Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Face Northern Illinois in MAC Tournament Quarterfinal
March 07, 2006 | Women's Basketball
March 7, 2006
POSTSEASON GUIDE INFORMATION
BGSU Notes & Stats (pp. 1-34) in PDF Format
Player Bios (pp. 35-59) in PDF Format
2005-06 Boxscores (pp. 60-73) in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
GAME #28 - #24/24 BGSU vs. NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Wed., March 8, 2006
5:30 p.m.
Quicken Loans Arena (20,500)
Cleveland, Ohio
RECORDS: BGSU 25-2, 16-0 MAC // Northern Illinois 12-16, 7-9 MAC
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1) - Rob Trautman and Chris Schieman
SERIES: BGSU leads, 13-12
LAST MEETING: at BGSU 66, Northern Illinois 58 (Feb. 8, 2006)
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, after a second consecutive Mid-American Conference regular-season championship, and the league's first undefeated record in eight years, heads to Cleveland for a quarterfinal-round game in the Kraft MAC Tournament ... the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller, the top seed in the East Division and the defending MAC Tournament champions, will face Northern Illinois, the West Division's fourth-seeded team, in Wednesday (March 8) action ... NIU was a 73-65 winner over Miami in the tournament's first round on Saturday (March 4) ... tipoff for the Falcons and Huskies is set for 5:30 p.m. at Quicken Loans Arena (20,500) ... the winner will advance to Friday's (March 10) semifinal round, playing in the day's second game (2:30 p.m.).
FALCONS JOIN EXCLUSIVE CLUB
The 2005-06 Falcons are just the fifth team in MAC history, and the first in eight years, to complete the league regular-season schedule without a loss ... Curt Miller's club became the third BGSU team to go 16-0 in league play ... the two prior BG teams to turn the trick were coached by Fran Voll, as his 1986-87 and 1988-89 clubs each went 16-0 in league regular-season action ... Central Michigan was the first-ever MAC team to go undefeated in conference action, with a mark of 18-0 in 1983-84 ... the most recent league team to do so was the 18-0 Kent State squad in 1997-98 ... the list of the MAC's best regular-season records can be found in the pdf version of these notes.
CHAMPIONS AGAIN
For the second consecutive year and the seventh time in school history, Bowling Green has captured a MAC regular-season championship ... the Falcons won the East Division and posted the league's best overall regular-season mark, with a perfect 16-0 record against conference competition ... BGSU won league regular-season titles in three consecutive seasons from 1986-87 to 1988-89, and captured back-to-back crowns in the 1992-93 and '93-94 campaigns ... last year, the Falcons had the MAC's best overall record at 13-3, and won the West Division.
IT'S AN EAST-WEST THING
The Falcons have 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.
FOUR FALCONS EARN ALL-MAC HONORS
For the first time in 12 years, the Falcons had four players named to the All-MAC Team ... the team, the result of voting by the league's 12 head coaches, was announced Monday (March 6) ... junior Ali Mann is the school's first All-MAC First-Team honoree in six years, while classmate Liz Honegger and sophomore Kate Achter each were named to the second team ... junior Carin Horne picked up third-team accolades ... BGSU's total of four all-league honorees ties for the most in school history.
THAT'S A LOT OF WINS
The Falcons' 71-59 victory at Miami to close the regular season (Feb. 28) gives BGSU a total of 25 wins this season to date ... BG is two wins shy of matching the school - and the Mid-American Conference - single-season record for victories ... a total of four teams have posted 27 wins in conference annals ... that group included the 1986-87 and 1988-89 Falcon teams, as well as the 1983-84 Central Michigan squad and the 1996-97 Toledo club.
STREAKS ON THE LINE
When the Falcons meet Northern Illinois Wednesday, BGSU will be putting several lengthy streaks on the line ... BG has won 16 consecutive games overall and 22 games in a row (regular-season and tournament) vs. MAC opponents ... BGSU finished the regular season with a perfect 11-0 home record, and the Falcons have won 18-straight games at Anderson Arena, one of the longest homecourt winning streaks in the nation ... BG closed the regular-season schedule with wins in eight consecutive road games.
DOUBLE-DIGIT WINNING STREAK
The Falcons' 16-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 25-2 record ties the school record for best start through 27 games ... only one other Falcon team has begun a season with that mark ... the 1986-87 BG squad also had 25 wins in the first 27 games ... that Falcon team, as mentioned earlier, won a school-record 21 consecutive games to enter the NCAA Tournament with a 27-2 record.
HOT START II
BGSU's 16-0 record in conference play is the Falcons' first in 17 years ... this year's team is the third in school history to run the table ... the other two teams, the 1986-87 and 1988-89 squads, also went a perfect 16-0 in MAC action.
HOT STREAK
Dating to last season, the Falcons have won 22 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 reeled off 16 consecutive victories in conference play.
HOT STREAK II (AND III)
The Falcons have increased several other streaks over the last few games ... after the 71-59 win at Miami (Feb. 28), BGSU has now won 16-straight games overall ... the Feb. 22 win over Kent State means the Falcons have won 18 consecutive games at Anderson Arena ... according to the latest NCAA statistics, BG's homecourt winning streak is the third longest in the nation, while the overall win streak is fourth in the country ... the lists follow ...
NCAA DIVISION I HOMECOURT WINNING STREAKS (through games of March 5, 2006) Rank Team Next Opponent (Date) Streak 1 LSU vs. TBA 31 2 Louisiana Tech vs. Hawai'i (3/4/06) 20 3 Bowling Green vs. TBA 18 4 Hartford vs. TBA 16NCAA DIVISION I OVERALL WINNING STREAKS (through games of March 5, 2006) Rank Team Next Opponent (Date) Streak 1 Chattanooga NCAA Tournament 26 2 Coppin State conf. tourn. (3/8/06) 18 Ohio State vs. Purdue (3/6/06) 18 4 Bowling Green vs. NIU (3/8/06) 16 5 Oklahoma conf. tourn. (3/8/06) 14
MORE STREAKS
As mentioned, the Falcons' win over Miami increased BG's overall winning streak to 16 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 90-55, in his fifth year ... over the last two-plus seasons, Miller and the Falcons are 69-20 ... BGSU has gone 40-8 in MAC regular-season play in that time, and 46-9 in all games vs. league foes during that span (6-1 in league tourney play).
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 27 games, the Falcons have not allowed a single opponent to score 70 points ... meanwhile, BGSU is averaging nearly 70 points per game (69.5 ppg).
NOT BAD, NOT BAD AT ALL
Despite this year's losses to Delaware (by four points) and Kentucky (in overtime), the Falcons have won 31 of the last 34 games, dating to Feb. 19, 2005 ... the Falcons' only other loss in that time was to Kansas State in the NCAA Championships in March.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
SCOUTING NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Northern Illinois enters the BGSU game with an overall record of 12-16 on the season, and the Huskies finished MAC play with a 7-9 mark ... NIU earned the fourth seed in the West Division, and opened MAC Tournament action with a 73-65 home win over Miami Saturday night (March 4) ... the Huskies gave the Falcons one of their closest calls at home this year, battling to the wire before dropping a 66-58 decision at Anderson Arena on Feb. 8 ... individually, junior guard Stephanie Raymond leads the team in scoring, with 16.1 points per game ... Raymond, an All-MAC Second-Team selection, is also leading the Huskies in assists (4.5 apg), steals (2.0 spg) and three-point field goals made (51), and she has 4.0 rebounds per outing ... junior center Kristin Wiener has 12.8 points and team-best averages of 6.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocked shots per game, while another junior, guard Mary Basic, has 7.6 points and 4.6 boards per contest ... Raymond (27), Basic (25) and Wiener (15) combined for all but six of NIU's points in the win over Miami ... freshman guard Jessie Wilcox (4.5 ppg) and senior center Jennifer Uptmor (4.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg) join the aforementioned three players in the probable starting lineup for head coach Carol Owens ... a total of eight letterwinners, including four starters, returned from last year's team that went 7-21 overall and 4-12 in MAC play ... Owens, a standout player at NIU, is in her first season as head coach of her alma mater ... the school's athletics web site is www.niuhuskies.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Northern Illinois, 13-12, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU has won each of the last three meetings ... the Falcons hold a narrow 7-6 lead in the 13 meetings since the Huskies returned to the MAC, prior to the 1997-98 season ... BGSU captured a narrow 66-58 win at Anderson Arena in the teams' lone regular-season matchup in 2005-06 (Feb. 8, 2006) ... last season, the Falcons posted an 80-44 victory at Anderson (Feb. 2, 2005) and a come-from-behind 75-72 win in DeKalb to close the regular season (March 1, 2005) ... six of the last eight meetings have been decided by single digits ... the teams have never met at a neutral site, and the Falcons and Huskies also have never faced off in a MAC Tournament game ... the boxscore from this year's regular-season meeting can be found in the pdf.
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 ... the win over Northern Illinois on Feb. 8 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 in all 16 games vs. league foes this year to date.
LAST TIME OUT
The Falcons built a huge lead, then withstood a furious Miami second-half rally for a 71-59 win in Oxford (Feb. 28) ... the victory gave BGSU a perfect 16-0 MAC regular-season record, making the Falcons just the fifth team in league history to go undefeated in conference play ... BG scored the game's first eight points, took a 14-point halftime lead and opened up a 28-point margin in the second half ... Miami, however, rallied from a 63-35 deficit with 6:57 left, closing the gap to 10 points in the final minute before a late BG layup ... the RedHawks outscored the Falcons, 24-8, over that final 6:57 ... junior Ali Mann paced five BGSU double-digit scorers with a game-high 17 points, while classmate Megan Thorburn and sophomore Kate Achter had 11 apiece ... both junior Amber Flynn and freshman Jasmine McCall scored 10 points for the visitors ... Jenna Schone scored 13 points and Cindi Merrill 11 for the hosts ... BGSU shot 50.0 percent from the field, while holding the 'Hawks to a 31.7% success rate from the floor ... Mann tied her career high with five assists, while Achter also had five ... McCall, in addition to setting a career scoring high, had a game-high four steals to match her best effort in that category.
BGSU AT THE Q
The Falcons enter this year's Kraft MAC Tournament with an all-time record of 5-2 record at Quicken Loans (formerly Gund) Arena ... the Falcons' first game there came on March 6, 2001 ... on that date, ninth-seeded BGSU held a three-point halftime lead over #1 seeded Toledo, before the Rockets rallied to post an 81-63 win in the league tourney quarterfinals ... that was the Falcons' final game before the Curt Miller Era began ... two years ago, the Brown and Orange picked up two one-point, last-second wins at then-Gund Arena, topping Western Michigan (63-62) and Miami (75-74) on buzzer-beating jumpers by Lindsay Austin ... that year's BG team fell to Eastern Michigan, 65-56, in the championship game ... last March, the Falcons downed MU, EMU and Kent State in downtown Cleveland, to win the conference tournament for the first time in over a decade.
CLEVELAND ROCKS
The Falcons do not have any natives of the city of Cleveland on the current roster, but there are several BGSU ties to the Rock 'N' Roll capital ... fifth-year senior Casey McDowell (Hudson, Ohio) and sophomore Whitney Taylor (Wooster, Ohio) both hail from Northeast Ohio ... head coach Curt Miller spent his collegiate years in the area, earning his undergraduate degree at Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio ... and, assistant coach Kevin Eckert is a Berea native.
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 MAC Tournament quarterfinals with totals of 142 treys and 149 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 48 treys and 49 blocks this winter to date.
TWENTY AGAIN
The Falcons' win at Ball State (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.
IN LIKE FLYNN
Junior Amber Flynn has stepped up her production off the bench over the last several weeks ... the Cincinnati native is averaging 5.0 points per game off the bench this season, and had 5.4 ppg in MAC games ... in the last seven contests, Flynn has averaged 8.4 points per game and shot a team-best 64.1 percent (25-of-39) from the field ... that seven-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 ... Flynn made five of her seven shot attempts at Miami.
THE MAC TOURNAMENT
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 at Ohio (East #4) 74, Central Michigan (West #5) 57 at Ball State (West #3) 71, Akron (East #6) 46 at Northern Illinois (West #4) 73, Miami (East #5) 65 Toledo (West #6) 70, at Buffalo (East #3) 58 Quarterfinals - Wed., March 8 Quicken Loans Arena; Cleveland, Ohio Ohio vs. Eastern Michigan (West #1), 1:00 p.m. Ball State vs. Kent State (East #2), 3:00 p.m. Northern Illinois vs. Bowling Green (East #1), 5:30 p.m. Toledo vs. Western Michigan (West #2), 7:30 p.m.
Semifinals - Fri., March 10 Quicken Loans Arena EMU/Ohio winner vs. KSU/BSU winner, Noon BGSU/NIU winner vs. WMU/Toledo winner, 2:30 p.m.
Championship - Sat., March 11 Quicken Loans Arena Semifinal winners, 1:00 p.m.
NOTES AND NUMBERS
A few random statistics as the Falcons prepare for the NIU game ...
SENIOR NIGHT A SUCCESS, AGAIN
The Kent State game (Feb. 22) 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 20.3 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 69-20, including a mark of 46-9 against MAC opponents.
'HOUSE THAT ROARS' INDEED: BG ELEVEN-AND-OH AT ANDERSON
BGSU's win over Kent State (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.
FALCON 500 (PLUS 24): 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 league tourney with an all-time record of 524-340 (.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 519 wins and UT 509 ... Kent State went over the 500-win mark this year, and currently sits at 509 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 without leaning forward, it is no surprise that Liz Honegger, in less than three seasons, has placed her name all over the BGSU lists for blocked shots ... this season, Honegger has 49 blocks through 27 games ... she tied two of her own single-season marks in 2004-05, and is rapidly 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 broke that mark again this year, with 28 blocks in MAC games ... overall, 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 20 wins per year ... over the last two-plus seasons, since the start of Mann's freshman year, BG has gone 69-20 and twice advanced to the MAC Tournament's championship game.
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.
FALCONS IN THE MAC
Heading into the league tourney quarterfinals, the Falcons are ranked among the top-three MAC teams in no fewer than 14 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, free-throw percentage, three-point field-goal pct. defense and steals, and BG ranks third in scoring defense, FG pct., FG pct. defense and rebounding margin ... in MAC games only, BGSU finished first in assists, TO margin, asst./TO ratio and three-point FG made.
