 ... that is BG's lone game in the last six in which the Falcons have shot better than 33.3% in the first half ... the second half, however, has been a different story ... over the last six games, BGSU has shot 56.0% in the second half, making 89-of-159 shots in that span.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
SCOUTING OHIO
Ohio enters the BGSU game with an overall record of 7-18 on the season, and the Bobcats are 4-10 in MAC play to date ... the 'Cats are looking to snap a seven-game losing streak, with the most recent game being an 84-77 setback to Buffalo on Tuesday (Feb. 21) ... four of the last five losses have been by single digits, including a six-point setback to Eastern Michigan and a seven-point, overtime loss on the road vs. Kent State ... the Bobcats are 3-8 at home, including a 2-5 mark in MAC games at 'The Convo' ... individually, sophomore guard Simone Redd leads the team in scoring, with 14.7 points per game, while freshman guard Rachel Frederick has 14.5 points and a team-high 7.7 rebounds per contest ... Redd missed six MAC games due to injury, but has played in the last two games ... senior forward Ciara Iglehart has 9.3 points and sophomore forward Lauren Revesz 7.5 ... sophomore guard Quintana Ward (6.4 ppg, 4.1 assists per game) and junior forward Domenica Silva (7.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg) joined Frederick, Iglehart and Revesz in the starting lineup vs. UB for head coach Lynn Bria ... a total of four letterwinners, including two starters, returned from last year's team that went 13-16 overall and 8-8 in MAC play ... Bria has a record of 75-121 in her seventh season in Athens ... she is 151-211 in her 12th season as a collegiate head coach ... the school's athletics web site is www.ohiobobcats.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Ohio, 39-18, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU holds a slim 13-12 lead in road games vs. the Bobcats ... the Falcons won the last meeting at 'The Convo,' and BG has captured the last four overall series meetings ... the Brown and Orange won this season's first matchup, a 77-63 decision on Jan. 18 ... in that game, the Bobcats held a three-point lead at halftime, the only time BG trailed at the break at Anderson this season ... BG won a 76-55 decision in the teams' last game in Athens (Feb. 11, 2004) ... 13 of the last 18 series meetings, but none of the last three, have been decided by 10 points or fewer ... the boxscore from the most recent meeting can be found in the pdf version of these notes.
LAST TIME OUT
Juniors Ali Mann and Liz Honegger each posted double-doubles to lead the Falcons to a 62-50 win over visiting Kent State Wednesday night (Feb. 22) ... the win gave BGSU the outright MAC East Division championship ... Mann had 18 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, while Honegger scored 13 points and grabbed 10 boards ... junior Carin Horne joined the duo in double digits in the scoring column, with 11 points, to help offset the game-high 20-point effort of KSU's Lindsay Shearer ... the victory also enabled the Falcons to complete the home portion of the regular-season schedule without a loss ... BGSU is 11-0 at Anderson Arena this season ... BG took a slim 23-21 lead into the half, but used a 7-0 run to assume a 36-27 lead with 13:53 remaining ... the Golden Flashes got as close as four points on two occasions, but Horne's three-point field goal with 9:29 remaining gave the Brown and Orange a 41-34 lead, and sophomore Kate Achter followed with a layup less than a minute later ... KSU got no closer than seven points thereafter ... BGSU shot 39.6 percent from the field, while holding the Flashes to a 33.3% field-goal rate for the game ... KSU had just one more turnover than BG, 16-15, but the hosts enjoyed a 22-10 advantage in points off turnovers.
A FEW MORE NOTES FROM THE KENT STATE GAME
'THE HOUSE THAT ROARS'
BGSU's win over Kent State enabled the Falcons to complete the home portion of the schedule with a record of 11-0 ... the 2005-06 campaign marks just the fifth season in school history that the Falcons have posted an unbeaten record at Anderson Arena ... BGSU was a perfect 7-0 in 1974-75 home games, and the Brown and Orange went 6-0 at Anderson the following year ... both the 1992-93 and 1993-94 BG teams were unbeaten at 'The House That Roars' during the regular season ... but, both the '92-3 and '93-4 Falcon teams hosted and lost NCAA Tournament first-round games.
NOTES AND NUMBERS
A few random statistics as the Falcons prepare for the Ohio game ...
MAC TOURNAMENT FORMAT
The MAC Women's Basketball Tournament has taken on a new format this year ... there will be no overall number-one seed ... rather, the teams are seeded by division ... BGSU's win over Kent State clinched the top seed in the East for the Falcons, and BG will play in the 5:30 p.m. game in the quarterfinal round on March 8 ... the league tournament format is as follows ...
First Round - Sat., March 4 - Campus Sites West Division #5 at East Division #4 East Division #6 at West Division #3 East Division #5 at West Division #4 West Division #6 at East Division #3 Quarterfinals - Wed., March 8 - Quicken Loans Arena; Cleveland, Ohio West #5/East #4 winner vs. Eastern Michigan (West #1), 1:00 p.m. East #6/West #3 winner vs. Kent State (East #2), 3:00 p.m. East #5/West #4 winner vs. Bowling Green (East #1), 5:30 p.m. West #6/East #3 winner vs. West Division #2, 7:30 p.m.
Semifinals - Fri., March 10 - Quicken Loans Arena West #5/East #4/West #1 winner vs. East #6/West #3/East #2 winner, Noon East #5/West #4/East #1 winner vs. West #6/East #3/West #2 winner, 2:30 p.m.
Championship - Sat., March 11 - Quicken Loans Arena Semifinal winners, 1:00 p.m.
FALCONS ELEVEN-AND-OH AT ANDERSON
BGSU's win over Kent State Saturday (Feb. 22) moved the Falcons to 11-0 in home games this season, and the Falcons have won 18 consecutive games at Anderson Arena, the third-longest current homecourt winning streak in the nation ... as mentioned earlier, the 2005-06 team is likely going to be the third in school history to finish with an unbeaten home record (barring any national postseason home games), and this 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.
MANN EARNS ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT HONORS
Junior Ali Mann has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Team, it was announced on 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.
MANN, HONEGGER (AND OTHERS) 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 21 of the 25 games ... she had 24 double-figure games last year, and has 64 in her 87 career games ... Honegger has 17 double-digit games this winter to date, after 25 such games last season ... she has hit twin figures in 56 of her 87 career contests ... junior Carin Horne now has 41 career double-digit games, while sophomore Kate Achter has hit double digits in 33 of her 55 games as a Falcon.
HONEGGER, MANN HAVE DOUBLE-DOUBLE VISION
Juniors Liz Honegger and Ali Mann each recorded double-doubles in Wednesday's (Feb. 22) win over Kent State ... Mann had 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Honegger scored 13 points and grabbed 10 boards ... Honegger now has five double-doubles this season and 17 in her BGSU career ... Mann has three double-doubles on the year and 15 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 double-doubles at Buffalo (14p-10r) and Toledo (19p-10r) ... 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 year ... with 11 points and 11 rebounds, soph Kate Achter had her first-ever double-double in the home game vs. UB (Feb. 18).
FALCON 500 (PLUS 22): 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 Ohio game with an all-time record of 522-340 (.606) ... 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 518 wins and UT 508, while Kent State went over the 500-win mark this year, and currently sits at 507 wins ... 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 44 blocks through 25 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 23 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.
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 have averaged over 19 wins per year ... over the last two-plus seasons, since the start of Mann's freshman year, BG has gone 67-20 and twice advanced to the MAC Tournament's championship game.
FALCONS IN THE MAC
Heading into the Ohio game, the Falcons are ranked among the top-three MAC teams in no fewer than 13 statistical categories ... according to the latest MAC stats, BGSU leads the league in a whopping seven team categories - scoring offense, scoring margin, blocked shots, assists, turnover margin, assist/turnover ratio and three-point field goals made ... the Falcons are second in scoring defense, free-throw percentage, three-point field-goal pct. defense and steals, and BG ranks third in FG pct. and FG pct. defense ... in MAC games only, BGSU ranks first in scoring offense, assists, TO margin, asst./TO ratio and three-point FG made.
