Women's Basketball Readies to Paint Cornell Classic Orange and Brown

Nov. 29, 2007

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University Falcons will test its perfect 4-0 record on the road this weekend as the Orange and Brown travels to Ithaca, New York to compete in the Cornell Classic ... day one (Nov. 30) BGSU will face the Eagles of Florida Gulf Coast University at 5:00 p.m. ... day two's (Dec. 1) opponent and game time will depend on the outcome of the first game ... BG has the possibility to face either host Cornell or Gardner-Webb on the second day ... tip-off will be at 3:00 p.m. or 5:00 p.m.

GAME #5
Bowling Green vs. Florida Gulf Coast University

Nov. 30, 2007  Newman Arena, 5:00 p.m.

RECORDS: BGSU 4-0, 0-0 MAC // Florida Gulf Coast University 1-2, 0-0 A-Sun
RADIO: WBGU 88.1 - Ryan Gasser and Andrew Goetz
SERIES: First Meeting

Complete Release in PDF Format (25 pages)

Cheering from the Cheap Seats, Couch or Virtual Highway
Falcon women's basketball can once again be heard on the airwaves and on the internet thanks to 88.1 WBGU FM ... internet broadcasts can be accessed via www.BGSRO.com ... Ryan Gasser and Andrew Goetz will be on the microphones for this weekend's games.

Live video offered for both Falcon match-ups in Ithaca, NY
Live internet video will be available as the Falcons participate in the Cornell Classic ... a one-day viewing pass can be obtained for $4.95. To obtain a pass click HERE ... live stats my also be viewed free of cost for both games by clicking HERE ... the link does not update with the new game until about 15 minutes prior to game time, up until that point, it will show the last games' information.
Falcons in Tournament Play Under Miller
The Falcons are 14-10 in non-conference tournament play under head coach Curt Miller ... with the exception of the 2004-05 season, BGSU has posted at least one perfect 2-0 record in tournament play every year since 2003 ... Bowling Green is 9-3 when having less than 24 hours to prepare for a day-two opponent and has won the second game of a tournament in their past seven tries ... BGSU averages 64.13 ppg in tournament play under Miller while their opponents average 59.71 ... the Falcons are 3-4 when facing the hosts of a tournament .... the Falcons earned membership on an all-tournament team on 13 occasions under Miller (including the 2006-07 season where no all-tournament teams were awarded) ... eight players have comprised those 13 awards ... former Falcon Liz Honegger is the only Falcon to be named MVP; she took the honor at the Hampton Inn Classic (Bloomington, Ind.) in 2005.
Falcons Faultless at Four ... On Their Way to More?
Currently, the Falcons (4-0) are experiencing their second most successful start under head coach Curt Miller since going a perfect 8-0 to begin the 2005 season ... they are also the only remaining undefeated team in the MAC ... during that stretch in 2005, BGSU went 8-1 to close the year 2005 (Nov. and Dec.); after opening 2006 with a loss to Kentucky in overtime, that Falcon squad won 19 straight before falling to UCLA in the NCAA Tournament ... last season, BG was five points short of repeating the 8-0 start ... after winning their season opener, the Orange and Brown lost to Notre Dame in overtime, 85-81, in South Bend, Ind., but went on to win their next six contests ... since the 1974 season, BGSU has seen five starts in which they won three or more consecutive games to begin the season ... 1974 (six wins), 1988 (six wins), 1991 (five wins), 1997 (three wins), 2005 (eight wins), 2007 (four wins) ... historically, BG is 17-10 in the eleventh month of the year (Nov.) under Miller, but are 14-1 dating back to the 2005-06 season.
Falconstock - Rockin' thru the 60's
In three of their four wins, the Falcons have met or surpassed a `groovy' 60 points ... in fact, BG is averaging 70.0 ppg, good enough for the third highest scoring offense in the Mid-American Conference ... the Falcons are also allowing the second fewest points (56.2) amongst its peer in the league and is one of only two teams to win by a double-digit scoring margin... to date, BG saw its highest scoring game on opening night of the season as they sunk 81 points over the Valparaiso defense.
More on the Falcon Scoring Machine
Kate Achter, the leading BGSU scorer, is the second ranking player in the MAC averaging 20.3 ppg ... Alyssa Pittman of Eastern Michigan has narrowly edged Achter in the category with 21.0 ppg ... Lauren Prochaska is also a top ten scorer with her 13.8 buckets per game ... Bowling Green and Miami are the only two schools to have two players in the top ten scorers in the league.
Reservations Always Expected
After an opponent prepares their scouting report for the Orange and Brown starters, they might find themselves questioning which of the reserves to also worry about ... the answer is each of them can cause damage on any given day ... to date, three different Falcon reserves have made an impact coming off the bench ... against Valparaiso, Tracy Pontius was 2-of-3 from three point range and finished the game with 10 points while classmate Jen Uhl was responsible for 17 points at Belmont ... in their most recent game, BGSU saw Tara Breske play a defensive role in stopping St. Bonaventure's leading scorer, Dana Mitchell, while also creating offensive opportunities during each of BG's two late come-from-behind rallies.
Roll Along You Road Warriors ...
In their six-plus seasons with head coach Curt Miller as the Falcons leader, BG is 76-40 when playing any road or neutral site game ... after posting losing road/neutral records in his first two seasons, Miller's Falcons have more than doubled their ratio of wins to losses ... in 2003 BG won 12 while losing six and the next season improved to 14 wins with seven losses ... since then, the Falcons have lost a combined five games (including two in the NCAA tournament) when playing at a site that is not Anderson Arena ... throughout that time frame, the Falcons have posted a total of 40 wins ... in non-conference only road games, BGSU is 31-18 under Miller and 15-6 since 2005 ... the Falcons have posted just one losing non-conference road/neutral site record (2001) since Miller took over.
A Century of Wins
As the Falcons proved last Saturday, a lead at the intermission, no matter how large or small, is nothing to play around with ... under head coach Curt Miller, BGSU is 104-20 and counting when taking the lead into the locker room ... in every game this season, including their comeback win over St. Bonaventure, BGSU has had at least a point on the competition ... in their largest lead, the Falcons had a +22 margin over the Valparaiso Crusaders at halftime ... more importantly, the Falcons have not only built leads; they have kept them ... in each game this season, BGSU has won by more points than they were ahead at the half.
Free Points? We'll Take `Em!
As a unit the Falcons are shooting 81 percent from the foul line and have taken nearly 100 free throws just four games into the season (actual attempts equal 95) ... Bowling Green has converted 77-of-95 tries from the charity stripe and is the top ranking FT shooting team in the MAC... their opponents, on the other hand, have taken 78 FT's (just one shy of BGSU's total made) and have converted 59 into points ... Kate Achter leads all Falcons in made (35), attempts (40) and percentage (88 %) ... she also has the fourth best made percentage in the MAC ... four other Falcons join Achter at an 80 or better percentage on the year ... Achter averages a team-high 8.8 made FT/game ... in three-of-four games this season, BGSU has been sent to the line at least 20 times and has shot at, or above, 74 percent ... in their best outing, the Falcons sank 27-of-31 (.871) ... to date, St. Bonaventure is the only squad to outshoot BG from the free throw line (.741-.821) ... against Valparaiso, the Falcons held the Crusaders to a low nine attempts.
Possession of the Ball? We'll Take That Too!
While the Orange and Brown has committed 57 turnovers this season, they have forced the opposition into giving possession back on 96 separate occasions ... three of the Falcons' opponents have committed 20 or more rule infractions this season while the fourth topped out at 18 ... Valparaiso was responsible for 29 TO's while Lipscomb saw 28; St. Bona also picked-up 21 against the BG defense ... BG leads the MAC with the top turnover margin (+9.75) ... their closest MAC affiliate forces an average of 3.75 less TO's per game ... the Falcons also own the third best assist to turnover ratio in the league ... leader Toledo sits at .80 while Buffalo holds a .78 ratio ... BGSU trails the Bulls by one-hundredth of point (.77) ... the Falcons also have the second highest total in blocks per game with 3.50 ... Lauren Prochaska is fifth in the league in steals thus far averaging 2.75 per game.
The Winning Tradition 101
If one were to reminisce about the past 101 games in Falcon history, they more than likely would have a hard time selecting their favorite Falcon win ... dating back to the start of the 2004-05 season, Bowling Green is 86-15 (.851) ... in the post season alone, including the MAC and NCAA tournaments, Miller and Co. are 11-3 (.846) and have brought home three consecutive MAC Tournament titles.
Achter Has a Case of the Mondays ...
For the third straight Monday, a Falcon has picked up an award from the Mid-American Conference office ... Kate Achter became one of the MAC's most distinguished players on Nov. 26 as she was honored with the MAC East POW award for the second straight week ... Achter solidified her place in the MAC record books becoming one of just 39 women's basketball participants in league history to earn Player of the Week honors on four or more occasions throughout their collegiate career ... currently, she is one of 11 MAC women's basketball athletes to earn the award four times and is the first back-to-back recipient of the POW accolade since last season's co-Player of the Year, Carrie Moore (Western Michigan) was acknowledged for her play on both Nov. 22 and Nov. 29, 2006 ... Bowling Green, alongside Miami and Toledo who each have six athletes on the list, rank second in the league, only to Kent State who has seen seven players reach the four-plus week plateau ... in relation to her BGSU women's basketball predecessors, Achter is now one of six Falcons to earn the award four times over ... Liz Honegger and Ali Mann lead the program with seven MAC POW's.
Looks Like the Falcons Have a Case of the Mondays Too ...
Kate Achter's POW award marks the first time since the 1996-97 season (Jaymee Wappes, Feb 10, Sara Puthoff, Feb. 17 and Feb. 24) that a combination of Falcons have earned POW status week after week after week (Lindsey Goldsberry, Nov. 12 and Kate Achter, Nov. 19 and Nov. 26) ... BGSU is also one of only five MAC programs to bring home the award over the span of three consecutive weeks ... as a conference, the MAC has not seen a program three-peat the POW award since the 2004-05 season when both Eastern Michigan (Nov. 29, Dec. 6, Dec. 13) and Kent State (Dec. 20, Dec. 27, Jan. 3) earned it over continuous weeks ... interestingly enough, the respective programs fell to BGSU in the semifinal and final games of the conference tournament that same season.
Kate Achter - Point Doctor
Prior to Saturday's contest against St. Bonaventure, Kate Achter, needed to net 29 points to tie Andrea Nordman's (89-93) 1,164 career point total and join her at the 16th overall spot on the all-time scorers list ... that night she not only met the total, but went on to surpassed it (32 points) and is now responsible for 1,167 career points with the with the Falcons ... Achter needs 43 additional points to move into the top fifteen on the all-time scorers list ... seven of the Top 22 players in the 1,000-Point Club have played under head coach Curt Miller ... Achter's 32 points also set a new personal best for the senior; previously her highest scoring game (29 pts.) was a 77-66 win at Belmont - just six days before ... in fact, the last time a Falcon scored 30-plus points was Casey McDowell's 31 point showing in the MAC Tournament on March 9, 2005 ... for those keeping track, Achter was just three points shy of tying the program record of 35 points in one game ... former Falcon Francie Miller was the last player to reach the plateau on Feb. 17, 2001; she is one of three players to hold the record and is the only player to account for 35 points in two separate contests.
Golden Arches
Lindsey Goldsberry entered the season 10th on the all-time BGSU career three-point field-goal percentage list making 35-of-97 (.361) shots from behind the arc in her first two seasons ... after making 5-of-6 against Valparaiso and two others versus Belmont (1-1) and St. Bonaventure (1-3) she has a 58.3 percent accuracy from `downtown' and has made at least one long ball in three of four Falcon games this season ... she is averaging a team high 1.8 per game and has the best percentage on the team amongst those who have five or more attempts in 2007 ... not only does she rank second in the MAC in the three point field goal percentage category, she is also the second overall player in the field goal percentage category ... historically she is 42-109 (.385) and currently ranks seventh on the all-time three point percentage list.
Hardwood Reunions
On Friday, Nov. 29 Chelsea Albert might have to pay special attention to those on her team and those wearing Florida Gulf Coast uniforms ... Albert will face former Brighton High School teammate Shannon Murphy and AAU teammate Adrianne McNally ... Murphy is also freshmen this season while McNally is a sophomore.

Cornell Classic - Quick "Facts"
*Bowling Green is the only team in the tournament to enter with a winning record.
*Head coach Curt Miller spent four years in New York as an assistant coach at Syracuse ... Dir. of Basketball Operations, Monique Rosati was a student manager with the team while Miller was there.
*Bowling Green has never faced any of the three participating programs.

The Guaranteed Opponent - Florida Gulf Coast
Karl Smesko leads the Eagles as they compete in their first Division I season ... last year, Florida Gulf Coast University did not lose a game until the National Championship where they finished as the runners-up ... the 1-2 Eagles picked-up their first DI win over Central Connecticut State on Nov. 23, 2007 ... Bowling Green will be the first DI game for FGCU outside of their own gym ... opponents are outscoring FGCU 219-180 and no member of the squad is shooting better than .500 from the field ... Delia De La Torre has been the leading scorer in every game this season and is leading the Eagles averaging 17.0 ppg ... she is also the team's leading rebounder, but has never seen a game-high in the same category ... in fact, no two Eagles have repeated as game-high rebounder ... the same five players have started every game and are seeing an average of 25 or more minutes per game ... in the "It's A Small World" stat of the day, FGCU SID, Michael Hill is a Bowling Green graduate who worked with the BGSU women's basketball team as an undergraduate.
The Possible Opponent - Cornell
In their last outing, host Cornell beat Patriot League preseason favorite Bucknell 74-63 and will face Gardner-Webb in the first game of the tournament ... the Big Red currently sits at an even 2-2 with both of their wins coming at home ... when Cornell scores greater than 70 points they are 2-0, yet when the Big Red is held under 55 points they are 0-2 ... the starting line-up has not changed in four games ... three players are averaging double-digit scoring efforts each night with Jeomi Maduka leading the team in scoring (14 ppg) and rebounding (7.8 rpg) ... Lauren Benson leads the team from `downtown' converting 8-of-13 (.615) attempts and is a perfect 10-10 from the FT line ... while the Big Red averages 20.5 TO/game, they are making up for it with 6.8 steals per game and 2.8 blocks each contest.
The Possible Opponent - Gardner-Webb
The Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb will enter Friday's contest with Cornell with a 2-5 overall record in 2007 despite the fact that GWU is dead even with their opponents in average points per game (65.3) ... after winning their season opener against Montreat (98-53), the Bulldogs lost three a row before finding their second win (Appalachian State; 67-65) ... GWU is winless in tournament play after losing two in the Carolina First tournament in early November ... GWU is 0-1 when playing on Friday night and 1-2 on Saturday ... Margaret Hudson is the only Bulldog to start in every game ... 12 of the 14 active roster members have seen game action in every contest this season ... GWU is averaging 10 steals per game as a team ... Monique Hudson leads the squad in steals (18) and points per game (12.6) - did I mention she is a rookie? ... in the "It's A Small World" stat of the day, BGSU assistant softball coach Lani Shaffer is a former GWU standout on the diamond who earned a spot in the NCAA record books stealing 55-straight bases - the fifth best streak in DI history.
##BGSU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL##