Falcons Head to Hartford

THE OPENING TIP
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, after a rare December home game and a brief break for the holidays, heads back out on the road ... the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller head to Connecticut for a Wednesday night (Dec. 30) game against the University of Hartford ... tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at Chase Arena at The Reich Family Pavilion (3,508) ... for the Falcons, the UH game marks the ninth road contest of the season to date.

BGSU Notes, Bios & Stats - PDF

TOUGH CROWD
The Falcons have posted five wins on the road this year to date ... three of those victories have come against teams – Oakland, Vanderbilt and Canisius – that qualified for national postseason play last year ... the Hartford game, as mentioned, marks the ninth road contest for the Falcons this year ... seven of those nine opponents are teams that won at least 20 games and advanced to national postseason play last season ... three of them – Ohio State, Marist and Vandy – went to the NCAA Championships last March, while four – OU, St. Bonaventure, CC and Hartford – advanced to the WNIT ... those seven teams had a total of 177 wins, an average of 25.3 victories per team, in 2008-09.

PROCHASKA NOW 14TH ON BGSU SCORING LIST
Less than halfway into her junior season, Lauren Prochaska already ranks 14th on the BGSU career scoring list ... Prochaska now has a total of 1,295 points in her Falcon tenure ... she passed three former Falcon greats – Jacki Raterman, Melissa Chase and Michelle Shade – in the Detroit and Saint Bonaventure games ... Prochaska's next target is 13th-place Carin Horne, who scored 1,341 points from 2003-07 ... the Falcon junior is averaging 16.2 points per game, the second-highest average in BGSU annals, in her career.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons are 9-3 on the season, having played eight of the first 12 games on the road ... BGSU has won eight of the last nine games ... the Falcons saw a five-game winning streak snapped with a 70-54 loss at St. Bonaventure (Dec. 12), but bounced back with three wins in five days before Christmas ... that streak included wins at Canisius (67-42; Dec. 19) and Youngstown State (73-45; Dec. 21), and a home victory over Appalachian State (89-68; Dec. 23) ... BG is 4-0 at home and 5-3 on the road this year to date ... the Falcons opened the 2009-10 campaign with three games in the Preseason WNIT, starting with a 76-41 win over Chicago State at venerable Anderson Arena ... then, however, the Brown and Orange lost road games against third-ranked Ohio State and Marist ... BGSU bounced back with wins in the next five games, with three on the road ... included in that five-game win streak was a trip to Nashville, where head coach Curt Miller's club defeated nationally-ranked Vanderbilt, 66-60 (Dec. 4).

• BGSU returns 10 letterwinners, including four starters, from last year's team that won the Mid-American Conference's regular-season title for a fifth-straight season ... the Falcons went 29-5 overall, posting the second-highest win total in school and conference history, and had a 15-1 MAC record in 2008-09 ... the Brown and Orange advanced to the third round of the Postseason WNIT.

• The Falcons had just one senior on the roster a year ago ... Lindsey Goldsberry ended her career as the winningest basketball player – man or woman – in MAC history ... BG had a record of 114-20 in her four years, for an average of 28.5 wins.

• Through 12 games this year, junior Lauren Prochaska leads the Falcons in both scoring and rebounding ... Prochaska, the reigning Mid-American Conference Player of the Year, is averaging 17.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per game ... after averaging 10.3 ppg in the three Preseason WNIT games, she has averaged 19.3 ppg and shot .532 from the field over the last nine contests ... Prochaska was named the league's Player of the Week on two-straight Mondays earlier this month (Dec. 7 and Dec. 14).

• Junior Tracy Pontius and senior Tamika Nurse have 12.9 and 10.9 ppg, respectively ... Pontius has 3.3 rpg, and is tied with Prochaska for the team lead in three-point field goals made ... Pontius is 27-of-64 from beyond the arc, and is tied for first on the Falcons in assists (3.8 apg) ... Nurse also has 3.8 assists per game to match Pontius, as each player has 45 helpers to date ... Nurse is third on the team with 20 three-pointers made, and has shot .426 (20-of-47) from long range.

• Senior Tara Breske and junior Jen Uhl have scored 7.4 and 6.9 ppg, respectively ... Breske, who missed two games due to injury, came off the bench for the next three contests before moving back into the starting lineup for the last three games ... she has 4.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocked shots per game, leading the Falcons in the latter category ... Uhl has 4.9 rebounds per game, ranking second on the team ... she is shooting .485 from the field, and has gone 9-of-24 from three-point range.

• Junior Maggie Hennegan and sophomore Jessica Slagle have 5.3 and 2.9 ppg, respectively ... Hennegen has 4.8 rebounds per game to place third on the team ... Slagle is fourth on the Falcons in assists, with 1.3 helpers per game.

• The list of returnees in 2009-10 includes three seniors – Breske, Laura Bugher and Sarah Clapper – along with five juniors ... Breske started all 34 games in the post last season.

• The returnees in the junior class include a pair of highly-decorated players in Prochaska and Pontius ... Prochaska, a wing, was the 2009 MAC Player of the Year, while Pontius, a point guard, was an honorable-mention selection to the Associated Press All-America Team ... both Pontius and Prochaska earned All-MAC First-Team honors in 2008-09.

• Juniors Uhl, Chelsea Albert and Kelly Zuercher also returned ... Uhl started the final 13 games last year at a forward spot ... sophomores Slagle and Maribeth Giese round out the returning letterwinners.

• Two other players are in their first playing season at BGSU ... Nurse, a fifth-year senior (Univ. of Oregon), and Hennegan, a redshirt junior (Saint Louis Univ.), participated in practices at BGSU last season, but sat out the year after transferring from other NCAA Division-I schools.

• Five newcomers also joined the program in 2009-10 ... that list includes a quartet of freshmen in Simone Eli, Allison Papenfuss, Chrissy Steffen and Jessie Tamerlano ... Danielle Havel also joins the program, but will sit out this season after transferring from DePaul University ... she will retain three seasons of eligibility.

• Nurse, Pontius and Prochaska each have started all 12 games to date, while Uhl has made nine starts ... Breske has started seven contests, including the first four games of the year and each of the last three contests ... Hennegan has made a total of eight starts this year to date.

• Through 12 games, the Falcons are shooting .439 from the field, .387 from three-point land and .770 from the free-throw line ... BG's opponents are shooting .388 overall, .346 from long range and .713 from the stripe ... the Falcons have 36.8 rebounds per game to the opponents' 34.2.

LAST TIME OUT
It was a complete team effort as the Falcons posted an 89-68 win over Appalachian State Wednesday evening (Dec. 23) ... fifteen different players saw action for head coach Curt Miller's team, with no fewer than 14 finding the scoresheet ... BGSU made 14 three-point field goals, shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc in the win ... the Falcons' total of 89 points was a season high, and BG's 14 triples made was the team's most in nearly two years ... junior Lauren Prochaska led the home team with 21 points, while classmate Tracy Pontius had 15 points and a game-high eight assists ... senior Tamika Nurse also was in double figures with 12 points, adding four assists and a team-leading three steals ... the Falcons' team effort offset eye-popping statistical performances from a pair of ASU freshmen ... Ashlen Dewart led all players with 34 points, going 15-of-22 from the field and adding seven rebounds ... Anna Freeman had a double-double, with 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, and came relatively close to a quadruple-double with eight blocked shots and seven assists ... she added a team-leading three steals for good measure ... BGSU forced 26 turnovers, and the Falcons held a 31-12 margin in points off turnovers ... the hosts also went 19-of-26 from the free-throw line, including a 14-of-16 effort in the first half ... the Mountaineers went 6-of-8 for the game ... BG ended the first half on an 11-0 run to take a 50-30 lead into the break, and the lead never dipped below 16 points in the second half.

THREE-MENDOUS
The Falcons hit a season-high 14 three-point field goals in the win over Appalachian State (Dec. 23), shooting an even 50 percent from long range ... BGSU's total of three-pointers made was the team's highest in nearly two years, since the Falcons hit a school record-tying 16 in a win at Kent State (Jan. 16, 2008).

A SCHOOL RECORD? WE MAY NEVER KNOW
Falcon head coach Curt Miller has played a total of 15 different players on four occasions this season, the wins over UNC Greensboro (Nov. 27), Detroit (Dec. 9), Canisius (Dec. 19) and Appalachian State (Dec. 23) ... that total is the highest in over 25 years ... none of Miller's first eight teams at BGSU had more than 14 players on the active roster ... the last team to have as many as 15 players see action in a season was the 1985-86 squad ... the '84-85 Falcons also had 15 players, while the 1983-84 team – like the 2009-10 team – had 16 players who saw action in at least one game ... tragically, single-game information from the glorious decade of the 1980s is sketchy at best.

A SCHOOL RECORD? WELL, NO, BUT IT'S STILL A LOT
Of those 15 players to see action in the scoresheet in the Appalachian State game, no fewer than 14 found the scoresheet ... that total is the most in the Curt Miller Era ... the last time 14 different players scored in a game was on Jan. 22, 2001, at Kent State ... unfortunately for the Falcons, however, only one player scored more than six points in that game, a 92-55 loss to the Golden Flashes in Kent.

PASSING THEIR BOARDS
Last season, the Falcons had more rebounds than the opponent just 13 times in 34 games ... this year, BGSU has outrebounded the opposition 10 times in 12 games, including in nine of the last 10 contests ... when outrebounding opponents, BG is 111-11 in the Curt Miller Era, including a 91-4 mark in the last five-plus seasons.

SCOUTING HARTFORD
Hartford enters Wednesday's game with an overall record of 8-3, and the Hawks are a perfect 5-0 at home this year to date ... most recently, UH picked up a 51-44 win over visiting Coppin State on Dec. 21 ... after winning five of the first six games of the year, the Hawks have split their last four games ... Hartford has played both teams that participated in last year's national championship game, with a home win over Louisville (62-50; Nov. 17) and a road loss against #1 Connecticut (45-80; Dec. 10) ... the Hawks' other losses came at Providence (59-66; Nov. 20) and Marist (47-68; Dec. 19) ... senior F/C Diana Delva leads the Hawks in both scoring and rebounding, with 14.5 points and 8.9 rebounds per contest ... Delva, who was named America East Conference Player of the Week on Monday (Dec, 28), leads the league in field-goal pct. with a .617 success rate ... senior forward Erica Beverly is second on the Hawks in both scoring and rebounding, with 9.0 ppg and 7.8 rpg ... Beverly and Delva rank one-two in the conference in blocked shots, having combined for a total of 50 blocks in 11 games this year ... freshman guard Alex Hall has 8.0 ppg and 2.3 rpg, and leads the team with 14 three-point field goals made ... junior guard Mary Silvia has 7.4 ppg off the bench, while junior guard Jackie Smith has 6.8 ppg and a team-leading 3.4 assists per contest ... Beverly, Delva and Smith have started all 11 games this season, while Hall and sophomore guard Ilicia Mathis (4.9 ppg) each have made 10 starts to date ... senior G/F Jenna Peterson (0.7 ppg) and freshman forward Ruthanne Doherty (4.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg) were in the starting five against Coppin State for head coach Jennifer Rizzotti ... Rizzotti welcomed back 10 letterwinners, including three starters, from last year's team that finished 20-12 overall and 14-2 in the America East ... the 2008-09 team qualified for the Postseason WNIT ... Rizzotti has a record of 200-119 in her 11th season as a collegiate head coach, all with the Hawks ... the school's athletics web site is www.HartfordHawks.com.

THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Hartford, 1-0, in the all-time series between the teams ... the lone previous meeting came last year in Bowling Green ... the Falcons captured a 56-52 decision inside venerable Anderson Arena on Dec. 21, 2008 ... three BGSU then-sophomores hit double digits in the win, as Tracy Pontius scored 14 points and Lauren Prochaska and Jen Uhl had 11 apiece ... Diana Delva had a game-high 15 points for the visitors, while Erica Beverly had 13 points and 11 rebounds ... Wednesday's game, obviously, marks the first meeting in West Hartford for the Falcons and Hawks ... Curt Miller has a record of 1-0 against UH.

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
With two non-conference games remaining, the Falcons have a total of nine wins ... BGSU has clinched a winning non-league record for the eighth-straight year, and the Falcons are looking to post 10 non-conference victories for a fourth consecutive season ... BG had never won as many as 10 non-conference games in a season prior to the current streak.

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS II: THE GORY DETAILS
• As mentioned, BGSU has clinched a winning non-league record for the eighth consecutive year ... BGSU is the only Mid-American Conference school to have turned that trick.

• BGSU had not had as many as three consecutive winning seasons in over a decade (since 1991-92 to 1993-94), prior to beginning the current streak ... now, of course, the Falcons have posted eight-straight winning seasons in non-conference action, for the longest such streak in school history.

• The 2008-09 team was the fourth in a row to tie or break the school record for non-conference wins in a season ... BGSU's total of nine non-league wins in 2005-06 tied the school record, before the '06-07 team had 11 to set a new mark ... the '07-08 and '08-09 teams had 11 non-league wins as well ... the Falcons have had at least seven non-league victories in each of the last eight seasons.

• Since the start of the 2002-03 season, BG is 72-24 in regular-season, non-league games, for the most wins and highest winning percentage of any MAC school in that time ... the Falcons have set a new school records for non-league wins in a five-year period, with 51 since the start of the 2005-06 season ... and, with a win over either Hartford or SIU Edwardsville, BGSU would set a new record for non-conference victories in a four-year span as well ... if you still crave more information on BGSU's non-league history, please consult the complete year-by-year list on page 31 of these notes.

TWO FOR TEN
On five Saturdays in the months of January and February, Falcon fans can get a ticket for two events for one low price of ten dollars ($10) ... the BGSU women's basketball team will be in action on four of those days, including this Saturday (Jan. 2) ... for only $10, fans can purchase a ticket to both the SIU Edwardsville game and the BGSU men's basketball game vs. Saint Louis that evening ... other dates that the two-for-$10 offer will be available include Jan. 23, Feb. 13, Feb. 20 and Feb. 27 ... the women's basketball team has home games on all but the Feb. 20 date.

HOME COOKIN'
The Falcons are 4-0 at venerable Anderson Arena this season to date, and BGSU has won 23 of the last 24 games at "The House That Roars" ... 18 of those 23 wins came by double digits ... the lone loss in that time came to Indiana in the third round of the 2009 Postseason WNIT.

WHAT A LONG STRANGE (BUNCH OF) TRIP(S) IT'S BEEN
The Falcons' games at Canisius (Dec. 19) and Youngstown State (Dec. 21) concluded a season-long five-game road swing ... BGSU went 4-1 during that stretch ... prior to last Wednesday's (Dec. 23) game vs. Appalachian State, BG had played as many games in the state of New York as in venerable Anderson Arena.

2 SCORES 20 FOR 24TH TIME
Junior Lauren Prochaska scored 21 points in the win over Appalachian State ... that was her fifth game of 20 points or more this year, and the 24th such contest of her Falcon career ... Prochaska has scored in double digits in 72 of her 80 career games at BGSU.

MILLER MOVING UP
The win over Appalachian State was the 188th of Curt Miller's head-coaching career ... Miller, who became the winningest coach in BGSU history two years ago, is within one victory of third place on the Mid-American Conference list ... Fran Voll currently holds down that third-place position, with a total of 189 victories at BGSU and Central Michigan ... only Kent State's Bob Lindsay and former Toledo coach Mark Ehlen have more wins at a MAC institution.

HOLDING THEM UNDER 50
Youngstown State was the fourth Falcon opponent in 2009-10, and the third in a four-game span, to be held to fewer than 50 points by the BGSU defense ... the Falcons held only three teams to under 50 points during all of last season.

THE FALCONS ARE/WERE ...
• 9-3 in the 2009-10 season to date;
• 29-5 overall in 2008-09;
• 29-3 in the final 32 games of last year, after an 0-2 start to the season;
• 15-1 in MAC play last year, good for a fifth-straight league regular-season title;
• 5-12 in 12 national postseason appearances (including a 3-9 record in the NCAA Championships and a 2-3 mark in WNIT trips);
• 188-76 since Curt Miller took the BGSU helm in May of 2001;
• 94-34 in MAC games in that time:
• 4-5 in national postseason action under Miller (including a 2-3 mark in the NCAAs and a 2-2 record in the WNIT);
• 179-57 overall in the seven years (plus 12 games) 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);
• 167-41 over the last six-plus years, with 2008-09 marking BG's sixth-straight season of at least 20 wins;
• a staggering 146-31 in the past five-plus years, with no fewer than 23 wins in each year and a MAC regular-season title in every season;
• an eye-popping 123-23 overall and 59-5 in the MAC regular season in the last four-plus years, with the first 114 of those wins coinciding with the career of Lindsey Goldsberry;
• 95-20 in the last three-plus years, including a 43-5 conference ledger, since seniors Tara Breske, Laura Bugher and Sarah Clapper joined the program;
• 64-16 overall, and 28-4 in MAC regular-season games, since juniors Chelsea Albert, Tracy Pontius, Lauren Prochaska, Jen Uhl and Kelly Zuercher began their respective playing careers at BGSU;
• 38-8 since sophomores Maribeth Giese and Jessica Slagle ventured to NW Ohio;
• 74-7 in the last 81 games vs. MAC opponents (including regular-season and tourney games);
• A perfect 46-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field in the Miller Era;
• 159-10 when having a better FG pct. in Miller's tenure, including an 8-0 mark this year to date;
• 142-23 when making more free throws during Miller's first eight-plus seasons;
• 111-11 when outrebounding the opponent in the Miller Era;
• 41-17 in December games since Miller took the helm, including 12-1 in the last two Decembers;
• 36-4 in MAC home games in the last five seasons;
• 30-2 in MAC road games over the last four years (with the lone losses during that time coming in 2007-08 at Ball State and last March at Miami);
• 12-2 in the MAC Tournament over the last five years, with three titles (2005, '06 and '07), a championship-game appearance last season, and a trip to the semifinals in 2008;
• 36-16 overall in the MAC Tournament since it was instituted in 1982;
• 24-11 in MAC Tournament contests played at a neutral site;
• 14-4 at Gund/Quicken Loans Arena, the site of the MAC Tournament;
• 15-5 in MAC Tournament games in the Curt Miller Era;
• 14-3 at "The Gund"/"The Q" under Miller;
• 27-3 in all non-conference home games since the start of the 2003-04 season; and
• 23-2 against non-league foes at Anderson Arena since November of 2004.

TREY BIEN!
A pair of juniors are moving up the BGSU career list for three-point field goals made ... Lauren Prochaska hit four triples in the win over Appalachian State, moving into sole possession of second place on that list ... with 176 long-range makes in her career to date, she has moved ahead of Sara Puthoff (173 from 1994-98), and now trails only school record-holder Liz Honegger ... Honegger made 216 triples from 2003-07 ... Tracy Pontius, in just her second year as a starter, ranks 10th on the list ... Pontius also hit four triples vs. ASU, and has 116 in her career ... she is seven behind her former teammate, Lindsey Goldsberry (123 from 2005-09).

PURA VIDA!
Head coach Curt Miller and the Falcons jump-started their season in August, heading to Costa Rica on the first foreign tour in program history ... the Falcons benefitted from four games vs. local competition, in addition to 10 days of practices leading up to the tour ... in addition to the practices and games, the 12 players (the 10 returnees from 2008-09, plus the two transfers who sat out last season at BGSU) were able to bond together through a week and a half of diverse experiences, including whitewater rafting, zip-lining through the rainforest and hiking on a volcano.

JUST AS SUCCESSFUL IN THE CLASSROOM
The Falcons had one of the most successful seasons in program history on the court in 2008-09 ... head coach Curt Miller's program had one of its most successful campaigns in the classroom as well ... BGSU was ranked fifth in the entire nation on the WBCA's Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll for 2008-09 ... the awards recognized teams throughout the country that had the highest grade point averages for 2008-09 ... as a team, the Falcons had a GPA of 3.470 in '08-09 ... BGSU was the only MAC program on the list, and the Falcons were also the only program from the state of Ohio in the Division-I Top 25.

THE FALCON SENIORS
Fourth-year Falcons Tara Breske, Laura Bugher and Sarah Clapper helped the Brown and Orange average 28.7 wins per season in their first three years after arriving on campus ... that trio has been a part of the two winningest teams in program history, as well as four of the five national postseason wins in BG annals ... BGSU has gone 95-20 overall and 43-5 in MAC regular-season action since Breske, Bugher and Clapper came to the school ... Tamika Nurse, a fifth-year senior, is in her first playing season after sitting out last year as a transfer from the Univ. of Oregon.

THE JUNIORS
BGSU has posted a record of 64-16 overall, and the Falcons are 28-4 in MAC regular-season games since Chelsea Albert, Tracy Pontius, Lauren Prochaska, Jen Uhl and Kelly Zuercher set foot on campus ... that is an average of 27.5 wins per year through the first two seasons ... the Falcons have played national postseason tournament games at Anderson Arena in each year, beating Dayton in the '08 WNIT and facing Syracuse and Indiana in that tourney at home in 2009 ... Maggie Hennegan joined that group for the 2009-10 season ... Hennegan sat out last season as a transfer after playing two years at Saint Louis Univ.

THE SOPHOMORES
Maribeth Giese and Jessica Slagle helped the Brown and Orange to 29 wins – the second-highest total in MAC history – along with a school-record 25-game winning streak in their first year in BG ... the Falcons are 38-8 since the duo arrived in Northwest Ohio ... Danielle Havel is a member of the sophomore class, but will sit out the 2009-10 season after transferring from DePaul Univ.

THE FRESHMEN
Four freshmen joined the Falcons for the 2009-10 season ... that list includes Simone Eli (Genoa, Ohio/Genoa), Allison Papenfuss (Whitehouse, Ohio/Anthony Wayne), Chrissy Steffen (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) and Jessie Tamerlano (North Royalton, Ohio/North Royalton).

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