Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU to Play in WNIT for First Time Since 1998
March 19, 2008 | Women's Basketball
March 19, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Despite dropping a heartbreaking 88-86 double overtime contest in the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament to Ohio University, Bowling Green State University (25-7) reaches the postseason for the fourth consecutive season with their first appearance in the Postseason Women's Invitational Tournament (WNIT) since 1998 ... BGSU will face the University of Dayton (25-8) for the seventeenth time in program history on Thursday (Mar. 21) ... all-time the teams are 8-8 and have a 4-3 record in Anderson Arena ... BGSU holds that narrow advantage ... the postseason will begin at 7:00 p.m.
Postseason Women's National Invitational Tournament - First Round • Game 33
Mar. 20, 2008
Anderson Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio
BSGU vs. University of Dayton, 7:00 p.m.
TV: BCSN - Tape Delay Beginning at 12:00 a.m.
RADIO: WBGU 88.1 - Ryan Gasser and Alex Mikos
Complete Release in PDF Format (43 pages) 
The 2007-08 Falcons in One Minute or Less
The 2007-08 Bowling Green State University Falcons finished the regular season with their fifth consecutive 20-plus win season recording a 24-6 overall mark ... after wining their first seven games, including two at the Cornell Classic (Nov. 30 - Dec. 1, Ithaca, N.Y.) to become the tournament champions, the Falcons took nationally ranked Notre Dame (Dec. 5) to overtime before falling for the first time ... at the time, BGSU was the first opponent to come within single digits of the Fighting Irish (86-84 OT) ... head coach Curt Miller's squad would win five of their next seven games and bring the non-conference season to an end with an 11-3 mark ... the Orange and Brown would also finish as the runner's up at the Iowa State Cyclone Shootout (Dec. 28-30, Ames, Iowa) ... BG opened its conference season with four wins in the East division before closing January with its first trio of MAC losses since the 2004-05 season ... getting themselves back on track, BGSU concluded the MAC season with nine straight victories and their fourth regular season championship crown becoming the first MAC women's basketball team to reach four interrupted titles in as many years ... through those final nine games, the Falcons also saw individual milestones reached as senior Kate Achter became the BGSU career record holder for free throws made while Miller surpassed the 144 overall win tally to become the career win coaching record holder at BGSU ... Achter and fellow senior Whitney Taylor also set a new Mid-American Conference record winning 107 games in four years to become the winningest male or female class in MAC history ... additionally, with their regular season championship, Bowling Green assured themselves a chance to move into the post season with at least a bid into the Women's Invitational Tournament ... after bowing out of the MAC Tournament in the semi's, BGSU continued their postseason play drawing Dayton in the WNIT.
How They Got Here
Bowling Green: The MAC Regular Season Champions earned an automatic berth as a result of that championship ... BGSU fell in the semifinal round of the MAC Tournament.
Dayton: Earned an at-large bid to the tournament ... UD fell in the semifinal round of the A-10 tournament.
Playing the Field
Against teams earning a postseason berth, the Falcons are 3-4 in 2007-08 ...
BGSU vs.NCAA (2-3)
5. Notre Dame L, 86-84 (OT) (12/5/07)
7. Iowa State L, 74-57 (12/28/07)
13. Miami L, 63-60 (1/22/08)
13. Miami W, 81-66 (2/23/08)
16. Cornell W, 70-54 (12/1/07)
BGSU VS WNIT (1-1)
Florida Gulf Coast W, 74-60 (11/30/08)
Indiana L, 75-67 (12/16/07)
The MAC in the WNIT
The Mid-American Conference has posted a 12-17 overall record in the postseason WNIT Tournament ... since 1998, the MAC is 2-8 at home sites and 4-6 on the road during the WNIT ... in previous seasons, the tournament was held in Amarillo, Texas ... Toledo has made a conference high five appearances ... Bowling Green is only the fourth team to play in the postseason tournament more than once ... no MAC team has won a WNIT match-up since 2004 when Miami won one game and Western Michigan won two.
BGSU in the WNIT
In the 20 years in which the WNIT has sponsored a postseason tournament, BGSU has represented the MAC in just one previous season ... on that occasion in 1998, Butler downed BGSU 95-90 in front of a home crowd in Anderson Arena.
Curt Miller in the WNIT
In his tenure with the Orange and Brown, Curt Miller has led the Falcons to the postseason in what is now the fourth consecutive season ... under his direction, BGSU is 2-3 in the NCAA tournament; the 2008 WNIT will mark Miller and Co.'s first appearance in the postseason tournament ... Miller though is no stranger to the tournament as the 1999-2000 Colorado State University Rams reached the semifinals before losing 78-60 at the hands of eventual champion, University of Wisconsin ... at the time, Miller was the associate head coach of the Mountain West affiliate ... the previous season, he helped to guide the Rams to the preseason WNIT title.
Golden Child of the Family Feud
Though she comes from a family of four collegiate basketball players, junior Lindsey Goldsberry will have a rare opportunity on Thursday night ... though Goldsberry will not test her sibling rivalry, she will in fact face her high school basketball coach - who just so happens to be her father and the Director of Basketball Operations at the University of Dayton ... Frank Goldsberry, Lindsey's father, has worked with the Flyers for five seasons in a non-coaching capacity.
Wanted: More Wins; Reward: A Trip to East Lansing, Mich.
Based on the outcome of Thursday's first round game, Bowling Green may have the chance to head north for the second consecutive season ... in 2007, BGSU took a pair of postseason games over higher seeded opponents in the NCAA Tournament helping the Breslin Center to feel more like home ... in that time, the Falcons averaged 7,280 fans although they were playing more than two hours north of Anderson Arena ...
the winner of Thursday's BGSU/UD line-up will face the Spartans of Michigan State on Saturday, March 22 at 2:00 p.m. ... already a storyline between the Falcons and Spartans is brewing as first year head coach Suzie Merchant is a former MAC head coach ... Merchant spent nine seasons at Eastern Michigan ... in the Miller/Merchant battle, Miller reigns supreme with the 6-4 record.
I'rish for a Game in March
Under head coach Curt Miller, Bowling Green is 19-8 in the month of March ... before the lucky green day of March 17, they are 17-5 ... after that, their pot of gold stops at a 2-3 record ... all five of those games have taken place in the past three seasons ... historically, BGSU is 52-36 in March ... 50 of those wins have been sealed before March 17.
Breske Named to MAC All-Tournament Team
Bowling Green State University sophomore forward Tara Breske earned her first collegiate post season nod with her selection to the 2008 Mid-American Conference All-Tournament team ... Breske led BGSU in scoring and rebounding averaging a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebound .. she also went on to record a team high four blocks, with three coming in the Mar. 11 quarterfinal win versus Kent State ... for the tournament, Breske was 13-of-29 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the free throw line ... she also went on to tally three assists and four steals as the Orange and Brown went 1-1 in post season MAC play ... Breske is joined by Toledo's Ta'Yani Clark as well as Ohio's Lauren Hmiel and Jennifer Poff ... Miami, the 2008 Tournament Champions, saw both Laura Markwood and Amanda Jackson earn placement on the team as well; Jackson was also named Tournament MVP.
The Power of One
With one less home game on their schedule, Bowling Green added another fan to their attendance record surpassing last season's 1,607 and saw an average of 1,608 fans in Anderson Arena ... the total was the second best average in the Mid-American Conference ... Toledo once again took the top spot with an average of 1,627 fans per game at home ... UT, BGSU and Ball State (1,522 avg.) rounded out the top three and were the only teams to maintain a fan base of more than 1,000 onlookers per game on their home court ... the Falcons led the MAC in total attendance as of March 17, with an average of 1,295 people in the stands of their 32 games ... Ball State was the only other school to have more than 1,000 MAC-faithful enthusiasts in attendance at all games ... normally, 1,055 followers watched the Cardinals in 2007-08 ... 2007-08 is the third consecutive season in which BGSU averages more than 1,000 cheers in the bleachers of Anderson Arena ... the program has had seven seasons of 1,000-plus since 1990-91.
##BGSU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL##
