Bowling Green State University Athletics
Breaking News: Falcons Now 19th, Honegger Named MAC Player of Week
January 02, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 2, 2007
BOWLING GREEN/AKRON, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - A lot of things can happen during a short time. For example, two internet-worthy events took place while the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team was on the bus on the way to Akron Tuesday afternoon (Jan. 2). The Falcons moved up to 19th in the latest USA Today/ESPN poll, and senior Liz Honegger was named a Mid-American Conference Player of the Week.
BGSU's ranking of 19th is tied for the highest-ever ranking by a MAC institution. The Falcons were ranked 19th in the AP poll on March 16, 1993. Back to the polls in a moment.
Honegger, a senior post player, earns the MAC weekly honor for the first time this season and the seventh time in her illustrious Falcon career.
The announcement marks the fourth time this season that the Falcons have had a Player-of-the-Week selection. Senior Ali Mann has earned the honor twice, on Nov. 22 and Dec. 11, while junior Kate Achter was recognized on Nov. 28.
Honegger, a native of Lafayette, Ind. (Jefferson H.S.), averaged a team-high 17.5 points along with 4.5 rebounds per game as the Falcons won a pair of home games. She had a game-high 24 points, leading all players with four three-point field goals made, as BGSU downed Delaware, a team receiving votes in both national polls, by a 70-59 count on Friday (Dec. 29).
Honegger was 8-for-15 from the field in that game, including a 4-for-9 performance from beyond the arc, and added a team-best six rebounds.
Then, Honegger had 11 points, going 3-for-6 from three-point land, as BGSU built a 28-point lead in the first 30 minutes of Sunday's (Dec. 31) win over Robert Morris. Honegger also had a three rebounds and a pair of assists in 25 minutes of action in that game, a 92-81 win over the Colonials.
In the RMU game, Honegger became the school's all-time leader in three-pointers attempted. She now holds three BGSU career marks -- three-pointers made and attempted along with blocked shots -- and ranks 11th in school history with 1,311 career points. Honegger has moved into sixth place on the school's rebounding list.
This season, Honegger is averaging 11.0 points per game and has team-best averages of 5.3 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per contest. She is shooting 49.2 percent from three-point range this season, having made 30-of-61 tries.
Now, back to the polls ... The Falcons are ranked in the USA Today/ESPN Division I Coaches poll for the sixth consecutive week, a new record for longevity for both BGSU and the MAC. BGSU broke into that poll on Nov. 28, with a placing of 24th, and the Falcons were tied for 22nd in the country in the next week's poll (Dec. 5) before ranking 21st in each of the last three weeks.
As mentioned, the Falcons' current run of six consecutive weeks in that poll breaks the school and Mid-American Conference longevity records. The old mark of five weeks was set by last year's BG club, which was ranked in the USA Today/ESPN poll from Feb. 14 to March 13, 2006.
This marks only the fourth time in MAC history that a league school has had a run of at least three consecutive weeks in the top 25. Three of those instances have been in the USA Today poll, with the other in the Associated Press listing, but the Falcons have been that MAC team on all four occasions.
The Falcons are ranked 24th in the latest AP poll, released Monday (Jan. 1), after being listed 25th in that poll for each of the previous two weeks. The Brown and Orange have gained points in each poll since last week, going from 99 to 129 points in the AP poll and from 173 to 189 points in the USA Today/ESPN voting.
BGSU was ranked in each of the two polls last year, marking the program's first appearance in a national poll in 12 years, and the first appearance for a MAC program in over four years.
This week's BGSU appearance in the USA Today ESPN poll marks the 18th week in MAC history that a league institution has been listed in the USA Today poll. BG has been that team in 15 of the 18 weeks, including 11 weeks under Curt Miller.
Similarly, Monday's appearance in the Associated Press poll marks the 15th week in MAC history that a league institution has been listed in that top-25, and BG has been that team in 11 of the 15 weeks (five during Miller's tenure).
The Falcons are now 10-2 on the season after winning a pair of games over the weekend at Anderson Arena. BGSU picked up a 70-59 victory over Delaware on Friday (Dec. 29) and a 92-81 triumph against Robert Morris Sunday (Dec. 31). Miller and the Falcons now prepare for MAC play, which begins Wednesday (Jan. 3) with the game at Akron.
This week's complete USA Today ESPN poll follows...
USA TODAY/ESPN women's basketball coaches' poll
Jan. 2, 2007
Rank - School (FPV) Record Points LW 1. Maryland (29) 15-0 773 1 2. North Carolina (1) 15-0 743 2 3. Duke (1) 14-0 711 3 4. Tennessee 12-1 674 4 5. Connecticut 11-0 663 5 6. LSU 13-1 598 6 7. Oklahoma 10-1 580 7 8. Ohio State 11-1 570 8 9. Baylor 13-1 536 9 10. Vanderbilt 13-1 459 12 11. Purdue 13-2 435 13 12. Stanford 9-3 407 15 13. Louisville 15-0 397 14 14. Arizona State 12-2 381 11 15. Georgia 12-2 369 10 16. Geo. Washington 11-2 327 16 17. Texas A&M 9-2 253 17 18. Michigan State 11-2 220 20 19. Bowling Green 10-2 189 21 20. Marquette 13-1 183 22 21. California 10-3 138 19 22. Pittsburgh 12-1 123 23 23. Arkansas 15-1 99 24 24. DePaul 11-3 95 18 25. Middle Tennessee 10-3 48 NR
Dropped out: No. 25 New Mexico.
Others receiving votes: New Mexico 23; Iowa State 12; South Florida, TCU 11; Texas 10; Hofstra 8; Nebraska 7; Montana 6; Oklahoma State 5; Delaward 4; Florida State 3; Missouri, Washington 2.
THE MAC AND THE POLLS: A COMPLETE HISTORY
(The entire list of appearances by a Mid-American Conference school)
MAC Schools' Weekly Associated Press Top-25 appearances
Date School Rank 2/23/93 Bowling Green 25 3/2/93 Bowling Green 22 3/9/93 Bowling Green 22 3/16/93 Bowling Green 19 2/8/94 Toledo 23 2/15/94 Toledo 25 3/8/94 Bowling Green 25 3/15/94 Bowling Green 24 3/8/99 Toledo 25 11/19/01 Toledo 24 3/6/06 Bowling Green 24 3/13/06 Bowling Green 23 12/18/06 Bowling Green 25 12/25/06 Bowling Green 25 1/1/07 Bowling Green 24
MAC Schools' Weekly USA Today Top-25 appearances
Date School Rank 2/18/86 Ohio 25 2/25/86 Ohio 24 3/1/93 Bowling Green 20 3/9/93 Bowling Green 22 3/16/93 Bowling Green 20 3/15/94 Bowling Green 24 2/15/99 Toledo 25 2/14/06 Bowling Green 25 2/21/06 Bowling Green 25 2/28/06 Bowling Green 24 3/7/06 Bowling Green 22 3/13/06 Bowling Green 21 11/28/06 Bowling Green 24 12/5/06 Bowling Green T-22 12/12/06 Bowling Green 21 12/19/06 Bowling Green 21 12/26/06 Bowling Green 21 1/2/07 Bowling Green 19
(NOTE: Northern Illinois has made multiple appearances in both polls, but none came while the school was a member of the MAC)
