Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU Closes Regular Season by Hosting Miami Wednesday
February 27, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 27, 2007
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) -
#18/19 BGSU vs. MIAMI
Wed., February 28, 2007 • 7:00 p.m.
Anderson Arena (4,700) • Bowling Green, Ohio
RECORDS: BGSU 25-3 (14-1 MAC) // Miami 12-16 (6-9 MAC)
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1) - Paul Braverman and Brian Scullin
TELEVISION: BCSN - Dave Horger and Fran Voll
SERIES: BGSU leads, 35-23 // STREAK: BGSU - 6
LAST MEETING: BGSU 64, at Miami 56 (Jan. 16, 2007)
BGSU Game Notes in PDF Format
2006-07 Season Boxscores PDF Format
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Read what Beth Mowins had to say in her ESPN.com story about the Falcons
THE GAME
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, coming off a loss for the first time in over two months, will conclude the regular-season schedule with a midweek Mid-American Conference contest ... the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller (25-3, 14-1 MAC), after suffering a 70-67 setback to Ohio to snap an 18-game winning streak, will meet Miami University in Wednesday (Feb. 28) action ... tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at venerable Anderson Arena (4,700), "The House That Roars" ... BGSU is currently ranked 18th in the nation in the USA Today/ESPN poll and 19th by the Associated Press.
1,000 POINTS OF LIGHT
Junior Kate Achter surpassed the 1,000-point milestone for her career in the Ohio game, giving the 2006-07 Falcons four players that have reached the millennium mark ... Achter and seniors Ali Mann, Liz Honegger and Carin Horne all have over a thousand points in their BGSU careers ... this marks the first time that BGSU has ever had four such players on the same team at the same time ... late in the 1992-93 season - when Lori Albers, Judit Lendvay and Andrea Nordmann all had reached the milestone - was the only prior time that three active Falcons had 1,000 points at the same time.
SENIOR NIGHT
Wednesday will mark 'Senior Night' at Anderson Arena, with one of the finest classes in the history of the program recognized in pregame ceremonies ... Amber Flynn, Julie Gompers, Liz Honegger, Carin Horne, Ali Mann and Megan Thorburn will be honored prior to the game, with the festivities scheduled to start at approximately 6:46 p.m.
STELLAR SENIORS
Wednesday night, as mentioned, is 'Senior Night' for the Falcon women's basketball program ... the Falcons had a record of 12-16 in 2002-03, the year before this group arrived on campus ... when Amber Flynn, Julie Gompers, Liz Honegger, Carin Horne, Ali Mann and Megan Thorburn were freshmen in 2003-04, BG was one of the most improved teams in the the nation ... the Falcons, picked to finish last in the West Division that season, finished second before advancing all the way to the championship game of the MAC Tournament ... the group helped the Falcons to MAC regular-season and tournament titles in both their sophomore and junior seasons ... now, as seniors, they have led the Falcons to a 25-3 overall record and a third-straight MAC regular-season crown ... the group has combined for 5,496 points, 2,715 rebounds, 660 assists, 640 steals and 331 blocked shots in their careers ... more importantly, they have helped the Falcons to 97 wins, the three MAC regular-season titles, two MAC Tournament crowns and two NCAA Championships appearances to date.
STATS FOR SIX STELLAR SENIORS
Player GP-GS Min/Avg Reb/Avg Ast Blk Stl Pts/Avg FLYNN 88-0 1147/13.0 261/3.0 31 29 57 480/5.5 GOMPERS 16-0 49/3.1 1/0.1 11 0 1 12/0.8 HONEGGER 121-120 3583/29.6 872/7.2 157 183 194 1469/12.1 HORNE 119-87 2659/22.3 481/4.0 131 45 206 1234/10.4 MANN 121-119 3856/31.9 862/7.1 228 55 127 1719/14.2 THORBURN 119-80 2011/16.9 238/2.0 102 19 55 582/4.9 TOTALS 584-406 13305 2715 660 331 640 5496
LOOKING TO CONTINUE 'SENIOR NIGHT' SUCCESS
The Falcons saw a number of streaks come to an end in the Ohio game, but BGSU enters Wednesday's Miami game looking to continue another successful streak ... the Falcons are a perfect 5-0 in 'Senior Day/Night' games in the Curt Miller Era ... in fact, BG is 10-1 in the last 11 such contests ... the lone loss in that time came to Miami, six years to the day prior to Wednesday (Feb. 28, 2001).
ANOTHER MAC REGULAR-SEASON TITLE, FIRST-ROUND BYE
For what it's worth, the Falcons have clinched the MAC's overall regular-season title for the third consecutive year ... BGSU can finish no worse than 14-2 in conference play, and each of the league's other 11 teams have at least three losses ... while it is a nice accomplishment, and allows for a note that helps to take up space in these game notes, the regular-season title means little more than bragging rights these days ... it affects 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.) ... the Falcons, as the East Division's top seed, earn a first-round bye for the league tournament, and will play an opponent to be determined in the quarterfinal round on Tuesday, March 6, at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland ... BGSU's game is scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m.
MAC TOURNAMENT BEGINS SUNDAY
BGSU's 85-44 win at Buffalo (Feb. 17) enabled the Falcons to clinch the MAC's East Division title outright for the second consecutive year ... the Falcons 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 ... 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, as the East's number-one seed, 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 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 that quarterfinal-round matchup ... the complete MAC Tournament schedule ...
(all games at Quicken Loans Arena; Cleveland, Ohio)
First Round - Sun., March 4
East Division #4 vs. West Division #5, 1:00 p.m.
West Division #3 vs. East Division #6, 3:00 p.m. *
West Division #4 vs. East Division #5, 5:00 p.m. *
East Division #3 vs. West Division #6, 7:00 p.m. *
Quarterfinals - Tue., March 6
East #4/West #5 vs. Ball State (West #1), 1:00 p.m.
West #3/East #6 vs. East #2, 3:00 p.m. *
West #4/East #5 vs. Bowling Green (East #1), 5:00 p.m. *
East #3/West #6 vs. West #2, 7:00 p.m. *
Semifinals - Fri., March 9
East #4/West #5/West #1 vs. West #3/East #6/East #2, Noon
West #4/East #5/East #1 vs. East #3/West #6/West #2, 2:30 p.m. *
Championship - Sat., March 10 Semifinal winners, 1:00 p.m.
* or 30 minutes following end of previous game
THREE IN THE TOP-12, FOURTH EYES TOP-20
The 2006-07 Falcons have a total of three players who are ranked among the top-12 career scorers in program history ... a fourth player is ranked 21st on that list ... keep reading for more details.
FALCONS HAVE A QUARTET 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 1,719 points, trailing only Jackie Motycka ... senior Liz Honegger now has 1,469 points for her BGSU career, and sits in fifth place all-time at BGSU, entering the Miami game ... classmate Carin Horne surpassed the 1,000-point plateau for her career in the Oakland game (Nov. 29) ... entering Wednesday's game, she has 1,234 career points to rank 12th in school history ... and, on Saturday (Feb. 24), Kate Achter had 16 first-half points vs. Ohio, surpassing 1,000 points late in that half ... she now has 1,004 career points to rank 21st on the BG list.
AN ELITE GROUP
Kate Achter joined an exclusive group that currently includes only 22 players in the history of Falcon women's basketball ... that 1,000-point list includes four members of the current team ... in January of 2006, Ali Mann became just the 19th player in school history to reach the millennium mark, and Liz Honegger became the 20th just three weeks later ... Carin Horne joined the club in this year's Oakland game (Nov. 29, 2006), and Achter added her name to that list in the Ohio game Saturday (Feb. 24) ... the complete list of 1,000-point scorers at BGSU can be found in the pdf attachment.
AN EVEN MORE ELITE GROUP
Kate Achter became the 22nd player in BGSU history to reach the 1,000-point plateau ... she joined an even more exclusive group, however, becoming only the eighth player to do so prior to her senior season ... three of those eight players reside on the current roster, as both Ali Mann and Liz Honegger reached the millennium mark during their junior seasons.
A PRETTY ELITE GROUP AS WELL
Bowling Green is believed to be one of only two NCAA Division I teams currently boasting four 1,000-point scorers ... a survey of sports information personnel throughout the nation has turned up only BGSU and James Madison as members of that exclusive group.
HONEGGER, MANN ON REBOUNDING LISTS
Seniors Liz Honegger and Ali Mann, each among the top scorers in BGSU history, also are among the leading rebounders in program annals ... Honegger surpassed the 800-rebound plateau in January, and now has a career total of 872 to rank third on the BG list ... Mann surpassed the 800-board mark in the win at EMU (Jan. 28), and now has 862 caroms ... she has moved into a tie for fourth on that chart.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the Miami contest with a 25-3 overall record ... BGSU has a 14-1 MAC mark on the season, and have clinched the conference's overall regular-season title for the third consecutive year ... but, the Falcons saw an 18-game winning streak snapped with Saturday's (Feb. 24) 70-67 home loss to Ohio ... that also broke a string of five consecutive games in which BGSU had scored 85 or more points, including an impressive 89-66 victory at Kent State last Tuesday (Feb. 20)... the Falcons are 11-1 at home, 11-1 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); to Duke by only nine points (55-46, Dec. 19) in Cancun, Mexico; and to Ohio ... 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 bounced back in a big way, as mentioned, with the 18-game win streak prior to the loss to OU.
• Five BG players are averaging double digits in scoring ... senior Ali Mann has 15.6 points to lead the way, and junior Kate Achter is second on the team with 11.6 points per game ... seniors Carin Horne (11.1), Liz Honegger (10.4) and Amber Flynn (10.1) round out the Falcons' five double-figure scorers ... Honegger paces the Falcons in rebounding, with 5.6 per game, while Mann is averaging 5.4 rpg and Flynn and Horne 4.2 rpg apiece ... Achter has a team-high 4.7 assists per contest, and Mann is second with 2.5 apg ... Horne has 1.8 steals per game to rank second on the team, and a total of eight BG players have at least 22 steals on the season ... Honegger paces BG with 1.1 blocked shots per outing, and also has a team-high 56 three-point field goals made (in 140 attempts) this year.
• Flynn is shooting a team-best 61.0 percent from the field, while Mann is shooting 53.2% and Achter 51.4% ... senior Megan Thorburn has 6.3 ppg and a 42.3% three-point FG rate ... she ranks second on the team in that category, trailing only Mann (46.9%) ... Honegger has shot 40.0% from long range.
• In addition to Flynn, sophomore Jasmine McCall has seen action in all 28 games off the bench, while classmate Lindsey Goldsberry has played in 27 ... Goldsberry has 3.9 points, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals per outing, while McCall has 3.5 points and 1.8 assists per game ... Goldsberry leads the team in steals and is third in assists, while McCall is tied for third in steals (with Achter) and ranks fourth in helpers ... junior Whitney Taylor played in nine of the season's first 10 games, averaging 3.1 ppg, but is out for the season due to injury.
• BGSU is averaging 75.9 points per game, while allowing just 56.4 ... the Falcons are shooting 47.7 percent from the field, and have made 198 three-point field goals - 7.07 per game - in 517 tries (38.3%) ... BG has limited the foes to just a 38.9% field-goal rate and a 29.2% effort from long range (126-for-432 from beyond the arc) ... BGSU has made 72 more triples (198 to 126) and 127 more free throws (427 to 300) than the opponents ... the Falcons have a 71.8% success rate from the free-throw line, while the opposition is shooting 69.6% from the stripe ... in MAC games, BG has made more free throws (248) than the opponents have attempted (219).
• 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 has played in 18 games and Bugher 17 ... Clapper saw action in 13 games, but is 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 118-59, in his sixth year ... over the last three-plus seasons, Miller and the Falcons are 97-24 overall ... BGSU has gone 54-9 in MAC regular-season play in that time, and 63-10 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.
FIRST-EVER BACK-TO-BACK UNDEFEATED ROAD RECORDS
The Falcons have pulled off yet another first ... BGSU's 89-66 win at Kent State last Tuesday (Feb. 20) gave the team a perfect 8-0 MAC road record for the second consecutive year ... the Falcons have become the first team to post back-to-back undefeated road conference records ... BG teams have recorded four of the seven road unbeaten marks in league history.
BGSU SETS MAC RECORD FOR CONSECUTIVE WINS
The Falcons' 89-66 win at Kent State was BGSU's 39th consecutive victory against MAC opposition, shattering the school and conference records ... the Falcons had not lost since the 2004-05 campaign ... BG fell at Eastern Michigan (Feb. 19, 2005), then won three consecutive games to close that 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 opened the 2006-07 conference campaign with 14-straight wins before the loss to Ohio.
JUST OUT OF CURIOSITY, WHAT WAS THE OLD RECORD?
BGSU, as mentioned on multiple occasions already, won 39 consecutive games (regular-season and tournament) against MAC foes, breaking 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.
THE FALCONS ARE ...
• 118-59 in the five-plus years since Curt Miller took the helm in May of 2001;
• 65-30 in MAC games in that time;
• 97-24 overall and 54-9 in the MAC over the last three-plus seasons, since the current senior class arrived on campus in the fall of 2003;
• 53-6 since the beginning of last season;
• 59-7 in the last 66 overall games since February of 2005 (with the losses coming to Kansas State [2005 NCAA Tournament], Delaware, Kentucky, UCLA [2006 NCAA Tournament], Notre Dame, Duke and Ohio);
• 6-0 in games after a loss during that time (the Falcons have not lost back-to-back games since the last game of the 2003-04 season [65-56 to Eastern Michigan in MAC Tournament's championship game] and the first game of 2004-05 [89-41 at Ohio State in Preseason WNIT] - BG's last back-to-back losses in the same season came in February of 2004 [to Northern Illinois and Kent State]);
• 22-0 in games decided by double digits this season;
• 8-0 in games decided by over 30 points in 2006-07;
• 39-1 in the last 40 games against MAC opponents (with the loss to Ohio snapping that school- and conference-record streak);
• 9-1 in the MAC Tournament in the last three seasons;
• 29-1 in the last 30 home games (as the Ohio game snapped what had been the longest active home winning streak in the nation);
• 19-1 in the last 20 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 10-straight road games);
• 24-0 in the last 24 road games to be decided in regulation (since that EMU game in February of 2005);
• 17-0 in the last 17 MAC road games;
• 49-1 when outrebounding the opponent since the start of the 2004-05 season (yep, that Ohio game again);
• 50-3 when holding the opponent to fewer than 70 points since the beginning of the 2005-06 season (BGSU has only allowed six teams - UCLA, Notre Dame, Robert Morris, Ball State, Northern Illinois and OU - to reach the 70-point mark in the last 59 games);
• 6-2 in games played on Feb. 28 (including a 2-2 record vs. Miami);
• 2-1 in home games on that date (with the loss coming to MU in 2001);
• 1-0 in games on Feb. 28 in the Curt Miller Era (a 71-59 win in Oxford last season); and
• 5-0 in 'Senior Day/Night' games at Anderson Arena since Miller's arrival.
SCOUTING MIAMI
Miami enters Wednesday's action with an overall record of 12-16, and the RedHawks are currently 6-9 in MAC play to date ... MU, has dropped three-straight games and six of the last seven contests ... the team is coming off an 86-76 home loss to Kent State Saturday (Feb. 24) ... the 'Hawks have averaged 75.0 points in those last three games ... Miami has a 4-10 road record this season, including a 1-6 mark in MAC road games ... individually, junior guard Amanda Jackson leads the team with 17.7 points per game ... sophomore guards Jenna Schone and Ashley Hawkins have 11.5 and 11.0 points per contest, respectively ... Schone leads the team with 4.6 assists per game, while Jackson has 3.0 helpers per contest ... Jackson (46) and Schone (44) have combined to make 90 three-point field goals this season ... junior forward Jaclyn Leininger has 8.6 points per game, and leads active RedHawks with 6.6 rebounds per outing this year ... junior guard Sarah Hull has 7.6 ppg ... junior F/C Laura Markwood (5.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg) joined Hawkins, Jackson, Leininger and Schone in Wednesday's starting lineup for head coach Maria Fantanarosa ... Fantanarosa welcomed back nine letterwinners, including four starters, from last year's team ... that RedHawk squad went 8-20 overall and 3-13 in MAC action ... Fantanarosa, in her ninth season at her alma mater, has a record of 138-120 in Oxford ... she is 145-140 in her 10th year as collegiate head coach ... the school's athletics web site is www.MURedHawks.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Miami, 35-23, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU has captured each of the last six meetings ... the Brown and Orange won a 64-56 decision in Oxford in the team's first matchup this season (Jan. 16, 2007) ... BGSU swept last season's meetings, including an 80-58 win at Anderson Arena (Jan. 21, 2006) ... the Falcons are 16-10 in home games vs. the Redskins/RedHawks, and BG has won two-straight games vs. MU at Anderson ... prior to the Falcons' six-game overall winning streak, Miami had won five consecutive games and six of seven from BG.
RPI, NOT RIP, FOR FALCONS
Folks worried that the Falcons would plummet in the various RPI listings can rest easy, at least for now ... despite the loss to Ohio, a scan of the sites on Monday evening (Feb. 26) showed Bowling Green listed 19th by in the Jeff Sagarin/CBN ratings, 21st by CollegeRPI.com and 22nd at both RPIratings.com and RealtimeRPI.com ... for comparison's sake, BGSU finished the 2005-06 season ranked 34th by CollegeRPI.com.
BACK-TO-BACK 25-WIN SEASONS
The Falcons have posted back-to-back seasons of at least 25 wins for the second time in school history, and only the third time in MAC annals ... the 1992-93 (25) and '93-94 (26) BGSU teams each reached the 25-win mark, and the Toledo clubs in 1995-96 (25) and 1996-97 (27) also turned the trick.
LEADERS OF THE MAC
The Falcons are at the top of numerous team categories in the latest Mid-American Conference statistics (as of Feb. 27) ... BGSU is first or second in no fewer than 11 categories ... the Falcons lead the league in a whopping seven - scoring offense (75.9), scoring defense (56.4), scoring margin (+19.5), field-goal percentage (47.7), three-point FG pct. defense (29.2), turnover margin (+6.82) and assist/turnover ratio (1.21) ... BG is second in FG pct. defense (38.9), three-point FG pct. (38.3), assists (16.07) and steals (11.00) ... individually, senior Amber Flynn is second in the MAC in field-goal pct. (61.0) ... senior Liz Honegger is fourth in both three-point FG pct. (40.0) and three-pointers made (2,00) and fifth in blocked shots ... junior Kate Achter is third in assists (4.71) and fifth in assist/TO ratio (1.65) ... senior Ali Mann is fifth in FG pct. (53.2) and eighth in scoring (15.6) ... in MAC games only, the Falcons lead the league in eight team categories and are second in another.
RUNNING WITH THE FALCONS
The Falcons had a 15-0 run in the second half at Buffalo (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 ... by contrast, the Falcons have allowed opponents just three such runs, including none in the 15 MAC games.
FLYNN-TASTIC
Amber Flynn has been a force off the bench for the Falcons all season, and the senior is perhaps the leading candidate for this year's MAC Sixth Man of the Year award ... Flynn, who has come off the bench in all 28 games this year, had a career-high 21 points at Kent State Tuesday (Feb. 20), going a perfect 8-for-8 from the field and 5-for-6 from the free-throw line ... she had 18 points - her career best to that point - in the Feb. 7 win over Ball State, going 6-for-7 both from the field and the line in that win ... she had no fewer than three conventional three-point plays vs. BSU, and also led the Brown and Orange in rebounds with eight ... after scoring 12 points vs. Ohio Saturday (Feb. 24), Flynn has had 16 double-figure scoring efforts this year to date, and is averaging 10.1 points and 4.2 rebounds in 21.1 minutes per game this year ... Flynn ranks second in the MAC with a field-goal pct. of 61.0% (114-for-187) ... she has scored 282 points this season after scoring a combined total of 198 in her first three years at BGSU.
SHE CAN DISH IT OUT AND TAKE IT
Junior Kate Achter, as mentioned, went over the 1,000-point mark for her career, ranking 21st in school history with 1,004 points as a Falcon ... the point guard has moved onto the BGSU assists list as well as the scoring chart ... she now has a career total of 406, ranking her fifth all-time ... Achter has joined Lindsay Austin (2000-04) as the only players in BGSU history to reach both 1,000 points and 400 assists for a career.
HORNE MOVES INTO TOP FIVE IN STEALS
Senior Carin Horne had a game-high five steals vs. Ohio, giving her 206 for her career ... Horne now ranks fifth in that category on the BGSU career list, and is just two shy of fourth-place Talita Scott (208 from 1990-94) ... the school record is 244, set by Lindsay Austin (2000-04) ... senior Liz Honegger has moved into seventh place on that list, and now has 194 career steals.
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 1,719 career points, while Honegger is fourth with 1,469 points entering the Miami game ... Honegger ranks third in rebounding, with 872 as a Falcon, while Mann has a total of 862 to tie for fourth on that chart ... Honegger's name will remain all over the BGSU records lists, as she is the school's career leader in games started (120), three-point field goals made (207) and attempted (574) and blocks (183) ... Mann is the BG career leader in free throws made (461) and attempted (643), and she is second in games started (119), third in field goals made (580) and sixth in FG attempts (1,194).
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 Miami contest with career totals of 1,719 points and 862 boards ... Mann is the only player in school history with more than 1,600 points and 800 rebounds in her career.
HONEGGER IN A CLASS BY HERSELF IN THE MAC ...
Liz Honegger is making her mark as one of the top players in school history, and one of the most versatile ... she has accomplished something that no other BGSU - or MAC - player had 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 ... in fact, she is way beyond those totals, and enters the Miami game with 207 treys and 183 rejections ... only two other players in MAC annals reached as many as 100 in both categories (Stephanie Smiley [EMU, 1998-2002], 174 3's, 103 blocks; Tamara Bowie [BSU, 2000-03], 100 3's, 152 blocks).
... AND IN THE NATION
Here's another note that illustrates why Liz Honegger may be the most versatile center in the country ... Honegger is believed to be the only player in NCAA Division-I history to hold both the three-point field goal and blocked shot career records at her school ... a survey of sports information directors around the nation has turned up no other such players as of Tuesday, Feb. 27.
FALCONS HANG WITH DUKE
The Falcons faced Duke, ranked fourth in the nation at the time, in Cancun on Dec. 19 ... BG lost that game, but the outcome looks better and better with every passing day ... the Blue Devils were the highest-ranked opponent in BGSU history (Maryland was also fourth when BG played them in the 1989 NCAA Tournament) ... the Falcons led the Devils in the second half before losing by nine points, 55-46 ... through the end of the regular season, BGSU, Tennessee and North Carolina are the only teams to play Duke to a single-digit margin this season ... Duke - now ranked #1 in the nation - is 29-0 entering the ACC Tournament.
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 Miami game, the Falcons will head to Cleveland to open defense of their back-to-back MAC Tournament titles ... BGSU has earned a first-round bye, and will play an opponent to be determined in Tuesday's (March 6) quarterfinal round ... the Falcons will play in that day's third game, scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m. at Quicken Loans Arena.
