Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Set for Sunday Showdown vs. Syracuse
March 20, 2009 | Women's Basketball
March 20, 2009
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) -
BGSU vs. SYRACUSE
Sunday, March 22, 2009 • 2:00 p.m.Anderson Arena (3,500) • Bowling Green, Ohio
WNIT Second Round
RECORDS: BGSU 28-4 [15-1 MAC] // Syracuse 17-14 [5-11 Big East]
RADIO: WBGU-FM 88.1 - Mike Castellano and Alex Mikos
TELEVISION: BCSN (tape delay) - Todd Hostetler and Mark Ehlen
SERIES: Syracuse leads, 1-0 // STREAK: SU - 1
LAST MEETING: Syracuse 71, BGSU 67 (Nov. 29, 1997)
NOTES & STATS IN PDF FORMAT:
BGSU Cover
| BGSU Inside Pages Syracuse Notes
Updated WNIT Bracket
THE GAME
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, for the fifth consecutive season, has advanced to national postseason play ... the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller earned the Mid-American Conference's automatic bid to the Women's National Invitation Tournament ... BGSU earned a first-round bye for the 48-team WNIT, and will host Syracuse University in the second round ... tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Sunday (March 22) at venerable Anderson Arena (3,500) ... the Falcons won their fifth consecutive MAC regular-season title and advanced to the championship game of the Kraft MAC Tournament.
FALCONS AND THE WNIT
The Falcons are appearing in the WNIT for the second consecutive season, and the third time in the program's history ... 2009 marks the first time BGSU has received a first-round bye in the tournament ... the Falcons are 1-1 in WNIT home games entering Sunday's game vs. Syracuse ... 11 years ago, BG dropped a first-round game to Butler at Anderson Arena, 95-90 ... last season, the Brown and Orange defeated Dayton at home by a 64-52 count, before losing at Michigan State, 74-66, in the second round.
BG-SU TIES
There are a number of BGSU-Syracuse ties as the Falcons prepare to host the Orange ...
• Falcon head coach Curt Miller spent four years on the SU coaching staff (1994-98) under head coach Marianna Freeman ... the Orange shared the Big East 7 championship during the 1995-96 season.
• During Miller's final season there, SU won the UCF Turkey Shootout in Orlando, Fla. ... the Orange's second win during that three-day, eight-team tournament came against Bowling Green, 71-67 (Nov. 29, 1997).
• Raquel Nurse started that game at a guard spot for SU, scoring eight points in 31 minutes ... her niece, Tamika Nurse, is attending BGSU and sitting out the 2008-09 season after transferring from the University of Oregon ... Tamika will have one year of eligibility remaining ... Raquel is married to Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb.
• BGSU's coordinator of basketball operations, Monique Rosati, is an SU alum, and served as a student manager for the women's basketball team ... her experience includes working for The Donovan McNabb Foundation, which creates awareness and raises money to fight diabetes, and McNabb Unlimited.
• Another coach, with an office down the hall from Miller's, has a few SU ties as well ... Louis Orr, BGSU's men's basketball head coach, was one of the finest players in SU history ... he was an All-American as a senior in 1980, capping a playing career that saw SU go 100-18 and advance to the NCAAs in all four seasons ... he was an assistant coach at his alma mater for four years (1996-2000).
• Current SU softball coach Leigh Ross went to New York after spending 10 years at BGSU, the last eight as head coach ... Ross, the winningest coach in BG softball history, guided the Falcons to the 2004 MAC Tournament title ... her associate head coach, Kyle Jamieson, also coached at BG, while SU graduate assistant Abby Habicht earned four letters for the Falcons, hitting what proved to be the game-winning homer in the title contest of the 2004 MAC Tournament.
ABOUT THE WNIT
The 48-team WNIT kicked off Wednesday (March 18) with first-round games ... all games are held on the campuses of participating schools ... a total of 32 teams play in the first round, while 16 teams (including BGSU) received a bye and will begin their tournament with a second-round game ... the Postseason WNIT features 16 first-round games, followed by 16 second-round games, eight third-round games, four quarterfinal games, two semifinal games and the championship ... the WNIT championship game will begin at 2:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 4, and will be hosted by one of the two final participating schools.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons are 28-4 on the season, and BGSU finished MAC play with a 15-1 league ledger ... the Falcons enter Sunday's Syracuse contest having won 28 of the last 30 games ... after opening the year with road losses against Temple and Valparaiso, BGSU won a school-record 25-straight games ... but, that streak ended with a 45-40 loss at Miami on March 4 ... BG was ranked 25th in the nation in one Associated Press poll (March 2) and two USA Today ESPN (Feb. 24 and March 3) polls, before dropping out after the Miami loss.
• Following the Miami game, the Falcons bounced back with a 79-64 home win over Ohio on Senior Day (March 7), then picked up a pair of wins in the Kraft MAC Tournament ... BG defeated Central Michigan, 82-65 (March 13) in the quarterfinal round, then downed arch-rival Toledo by a 79-66 count in the semis (March 14) ... the Brown and Orange suffered a 55-51 loss to Ball State in Sunday's (March 15) championship game.
• BG won a school-record 11 non-conference games for the third-straight 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 began the second trip through the East with road wins over Akron and Buffalo ... the latter game saw the Falcons win in overtime for the third time in a span of four road contests ... the Brown and Orange returned home and downed Kent State, 61-54 (Feb. 28), to move to 14-0 in MAC play before suffering the narrow loss to Miami.
• The Falcons are 13-0 at home, 11-3 on the road and 4-1 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, just prior to the MAC schedule ... senior Lindsey Goldsberry, junior Tara Breske and sophomores Tracy Pontius and Lauren Prochaska each have started all 32 games this season to date ... junior Niki McCoy started the first 21 games of the year, and sophomore Jen Uhl has been in the starting lineup for each of the last 11.
• Prochaska, the 2009 MAC Player of the Year, leads the team in scoring, with 17.0 points per game ... she is second in rebounding, with 6.2 boards per contest ... Prochaska has had 11 games of 20 points or more, including a school-record 43-point explosion in the regular-season win over Central Michigan, and was named MAC Player of the Week five times this season ... Prochaska continues to leads the nation in free-throw percentage (93.6%; 146-of-155), and averaged 19.6 ppg in MAC games to lead the entire conference in scoring ... Pontius is second on the team with 14.8 ppg ... the sophomore, who joined Prochaska on the All-MAC First Team, was named the MAC Tournament MVP, becoming the first-ever player to earn the honor from a team other than the tourney champion ... Pontius leads the Falcons in assists, with 4.3 per game, and is second in steals (1.5 spg) ... she exploded for 17 points in the overtime period alone at Buffalo (Feb. 25), hitting three-pointers on five consecutive trips down the floor, and had a similar trip to 'the zone' vs. UT at the MAC Tournament, with her school record-tying eight three-point field goals including a 7-of-8 performance in the second half ... Pontius leads the entire MAC in assist/turnover ratio (1.77) ... McCoy, who joined Pontius on the MAC's All-Tournament Team, has 12.9 ppg and 5.6 rpg to rank third on the team in both categories ... she surpassed the 1,000-point mark for her career in the Northern Illinois game back on Jan. 31, and has led the Falcons in scoring in three of the last four games.
• Breske has scored 7.6 ppg this season to date, while Goldsberry and Uhl have 5.3 and 5.1, respectively ... Breske holds the BG rebounding lead, with 6.3 rpg ... Breske has averaged 9.4 points and 7.6 boards over the last 11 games, including a career-high 14 rebounds at Western Michigan ... Breske also tops BG in blocks (1.1 bpg) ... Goldsberry leads the Falcons in steals (1.8 spg) and is second in assists (2.3 apg) ... she also has an impressive assist/TO ratio of 2.06, but falls shy of the minimum number of assists to qualify for the league leaders ... Uhl, in addition to her 5.1 points, has 4.1 boards per game ... she has averaged 7.3 ppg and 5.9 rpg since moving into the starting lineup, and had a career-high 14 boards at Miami ... freshman Jessica Slagle played in the first 29 games off the bench, and has 5.1 ppg ... Slagle missed the three MAC Tournament games due to injury.
• The Falcons are shooting 43.1% from the field over the first 32 games ... BG has a three-point FG pct. of 36.4%, with 7.1 triples made per game, and is shooting 78.9% from the free-throw line ... the opponents are shooting 39.2% from the floor, 31.3% from long range and 66.3% from the stripe ... the Falcons have 36.3 rebounds per game to the opponents' 37.2 ... BG has turned the ball over 15.4 times per game, but has forced the opponents into 18.7 per outing.
• The Falcons have made almost twice as many free throws (609) as the opponents (337) ... in fact, BGSU has made over 100 more FTs than the foes have attempted (508).
• In MAC games, BG shot 42.2% from the floor, 36.5% from the arc and an impressive 81.5% from the stripe ... the opponents shot 40.0% from the field, 29.6% from three-point range and 67.0% from the line ... Prochaska, as mentioned, led the league with 19.6 points in MAC games, and also had 5.9 boards ... Pontius had 15.9 ppg and 4.8 assists per outing, while McCoy had 10.5 ppg and 5.2 rpg ... Breske averaged 8.4 points and 6.8 boards in MAC games, while Uhl had 6.6 ppg and 4.8 rpg.
• The Falcons returned a total of nine letterwinners, including three starters, from last season's team ... the group of returnees combined for 65.9% of the points and 75.0% of the rebounds from last year's 26-8 club ... that BGSU team won the MAC's regular-season title, 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 squad ... 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 - 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) are sitting out the season ... Nurse will have one season of eligibility remaining, while Hennegan will have two.
LAST TIME OUT
Porchia Green hit the go-ahead layup with 26.2 seconds remaining, lifting Ball State to a 55-51 victory over the Falcons in the championship game of the MAC Tournament in downtown Cleveland Sunday (March 15) ... the loss was just the Falcons' second in the last 30 games ... junior Niki McCoy scored a game-high 15 points off the bench for the Falcons, while sophomore Tracy Pontius had 14 points ... Pontius was named the tournament's MVP, while McCoy joined her on the all-tourney team ... Emily Maggert led the Cardinals with 14 points, while Danielle Gratton and Kiley Jarrett scored nine apiece ... Gratton's three-pointer tied the game with 1:07 left after McCoy had scored five-straight points to give BG a 51-48 lead ... after Gratton's triple tied the game, the Falcons missed a shot, and the Cardinals brought the ball over midcourt and called timeout with 44.7 seconds left ... the ensuing possession resulted in Green's driving layup ... the Falcons, looking to tie or take the lead, turned the ball over on a pass in the corner in front of BG's bench with 10 seconds left ... BSU's Audrey McDonald came up with the ball and whipped a pass to Green as the Falcons tried to catch her ... Green sailed in ahead of the pack for an insurance layup, giving the Cards a 55-51 lead with only 2.6 seconds remaining ... the Falcons shot just 28.3 percent for the game, making only six field goals in the second half ... the BG defense allowed the Cardinals to shoot only 38.8% on the day.
SCOUTING SYRACUSE
Syracuse enters Sunday's game with an overall record of 17-14 ... the Orange posted a Big East Conference record of 5-11 this season ... SU, competing in the WNIT for the first time, registered its second-highest point total of the season in a 90-65 home win over Canisius Wednesday (March 18), in the first round ... that game marked the first national postseason win in program history ... the Orange went 10-6 in home games this year, and SU is 6-7 in road games entering Sunday's contest ... SU has lost five of the last seven games, but three of those five losses were by two points or less ... individually, senior guard Chandrea Jones leads the team in both scoring and rebounding, with 17.1 points and 8.8 rebounds per game ... Jones was named to the all-league first team ... sophomore guard Erica Morrow has 15.9 ppg, and leads the team with 62 three-point field goals this season to date ... junior forward Nicole Michael has 14.4 ppg and 8.3 rpg, and earned all-league honorable mention for the third time in as many seasons at SU ... junior forward Juanita Ward has 8.7 ppg and 6.1 rpg off the bench, while junior forward Vionca Murray is averaging 6.2 ppg ... sophomore guard Tasha Harris (3.7 ppg, a team-high 4.6 assists per game) joins Jones, Morrow, Michael and Murray in the probable starting lineup for head coach Quentin Hillsman ... Hillsman welcomed back 11 letterwinners, including four starters, from last year's team that went 22-9 overall and 10-6 in conference play ... Hillsman has a record of 48-43 in his third year as a collegiate head coach, all with the Orange ... the school's athletics web site is SUAthletics.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons trail Syracuse, 1-0, in the all-time series between the teams ... as mentioned earlier, SU captured a 71-67 decision in the second round of the UCF Turkey Shootout in Orlando, Fla. (Nov. 29, 1997) ... that Syracuse team, which went on to down the host school by nearly 40 points (104-66) in the championship game of the three-day, eight-team tournament, featured an assistant coach named Curt Miller ... Miller, obviously, has not faced the Orange during his head-coaching tenure, but he has a 1-0 record in the BGSU-Syracuse series.
COMMON OPPONENTS
Both BGSU and Syracuse have faced Ohio and St. Bonaventure this season, with the Falcons going a combined 3-0 and the Orange 2-0 against those opponents ... BGSU downed the Bonnies, 77-59, at Anderson Arena on Dec. 14, and the Falcons swept the Bobcats, 62-52 in Athens (Jan. 10) and 79-64 in Bowling Green (March 7) ... SU posted a home win over Ohio, 67-62, on Dec. 21, and the Orange picked up a one-point road win over SBU, 69-68, seven days later (Dec. 28).
BG-SU COACHING TIES
It was mentioned earlier in these notes that both BGSU women's basketball coach Curt Miller and Falcon men's basketball coach Louis Orr have spent time in the Syracuse program(s) ... here's one more coaching tie ... Orr left Syracuse in 2000 to take his first head-coaching job, at Siena ... Orr spent one season at Siena ... during that time, current SU head women's coach Quentin Hillsman was an assistant on the Siena women's staff.
FALCONS PUT HOMECOURT WINNING STREAK ON LINE
The Falcons' homecourt winning streak will be on the line when Syracuse comes to town ... BGSU has won 18-straight games at Anderson Arena ... the Falcons won the last five contests of 2007-08 at "The House That Roars," and BG reeled off 13-straight home wins during the '08-09 regular season ... the Falcons' streak of 18 consecutive home victories is tied for the sixth longest in the nation ... if you don't know by now that all boxes, charts and graphs are available in the PDF version of these notes, we're not gonna be the ones to tell you ... but, the list of homecourt winning streaks would be one of those things that's available in the PDF.
PONTIUS NAMED MAC TOURNAMENT MVP
Falcon sophomore Tracy Pontius was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2009 MAC Tournament ... the selection of Pontius marks the first time in MAC history that the league tourney MVP award went to a player not on the title-winning team ... Pontius averaged 20.0 points per game and shot 51.7 percent from the field and 60.0% from three-point land in the three games in Cleveland ... her total of 12 three-pointers made set a new tourney record ... eight of those triples came vs. Toledo in the semifinal round (March 14), setting a tourney single-game record.
McCOY JOINS HER ON ALL-TOURNEY TEAM
Falcon junior Niki McCoy joined soph Tracy Pontius on the MAC's All-Tournament Team ... McCoy averaged 15.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per contest in the three games at Quicken Loans Arena ... she put up perhaps the most consistent numbers of any Falcon at The Q, scoring either 15 or 16 points and grabbing either six or seven boards in each game.
MILLER NAMED REGIONAL COACH OF THE YEAR
BGSU's Curt Miller has been named the Russell Athletic/WBCA Region 4 Coach of the Year, the WBCA office announced on Tuesday (March 17) ... Miller, who earns the regional honor for the third time in the last four years, is now a finalist for the WBCA National-Coach-of-the-Year award ... he is part of a veritable Who's Who of coaching, as the other NCAA Division I regional winners are Geno Auriemma (Connecticut - Region 1), Sue Semrau (Florida State - Region 2), Nell Fortner (Auburn - Region 3), Sherri Coale (Oklahoma - Region 5), Jim Foster (Ohio State - Region 6), Elaine Elliott (Utah - Region 7) and Tara VanDerveer (Stanford - Region 8) ... the national winner will be honored on Monday, April 2.
NOW THAT'S A FIVE-YEAR PLAN
Over the last five years (since the start of the 2004-05 season), the Falcons have won a total of 136 games ... BGSU has averaged over 27 wins per season during that time ... in fact, the Falcons' average win total (27.2) is greater than the program's total number of losses (27) during that five-year span ... BGSU has won five MAC regular-season titles and made five national postseason appearances in that time.
BOARDWORK
The Falcons outrebounded the opponent in each of the three MAC Tournament games at Quicken Loans Arena ... BGSU is 11-2 when outrebounding the opposition this season, and the Falcons are 102-10 in such games in the Curt Miller Era.
PROCHASKA A STATE FARM ALL-AMERICA FINALIST
Falcon sophomore Lauren Prochaska has been named one of 52 regional finalists for the 2009 State Farm Coaches' All-America Team ... the announcement was made by the WBCA, in conjunction with State Farm, Tuesday afternoon (March 17) ... Prochaska is the third BGSU player in as many years to earn the honor ... Ali Mann was a regional finalist in 2007, while Kate Achter was recognized a year ago ... the selection committee will cut the list to 40 finalists on Thursday, March 25, with the 10-member team announced on April 4 ... Prochaska was one of just two MAC players selected, being joined by Kent State's Anna Kowalska on the Region 4 list.
GOLDEN NUGGET: LINDSEY IN A CLASS BY HERSELF
Lindsey Goldsberry, the lone senior on the 2008-09 Falcon squad, has experienced success - a lot of success - since her arrival on campus ... the Falcons' win at Buffalo on Feb. 25 made Goldsberry the winningest player - man or woman - in MAC basketball history ... the Falcons now have a record of 113-19 since 'Golds' ventured to Northwest Ohio prior to the start of the 2005-06 season ... a few more Goldsberry-related notes ...
• The 'old' MAC record was held by last year's BGSU women's basketball senior class, which consisted of Kate Achter and Whitney Taylor ... that duo helped the Falcons go 108-23 during their careers;
• The Falcons have posted at least 26 wins in each of Goldsberry's four seasons in the Brown and Orange;
• Despite the March 4 loss at Miami, BG finished 59-5 in MAC regular-season play and went 68-7 against conference opponents (9-2 in the MAC Tournament) during Goldsberry's four years;
• Perhaps the most impressive note? Goldsberry never lost to seven of the 11 MAC opponents during her career, including Akron (8-0), Buffalo (8-0), Central Michigan (5-0), Eastern Michigan (5-0), Kent State (10-0), Northern Illlinois (5-0) and arch-rival Toledo (7-0) ... BG's seven losses to MAC opponents during Goldsberry's career came vs. Ohio in February of 2007; Miami, Ball State and Western Michigan during a three-game span in January of 2008; OU again in the semifinal round of last year's conference tournament in Cleveland; MU in the second-to-last game of the regular season; and BSU in the MAC Tournament championship game;
• Goldsberry's Falcon teams had a record of 29-3 in home games vs. MAC opponents, 9-2 in neutral-site contests vs. league foes (all in Cleveland), and a mind-boggling 30-2 mark in road games vs. conference competition;
• Goldsberry's former high-school classmate is the winningest manager in MAC hoops history ... Randall Clark, like Goldsberry a graduate of Chaminade-Julienne High School in Dayton, is a senior at BGSU, and is in his fourth year as a student manager with the Falcons.
POWER FAILURE: PONTIUS SHOOTS THE LIGHTS OUT
Sophomore Tracy Pontius exploded for 29 of her career-high 32 points in the second half in the win over Toledo in the MAC Tournament semifinals ... Pontius broke the league tourney record and tied the school record with eight three-pointers in the game ... she went 8-for-10 from long distance, including 7-of-8 in the second half ... her total of 29 points after halftime was just four shy of the Rockets' team total of 33 points during that half ... Pontius made her first three long-distance shots of the period, missed a three-point try with 10:38 left in the game, then proceeded to go 4-for-4 from beyond the arc in a span of 4:05.
PONTIUS ADDS TO RECORD BOOKS ...
The total of eight three-pointers made by sophomore Tracy Pontius in the win over Toledo tied the school record and set a new MAC Tournament mark ... the school record was set last season by Whitney Taylor, while Casey McDowell owned a share of the MAC Tournament record ... both Taylor and McDowell were in attendance at 'The Q' for the Toledo game.
... TYING THE SCHOOL RECORD ...
Tracy Pontius matched the BGSU single-game record for three-pointers made ... that mark, as mentioned, was set by Whitney Taylor last season at Kent State ... Pontius joins Angie Farmer as the only players in school history to make at least seven three-point field goals in a game twice in a career ... Pontius is the only BGSU player ever to have two games of at least seven triples in the same season.
... AND BREAKING THE MAC TOURNAMENT MARK
Tracy Pontius set the MAC Tournament single-game record, as mentioned ... Toledo's Jessica Williams had tied the `old' record the day before, making seven three-pointers vs. Ohio in the quarterfinals.
BASKETBALL U.
The 2008-09 season has seen both BGSU basketball teams enjoy success ... the women's basketball Falcons won the MAC's regular-season title for the fifth consecutive year ... meanwhile, the BGSU men's basketball team tied for the MAC's East Division title and earned the #1 seed for the league tournament ... a few notes about the teams' success ...
• 2009 marks the first time in school history that both the men's and women's teams have earned MAC regular-season titles in the same year ... it is the first time any MAC team has done so since 2001-02 ... that year, Kent State won the East Division in both men's and women's hoops, while Ball State won the West and KSU was the #1 seed for each tournament.
• The BG men's and women's teams combined for a record of 26-6 in MAC games this year, five games better than any other school in the conference.
• 2009 marks just the second time in school history that both BGSU teams have advanced to national postseason play ... both Louis Orr's men's team and Curt Miller's women's program each advanced to the NIT.
• The first such occasion came in 1990 ... that year, Fran Voll's women's basketball Falcons earned their fourth consecutive NCAA berth, while the men's team advanced to the NIT under Jim Larranaga.
• Orr was named the MAC Coach of the Year on the men's side, while Miller earned the honor for the women ... Miller earns the award for a MAC-record fifth year in a row (more about that later).
THE FALCONS ARE ...
• 28-4 overall this season;
• 28-2 in the last 30 games, after an 0-2 start to the season;
• 15-1 in MAC play, good for a fifth consecutive league regular-season title;
• 4-11 in 11 previous national postseason appearances (including a 3-9 record in the NCAA Championships and a 1-2 mark in two prior WNIT trips);
• 178-72 since Curt Miller took the BGSU helm in May of 2001;
• 94-34 in MAC games in that time;
• 3-4 in national postseason action under Miller (including a 2-3 mark in the NCAAs and a 1-1 record in the WNIT);
• 169-53 overall 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);
• 157-37 over the last five-plus years, with 2008-09 marking BG's sixth-straight season of at least 20 wins;
• a staggering 136-27 in the past four-plus years, with no fewer than 23 wins in each year (including this year) and a MAC regular-season title in every season;
• an eye-popping 113-19 overall and 59-5 in the MAC regular season in the last three-plus years, since senior Lindsey Goldsberry ventured to Northwest Ohio;
• 85-16 in the last two-plus years, including a 43-5 conference ledger, since juniors Tara Breske, Laura Bugher and Sarah Clapper joined the program;
• 54-12 overall, and 28-4 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;
• 74-7 in the last 81 games vs. MAC opponents (including regular-season and tourney games);
• 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 last season at Ball State and earlier this 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 this 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;
• 15-5 in MAC Tournament games in the Curt Miller Era;
• 14-3 at "The Gund"/"The Q" under Miller;
• 22-2 in non-conference home games since the start of the 2003-04 season;
• 18-1 against non-league foes at Anderson Arena since November of 2004;
• 0-1 in games played on March 22 in program history;
• 0-1 in WNIT games on that date; and
• 0-1 on March 22 in the Curt Miller Era, as the only prior game in BGSU history on that date came last year, a 74-66 loss at Michigan State in the second round of the WNIT.
PROCHASKA NAMED MAC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Lauren Prochaska was named the 2009 MAC Player of the Year ... the announcement was made March 10 at the MAC Tournament banquet ... Prochaska is just the fourth Falcon to earn a league player-of-the-year honor, but the third in as many seasons ... she joins Jackie Motycka (1986-87 and 1987-88), Ali Mann (2006-07) and Kate Achter (2007-08) as MAC Players of the Year.
MILLER NAMED MAC C-O-Y, AGAIN
Falcon head coach Curt Miller was named MAC Coach of the Year ... Miller shared the honor with Toledo's Tricia Cullop after earning it outright in each of the previous four seasons ... he is the first coach in MAC history to win the Coach-of-the-Year award in five consecutive campaigns ... no other coach has won it more than twice in a row ... additionally, Miller's five total awards puts him at the top of that MAC list ... former UT boss Mark Ehlen is the only other MAC coach to have won the award more than twice in his career ... 2009 marks the eighth time that a BGSU coach has earned the league award ... in addition to Miller's five such awards, Fran Voll (1986-87 and 1988-89) and Jaci Clark (1992-93) each were named MAC C-O-Y while at BGSU.
CRADLE OF COACHES
Both BGSU basketball coaches have picked up some hardware this season ... Falcon men's coach Louis Orr was named the MAC Coach of the Year March 9, and Curt Miller was announced as a co-recipient of the same honor the following evening.
FALCONS PICK UP 28TH WIN
BGSU now has 28 wins this season, tied for the second-highest total on both the school and Mid-American Conference lists ... all three of the MAC's top win totals have been compiled by the Falcons in the last four seasons ... the 2006-07 team had 31 wins en route to the NCAA `Sweet Sixteen,' a year after the 2005-06 Falcons had picked up 28 victories.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Junior Tara Breske had 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds in the Falcons' win over Toledo ... the double-double was her second of the season and the fifth of her BGSU career ... Breske had nine rebounds in the second half vs. UT.
LONG-RANGE SUCCESS
Sharp-shooting sophomores Lauren Prochaska and Tracy Pontius each have hit over 70 three-pointers this season, the first time in school history that two players have topped that mark in the same year ... Prochaska now has 72 triples this year, while Pontius has 71 ... those totals rank third and fourth, respectively, on the BGSU single-season list.
LONG-RANGE SUCCESS II
Sophomore Lauren Prochaska is the first player in BGSU history to make over 70 triples in two different seasons ... Angie Farmer (1999-2000) holds the school record, with 78 triples made ... Prochaska hit 74 shots from behind the arc as a freshman last season, before making 72 this season to date ... Pontius, as mentioned, has 71 triples so far in 2008-09.
