Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Await Quarterfinal Foe
March 09, 2008 | Women's Basketball
March 9, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Though the Falcons will have an extra day-or-two of rest before beginning Mid-American Conference post-season play, they will not know their opponent until Monday evening ... BGSU will face the winner of Monday's (Mar. 10) 2:30 p.m. match-up between Kent State and Northern Illinois ... BGSU took wins over both programs this season beating KSU twice in MAC East play ... the Falcons defeated NIU in their lone 2007-08 contest in Anderson Arena ... the MAC Quarterfinal game is scheduled to tip at 8:00 p.m. in Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday, Mar. 11.
Opponent specific notes will be posted Monday night/Tuesday morning
Complete Release in PDF Format (41 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 106 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.
Miller's Hardware Store
Head coach Curt Miller was named the Mid-American Conference 2008 Coach of the Year on Saturday, Mar. 8 ... he joins Toledo head coach Mark Ehlen as the only head coach to be honored in four separate seasons ... with his fourth consecutive recognition, he is also the only coach in 26 seasons of MAC women's basketball to win it in more than two consecutive occasions ... Miller, who is in his seventh season with the Falcons, has led BGSU to 20-plus wins over the past five seasons including a 24-6 record in 2007-08 ... he and the Orange and Brown also posted a MAC best fourth regular season championship, going 13-3 in the league and becoming the only program to win four regular season championships over four years ... Miller's honor marks the seventh time in school history that a BGSU coach has earned the league award ... Fran Voll picked up the MAC Coach of the Year award in both 1986-87 and 1988-89, while Jaci Clark earned the honor in the 1992-93 season ... with Miller's award, Bowling Green holds the record for most C-O-Y recognitions; Toledo is a close second with their total of six while Miami's head coaches have taken home five.
Leader on the Court - Leader in the League
Senior Kate Achter was named the Mid-American Conference Player of the Year on Saturday, Mar. 8 ... it was Bowling Green's second consecutive Player of the Year nod ... the Oregon, Ohio native will graduate from Bowling Green not only with a degree in Sport Management, but with a well documented career on the hardwood spanning from the BGSU annual chronicles to the league's archives as well ... as a senior, she has dominated the assist category at the team and conference levels as well as ranking amongst the best of the best throughout the NCAA ... Achter is just the third Falcon player to earn a league P-O-Y honor ... last season Ali Mann shared the award with Western Michigan's Carrie Moore while Jackie Motcyka won the award in back-to-back seasons, 1986-87 and 1987-88 ... a two-time All-MAC second team selection, the point guard also headlined a group of five athletes on the 2008 All-MAC first team ballot.
Diaper Dandy Makes Three!
Freshman Lauren Prochaska was named the Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year on Saturday, Mar. 8 joining head coach Curt Miller and teammate Kate Achter to complete the trifecta ... as a top ten rookie scorer on the national short list, Prochaska led BGSU in scoring throughout the season as a first-year player and was ranked among the top five in the league for much of the MAC season ... in her initial season, Prochaska led the league over the last eight weeks in free throw shooting percentage and was ranked as high as second nationally in the statistical category ... the Plain City, Ohio native joins former Falcons Mann (2004), Sara Puthoff (1995), Lori Albers (1990) and Motycka (1986) as a recipient of the F-O-Y award ... Prochaska also found placement on the All-MAC second and freshman teams ... though several programs have been awarded two of the three distinctions, the Bowling Green women's basketball program became the first to bring home hardware in all three categories in the same season.
No One Predicted This!
In mid-October the members of the MAC News Media Association predicted BG would finish second in the East Division behind the Ohio University Bobcats ... Ohio, BGSU, and Miami were thought to finish one, two, three; instead BG's 13-3 record trumped the others and the final results fell BGSU, Miami, Ohio ... Ball State, the preseason favorite out of the West proved to the experts they were the correct choice and went on to win their division ... those early pollsters dubbed the Cardinals the team to beat in the post-season tournament ... BGSU narrowly edged Ohio and Miami for as a possible contender behind BSU ... in winning the regular season for the fourth consecutive season, BGSU becomes the only group to accomplish the feat in MAC women's basketball history.
B.E.L.I.E.V.E
When the Class of 2006 ended their first season with the Falcons BGSU was 21-10 overall and 11-5 in the MAC ... that squad went on to finish in a tie-second in the West division ... three of their losses came in Andreson Arena including a four OT heartbreaker versus Northern Illinois ... that squad won six straight before losing in the MAC Championship game 65-56 at the hands of Eastern Michigan ... since that season, BGSU has played in the MAC Championship game every year.
Bring Out the Brooms, Vacuums and Swiffers
Bowling Green was the only team in the MAC East to earn a road sweep of the division ... with their win at Akron, the Falcons beat every East division team in its own arena ... both Buffalo and Miami are finished with just one road loss in the East ... UB's came at the hands of BGSU while Miami was beat at Ohio ... West leading Ball State is also the only MAC team to beat BGSU away from Anderson Arena thus far ... every team in the West finished with at least two road losses in conference play.
Fore's (Four's) Not Only Synonymous with Golf
BGSU is one of 15 programs to win the regular season championship over three or more times in the past four seasons ... the Falcons are one of eight teams to do it in each of the past four seasons ... oddly enough, only BGSU and Chattanooga have four regular season and three tournament championhips over the same amount of time.
Who Needs the Jones' When You Have the Voll's to Keep Up With?
After winning Bowling Green's first Mid-American Conference regular season championship in 1986-87 with their 16-0 league record, former head coach Fran Voll's Falcons went on to win the MAC Tournament that season and in each of the three subsequent seasons ... though his team was the Tournament champions in 1989-90, BG had not won the regular season ... those teams won an average of 25 games per year and never lost more than nine contests ... fast forward to this season and head coach Curt Miller ... at present time, Bowling Green has won it's fourth MAC regular season championship and is averaging more than 26 wins per season ... Kent State is the only other team to win three straight regular season championships ... between 1997-98 through 1999-2000, the Golden Flashes' won the regular season title twice and were co-champions with Toledo in 1998-99 ... the circa. 1995-97 UT Rockets are the only other team to win three consecutive MAC Tournaments ... in its 26-year record, the current BGSU squad is the only one to win four uninterrupted regular season titles.
Supporting Cast
Though Miller has been credited as one of the most successful coaches in BGSU history and recent MAC memory, both associate head coach Jennifer Roos and assistant coach Brandi Poole have been on the BG staff since July 2, 2001 ... the three have a 148-66 combined record together ... 364 days later assistant coach Kevin Eckert was added to the staff ... since his arrival BGSU is 139-47 ... with their newest addition, Director of Basketball Operations Monique Rosati (Aug., 2007) the Falcons are 24-6.
Changing Women's Basketball One Record at a Time
Not only are the Falcons seeing success as a team this season, they have also tied or reset numerous records ...
Single Game:
Team Three Point Field Goal Made: 16 at Kent State (1/16/08) - TIED RECORD
Individual Three Point Field Goals Made: Whitney Taylor, 8 at Kent State(1/16/08) - SET NEW RECORD
Team Free Throws Made: 37 at Central Michigan (2/13/08) - SET NEW RECORD
Steals by a Freshman in Curt Miller-Era: Lauren Prochaska, 7 at Lipscomb(11/15/07) - SET NEW RECORD
Career:
Free Throws Made: Kate Achter 524 - SET NEW RECORD
Wins in a Four-Year Career: Kate Achter and Whitney Taylor, 106 - SET NEW RECORD
All-Time Wins as a Coach: Curt Miller, 148- SET NEW RECORD
Rookie Competing in National Scoring Race
As of Mar. 3, 2008 Lauren Prochaska ranked seventh amongst the top freshman in the country with her 15.2 ppg ... three of the top freshman rank among the top 100 average scoring efforts in the NCAA while only 16 have made it to the top 250 ... to break down the current list, Prochaska ranks second with her 65 made trey's ... all 15 have recorded 300-plus points to date; seven including Prochaska are over 400 while the top two have hit 500-plus pts ... freshman scoring updates are available Monday's after 5:00 p.m.
#2 + #3 = 112 [From the Deep End]
Rookie guard Lauren Prochaska and junior guard Lindsey Goldsberry have combined for 112 made three's this season ... the pair account for nearly 61% percent of the BGSU made three-point output ... each has seen perfect nights from `downtown' on multiple occasions ... together the two are 41.2% accurate (112-272) from dead-eye range.
Pass GO To Collect your 200th game
In light of stepping on the sidelines of Saturday, Jan. 12 match, head coach Curt Miller appeared for the 200th time with the Orange and Brown and won his 137th game with the program ... Associate Head Coach Jennifer Roos and Assistant Coach Brandi Poole have been with Miller every step of the way ... Miller is the quickest of his BGSU coaching peers to reach his 200th game ... Jaci Clark reached the milestone in her final game with the Falcons, while Fran Voll's 200th was vs. Ball State in his final MAC road match ... Voll finished his career with 204 game under his coaching belt ... Miller is the only one of the three to win their 200th overall game.
Losing Is a Foreign Concept
With this seasons' six losses to #16 Notre Dame, Indiana 11-days later, and Iowa State in the same month, and later drops to Miami, Ball State and Western Michigan seniors Kate Achter and Whitney Taylor have experienced just 21 losses in Falcon uniforms ... three of those losses have come in the NCAA tournament ... they are the only two members of the Class of 2008 throughout the MAC to have a win in the post-season NCAA tournament while representing the league ... dating back to their freshman season (2004-05) Bowling Green has posted an 97-21 (.822) overall record ... they are the only pair of MAC seniors to have less than 25 defeats in their collegiate careers... the back-to-back losses to Indiana's finest (Notre Dame and Indiana) marked the first time any current Falcon has lost two consecutive games in their careers with the Orange and Brown before Miami and Ball State gave them a pair of MAC losses in later January ... BG's loss marked the first time the Falcons have lost three-straight contests going back to February of 2003. That also marked the last time the Falcons lost two-straight homers as they fell first at Buffalo, before dropping home games to Miami and Ball State ... BG's loss to Western Michigan marked the first time the Falcons lost three-straight contests going back to February of 2003 ... it also marked the last time the Falcons lost two-straight homers as they fell first at Buffalo, before dropping home games to Miami and Ball State.
Roll Along You Road Warriors
In their six-plus seasons with head coach Curt Miller as the Falcons' leader, BG is 87-43 (.669) when playing any road or neutral site game ... after posting losing road/neutral records in his first two seasons, Miller's Falcons have more than doubled their ratio of wins to losses ... in 2003 BG won 12 while losing six and the next season improved to 14 wins with seven losses ... since then, the Falcons have lost a combined six games (including two in the NCAA tournament) when playing at a site that is not Anderson Arena ... Bowling Green has posted at least 65 points in every road/neutral match this season with the exception of the Lipscomb, Iowa State, and Ball State contests ... every Falcon has seen game action on the road.
More than A Century of Wins
As the Falcons have proven a lead at the intermission, no matter how large or small, is nothing to play around with ... under head coach Curt Miller, BGSU is 122-21 and counting when taking the lead into the locker room ... in their largest lead, the Falcons had a +26 margin over the UT-Martin Skyhawks at halftime on the road ... their largest home advantage has been +22 at the half over Valparaiso in Anderson Arena ... more importantly, the Falcons have not only built leads; they have kept them ... in almost every game this season, BGSU has won by more points than they were ahead at the half ... although the Falcons took a 37-28 lead into the locker room, their eventual 75-67 loss to Indiana marked the first time BGSU did not maintain the advantage through the final buzzer since their Feb. 24 loss to Ohio last season.
Six Minutes or More - Opponents Don't Need to Score
From Valparaiso to Cornell and on to UT-Martin and Chicago State and Toledo, Eastern Michigan, Buffalo and Akron in MAC play, 12-of-30 opponents have fallen victim to the suffocating BGSU defense thus far ... entering the Notre Dame game through 240:00 of total play, BGSU had rendered each of their opponents without a field goal for nearly six minutes of consecutive combined play at least once per game ... during that time span, 20 points were accumulated by the Falcons opposition from the free throw line ... had BGSU kept Valpo from scoring for five extra seconds, they would have the ability to boast a challenger was kept without a FG for a solid 6:00 per game ... Cornell was held for 14:05 without a field goal ... in another road game, BG held host Lipscomb without a field goal for 11:13 ... four times the Falcon defense has held a squad without a score from the field or the free throw line (St. Bonaventure, Florida Gulf Coast,UT-Martin and Chicago State) in holding UT-Martin without a score for just over 9-minutes, BGSU marked the second longest cumulative span for a team to be held without a field goal this season ... in the MAC, Toledo was the only team to fall victim twice in one game ... as a matter of fact, Bowling Green held UT without a field goal for spans of 5:41, 6:11 and 7:33 equating to 19:25 (almost an entire half) without a made basket ... BGSU also held UT between makes in the field for less than 3:30 on eight other occasions ... versus Eastern Michigan, the Falcons stopped the Eagles for 7:00 straight minutes without a FG nor a FT ... in the final 8:42 of that game BGSU outscored EMU 22-5 for the come from behind win ... BGSU used a 6:46 dry spell at Akron to take a 19 point lead into the half in their final game of the regular season ... BG is 12-0 when holding an opponent scoreless for nearly six minutes.
vs. Valparaiso 5:55 (7:03 - 1:08, first half, 2 FT)
at Lipscomb 11:13 (20:00 - 8:47, second half, 5 FT)
at Belmont 6:22 (6:24 - 00:02, first half, 5 FT)
vs. St. Bonaventure 6:05 (12:18-6:13, second half, 0 FT)
vs. Florida Gulf Coast 6:43 (20:00 - 13:17, second half, 0 FT)
at Cornell 14:05 (14:05 - 00:00, second half, 8 FT)
vs. UT-Martin 9:23 (15:24 - 6:01, first half, 0 FT)
vs. Chicago State 7:47 (20:00 - 12:13, first half, 0 FT)
at Toledo (1) 6:11 (14:12-8:01, second half, 1 FT )
at Toledo (2) 7:33 (8:01-00:28, second half, 4 FT)
vs. Eastern Michigan 7:00 (7:00-00:00, first half, 0 FT)
vs. Buffalo 6:29 (18:23-11:54, first half, 0 FT)
at Akron 6:46 (10:33-3:47, first half 0 FT)
Total time: 101:33 - 50:32 of that time has come in the first half
*Times do not reflect carry over from previous half.
The Winning Tradition
If one were to reminisce about the past 126 games in Falcon history, they more than likely would have a hard time selecting their favorite Falcon win ... dating back to the start of the 2004-05 season, Bowling Green is 106-21 (.841) ... in the post season alone, including the MAC and NCAA tournaments, Miller and Co. are 11-3 (.846) and have brought home three consecutive MAC Tournament titles.
Low Points Can Still Equal Big Wins
The 54 points the Falcons used to over Lipscomb, 54-42, were not only the fewest points scored in a non-conference win under head coach Curt Miller, but were also the fewest points scored in any win during the Miller era (2001-present) ... in the past seven seasons, BGSU has won four games with as little as 57 points scored in Mid-American Conference play ... on Feb. 16, 2008 the Falcons beat Eastern Michigan 57-43 ... in 2002, BG beat Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, 57-56, while in 2004 they beat rival Toledo in their own arena, 57-54 ... in 2005-06, BGSU beat Central Michigan in Mount Pleasant, Mich., 57-52 ... since Miller took over the Falcons, BGSU has held their opponent at, or below, the half century mark a total of 33 times and are 32-1 when doing so.
Don't Let Them Score ...
Under head coach Curt Miller, the Falcons have held 21 opponents at or below 50 points as the final buzzer sounds on 33 separate occasions ... breaking down that number, nine are MAC schools while 12 were non-conference match-ups ... Miami is now the only Ohio program to not be held at 50 or less points while Western Michigan is the only the Michigan school in the MAC ... the Falcons held UT-Martin (Dec. 30, 36 pts.) and Chicago State (Jan. 5, 50 pts.) at or below 50 points on consecutive occasions to close the 2007-08 non-conference slate ... Ohio became the first MAC school to suffer from the BGSU defense scoring 46 points in the second conference match-up of the season on Jan. 12, 2008 ... Buffalo was held to less than 50 for the fifth time on Mar. 1 scoring 47 points at Anderson Arena ... BGSU has also held Akron four times to 50 points or less in the East ... Central Michigan leads the West with three occasions ... Eastern Michigan was held below 50 (43) on Feb. 16 ... including the stop at Lipscomb and versus UT-Martin in 2007-08, BGSU has forced 13 games to see 50 points or less from their non-conference opponent ... the 36-points allotted to UT-Martin were the second fewest by a team in the Miller-era but was the lowest in non-conference play ... last season the Falcons allowed Akron just 32-points in their conference opener at the NE Ohio school ... after seeing six straight regular season match-ups decided by six or less points, BGSU delivered their best win under Miller to the Rockets of Toledo as they beat UT 71-41 on the road in Savage Hall to open February ... the win was only the third for Miller in the Blue and Gold's arena.
... Ok, We Won't Let them Score
In holding Lipscomb (Nov. 15) to 27.1 percent from the field, the Falcon defense held the Lady Bisons to the sixth lowest shooting percentage under head coach Curt Miller ... on Feb. 16, 2008 they held Eastern Michigan to a 26.2% outing from the field ... of the Falcons low scoring efforts, four have been on the road while a total of three have come from non-conference opponents ... UB's Stephanie Bennett was the first starter from an opposing team that the Falcons held scoreless ... on Jan. 19 BGSU did not allow the Bulls top scorer to record a point in her five shot attempts ... it was the first time during the season in which she was held silent and the third that she was held to less than 10 points ... Toledo's (Feb. 2) 41 points were the second least to be scored on the Falcons in 2007-08 and the second lowest total an opponent registered in MAC play ... UT saw 14 made field-goals and a 27.5 field-goal percentage ... moreover, their 27.5% accuracy from the floor was the seventh lowest in Curt Miller history ... it also marked the sixth lowest scoring output by any opponent to a Miller coached team ...
Mar. 1 also marked the fifth time that the Falcons held Buffalo under 48 points sinc January of 2005.
The Seniors
Seniors Kate Achter and Whitney Taylor serve as tri-captains, with Lindsey Goldsberry, over the 2007-08 Falcons ... with their 104th career victory at Ohio on Feb. 27 the two set the Mid-American Conference record for most wins in a four-year career for both male and female programs and are now up to 106... they are only the seventh class in women's basketball history to win 100 games in their careers and only the third in Falcon lore ... both will graduate holding at least one school record ... Taylor broke the school record for three-pointers in one game when she hit eight at Kent State on Jan. 16 ... to begin the MAC season, Taylor hit 12 consecutive three's in MAC play over a three game span before missing a shot with .34 remaining in the Kent State victory ... Achter, the MAC
P-O-Y holds the record for career free throws made and taken ... she is also a top six scorer ... she ranks in the top ten of nine program records; five of those rankings are in the top three ... Achter and Taylor boast a MAC regular-season championship title for each of their four seasons with BG ... they are the only known class in MAC history to win four consecutive regular season titles ... the duo also boast a MAC Tournament Championship for every tournament in which they have participated ... since arriving on campus, BGSU has an overall record of 106-21 (.835) and a league record of 66-7 (.904).
The Junior
Junior Lindsey Goldsberry, a tri-cpatain, entered into the starting line-up in the first game of the season and has remained their throughout the season ... for the second consecutive season, she leads the Falcons in steals ... she ranks in the top 11 in both the career and single-season three-point field goals made lists ... Goldsberry has helped the Falcons to three consecutive MAC regular-season titles and two Tournament championship crowns ... since arriving on campus, BGSU has an overall record of 83-13 (.865) and a league record of 50-4 (.926).
The Sophomores
Tara Breske, Laura Bugher and Sarah Clapper return for their second season with the squad and welcomed the addition of transfer Niki McCoy to their class ... on Nov. 30 against Florida Gulf Coast the sophomores were 14-19 sinking 74 percent of their shots ... nine games into the season, Breske entered the starting line-up and has recorded two double-doubles ... she earned her first MAC POW nod in mid-February ... to date, the three have won two regular season and one MAC Tournament championship with BG and as freshman were the only class in league history - men's or women's - to boast an average of 31-wins per season ... since arriving on campus, BGSU has an overall record of 55-10 (.8464) and a league record of 31-4 (.886) ... McCoy, who spent the past two seasons with the University of Akron, will have two years of eligibility with the Falcons after sitting out this season due to NCAA transfer rules.
The Freshmen
Seven freshmen, Chelsea Albert, Bianca Hooten, Crystal Murdaugh, Tracy Pontius, Lauren Prochaska, Jennifer Uhl, and Kelly Zuercher, have made their debut as Falcons in 2007-08 ... Prochaska ranks in the top five of five all-time freshman records ... Murdaugh has found placement in the top ten of three while Uhl is amongst one of the top 15 freshman scorers ... both Murdaugh and Prochaska have been in the starting line-up all season while Albert has six starts under her belt ... both Prochaska and Murdaugh have posted double-doubles in MAC play ... the class represents three states (Ill., Mich., Ohio) and contains a pair of top six finishers in their respective state `Miss Basketball' race ... Pontius was third in the Illinois race while Albert was sixth in the state of Michigan ... three guards, two forwards and two centers make-up the class ... six of the seven players stand at 5-11 or taller; three are 6-1 or taller ... since arriving on campus, BGSU has an overall record of 24-6 (.800) and a league record of 13-3 (.8125) ... the class has helped the Falcons to one MAC regular season championship.
###BGSU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
