Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Host St. Bonaventure Sunday
December 11, 2008 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 11, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) -
BGSU vs. ST. BONAVENTURE
Sunday, December 14, 2008 • 2:00 p.m.Anderson Arena (4,700) • Bowling Green, Ohio
RECORDS: BGSU 6-2 // St. Bonaventure 6-1
RADIO: WBGU-FM 88.1 - Kevin Zilch and Tim Pedro
TELEVISION: BCSN - Todd Hostetler and Mark Ehlen
SERIES: BGSU leads, 3-1 // STREAK: BGSU - 2
LAST MEETING: at BGSU 68, St. Bonaventure 61 (Nov. 24, 2007)
Falcon Game Notes, Bios and Stats in a most handy PDF Format
THE GAME
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, riding a six-game winning streak, continues a season-long, four-game homestand with a tough test this weekend ... the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller host Saint Bonaventure University Sunday afternoon (Dec. 14) ... tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at venerable Anderson Arena (4,700) ... the Falcons do not play a game outside the state of Ohio in the entire month of December.
TOUGH TESTS AHEAD
In the classroom, the BGSU student-athletes are wrapping up the fall semester and preparing for exam week, which begins Monday (Dec. 15) ... on the court, the women's basketball Falcons face some tough tests as well ... BG's next two opponents, St. Bonaventure and Hartford, have been giant-killers this year ... SBU is 6-1 on the year, tying the best start to a season in program history, and the Bonnies are coming off a win over nationally-ranked Michigan State ... SBU received votes in this week's Associated Press poll, for the first time in the program's 36-year history ... Hartford, after winning 28 games and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Championships last season, defeated then-#5/6 Duke on Nov. 21 ... the Hawks will have played three nationally-ranked teams by the time the BGSU game rolls around, and Hartford will face Connecticut after coming to Northwest Ohio.
100 OVER .500
After last Saturday's (Dec. 6) win over Youngstown State, BGSU is now 135-35 -- exactly 100 games over the .500 mark -- since the start of the 2003-04 season ... that is an average of just under 20 wins over .500 per year during that ... overall, the Falcons are 156-70 in the Miller Era.
HOLDING THEM UNDER 50
The Falcons held Detroit to just 42 points in last Wednesday's (Dec. 3) win ... that marked the 30th time that a Curt Miller-coached BGSU squad had held the opponent to fewer than 50 points ... Miller has been the Falcons' coach for seven years and eight games ... prior to his arrival in Northwest Ohio, it had taken 22 seasons to amass 30 such games ... BG teams held the opponents to under 50 points 30 times from 1979-80 to 2000-01.
MANY WAYS TO FOLLOW THE FALCONS
Even if you can't make it to the game, there are still a number of ways to follow the women's basketball Falcons ...
• All BGSU women's basketball games are aired on student station WBGU-FM 88.1, the flagship station for Falcon hockey and women's hoops ... Kevin Zilch and Tim Pedro will have the call for Sunday's game vs. SBU.
• In addition to being aired on the FM dial, the games are also available free of charge on the web at BGSUFalcons.com ... to access the broadcasts online, simply click on the 'Stretch Internet' button on the BGSUFalcons.com main page and choose that day's game.
• Additionally, Sunday's game will be televised in the Toledo area by BCSN ... Todd Hostetler and Mark Ehlen are scheduled to call the Falcons' 2008-09 home games ... Ehlen, the former Toledo coach, earned his master's degree from BGSU.
• Live stats for all home games are available through the magic of Gametracker ... to access the GT feature, simply log on to BGSUFalcons.com, click on the women's basketball schedule and choose that day's game.
SKEET SHOOTING
Sophomore Tracy Pontius has been on fire as of late ... Pontius averaged 19.0 points, 4.0 assists and 3.0 steals in last week's two games ... she scored a then-career high 16 points in BGSU's win over Detroit (Dec. 3), also setting a career best with four three-point field goals made ... three days later, Pontius again hit four triples, en route to 22 points (a new career high), in the win vs. Youngstown State (Dec. 6) ... she shot 52.2 percent from the field, including an 8-for-13 (61.5%) effort from beyond the arc ... Pontius also set a career standard with four steals in the UDM game, and had the first blocked shot as a Falcon.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons are 6-2 on the season ... after opening the year with road losses against Temple and Valparaiso, BGSU has won six-straight games heading into Sunday's St. Bonaventure contest ... the Brown and Orange began the home portion of the regular-season schedule with a 19-point win over Lipscomb (71-52; Nov. 22), and BG picked up a 98-74 win at Saint Francis (Pa.) three days later (Nov. 25) ... then, the Falcons went to Greensboro, N.C., and posted two more double-digit victories at the UNCG Marriott Classic, downing Winston-Salem State (80-43; Nov. 28) and host UNC Greensboro (71-53; Nov. 29) ... BGSU returned home and won two games by a combined 63 points, over Detroit (72-42; Dec. 3) and Youngstown State (94-61; Dec. 6) ... senior Lindsey Goldsberry, juniors Niki McCoy and Tara Breske and sophomores Tracy Pontius and Lauren Prochaska each have started all eight games to date.
• Prochaska leads the team in both scoring and rebounding ... the Plain City, Ohio, native has 15.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per contest ... she exploded for a career-high 32 points in the win at Saint Francis ... McCoy had 20 points twice in a three-game span (the Lipscomb and Winston-Salem State games), and is second on the team with 14.0 ppg and 5.5 rpg ... Pontius and Breske are averaging 11.6 and 6.4 points, respectively ... Pontius leads the Falcons in assists, with 4.1 per game, while Breske has 4.1 rpg to tie for third on the team ... Breske is tied for the team lead in blocks (1.1 bpg) and is second in steals (1.9 spg) ... freshman Jessica Slagle has 5.6 ppg, while soph Chelsea Albert and Goldsberry have 4.3 and 3.9 ppg, respectively ... Albert is shooting an eye-popping 77.8% from the field, while Goldsberry leads the Falcons in steals (2.4 spg) and is second in assists (3.0 apg).
• The Falcons are shooting 45.5% from the field over the first eight games ... BG has a three-point FG pct. of 38.8%, with 8.0 triples made per game, and are shooting 78.4% from the free-throw line ... the opponents are shooting 40.1% from the floor, 34.6% from long range and 63.8% from the stripe ... the Falcons have outrebounded the foes by over two boards per game (35.8 to 33.6) ... BG has turned the ball over 18.0 times per game, but has forced the opponents into 21.5 per outing.
• The Falcons have made almost twice as many free throws (131) as the opponents (67) ... in fact, BGSU has made 26 more FTs than the foes have attempted (105).
• The Falcons returned a total of nine letterwinners, including three starters, from last season's team ... the group of returnees combined for 65.9 percent of the scoring and 75.0% of the rebounding from last year's 26-8 team ... BGSU won the MAC's regular-season title for the fourth consecutive year, posting a 13-3 conference record ... the Falcons advanced to the semifinals of the MAC Tournament before falling in double overtime ... Goldsberry, the team's lone senior, is one of the three returning starters from the '07-08 club ... Breske and Prochaska are the other two.
• Sophs Albert, Pontius and Jen Uhl each played in all 34 games last year, with Albert making six starts ... the list of returning letterwinners also includes juniors Laura Bugher and Sarah Clapper and sophomore Kelly Zuercher ... McCoy is in her first playing season with the Falcons ... she sat out the 2007-08 season after transferring from the University of Akron.
• Three freshmen joined the Brown and Orange this year ... that group includes Maribeth Giese, Slagle and Victoria McGowan ... two other newcomers have come into the Falcon fold ... transfers Maggie Hennegan (Saint Louis Univ.) and Tamika Nurse (Univ. of Oregon) will sit out this season before joining the active roster in 2009-10 ... Nurse will have one season of eligibility, while Hennegan has two.
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 is the first-ever coach to be named MAC Coach of the Year in four consecutive seasons ... in fact, no coach had captured the award in as many as three-straight years ... additionally, he was named the Russell Athletic/WBCA Region 4 Coach of the Year in both the 2005-06 and '06-07 seasons ... his career record currently stands at 156-70, in his eighth year ... since the start of the 2003-04 season, Miller and the Falcons are 135-35 overall, 68-12 in MAC regular-season play, and 81-14 in all games vs. league foes during that span (13-2 in league tourney play) ... more information on Miller can be found in the PDF version o' this release.
LAST TIME OUT
Sophomore Tracy Pontius scored 20 of BGSU's 54 first-half points, as the Falcons downed Youngstown State, 94-61 ... BG took a 14-2 lead to start the game, en route to a 28-point halftime lead ... for the game, Pontius had 22 points to lead all players ... junior Niki McCoy scored 18 points and tied for game honors with seven rebounds, while soph Lauren Prochaska added 14 points ... Tiara Scott led the visitors, with 12 points ... BGSU shot 59.6 percent for the game, and the Falcons forced 23 YSU turnovers ... both teams shot exactly 60.0% in the first half, but the Penguins had 14 first-half turnovers to the Falcons' three ... for the game, BGSU enjoyed a 34-19 margin in points off turnovers ... in the opening half, the Falcons had more points off TOs than YSU had points ... the Falcons had a 27-3 advantage in that category in opening up a 54-26 lead at the break ... the home team went on an early 12-0 run, holding YSU scoreless for nearly four minutes, to take a 14-2 lead ... the 'Guins battled back to within eight points at 15-7, but would get no closer ... BGSU slowly extended the margin, taking the 28-point lead at halftime after a Pontius three-pointer in the final seconds ... BG's lead never dropped below 25 points in the second half ... the Falcons made 11 three-pointers on the day, and BG went 21-of-25 at the free-throw line.
SCOUTING SBU
St. Bonaventure is 6-1 to date, tying the best start to a season in program history ... and, the Bonnies are coming off of one of the biggest wins in program annals ... SBU picked up a 63-52 victory over Michigan State, ranked #21/24 at the time, on Sunday (Dec. 7) ... the next day, SBU received votes in the Associated Press poll, for the first time in the 36-year history of the program ... SBU is 2-0 vs. Mid-American Conference teams to date, with road wins over Buffalo (77-58; Nov. 16) and Akron (71-67; Nov. 22) ... the team's only loss came by four points at Oakland (72-76; Nov. 30) ... individually, junior forward Dana Mitchell leads the team in both scoring and rebounding, with 17.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game ... senior guard Katelyn Murray, who had a career-high 25 points vs. MSU, has 16.3 ppg, and is 17-for-34 from three-point range this year ... fifth-year senior guard Priscilla Edwards and junior G/F Andrea Doneth have 7.1 and 6.6 ppg, respectively ... Doneth leads the team with 21 assists, while Edwards has 20 and Murray 17 ... Edwards, Mitchell, Murray, sophomore guard Cara Gustafson (4.4 ppg) and senior forward Erica Schifen (3.7 ppg) each have started all seven games for coach Jim Crowley ... last year, the Bonnies went 18-12 overall and 6-8 in Atlantic 10 Conference play ... Crowley welcomed back nine letterwinners, including all five starters, from a year ago ... Crowley has a record of 93-142 in his ninth year at SBU ... the school's athletics web site is www.GoBonnies.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead St. Bonaventure, 3-1, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU has won the last two meetings ... last season at Anderson Arena, the Falcons trailed by as many as nine points in the second half, and BGSU was down by six with 3:04 left ... but, the Brown and Orange went on a 15-0 run to post a 68-61 win in a battle of unbeaten teams (Nov. 24, 2007) ... the previous year (Dec. 9, 2006), BGSU picked up a 71-46 win in New York, giving Curt Miller his 100th victory ... the Falcons are 2-0 vs. Bona in series home games, including an 88-69 win at Anderson nine years ago (Nov. 22, 1999) ... SBU's lone win came the following year, 87-85, on a layup at the buzzer (Dec. 5, 2000).
BGSU-SBU TIES
• St. Bonaventure Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Steve Watson is a BGSU graduate ... Watson transferred to BGSU from Rutgers, and played two seasons on the men's basketball team for then-Falcon coach Jim Larranaga ... he earned his bachelor's degree in 1990 ... Watson has other MAC ties, earning a master's degree from Ohio University and spending over five years at Eastern Michigan, including more than four years as an associate A.D.
• At SBU, Watson replaced Dr. Ron Zwierlein, also a BG alum ... Zwierlein worked at his alma mater for 24 years, including five years as the Falcons' A.D. ... he earned a bachelor of science degree from BGSU in 1968, and also earned his master's degree from the University ... Zwierlein retired from SBU in December of 2006.
THE FALCONS ARE ...
• 156-70 in the seven years (plus eight games) since Curt Miller took the BGSU helm in May of 2001;
• 79-33 in MAC games in that time:
•147-51 in the six-plus years since Miller's assistant coaches have all been in place (associate head coach Jennifer Roos and assistant coach Brandi Poole have been on Miller's staff since his first year; assistant Kevin Eckert joined the staff one year later);
• 135-35 over the last five-plus years, with at least 20 wins in five-straight seasons;
• a staggering 114-25 in the past four-plus years, with no fewer than 23 wins in each year and a MAC regular-season title in every season;
• 91-17 overall and 44-4 in the MAC in the last three-plus years, since senior Lindsey Goldsberry ventured to Northwest Ohio;
• 63-14 in the last two-plus years, including a 28-4 conference ledger;
• 13-2 in the MAC Tournament over the last four years, with three titles (2005, '06 and '07) and a trip to the semifinals in 2008;
• 21-2 in non-conference home games since the start of the 2003-04 season;
• 17-1 against non-league opposition at Anderson Arena since November of 2004;
• 4-1 in December 14 games in program history;
• 4-0 on that date since 1982, including a pair of home wins; and
• 1-0 in Dec. 14 games in the Curt Miller Era, with the only game on that date in his tenure a 62-59 win at Cleveland State in 2002.
HOME COOKIN'
The Falcons' win over Youngstown State last Saturday (Dec. 6) gives BGSU a modest five-game winning streak in non-conference home games ... BG, however, has won 17 of the last 18 such games, with last year's overtime loss to Notre Dame (86-84; Dec. 5, 2007) the only such setback since mid-December of 2003.
A DECEMBER HOMESTAND?
Believe it or not, the Falcons are home for nearly all of December ... after playing five of November's six games on the road, BGSU does not leave the state of Ohio for the entire month of December ... the Dec. 3 win over Detroit began a stretch which sees the Falcons play four consecutive contests at "The House That Roars," culminating with a Dec. 21 game against Hartford ... BG played just one December home game a year ago ... the Falcons' total of four non-league home games in the same month is the most since December of 1990, when Fran Voll's final BGSU team played five non-league contests at Anderson Arena ... and, BG's four-game homestand is the team's longest since February of 2000.
FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG (A FEW MORE FALCON NOTES)
Sophomore Chelsea Albert has shot a perfect 1.000 from the field in four of the last five games ... Albert is shooting 77.8% (14-for-18) on the year, and is 13-of-15 during that five-game stretch • the Falcons have made at least five three-point field goals in every game this season, and BGSU has made 10 or more in three of the last four games ... during that four-game stretch, BG is averaging exactly 10.00 made treys per game, and the Falcons are shooting 44.4% (40-for-90) from beyond the arc • soph Kelly Zuercher has made 7-of-8 shots from the field (87.5%) over the last three games ... she has 18 points during that time, topping her total (13) for all of last season • BGSU currently leads the MAC in scoring margin (+16.9), free-throw percentage (78.4%), field-goal pct. (45.5%), steals (12.00 spg) and blocked shots (4.25 bpg).
