Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Face Flashes Tuesday
February 19, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 19, 2007
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) -
BGSU Game Notes, Statistics and So Much More in PDF Format
#17/18 BGSU at KENT STATE
Tue., February 20, 2007 • 7:00 p.m.
M.A.C. Center (6,327) • Kent, Ohio
RECORDS: BGSU 24-2 (13-0 MAC) // Kent State 13-11 (9-4 MAC)
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1) - Brent Petkus and Mike Soeder
SERIES: BGSU leads, 36-27 // STREAK: BGSU - 5
LAST MEETING: at BGSU 74, Kent State 52 (Jan. 10, 2007)
THE GAME
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, winners of 17-straight games, closes the road portion of the regular-season schedule with a trip to one of the toughest venues in the Mid-American Conference ... the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller (24-2, 13-0 MAC), having clinched the MAC's East Division title, head to Northeast Ohio to meet Kent State University in Tuesday (Feb. 20) action ... tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at the M.A.C. Center (6,327) ... BGSU enters the week ranked 17th in the nation in the USA Today/ESPN poll and 18th by the Associated Press, although new versions of the polls will be released before the Falcons and Golden Flashes meet.
FALCONS CLINCH EAST DIVISION TITLE
BGSU's 85-44 win at Buffalo Saturday (Feb. 17) enabled the Falcons to clinch the MAC's East Division title outright for the second consecutive year ... the Falcons now have a four-game lead over second-place Kent State with just three regular-season games remaining ... BGSU has clinched a third-straight division crown, having won the West Division in 2004-05 before being moved back to the East prior to last season.
MAC TOURNAMENT TITLE-GAME REMATCH
The Falcons and Kent State are meeting in a matchup of the MAC Tournament's championship-game participants in each of the last two seasons ... in 2005, BGSU posted an 81-75 win over the Golden Flashes at Gund Arena in downtown Cleveland ... a year later, the venue's name had changed (to Quicken Loans Arena), but the championship-game participants remained the same ... the Falcons downed KSU, 64-39, in the 2006 title game.
40-40 VISION
The Falcons recorded a pair of lopsided wins last week, with a 45-point win over Akron on Wednesday (91-46; Feb. 14) followed by Saturday's 41-point victory at Buffalo ... last week's two games marked the first time BGSU has posted back-to-back wins of 40 points or more in the history of the program ... in 892 games since the inception of the program, the Falcons had had a total of 11 wins by 40 points or more, prior to posting two such wins in the last two games.
FALCONS HAVE CLINCHED A BYE
BGSU's 91-46 win over Akron Wednesday night (Feb. 14), coupled with Kent State's loss to Ohio that same evening, clinched a first-round bye for the Falcons for the MAC Tournament ... the entire tournament will be held at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland ... the top-two teams in each division earn a bye ... the Falcons, having clinched the East Division crown, will play in the 5:00 p.m. game (third game of the day) in the quarterfinal round on Tuesday, March 6 ... the Brown and Orange will play the winner of a March 4 first-round game ... BG will face the winner of the game pitting the fifth seed in the East vs. the fourth seed in the West ... if the season ended today, BG would meet either Buffalo or Western Michigan in a quarterfinal-round matchup.
BGSU ALSO CLINCHES TIE FOR OVERALL CROWN
For what it's worth, the Falcons have clinched a tie for the MAC's overall regular-season title ... BG is three games up on West-leading Ball State with three games to play, and the Falcons won the lone head-to-head meeting with the Cardinals ... BG is looking to post the league's best regular-season mark outright for the third consecutive year ... that title means little more than bragging rights these days, affecting only the color of the jerseys the Falcons would get to wear should both division winners make it to the MAC Tournament's championship game ... beginning last year, the league tournament changed from overall seeding (i.e., 1 through 12) to divisional seeding (1 East, 2 East, etc.).
STREAKS ON THE LINE
BGSU has put together quite a few impressive winning streaks ... entering Tuesday's game at Kent State, the Falcons have won ...
• 17 consecutive overall games since a Dec. 19 loss to #1-ranked Duke;
• 38-straight contests vs. MAC foes (a school and conference record);
• 29 consecutive games at Anderson Arena, the longest active home winning streak in the nation (obviously, this streak will not be on the line on Tuesday);
• 16-straight MAC road games;
• 52 of 57 games since the beginning of last season; and
• 58 of the last 64 overall games.
DOUBLE-DIGIT WINNING STREAK
The Falcons have won the last 17 games, the sixth double-digit winning streak in school history ... each of the first five double-figure streaks in BG annals took those Falcon teams all the way to the NCAA Tournament ... the list can be found in the pdf version of these notes.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the Kent State contest with a 24-2 overall record ... BGSU has a 13-0 MAC mark on the season, and the Falcons have won the last 17 games ... BG is coming off a pair of victories by over 40 points last week, a 91-46 home win over Akron Wednesday (Feb. 14) and an 85-44 triumph at Buffalo Saturday (Feb. 17) ... BGSU has scored at least 85 points in each of the last four games ... the Falcons are 11-0 at home, 10-1 in road games and 3-1 in neutral-site contests ... BGSU's only losses have come at Notre Dame in overtime (85-81, Nov. 13) and to Duke by only nine points (55-46, Dec. 19) in Cancun, Mexico ... the loss to Duke (ranked fourth at the time, now the top-ranked team in the nation) snapped a six-game winning streak for Curt Miller's squad ... but, BG has bounced back in a big way, as mentioned, with the 17-game win streak.
• Four BG players are averaging double digits in scoring, with a fifth recording over nine points per game ... senior Ali Mann has 15.9 points to lead the way, and junior Kate Achter is second on the team with 11.3 points per game ... seniors Carin Horne (11.0) and Liz Honegger (10.4) round out the double-digit scorers, and another senior, Amber Flynn (9.6), is fifth on the team in scoring ... Honegger paces the Falcons in rebounding, with 5.7 per game, while Mann is averaging 5.3 rpg, Flynn 4.3 and Horne 4.1 ... Achter has a team-high 4.8 assists per contest, and Mann is second with 2.5 apg ... Horne has 1.7 steals per game to rank second on the team, and a total of eight BG players have at least 20 steals on the season ... Honegger paces BG with 1.2 blocked shots per outing, and also has a team-high 53 three-point field goals made (in 129 attempts) this year.
• Flynn is shooting a team-best 58.6 percent from the field, while Mann is shooting 53.8% and Achter 52.4% ... senior Megan Thorburn has 6.7 ppg and a 42.3% three-point FG rate ... she ranks second on the team in that category, trailing only Mann (47.5%) ... Honegger has shot 41.1% from long range.
• In addition to Flynn, sophomore Jasmine McCall has seen action in all 26 games off the bench, while classmate Lindsey Goldsberry has played in 25 ... Goldsberry has 3.7 points, 2.0 assists and 1.8 steals per outing, while McCall has 3.3 points and 1.8 assists per game ... Goldsberry leads the team in steals and is third in assists, while McCall is tied for third (with Achter) in steals and ranks fourth in helpers ... junior Whitney Taylor played in nine of the season's first 10 games, averaging 3.1 ppg, but is likely out for the season due to injury.
• BGSU is averaging 75.7 points per game, while allowing just 55.5 ... the Falcons are shooting 47.7 percent from the field, and have made 192 three-point field goals - 7.38 per game - in 494 tries (38.9%) ... BG has limited the foes to just a 38.2% field-goal rate and a 28.4% effort from long range (116-for-408 from beyond the arc) ... BGSU has made 76 more triples (192 to 116) and 113 more free throws (383 to 270) than the opponents ... the Falcons have a 71.2% success rate from the free-throw line, while the opposition is shooting 68.9% from the stripe ... in MAC games, BG has made more free throws (204) than the opponents have attempted (180).
• Miller and Company returned all five starters, and nine total letterwinners, from last year's team that finished 28-3 and won the MAC with a perfect 16-0 league ledger ... freshmen Tara Breske, Laura Bugher and Sarah Clapper round out the active roster ... Breske and Bugher have played in 17 contests apiece ... Clapper saw action in 13 games, but is likely sidelined for the remainder of the season due to injury.
• Last year's 28-win total set school and conference records for victories in a season ... BGSU, after winning the league's regular-season title for the second year in a row, went on to win the Kraft MAC Tournament for the second-straight March ... the returning players combined for 92.9 percent of the team's scoring and 90.7% of the Falcons' rebounding total.
HEAD COACH Curt Miller
BGSU head coach Curt Miller has turned the Falcon program around, to say the very least, during his time in Northwest Ohio ... Miller has been named the MAC Coach of the Year in each of the last two seasons, and was the 2006 Russell Athletic/WBCA Region Four Coach of the Year as well ... his career record currently stands at 117-58, in his sixth year ... over the last three-plus seasons, Miller and the Falcons are 96-23 overall ... BGSU has gone 53-8 in MAC regular-season play in that time, and 62-9 in all games vs. league foes during that span (9-1 in league tourney play) ... the 2006-07 Falcons have posted 20 victories for the fourth consecutive season.
BGSU EXTENDS MAC RECORD FOR CONSECUTIVE WINS
The Falcons extended an impressive streak Saturday (Feb. 17) ... BGSU's 85-44 win at Buffalo was the Falcons' 38th consecutive victory against MAC opposition, dating to the 2004-05 season ... that total extends the school and conference records ... BG suffered a loss at Eastern Michigan (Feb. 19, 2005) then won three consecutive games to close the regular season ... the Falcons went 3-0 in the 2005 Kraft MAC Tournament to win the tourney title and advance to the NCAA Championships ... the '05-06 edition of the Brown and Orange reeled off 16 consecutive victories in conference play, and captured three more wins vs. league foes in the MAC Tournament ... and, BGSU has opened the 2006-07 conference campaign with 13-straight wins.
JUST OUT OF CURIOSITY, WHAT WAS THE OLD RECORD?
BGSU, as mentioned on multiple occasions already, has won 38 consecutive games (regular-season and tournament) against MAC foes ... the Falcons have broken the school and conference records for consecutive victories ... the mark was originally set by Fran Voll's Falcon teams which won 27-straight games vs. league opposition from Feb. 18, 1988 to Jan. 3, 1990 ... of the six such streaks over 20 games in league history, four have been compiled by Bowling Green (entire list in the pdf version of these notes).
TAKING CARE OF THE BALL ...
The Falcons committed a season-low nine turnovers at Northern Illinois (Feb. 10) ... that total was BGSU's lowest in over a year ... four days later, vs. Akron, the Brown and Orange bettered that total by two, turning the ball over just seven times ... that turnover total was BG's lowest since a seven-turnover game vs. Kansas State in the 2005 NCAA Championships (March 19, 2005) ... BG committed 11 turnovers at Buffalo (Feb. 17), meaning that the Falcons are averaging just 9.0 turnovers per game over the last three contests.
... AND HITTING THE OUTSIDE SHOT
A pair of freshmen, Tara Breske and Laura Bugher, each hit their first career three-point field goals in the win over Akron on Wednesday (Feb. 14) ... Breske drained a triple in the waning seconds of the first half, and Bugher hit her first career trey in the second half ... all 12 Falcon players that have seen action this season have hit at least one three-pointer.
STRONG SHOOTING
The Falcons shot 60.0 percent from the field in the second half of the Ball State game, en route to a 52.9% rate for the game ... then, BGSU shot 50.0% in both halves of the win at Northern Illinois, and shot 50.0% or better in both halves of the victories over Akron and Buffalo as well ... the Falcons have shot 50.0% or better from the floor in 12 games this season, surpassing the total (11) for the previous three seasons combined ... the Falcons are now a perfect 26-0 when shooting at least 50.0% in the Curt Miller Era.
STRONG SECOND-HALF SHOOTING
BGSU has shot 50.0 percent or better from the field in the second half of each of the last six games, shooting a combined 53.2% from the floor in that time (see graphic on page 18) ... BG has shot 50.0% or better in the first half in four of those six games ... in fact, the Falcons have shot at least 50.0% from the floor in each of the last seven halves, dating to the Ball State game on Feb. 7
LONGEST HOME WINNING STREAK IN THE NATION
Connecticut's 72-71 win at LSU on Feb. 11 snapped the Lady Tigers' 43-game home winning streak, meaning that BGSU now has the longest active homecourt winning streak in NCAA Division I ... the Falcons' win over Akron Wednesday (Feb. 14) increased that streak to 29 consecutive games at Anderson Arena.
80 AGAIN
The Buffalo game (Feb. 17) marked the 11th time this season that BGSU scored at least 80 points in a game ... last year's 28-3 Falcon squad reached the 80-point mark just twice.
85 AGAIN
The Buffalo game also marked the fourth consecutive game in which the Falcons had scored 85 points or more ... BG had not put together such a streak since January of 1998, when the Brown and Orange had five-straight games of at least 80 points.
A VETERAN STARTING LINEUP
BGSU's starting lineup features four seniors - Liz Honegger, Carin Horne, Ali Mann and Megan Thorburn - as well as a junior, Kate Achter ... entering the Kent State game, that group has combined to make no fewer than 479 starts in their respective Falcon careers to date ... each of the five has started at least 78 games.
LET'S GET IT STARTED: HONEGGER TIES RECORD
As mentioned, the five BGSU starters have combined to make a total of 479 starts in the Brown and Orange ... two members of that group, seniors Liz Honegger and Ali Mann, are now at the top of the individual career list for games started ... Honegger has made 118 career starts, while Mann has started 117 games ... when Honegger drew the start in the Northern Illinois game (Feb. 10), it was her 116th career start, breaking the school record ... Jackie Motycka (1985-89) had held the school record with 115 starts.
ONE MORE NOTE ON THE STARTERS
BGSU has used the same starting lineup - the aforementioned group of seniors Liz Honegger, Carin Horne, Ali Mann and Megan Thorburn and junior Kate Achter - in all 26 games this year to date ... the Falcons are now 41-3 overall, and a perfect 27-0 in MAC regular-season games, when that fivesome takes the court for the opening tip.
HONEGGER HAS BROKEN THIS RECORD, TOO
Senior Liz Honegger came off the bench in the first game of her collegiate career, at Youngstown State on Nov. 22, 2003 ... for the Falcons' next game, three days later, Curt Miller inserted Honegger into the starting lineup, and she has been there ever since ... when the Lafayette, Ind., native draw the start at NIU (Feb. 10), it set the record for career starts, with 116 ... that game also enabled her to set a new BG mark for consecutive starts ... through the Buffalo game, Honegger has now increased both marks to 118 games.
FALCONS STRONG AT THE LINE LAST WEEK
The Falcons have shot the ball well from the field all season long ... such has not always been the case at the free-throw line ... but, BGSU did just fine, thank you, from the stripe in last week's two games ... in Wednesday's (Feb. 14) win over Akron, the Falcons sank 91.3 percent of their charity tosses, going 21-for-23 from the line ... no fewer than eight different BG players took at least two shots apiece, with six of those players shooting 100.0% and the other two going 3-for-4 ... at Buffalo Saturday (Feb. 17), the Brown and Orange went 12-for-14 (85.7%) from the stripe, making the Falcons 33-for-37 (89.2%) over the last two games.
THE FALCONS ARE ...
• 117-58 in the five-plus years since Curt Miller took the helm in May of 2001;
• 64-29 in MAC games in that time;
• 96-23 overall and 53-8 in the MAC over the last three-plus seasons, since the current senior class arrived on campus in the fall of 2003;
• 52-5 since the beginning of last season;
• 58-6 in the last 64 overall games since February of 2005 (with the losses coming to Kansas State [2005 NCAA Tournament], Delaware, Kentucky, UCLA [2006 NCAA Tournament], Notre Dame and Duke);
• 6-0 in games after a loss during that time;
• 21-0 in games decided by double digits this season;
• 8-0 in games decided by over 30 points in 2006-07;
• 38-0 in the last 38 games against MAC opponents (setting new school and conference records), since a loss at Eastern Michigan on Feb. 19, 2005;
• 9-1 in the MAC Tournament in the last three seasons;
• 29-0 in the last 29 home games, the longest active home winning streak in the nation;
• 18-1 in the last 19 road games (with the overtime loss at Notre Dame snapping a nine-game road winning streak since an OT setback at Kentucky on Jan. 2, 2006 - BG has since won nine-straight road games);
• 23-0 in the last 23 road games to be decided in regulation (since that EMU game in February of 2005);
• 16-0 in the last 16 MAC road games;
• 49-0 when outrebounding the opponent since the start of the 2004-05 season;
• 49-3 when holding the opponent to fewer than 70 points since the beginning of the 2005-06 season (BGSU has only allowed five teams - UCLA, Notre Dame, Robert Morris, Ball State and Northern Illinois - to top the 70-point mark in the last 57 games);
• 4-2 in games played on Feb. 20;
• 4-0 in home games and 0-2 in road games on that date; and
• 0-0 in games on Feb. 20 in the Curt Miller Era.
FALCONS BY CLASS
THE SENIORS
BGSU's senior class is one of the finest in school - and MAC - history ... that group includes four returning starters in Liz Honegger, Carin Horne, Ali Mann and Megan Thorburn ... additionally, Amber Flynn was one of the most improved players in the MAC last season, and has picked up right where she left off ... a sixth senior, Julie Gompers, missed each of the last two seasons due to injury and is again sidelined in 2006-07 ... the class has been an integral part of the Falcons' 96-23 overall mark in the last three-plus years, and BG has advanced to the championship game of the MAC Tournament every year since they arrived.
THE JUNIORS
The Falcons' two juniors, Kate Achter and Whitney Taylor, have helped BGSU win MAC regular-season and tournament titles in each of their first two seasons ... BG has an overall record of 75-13 since the two arrived on campus, and the Falcons are 72-9 when Achter is in the starting lineup ... Taylor has played in nine games this year, but is sidelined due to an injury suffered in practice on Dec. 26 and is likely out for the season.
THE SOPHOMORES
Lindsey Goldsberry and Jasmine McCall have seen their team win over 90 percent of its games (52-5 to date), and the two players have never been a part of a loss to a MAC opponent, as the Falcons are 32-0 against league opposition since the start of last season ... McCall has played in all 57 of BGSU's games in her career to date, while Goldsberry has seen action in 55 contests, making two starts.
THE FRESHMEN
Tara Breske (Temperance, Mich.), Laura Bugher (Greenwood, Ind.) and Sarah Clapper (Newark, Ohio) are the newest additions to the BG program ... Breske and Bugher each have played in 17 games to date, while Clapper has seen action in 13 ... Clapper, though, is likely out for the season after suffering an injury in practice on Jan. 22 ... the Falcons have yet to lose a game when any of the three frosh see playing time.
SCOUTING KENT STATE
Kent State enters Tuesday's action with an overall record of 13-11, and the Golden Flashes have a 9-4 record in MAC play to date ... KSU, after suffering a pair of narrow losses on the road to Ball State and Ohio, bounced back with an 88-58 win over visiting Akron Saturday (Feb. 17) ... the Flashes have a record of 7-1 at home this season, including a 5-1 MAC mark at the M.A.C. Center ... the lone home loss came to Eastern Michigan by five points ... individually, senior guard Kristin Peoples leads KSU with 16.5 points per game ... Peoples, in her first season with the Flashes after transferring from Arkansas, also leads the team in assists (4.00 apg) ... senior G/F La'kia Stewart is also scoring in double digits with 14.0 points per game, and she leads the team with 8.0 rebounds per contest ... senior guard Sarah Burgess and freshman guard Jamilah Humes have 9.6 and 9.3 ppg, respectively, while five more players are averaging between 5.0 and 6.8 points per game this year to date ... Humes, Peoples and Stewart were joined in the starting lineup by senior guard Kerrie James and senior center Tiffany LaFleur for the Akron game, but nine different players have started at least two games for head coach Bob Lindsay ... Lindsay, the winningest coach in MAC history, welcomed back seven letterwinners, including three starters, from last year's team that went 21-9 overall, 12-4 in MAC play and advanced to face the Falcons in the conference tournament's championship game ... Lindsay has a record of 342-181 in his 18th season as a collegiate head coach, all in Kent ... the school's athletics web site is www.kentstatesports.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Kent State, 36-27, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU has captured five consecutive meetings ... two of those five games have come in the last two MAC Tournament championship games ... the Falcons captured a 74-52 decision at Anderson Arena in this season's first meeting (Jan. 10, 2007) ... last year, BG won three matchups with the Flashes, including a 61-58 regular-season meeting in Kent (Jan. 14, 2006) ... that game was the Falcons' first road win over Kent/Kent State in nearly 12 years, breaking a 10-game Golden Flash winning streak at the M.A.C. Center ... KSU holds a 15-13 advantage in games played in Kent.
OBI-WAN HAS TAUGHT YOU WELL
It has been pretty well documented to death by now, but just in case you haven't been reading these notes for the past five-plus years, here it is once again ... Tuesday's game matches BGSU head coach Curt Miller with the man he credits for giving him his start in the coaching profession ... Miller spent a year at Kent State as a graduate assistant, and was a volunteer coach on Bob Lindsay's staff during the 1990-91 season ... the Flashes finished 17-12 that year, and enjoyed the second-best turnaround in the nation
THOR, GODDESS OF THREE POINTERS
Senior Megan Thorburn led the Falcons in scoring in both games last week, with 14 points against Akron (Feb. 14) and a season-high 22 at Buffalo (Feb. 17) ... Thorburn was 10-for-17 (58.8%) from three-point range in the two games, including a career-high six triples against UB ... that total fell just one shy of the school single-game record.
THOR CAN RUN WITH THE BULLS
Senior Megan Thorburn has enjoyed a great deal of success in games vs. Buffalo the last few years ... this season, her two 20-point games have come against the Bulls, with a 21-point afternoon when the teams met at Anderson Arena and a 22-point night in Western New York Saturday ... in last year's meeting at Alumni Arena, Thorburn hit four three-point field goals, at the time the most in her BG career ... on Saturday, of course, Thorburn - who had hit five treys on several occasions earlier this year - drained six three-pointers vs. the Bulls to set a new career standard.
PLAY THE D
The Falcons have had some success defensively, to say the least, vs. Buffalo this year, allowing an average of 43.0 points per game in the two meetings ... the Falcons' two longest stretches of defensive dominance have come vs. UB ... in the Jan. 6 meeting at Anderson Arena, BG held the Bulls without a field goal for a span of 11:32, the longest of the season ... then, on Saturday, the Brown and Orange kept UB from hitting a basket for 9:55 ... those mark the longest two such stretches this season to date ... believe it or not, BGSU's longest stretch without allowing a point (field goal or free throw) was 8:58 vs. Duke.
HOME SWEET HOME
BGSU has had a great deal of success at Anderson Arena over the past few seasons ... the Falcons went a perfect 11-0 in home games last season, and - after downing Akron, 91-46, Wednesday (Feb. 14) - have won 29 consecutive games at "The House That Roars" ... as mentioned earlier in these game notes, BG's homecourt winning streak is now the longest in the nation.
ROAD SWEET ROAD?
The Falcons have achieved a measure of success away from home as well ... BGSU has won 23 of the last 25 road games, dating to late in the 2004-05 season ... BGSU's only two road losses in that span each came in overtime, at Kentucky (66-62; Jan. 2, 2006) and Notre Dame (85-81; Nov. 13, 2006) ... since the start of the 2003-04 season, the Falcons are 27-4 on the road in league action and 39-12 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 ... after the win at Buffalo (Feb. 17), the Falcons have won 16-straight league road contests ... that UB game also marked BG's ninth overall road win in a row since the loss at Notre Dame.
OVERALL SWEET OVERALL?
The Falcons have won the last 17 overall games, regardless of venue ... BGSU enters Tuesday with the fourth-longest overall winning streak in the country, trailing only Duke (28), Middle Tennessee (21) and UW-Green Bay (18).
BIG WIN ON THE ROAD
The Falcons' 41-point margin of victory was BGSU's largest in a road game in nearly 13 years, and was only the third road win by over 40 points in program history (note: does not include two 40-point wins, with site unknown, during the 1973-74 season) ... the Falcons downed Akron by a 103-53 count on Feb. 26, 1994, in the only other MAC road win by over 40 points in program history ... BG's other 40-point road win game at Wittenberg, by an 83-40 score on Jan. 21, 1975.
TOP OF THE CHARTS
It's pretty obvious, just by watching them play, that seniors Ali Mann and Liz Honegger are two of the top players in BGSU history ... the statistical data would back that up as well ... both players are ranked among the top-five Falcons in career scoring, and now, both are among the top-five all-time in rebounding as well ... Mann is in second place in BG career scoring, and now has 1,697 career points, while Honegger is fourth with 1,450 points entering the KSU game ... Honegger has moved into third in rebounding, with 863 as a Falcon, while Mann has a total of 849 to rank fifth ... Honegger's name will remain all over the BGSU records lists, as she is the school's career leader in games started (118), three-point field goals made (204) and attempted (563) and blocks (181) ... Mann is the BG career leader in free throws made (458) and attempted (639), and she is second in games started (117), fourth in field goals made (571) and seventh in FG attempts (1,174).
HORNE MOVES INTO TOP FIVE IN STEALS
Senior Carin Horne tied for game honors with three steals vs. Akron, giving her 199 for her career ... Horne has moved past Susie Cassell (1990-94) into fifth place in that category on the BGSU career list ... the school record is 244, set by Lindsay Austin (2000-04) ... senior Liz Honegger has 189 career steals in her career.
ALI: ONE OF THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME
No, she did not change her name from Cassius Clay ... and no, her name is not even pronounced the same as a certain boxer who proclaimed himself as 'the greatest of all-time' ... but, senior Ali Mann certainly could make her claim as one of the best players in BGSU history ... in the win at Eastern Michigan (Jan. 28), Mann surpassed both the 1,600-point and 800-rebound plateaus for her career ... she ranks second in BGSU history in career scoring, and is fifth on the rebounding chart ... also in that EMU game, Mann became the BG career leader in free throws made ... she had a monster game at Northern Illinois (Feb. 10), with 23 points and 16 rebounds, and enters the KSU contest with career totals of 1,697 points and 849 boards ... Mann is the only player in school history with more than 1,600 points and 800 rebounds in her career, and soon will surpass the 1,700-850 mark.
A LOT OF REBOUNDS
Senior Ali Mann's 16-rebound performance at Northern Illinois tied her career best, and was a season-high total for a BGSU player ... the last time a Falcon had as many as 15 rebounds came the last time the Brown and Orange faced NIU ... Mann pulled down 15 boards in the Falcons' come-from-behind win over the Huskies in the quarterfinal round of last year's MAC Tournament in Cleveland (March 8, 2006).
GOOD AS GOLDS
Sophomore Lindsey Goldsberry has been a veritable Energizer Bunny for the Falcons this season ... Goldsberry was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field in the Buffalo game en route to seven points, and set career highs with six assists (no turnovers) and six steals ... earlier in February, she had five steals vs. Toledo (a career high at the time), along with four steals to match her then-career best ... Goldsberry leads the Falcons in steals this season, with 46 in her 25 games ... in MAC games only, she paces the Brown and Orange in steals (2.4 spg) and is second in assists (2.8 apg) ... Goldsberry has a stellar 3.3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio in league play, with 36 helpers and just 11 turnovers in 13 games.
FLYNN-TASTIC
Amber Flynn has been a force off the bench for the Falcons all season, and the senior is a strong candidate for this year's MAC Sixth Man of the Year award ... Flynn had a career-high 18 points vs. Ball State (Feb. 7), going 6-for-7 both from the field and from the free-throw line ... she had no fewer than three conventional three-point plays in the game, and also led the Brown and Orange in rebounds with eight ... after scoring 10 points at Buffalo, Flynn now has had 14 double-figure scoring efforts this year to date, and is averaging 9.6 points and 4.3 rebounds in 20.8 minutes per game this year ... Flynn, who has a field-goal pct. of 58.6% (102-for-174), has scored 249 points this season after scoring a combined total of 198 in her first three years at BGSU.
THREE IN THE TOP-15, FOUR IN THE TOP-25
The 2006-07 Falcons have a total of three players who are ranked among the top-15 career scorers in program history ... a fourth player is ranked 22nd on that list ... keep reading for more details.
FALCONS HAVE A TRIO OF 1,000-POINT SCORERS ...
Senior Ali Mann will end her career as the second-leading scorer in BGSU history ... she passed Sara Puthoff to take over second place in the game at Northern Illinois (Feb. 10), and now has a total of 1,697 points, trailing only Jackie Motycka ... senior Liz Honegger now has 1,450 points for her BGSU career, and sits in fifth place all-time at BGSU, entering the KSU game ... classmate Carin Horne surpassed the 1,000-point plateau for her career in the Oakland game (Nov. 29) ... entering Tuesday's game, she has 1,210 career points, ranking her 15th all-time.
... AND ANOTHER ON THE WAY?
Carin Horne joined an exclusive group that currently includes only 21 players in the history of Falcon women's basketball ... that 1,000-point list includes three members of the current team, with a fourth possibly joining them before the year is out ... in January of 2006, Ali Mann became just the 19th player in school history to reach the millennium mark, and only the sixth to do so prior to her senior year ... three weeks after Mann reached 1,000 points, Liz Honegger became the 20th BG player (seventh prior to her senior year) to do so ... and, junior Kate Achter is just 27 points away from reaching the 1,000-point mark for her career ... Achter currently ranks 22nd in BGSU annals with 973 career points (entire list is where? That's right -- in the pdf).
SHE CAN DISH IT OUT AND TAKE IT
Junior Kate Achter, as mentioned, has 973 career points, ranking 22nd in school history ... the point guard has moved onto the BGSU assists list as well as the scoring chart ... she now has a career total of exactly 400, ranking her fifth all-time ... Achter has a chance to join Lindsay Austin (2000-04) as the only players in BGSU history to reach both 1,000 points and 400 assists for a career.
LEADERS OF THE MAC
The Falcons are at the top of numerous team categories in the latest Mid-American Conference statistics (as of Feb. 19) ... BGSU is first or second in no fewer than 11 categories ... the Falcons lead the league in a whopping 10 - scoring offense (75.7), scoring defense (55.5), scoring margin (+20.3), field-goal percentage (47.7), FG pct. defense (38.2), three-point FG pct. (38.9), three-point FG pct. defense (28.4), assists (16.38), turnover margin (+6.58) and assist/turnover ratio (1.25) ... BG is second in three-pointers made (7.38) ... individually, senior Megan Thorburn now leads the league in three-point field-goal pct. (42.3), while senior Liz Honegger is third in that category (41.1) ... Honegger is fourth in three-pointers made (2,04) and fifth in blocked shots ... senior Ali Mann is fourth in the league in field-goal pct. (53.8) and seventh in scoring (15.9), while junior Kate Achter is third in assists (4.85) and fourth in assist/TO ratio (1.70) ... in MAC games only, the Falcons lead the league in seven team categories and are second in four others.
SHE'S THE MANN: ALI IS A MODEL OF CONSISTENCY
For over three-and-a-half years now, it seems as if Ali Mann has always been there when the Falcons needed her ... while nothing is a given, head coach Curt Miller and his staff pretty much know what they're going to get when they pencil Mann's name into the starting lineup ... the Chelsea, Mich., native has been a model of consistency for the Falcons, both in 2006-07 and in her career ... it took a bout of bronchitis to keep her out of double digits in scoring for the first time this year ... Mann had seven points, and a game-high seven rebounds, in just 22 minutes vs. Akron Wednesday (Feb. 14) ... she played just five minutes in the second half and did not attempt a shot after halftime ... again at Buffalo (Feb. 17), Mann was held to eight points as the Falcons rolled to a blowout win ... Mann has put the team on her back several times, including the Toledo game ... against the Rockets, she scored 10-straight BG points late in the second half in the come-from-behind win ... she had a monster game at Northern Illinois, with 23 points and 16 rebounds ... Mann, who has played in 119 games as a Falcon, has scored in double digits no fewer than 94 times ... she has hit double figures in 24 games this year, and saw a streak of 31-straight double-digit games come to an end in the UA contest.
RUNNING WITH THE FALCONS
The Falcons had a 15-0 run in the second half at Buffalo Saturday (Feb. 17) ... that came on the heels of the Akron game (Feb. 14), in which the Brown and Orange scored the first 13 points of the night ... BGSU has had a total of 33 double-digit scoring runs this year to date, after having 15 during all of last season.
FLYNN, HONEGGER AND MANN CAPTAIN FALCONS
A trio of seniors - Amber Flynn, Liz Honegger and Ali Mann - have been named tri-captains of the 2006-07 Falcons ... the three were selected in a vote of team members as well as coaching staff ... Mann is a second-year captain, having been a unanimous selection last year as a junior.
UP NEXT
Following the Kent State game, the Falcons will conclude the regular season with a pair of games at venerable Anderson Arena, "The House That Roars" ... BGSU will host Ohio Saturday afternoon (Feb. 24) in a 1:00 p.m. start ... then, the Falcons will face Miami on Wednesday, Feb. 28, on 'Senior Night," before opening MAC Tournament play with a quarterfinal-round game at Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday, March 6.
