Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Head to MAC's West Coast
February 09, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 9, 2007
Falcon Game Notes in PDF Format
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
#17/18 BGSU at NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Sat., February 10, 2007 • 11:30 a.m. CT
Convocation Center (9,100) • DeKalb, Illinois
RECORDS: BGSU 21-2 (10-0 MAC) // Northern Illinois 15-7 (6-4 MAC)
RADIO: WBGU-FM (88.1) - Mike Castellano and Danny Nieves
TELEVISION: MAC Game of the Week - Dave Kaplan and Brooke Weisbrod
SERIES: BGSU leads, 14-12 // STREAK: BGSU - 4
LAST MEETING: BGSU 73, Northern Illinois 61 (March 8, 2006)
THE GAME
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, riding a 14-game winning streak, concludes cross-divisional play with a trip to the Mid-American Conference's "West Coast" ... the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller (21-2, 10-0 MAC), coming off a win over Ball State in a meeting of MAC divisional leaders, head to Northern Illinois University for a Saturday (Feb. 10) matchup, with tipoff set for 11:30 a.m. locally (12:30 p.m. ET) at the Convocation Center (9,100) in DeKalb, Ill. ... the game is the MAC TV Game of the Week, with Dave Kaplan and Brooke Weisbrod on the call ... planned clearances include Fox Sports Net Ohio, Comcast Local, CSN Chicago and Time Warner in Western New York ... BGSU, ranked 17th in the nation in the USA Today/ESPN poll and 18th by the Associated Press, is looking to extend several lengthy streaks in Saturday's game.
AND WHAT STREAKS WOULD THOSE BE?
As mentioned, BGSU enters Saturday's game at Northern Illinois with several lengthy streaks on the line ... the Falcons have won ...
• 14 consecutive overall games since a Dec. 19 loss to #1-ranked Duke;
• 35-straight contests vs. MAC foes (a school and conference record);
• 28 consecutive home games, the second-longest active home winning streak in the nation (obviously, this streak will not be on the line on Saturday);
• 14-straight MAC road games;
• 49 of 54 games since the beginning of last season; and
• 55 of the last 61 overall 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 Wednesday night (Feb. 7), going 6-for-7 both from the field and from the free-throw line in the Falcons' 86-76 win ... she had no fewer than three conventional three-point plays in the game, and also led the Brown and Orange in rebounds with eight ... Flynn also tied her career mark with three assists for the second-straight game ... she has had 12 double-figure scoring efforts this year to date, and is averaging 9.5 points and 4.3 rebounds in 20.7 minutes per game this year ... Flynn, who has a field-goal pct. of 60.4% (90-for-149), has scored 219 points this season after scoring a combined total of 198 in her first three years at BGSU.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the Northern Illinois contest with a 21-2 overall record ... BGSU has a 10-0 MAC mark on the season, and the Falcons have won the last 14 games ... BG began the second half of the league schedule with Sunday's (Feb. 4) 73-62 win over Toledo, and the Brown and Orange picked up an 86-76 win over Ball State three days later... those two games came after cross-divisional wins over the MAC's three Michigan schools and a non-league victory at Chicago State ... the Falcons are 10-0 at home, 8-1 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 head coach Curt Miller's squad ... but, BG has bounced back in a big way, as mentioned, winning all 14 games since that time.
• Four BG players are averaging double digits in scoring, with a fifth recording over nine points per game ... senior Ali Mann has 16.3 points to lead the way, while classmates Liz Honegger (11.0) and Carin Horne (10.8) are also in double figures ... junior Kate Achter (10.7) rounds out the double-digit scorers, while senior Amber Flynn (9.5) is fifth on the team in scoring ... Honegger paces the Falcons in rebounding, with 6.0 per game, while Mann is averaging 4.9 rpg and Horne and Flynn 4.3 each ... Achter has a team-high 4.9 assists per contest, and Mann is second with 2.7 apg ... Horne has 1.6 steals per game to rank second on the team, and seven total BG players are averaging at least one steal per game ... Honegger paces BG with 1.2 blocked shots per outing, and also has a team-high 51 three-point field goals made (in 119 attempts) this year.
• Flynn is shooting a team-best 60.4 percent from the field, while Mann is shooting 54.2% ... senior Megan Thorburn has 5.8 ppg and a 39.5% three-point FG rate ... she ranks third in that category, trailing Mann (47.4%) and Honegger (42.9%).
• In addition to Flynn, sophomore Jasmine McCall has seen action in all 23 games off the bench, while classmate Lindsey Goldsberry has played in 22 ... Goldsberry has 3.5 points, 2.0 assists and 1.8 steals per outing, while McCall has 3.0 points and 1.7 helpers per game ... Goldsberry leads the team in steals and is third in assists, while McCall is fourth in both categories ... 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 74.3 points per game, while allowing just 55.5 ... the Falcons are shooting 47.1 percent from the field, and have made 167 three-point field goals - 7.26 per game - in 434 tries (38.5%) ... BG has limited the foes to just a 38.1% field-goal rate and a 28.2% effort from long range (100-for-354 from beyond the arc) ... BGSU has made 67 more triples (167 to 100) and 89 more free throws (337 to 248) than the opponents ... the Falcons have a 70.2% success rate from the free-throw line, while the opposition is shooting 68.5% from the stripe ... in MAC games, BG has made more free throws (158) than the opponents have attempted (150).
• 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 15 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 114-58, in his sixth year ... over the last three-plus seasons, Miller and the Falcons are 93-23 overall ... BGSU has gone 50-8 in MAC regular-season play in that time, and 59-9 in all games vs. league foes during that span (9-1 in league tourney play) ... the Falcons have posted 20 victories for the fourth consecutive season.
BGSU EXTENDS MAC RECORD FOR CONSECUTIVE WINS
The Falcons extended an impressive streak Wednesday (Feb. 7) ... BGSU's 86-76 win over Ball State was the Falcons' 35th 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 10-straight wins.
DOUBLE-DIGIT WINNING STREAK
The Falcons have won the last 14 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.
BGSU'S LONGEST WINNING STREAKS
Year Streak Notes 1986-87 21 Falcons, at 6-2, did not lose again until NCAA Tourney 1988-89 20 Final win came vs. Cincinnati in NCAA first round 1993-84 20 Falcons lost MAC opener, then won out until NCAAs 2005-06 19 Included 16-0 league record and 3 MAC tourney wins 1992-93 17 BG, 8-4, won final 14 MAC games, 3 more in conf. tourney 2006-07 14 Last BGSU loss came to Duke (now #1) on Dec. 19
MANN A REPEAT SELECTION TO ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT TEAM
Senior Ali Mann has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV Team, it was announced Thursday (Feb. 8) ... Mann was chosen to the third team for the second-straight year ... 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 have at least sophomore standing, be a starter or an important reserve, and must carry a cumulative GPA of 3.20 or higher ... Mann maintains a 3.49 GPA as a supply chain management major.
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 third in BGSU history in career scoring, and is sixth on the rebounding chart ... also in that EMU game, Mann became the BG career leader in free throws made ... she enters the NIU contest with career totals of 1,659 points and 824 boards ... Mann is the only player in school history with more than 1,600 points and 800 rebounds in her career.
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 ... BGSU has shot 50.0% or better from the floor in nine games this season, matching the total for the previous two seasons combined ... the Falcons are now a perfect 23-0 when shooting at least 50.0% in the Curt Miller Era.
SCOUTING NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Northern Illinois will enter Saturday's action with an overall record of 15-7, and the Huskies currently have a 6-4 record in MAC play to date ... Northern saw a three-game winning streak come to an end with a narrow 78-71 loss at Kent State on Wednesday night (Feb. 7) ... the Huskies have won seven of the last 10 games ... at home, NIU is 8-1 this year, including a perfect 4-0 in MAC action ... the team's lone home loss came to IUPUI, 73-67, back on Nov. 14 ... individually, senior guard Stephanie Raymond leads the Huskies in scoring, with 18.4 points per game ... she also paces the team in assists (6.5 apg), steals (2.0 spg) and three-point field goals made (35) ... senior center Kristin Wiener has 15.4 points and a team-leading 7.9 rebounds per outing, while sophomore guard Jessie Wilcox has scored 10.6 points per contest ... junior G/F Whitney Lowe and senior guard Mary Basic have scored 9.7 and 7.4 ppg, respectively ... sophomore forward Becky Smith (3.2 ppg) joined Basic, Raymond, Wiener and Wilcox in the starting lineup at KSU for head coach Carol Owens ... no fewer than four different players each have connected on at least 30 three-pointers this year to date ... Owens welcomed back five letterwinners, including four starters, from last year's team that finished 12-17 overall and 7-9 in MAC action ... Owens is in her second season as a collegiate head coach, both in DeKalb ... the school's athletics web site is www.niuhuskies.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Northern Illinois, 14-12, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU has captured each of the last four meetings ... the Falcons hold a narrow 8-6 lead in the 14 meetings since the Huskies returned to the MAC, prior to the 1997-98 season ... BG won a close contest, 66-58, in last year's lone regular-season matchup at Anderson Arena (Feb. 8, 2006) ... the teams met again in the MAC Tournament's quarterfinal round in Cleveland, and the Falcons survived a frigid shooting first half, scoring 57 points after halftime en route to a 73-61 win (March 8, 2006) ... the Brown and Orange shot just 18.8 percent in the first half, but shot 60.0% from the field in the second half of that game ... BG's last trip to DeKalb came two years ago, when the Falcons closed the regular season with a come-from-behind win, 75-72 (March 1, 2005)s.
(More information available in the pdf at the top of the page)
