Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Return to Intra-Divisional Play with Saturday Game at Akron
February 19, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 19, 2009
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) -
BGSU at AKRON
Saturday, February 21, 2009 • 2:00 p.m.James A. Rhodes Arena (5,500) • Akron, Ohio
RECORDS: BGSU 22-2 (11-0 MAC) // Akron 9-15 (4-7 MAC)
RADIO: WBGU-FM 88.1 - Pat Dougherty and Anthony Bellino
SERIES: BGSU leads, 40-2 // STREAK: BGSU - 11
LAST MEETING: at BGSU 80, Akron 51 (Jan. 17, 2009)
BGSU Notes, Stats & Bios (44 pages) in a handy PDF Format
Coach Miller Previews the Akron Game - Audio from Wednesday's press conf.
THE GAME
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, having completed the cross-divisional phase of the Mid-American Conference schedule, begins the second round-robin swing through the East Division this weekend ... the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller head to Northeast Ohio for a Saturday (Feb. 21) tilt against the University of Akron ... tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at James A. Rhodes Arena (5,500) ... following the UA contest, the Brown and Orange will conclude a two-game road swing with a Wednesday (Feb. 25) game at Buffalo ... BGSU already has clinched the East Division title, as the Falcons hold a six-game lead with just five to play.
DRIVE FOR FIVE
The Falcons, as mentioned, have clinched the MAC's East Division title ... BGSU's 94-79 win over Central Michigan on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 15), combined with losses by Kent State and Miami over the weekend, put the Brown and Orange six games ahead of both the Golden Flashes and RedHawks, with five games remaining ... BG's title is the program's fifth consecutive regular-season conference crown, setting a school record and tying the league mark ... Kent State won five-straight titles from 1997-98 through 2001-02 ... the Falcons have clinched the #1 East seed for the MAC Tournament, and have earned a first-round bye ... BG's first game in the tourney will come in the quarterfinal round on March 13.
PROCHASKA IS PROLIFIC
Sophomore Lauren Prochaska has had quite a successful season, to say the least ... on Sunday (Feb. 15), the MAC Player-of-the-Year candidate did something no Falcon had ever done ... Prochaska shattered the school record with 43 points in the Falcons' win over Central Michigan ... she hit a jumper with 11:30 left to reach 36 points, breaking the old school record of 35 ... Prochaska made 14 of her 18 shots from the field, including a 5-for-8 performance from three-point range, and went 10-of-11 from the free-throw line.
BGSU RECORD BOOK, SINGLE-GAME SCORING
43 -- Lauren Prochaska vs. Central Michigan, 2/15/09
35 -- Francine Miller vs. Marshall, 2/17/01
35 -- Francine Miller vs. Kent, 1/17/00
35 -- Jacki Raterman vs. Ball State 2/9/99
35 -- Jackie Motycka vs. Washington State, 12/12/87
PROCHASKA JUST MISSES MAC RECORD
Sophomore Lauren Prochaska's 43-point total vs. Central Michigan Sunday (Feb. 15) was just one point shy of the MAC record ... Kent State's Lindsay Shearer holds that mark with 44 points against the Falcons in the 2005 MAC Championship game ... KSU's Ann Forbes scored 43 points vs. BG in a 1992 league tournament game, while Miami's Amanda Jackson had 43 vs. UTEP last season ... Prochaska's total set a new MAC record for points scored in a conference game.
MAC RECORD BOOK, SINGLE-GAME SCORING
44 -- Lindsay Shearer (Kent State) vs. BGSU, 3/12/05
43 -- Lauren Prochaska (BGSU) vs. Central Michigan, 2/15/09
43 -- Amanda Jackson (Miami) vs. UTEP, 12/29/07
43 -- Ann Forbes (Kent State) vs. BGSU, 3/13/92
GOLDEN NUGGET: FALCON SENIOR APPROACHES RECORD WIN TOTAL
Lindsey Goldsberry, the lone senior on the 2008-09 Falcon squad, has helped the team to a great deal of success since her arrival on campus ... after Sunday's win over Central Michigan, BGSU now has an overall record of 107-17 since the start of Goldsberry's freshman year ... 'Golds' has a chance to become the winningest player in school - and MAC - history ... one more BG win would allow her to tie that mark, and two more would give her the record outright ... currently, that distinction is shared by last year's senior class, as Kate Achter and Whitney Taylor helped the Falcons to a total of 108 wins (108-23 record) during their careers, the most wins in MAC history in a four-year period ... the Falcons won at least 26 games in each of Goldsberry's first three seasons, and have captured 22 more this year ... BG is 55-4 in MAC regular-season play since Goldsberry ventured to Northwest Ohio.
WE'RE GOING STREAKING: FALCONS SET SCHOOL RECORD FOR CONSECUTIVE WINS
The Falcons have won 22 consecutive contests, the longest streak in school history, heading into Saturday's Akron game ... the win over Central Michigan (Feb. 15) broke the old school mark of 21-straight wins, set by Fran Voll's 1986-87 team ... the current run marks the eighth double-digit win streak in BG annals, and the fourth in as many years ...
BGSU'S LONGEST WINNING STREAKS
Season -- Streak -- Notes
2008-09 -- 22 -- BG's last loss came on Nov. 19 at Valparaiso
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
1993-94 -- 20 -- Falcons lost MAC opener, then won out until NCAAs
2005-06 -- 19 -- Included 16-0 league record and 3 MAC tourney wins
2006-07 -- 18 -- Part of 24-1 run that took BG all the way to 'Sweet 16'
1992-93 -- 17 -- BGSU, 8-4, won 14 MAC games, 3 more in MAC Ty.
2007-08 -- 10 -- Streak spanned all of February and half of March
FALCONS ARE STREAKY
BGSU enters Saturday's game at Akron riding several lengthy streaks ... the Falcons have won ...
• 22 consecutive overall games since a Nov. 19 loss at Valparaiso;
• 17-straight games at Anderson Arena (obviously, this streak will not be affected by the Akron game);
• 10 consecutive MAC road games;
• 20-straight overall MAC regular-season games;
• 13 consecutive contests in the month of February; and
• 11 games in a row in the series with Akron.
FALCONS ARE STREAKY II
• The Falcons are on a lengthy winning streak, having won 22 consecutive games ... BGSU also has win streaks against all 11 of the other MAC schools.
• The Falcons lost a total of four games to league foes last year, with three regular-season losses (Miami, Ball State and Western Michigan), and a loss in the semifinal round of the Kraft MAC Tournament (to Ohio in double overtime) ... BG has avenged all four of those losses this season, with wins over the Bobcats, RedHawks, Cardinals and Broncos.
• Since last year's loss to Western, the Falcons have won 31 of 33 regular-season games, including 20-straight contests in MAC play.
PUTTING THOSE STREAKS IN CONTEXT...
• According to the MAC women's basketball media guide, the Falcons' current 22-game winning streak is the second-longest in conference history ... Central Michigan holds the MAC record, with 26-straight wins during the 1983-84 season.
• BGSU has now won 20 consecutive MAC regular-season games ... that is the fourth-longest such streak in school history, and the sixth-longest streak in MAC annals ... the Falcons hold the record with 33 consecutive conference wins, from February of 2005 to February of 2007 ... BG holds the top-two spots and four of the top-six places on that list.
LONGEST MAC WINNING STREAK (REGULAR SEASON)
33 -- BOWLING GREEN (2/23/05-2/20/07)
23 -- BOWLING GREEN (2/13/88 - 1/3/90)
22 -- Kent State (3/1/97 - 1/6/99)
22 -- Central Michigan (1/4/84 - 1/12/85)
21 -- BOWLING GREEN (3/1/86 - 1/6/88)
20 -- BOWLING GREEN (2/2/08 to present)
PROCHASKA NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sophomore Lauren Prochaska was named the MAC's Player of the Week on Monday (Feb. 16) ... the Plain City, Ohio, native earned the honor for the fifth time this season, and also the fifth time in her career ... Prochaska averaged 28.0 points per game last week, including a school-record 43-point performance in Sunday's (Feb. 15) win over Central Michigan ... if you look very carefully, you might find Prochaska's name mentioned in one or two other places in these notes.
ATOP THE MAC: BG IS 11-0
• The Falcons have started MAC play with a record of 11-0 for the fifth time in school history, and the third time in the last four seasons ... BGSU's 1986-87, 1988-89, 2005-06 and 2006-07 teams all won the first 11 MAC games of the year ... the first three teams went a perfect 16-0 in league regular-season play, while the '06-07 team finished 15-1 in the MAC en route to the NCAA's 'Sweet Sixteen.'
• The Kraft MAC Tournament is less than a month away, with first-round games scheduled for March 11 in downtown Cleveland ... the Falcons have earned a bye for that first round, and BG's first game in Cleveland will be in the quarterfinals, scheduled for March 13 ... the top-two teams in each division earn byes ... unlike MAC men's basketball, where teams are seeded from #1 through #12, the women's basketball format seeds teams by division (#1 East, #2 East, etc.).
STREAK IS ONE OF LONGEST IN NATION
The Falcons' 22-game winning streak is the second-longest active streak in the nation ... only Connecticut is ahead of the Falcons on that list, which can be found in the PDF version o' these game notes at the top of this very page.
HOME STREAK IS PRETTY LENGTHY, TOO
BGSU has a 16-game home winning streak, which also ranks among the longest in the nation ... the Falcons won the last five contests of 2007-08 at venerable Anderson Arena, and BG has begun the '08-09 campaign with 11-straight wins at 'The House That Roars' ... the list of current active homecourt win streaks can be found in the PDF version of these FalcoNotes.
A WINNING MAC RECORD
With a 11-0 MAC record, the Falcons have clinched a winning league record for the sixth consecutive year ... the school record is nine consecutive winning records in MAC play, from 1985-86 through 1993-94 ... Fran Voll was the head coach for the first six years of that streak, with Jaci Clark at the helm for the latter three.
CLEANING THE GLASS
After going the first nine MAC games without outrebounding the opponent, the Falcons have won the battle of the boards in each of the last two games ... BG pulled down four more rebounds than Toledo (Feb. 12), and had a rebounding advantage of +9 against Central Michigan three days later.
LO'S LENGTHY STREAK COMES TO AN END
Believe it or not, sophomore Lauren Prochaska missed a free throw in Sunday's (Feb. 15) win over Central Michigan ... that miss snapped her streak of consecutive free throws made at 45, a new school record ... in fact, Prochaska's streak is tied for sixth-longest in NCAA history, according to the NCAA's 2009 Record Book ... here's the list (note: the MAC media guide lists the conference record as 57 consecutive free throws by CMU's Jody Beerman in 1986-87, so perhaps Prochaska is tied for seventh ... in any event, here's the NCAA's list) ...
NCAA DIVISION I, CONSECUTIVE FREE THROWS MADE
66 -- Ginny Doyle, Richmond -- 1991-92
60 -- Adrienne Squire, Penn State -- 2004-06
53 -- Katie Miller, Northern Iowa -- 1999-00
49 -- Lisa Rathburn, BYU -- 1990-91
49 -- Brooke Lassiter, Louisiana Tech -- 2000-01
45 -- Lauren Prochaska, Bowling Green -- 2008-09
45 -- Amy Slowikowski, Kent State -- 1988-89
45 -- Wendy Scholtens, Vanderbilt -- 1988-89
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons are 22-2 on the season ... after opening the year with road losses against Temple and Valparaiso, BGSU has won a school record 22-straight games heading into Saturday's Akron contest ... BG won 11 non-conference games for the third consecutive year, then went 5-0 in the first round-robin swing through the MAC's East Division and 6-0 against the West ... the Falcons closed cross-divisional play with a pair of home wins last week, a 70-53 victory over arch-rival Toledo (Feb. 12) and a 94-79 decision against Central Michigan on Sunday (Feb. 15).
• The Falcons are 11-0 at home, 9-2 on the road and 2-0 in neutral-site games ... BG won two tournaments, the UNCG Marriott Classic and the Dayton Flyer Classic, during the non-league portion of the schedule ... in between, the Falcons had a 4-0 December homestand, winning the first two games by a combined 63 points, over Detroit and Youngstown State, then downing St. Bonaventure and Hartford ... at the Dayton tourney, the Falcons topped Gardner-Webb and the host Flyers to win the title ... BGSU closed the non-league slate and opened the 2009 calendar year with a win at SIU Edwardsville (Jan. 2), just prior to the MAC schedule ... senior Lindsey Goldsberry, junior Tara Breske and sophomores Tracy Pontius and Lauren Prochaska each have started all 24 games this season to date ... junior Niki McCoy started the first 21 games of the year ... McCoy was suspended and missed the last three games, and sophomore Jen Uhl moved into the starting lineup vs. Western Michigan, UT and CMU.
• Prochaska leads the team in scoring, with 18.1 points per game, and is second in rebounding, with 5.9 boards per contest ... she has had nine games of 20 points or more, with the latest being a school-record 43-point explosion vs. CMU, and has been named MAC Player of the Week five times this season, including Monday (Feb. 16) ... Prochaska leads the nation in free-throw percentage (94.8%; 110-of-116) ... Pontius is second on the team with 13.8 ppg ... the sophomore, named the MAC P-O-W on Feb. 1, leads the Falcons in assists, with 4.3 per game, and is second in steals (1.6 spg) ... Pontius had a career-high nine assists vs. CMU, and leads the entire MAC in assist/turnover ratio (1.82) ... McCoy, who also has been named a MAC P-O-W once this year (Jan. 5), has 13.6 ppg, and ranks third with 5.6 rpg ... she surpassed the 1,000-point mark for her career in the NIU game ... Breske and freshman Jessica Slagle have 7.4 and 5.4 ppg, respectively ... Breske has taken over the team rebounding lead, with 6.2 rpg ... she has averaged 12.0 points and 9.7 boards over the last three games, including a career-high 14 rebounds at WMU ... Breske also tops BG in blocks (1.2 bpg) and is third in steals ... Goldsberry has 5.5 ppg ... she leads the Falcons in steals (2.0 spg) and is second in assists (2.3 apg) ... she also has an impressive assist/TO ratio of 2.25, but falls shy of the minimum number of assists to qualify for the league leaders.
• The Falcons are shooting 44.3% from the field over the first 24 games ... BG has a three-point FG pct. of 37.0%, with 7.2 triples made per game, and is shooting 78.9% from the free-throw line ... the opponents are shooting 38.5% from the floor, 32.9% from long range and 67.1% from the stripe ... the Falcons have 35.8 rebounds per game to the opponents' 37.6 ... BG has turned the ball over 15.7 times per game, but has forced the opponents into 19.5 per outing.
• The Falcons have made almost twice as many free throws (461) as the opponents (255) ... in fact, BGSU has made 81 more FTs than the foes have attempted (380).
• 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-straight year, posting a 13-3 conference record ... the Falcons advanced to the semifinals of the MAC Tournament before falling in double OT ... 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 Pontius, Uhl and Chelsea Albert 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 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 remaining, while Hennegan will have two.
LAST TIME OUT
BGSU enjoyed a record-setting day, posting a 15-point win over Central Michigan ... the Falcons have won 22 consecutive games, a new school record, after dropping the first two contests of the year, and the win enabled BG to clinch the East Division outright .. and - oh by the way - sophomore Lauren Prochaska shattered the school single-game record with 43 points in the win ... junior Tara Breske and soph Tracy Pontius also were in double digits, with 15 points apiece ... Pontius had a career-high nine assists and just one turnover, while Breske had a game-best eight rebounds, as the Falcons held a 38-29 advantage on the boards ... two CMU players combined for 53 points, as Shonda Long erupted for 29 and Britni Houghton had 24 off the bench ... Angel Chan rounded out the game's double-digit scorers, with 16 points ... the Falcons shot 59.3 percent from the field on the afternoon, including a 19-for-30 (63.3%) effort in the second half ... BG held CMU to a 39.1% field-goal rate ... each team made 10 three-point field goals, with the Falcons shooting 52.6% (10-of-19) and Central 33.3% (10-for-30) ... Prochaska and Long made five long-range shots apiece to lead their respective clubs ... the Falcons trailed only once all day, but BG did not pull away until the final 10 minutes of the game ... Prochaska had broken the former school record (35 points) with over 11 minutes remaining in the contest.
SCOUTING AKRON
Akron enters Saturday's Bowling Green game with a record of 9-15, and the Zips are 4-7 in MAC play ... UA has topped last year's win totals, both overall and in conference action ... the Zips are coming off back-to-back road losses, against Central Michigan (78-57; Feb. 11) and Western Michigan (71-57; Feb. 14) ... but, UA is 4-2 in MAC home games, including wins over Toledo (Jan. 31) and Eastern Michigan (Feb. 7) in the last two games at Rhodes Arena ... individually, sophomore forward Kara Murphy leads the team in scoring, with 18.6 points per game, and also has 5.5 rebounds per contest ... freshman center Kyle Baumgartner has 9.6 ppg and 6.3 rpg to rank second in both categories, while sophomore guard Amber Witt has 6.0 ppg ... junior post players Victoria Arndt and Jolene Tamboue each have 5.0 ppg, and Tamboue leads the team with 6.9 boards per outing ... Murphy, Tamboue and Witt each have started all 24 games this year to date ... Baumgartner and junior guard Ayla Guzzardo (3.9 ppg, a team-leading 3.3 assists per game) have joined that trio in the starting lineup for all 11 MAC games for head coach Jodi Kest ... Kest welcomed back four letterwinners, including two starters, from last year's club that finished 7-24 overall and 2-14 in MAC action ... Kest is 26-58 in her third year in Akron, and has an overall record of 252-211 in her 17th season as a collegiate head coach ... the school's athletics web site is www.GoZips.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Akron, 40-2, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU has won each of the last 11 meetings ... BGSU is a perfect 21-0 in home games vs. the Zips after last month's 80-51 win at venerable Anderson Arena (Jan. 17, 2009) ... last season, the Falcons won an 88-56 home win (Jan. 9, 2008) and a 69-54 victory in the Rubber City, in BG's last trip to Rhodes Arena (March 5, 2008) ... the Falcons are 18-2 in road games vs. the Zips, and have won five-straight games at "The JAR" ... overall, the Falcons won the first 26 series meetings, before UA's initial win, in Akron in the 1999 MAC Tournament ... the Zips' other win was an 88-63 blowout at UA in February of 2001 ... Curt Miller has a record of 11-0 vs. the Zips during his head-coaching tenure.
THE FALCONS VS. THE MAC
The Falcons have a proud history in the MAC ... BG enters Saturday's game vs. Akron with an overall league record of 317-139 (69.5%), the best of all conference institutions ... additionally, BGSU leads the all-time series with all 11 MAC opponents ... BG, obviously, is the only team in the league with a winning series mark against every other school ... and, the Falcons now have a current winning streak against each of the other 11 teams as well.
LO SCORING AT A HIGH RATE
• Sophomore Lauren Prochaska, after a 43-point explosion vs. Central Michigan, has scored 936 career points in a BG uniform ... she moved up five spots on the BGSU career scoring list last week, and now ranks 24th ... her next target is 23rd-place Rhonda Moore, who had 966 points at BG.
• Prochaska has amassed her 936-point total through just 58 career games ... the Plain City, Ohio, native is averaging 16.1 points per game in her career, a ppg average which would rank her second in school history, behind only the legendary Jackie Motycka (18.1 ppg from 1985-89).
• Prochaska is looking to become the 23rd player in school history to reach 1,000 points, but only the second to do so as a sophomore ... Motycka currently is the only player to reach the millennium mark as a soph, on her way to a school-record 2,122 career points.
• Should Prochaska continue to score at her career average of 16.1 ppg - or at her season average of 18.1 ppg - she would reach 1,000 points in the Miami game on March 4 ... Motycka reached the 1,000-point mark in her 54th career game ... no other player in school history has gotten to that plateau in fewer than 72 games, meaning that, if Prochaska can score a total of 64 points over her next 13 games, she would be the second-fastest in school history to get to 1,000 points.
HIGH-SCORING SOPHS
Saturday's game will feature the top two scorers in the MAC in a pair of slick-shooting sophomores ... Akron's Kara Murphy has averaged 18.6 points per game this year to rank atop the MAC, while BG soph Lauren Prochaska is second in the league with 18.1 ppg ... in conference games only, Prochaska is averaging a MAC-best 20.7 ppg, while Murphy is second with 18.7 ppg.
ROAD WARRIORS
The Falcons, heading into the Akron game, are 28-1 in MAC road games over the last three-plus years ... the only loss during that time came in last season's trip to Ball State (a 68-47 BSU win on Jan. 26, 2008) ... prior to that, BGSU had not lost in a hostile MAC venue since Feb. 19, 2005 (57-52 at EMU).
THE FALCONS ARE ...
• 172-70 since Curt Miller took the BGSU helm in May of 2001;
• 90-33 in MAC games in that time:
• 163-51 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);
• 151-35 over the last five-plus years, with 2008-09 marking BG's sixth-straight season of at least 20 wins;
• a staggering 130-25 in the past four-plus years, with no fewer than 23 wins in each year (22 this year, obviously) and a MAC regular-season title in every season;
• an eye-popping 107-17 overall and 55-4 in the MAC regular season in the last three-plus years, since senior Lindsey Goldsberry ventured to Northwest Ohio;
• 79-14 in the last two-plus years, including a 39-4 conference ledger, since juniors Tara Breske, Laura Bugher and Sarah Clapper joined the program;
• 48-10 overall, and 24-3 in MAC regular-season games, since sophomores Chelsea Albert, Tracy Pontius, Lauren Prochaska, Jen Uhl and Kelly Zuercher began their respective playing careers at BGSU;
• 68-5 in the last 73 games vs. MAC opponents (including regular-season and tourney games);
• 34-4 in MAC home games in the last four-plus seasons;
• 28-1 in MAC road games over the last three-plus years (with the lone loss during that time coming last season at Ball State);
• 10-1 in the MAC Tournament over the last four years, with three titles (2005, '06 and '07) and a trip to the semifinals in 2008;
• 22-2 in non-conference home games since the start of the 2003-04 season;
• 18-1 against non-league opposition at Anderson Arena since November of 2004;
• 3-6 in games played on February 21 in program history;
• 2-3 in road games on that date; and
• 0-0 on the road on Feb. 21 in the Curt Miller Era, with the lone game on that date during his head-coaching tenure coming at home (a 71-62 loss to Kent State in 2004).
KENT STATE GAME (FEB. 28) TO BE TELEVISED
The Falcons' home game with Kent State, scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 28, will be televised by Fox Sports Ohio ... tipoff time has been changed to 12:00 p.m. at venerable Anderson Arena.
CAPTAINS
Senior Lindsey Goldsberry and junior Tara Breske are the co-captains of the 2008-09 women's basketball Falcons.
