BGSU Hosts Miami to Close Initial Swing Through MAC's East Division

THE OPENING TIP
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, riding a five-game winning streak, begins a season-long three-game homestand Tuesday night (Jan. 19) ... the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller complete the first swing through the Mid-American Conference's East Division by taking on Miami University, with tipoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at venerable Anderson Arena (3,500).

BGSU Notes, Stats & Bios - PDF
Miami Notes - PDF
Curt Miller's Tuesday (Jan. 18) press conference -- Audio | Video

BEASTS OF THE EAST
The 2009-10 season marks the fifth year that the MAC has utilized the current scheduling format ... each team plays five intradivisional games to start and end the conference schedule, with six cross-divisional contests in between ... the Falcons are looking to go 5-0 in the initial East Division round robin for the fourth time in those five years ... BG went 5-0 against the East to begin league action in 2005-06, '06-07 and '08-09 ... in the 2007-08 campaign, the Falcons started MAC play with a 4-0 record before suffering a 63-60 home loss to Miami (Jan. 22, 2008) ... this year, obviously, BG is 4-0 in MAC action, preparing for a home date vs. the RedHawks.
BGSU VS. THE MAC, LAST FIVE YEARS
(The Falcons' record in the various segments of the conference schedule)
Year // East1 // West // East2 == Overall
2005-06 // 5-0 // 6-0 // 5-0 == 16-0
2006-07 // 5-0 // 6-0 // 4-1 == 15-1
2007-08 // 4-1 // 4-2 // 5-0 == 13-3
2008-09 // 5-0 // 6-0 // 4-1 == 15-1
2009-10 // 4-0
East1 and East2 - 1st & 2nd round-robin, respectively, vs. East Division opponents

SENIORS HIT CENTURY MARK
Saturday's (Jan. 16) 89-61 win at Kent State enabled BGSU's three fourth-year seniors, Tara Breske, Laura Bugher and Sarah Clapper, to reach a career milestone ... the Falcons have posted a 100-21 record since the trio joined the program ... the group is the fifth in school history, and the fourth in a row, to be a part of 100 career wins at BGSU ... the 2006-07 senior class that kick-started the Falcons' current run of success – Amber Flynn, Julie Gompers, Liz Honegger, Carin Horne, Ali Mann and Megan Thorburn – had a total of 103 wins ... Kate Achter and Whitney Taylor finished their playing careers in '07-08, posting a total of 108 victories ... and, last year's one-woman senior class, Lindsey Goldsberry, finished her career with a total of 114 wins, the most by any player (male or female) in MAC basketball history.
100-WIN CLASSES AT BGSU
Wins // Class of ... // 4th-Year Seniors
114 // 2009 // Lindsey Goldsberry
108 // 2008 // Kate Achter, Whitney Taylor
103 // 2007 // A. Flynn, J. Gompers, L. Honegger, C. Horne, A. Mann, M. Thorburn
100 // 2010 // Tara Breske, Laura Bugher, Sarah Clapper
100 // 1990 // Angie Bonner, Tecca Thompson

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 13 times in the first 18 contests, tying the opponent in that category in one additional game (Hartford) ... when outrebounding opponents, BG is 114-11 in the Curt Miller Era, including a 94-4 mark in the last five-plus seasons.

LAST TIME OUT
The Falcons rode a first-half offensive onslaught to a season-high scoring total, with 55 points in the opening half en route to an 89-61 victory at Kent State Saturday afternoon (Jan. 16) ... junior Lauren Prochaska scored a game-high 24 points, while classmate Tracy Pontius added 13 and senior Tamika Nurse 11 ... for the Flashes, Jamilah Humes was the lone double-digit scorer, with 17 points ... BGSU's 89-point total tied a season high, and the Falcons' 55-point first half was the team's most productive in 2009-10 to date ... Prochaska scored all 24 of her points in the opening half as the Falcons caught fire at the offensive end ... the junior was 5-of-6 from three-point land in the first half as BGSU made nine triple tries in the period and 13 in the game ... Prochaska nearly outscored the entire KSU team in that first half, as BG took a 55-25 lead into the break ... the Flashes had 22 points (to Prochaska's 24) before converting a three-point play just before halftime ... the victory was the 100th in the collegiate careers of the team's fourth-year seniors, Tara Breske, Laura Bugher and Sarah Clapper ... Breske, Clapper and junior Kelly Zuercher scored eight points apiece, with both Clapper and Zuercher hitting a pair of triples ... the Falcons scored 11-straight points to take a 15-3 lead, and BG put together a 12-1 run later in the first half, taking a 30-point halftime lead ... even with the BG starters on the bench for most of the second half, that lead grew as high as 37 points before a late KSU run.

20 MINUTES TO REMEMBER
The Falcons put together arguably the team's best half of the year to date Saturday (Jan. 16) at Kent State ... BGSU scored 55 points and took a 30-point lead into the lockerroom ... the Falcons hit nine three-point field goals, while holding KSU to eight total baskets ... junior Lauren Prochaska hit five of those treys en route to 24 points in the half ... and, the Falcons turned the ball over just three times in that 20-minute span.

40 MINUTES TO REMEMBER
Junior Lauren Prochaska has posted some eye-popping numbers in the Falcons' last two meetings with Kent State ... last Feb. 28 at Anderson Arena, Prochaska was held scoreless in the first half of the Falcons' game against the Flashes ... but, she exploded for 25 second-half points, reaching 1,000 career points in the process, in BGSU's 61-54 win ... then, of course, Prochaska had 24 points in the first half of Saturday's win at the M.A.C. Center ... the Falcons took a 30-point halftime lead, enabling Prochaska and the other BG starters to sit out most of the second period ... in those back-to-back halves, Prochaska had a total of 49 points vs. Kent State.

TAKING CARE OF THE BALL
It's no secret that one key to offensive success is limiting turnovers ... if you can force the opponent to turn the ball over while keeping your own turnovers to a minimum, that's even better ... the Falcons, after turning the ball over at least 16 times in each of this season's first seven games, had 15 or fewer turnovers in each of the next 10 contests ... BG's total of 11 turnovers in the Jan. 9 win at Ohio tied a season low, and the Falcons had just 13 in Wednesday's (Jan. 13) victory over Buffalo ... BGSU turned the ball over 18 times at Kent State Saturday (Jan. 16), but that total is somewhat misleading, as the Falcons had just three first-half turnovers before the BG starters rested for nearly all of the second half.

AT THE DEFENSIVE END...
BGSU has had double-digit steal totals in seven of the last nine games, with nine in the UB game ... in the last nine games, the Falcons have had 122 turnovers (13.6 per game) while the opponents have had 187 (20.8 per game) ... BG has averaged 10.0 steals per contest in that stretch.

LOOKING FOR ANOTHER STRONG START
The Falcons have started MAC play with a 4-0 record for the fifth consecutive season ... BGSU is looking to begin the conference slate with a 5-0 mark for the fourth time in five years ... believe it or not, the Brown and Orange has gotten off to a 14-0 MAC start in three of the last four seasons.

MILLER MOVING UP
The Falcons' win over Akron in the Mid-American Conference opener was the 190th victory of Curt Miller's head-coaching career, moving him into sole possession of third place on the MAC list ... Miller, who became the winningest coach in BGSU history two years ago, now has a career total of 193 victories after the win at Kent State ... he trails only KSU's Bob Lindsay and former Toledo coach Mark Ehlen ... in MAC games only, the win over Akron moved Miller past former UT coach Bill Fennelly into seventh place on that chart ... he now has 98 wins in conference games.

PROCHASKA, TOO
Just over halfway through her junior season, Lauren Prochaska has moved into 11th place on the BGSU career scoring list ... Prochaska now has a total of 1,416 points in her Falcon tenure ... she passed Angie Bonner (1,412 points from 1987-90) in the Kent State game ... Prochaska's next target is 10th-place Chris Tuttle, who had 1,420 points from 1979-83 ... she is poised to move ahead of numerous players in the very near future, as she is only 16 points shy of seventh place ... Prochaska is averaging 16.5 points per game, the second-highest average in BGSU annals, in her career.

NOW THAT'S A FIVE-YEAR PLAN (CONFERENCE-ONLY VERSION)
In MAC games over the last five years (plus four games), the Falcons have no fewer than 75 victories ... BGSU has averaged 14.4 conference wins per year over the last five full seasons, a pretty impressive feat considering each team plays just 16 MAC games per season) ... in fact, BG's average win total in MAC play nearly DOUBLES the program's total number of losses (eight) during that five-year span.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons are 14-4 on the season, and BGSU is 4-0 in MAC play ... BG is 7-0 at home and 7-4 on the road this year to date ... the Falcons have won 13 of the last 15 games, including each of the last five games heading into Tuesday's Miami contest ... most recently, BGSU took a 30-point halftime lead en route to an 89-61 win at Kent State Saturday afternoon (Jan. 16).

• BG posted a 70-57 home win over SIU Edwardsville in the final non-conference game (Jan. 2) and a 74-62 decision vs. visiting Akron in the league opener (Jan. 6), before heading to Ohio and picking up a 77-42 victory (Jan. 9) ... then, the Brown and Orange downed Buffalo, 78-60, at Anderson Arena Wednesday night (Jan. 13).

• BG had ended the 2009 calendar year with a 65-60 loss at Hartford (Dec. 30), breaking a three-game winning streak ... the Falcons had seen an earlier 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 ... all three of those wins, over Canisius, Youngstown State and Appalachian State, were by more than 20 points.

• The Falcons opened the 2009-10 campaign with three games in the Preseason WNIT, going 1-2 with road losses vs. 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 returned 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 18 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 18.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game ... Prochaska has paced BG in scoring 10 times this year, including eight times in the last 11 games ... after averaging 10.3 ppg in the three Preseason WNIT games, she has averaged 19.7 ppg over the last 15 contests ... Prochaska, who has been named the league's Player of the Week three times this season to date, is averaging 20.4 ppg in the Falcons' seven home games.

• Junior Tracy Pontius and senior Tamika Nurse have 12.7 and 9.5 ppg, respectively ... Pontius has 2.9 rpg, and is second on the team behind Prochaska in three-point field goals made ... Prochaska has hit 47 shots from long range to 38 for Pontius ... Pontius leads the Falcons in assists, with 3.2 per game, and is second in steals (1.3 spg) ... Nurse has 3.1 assists per contest, with her total of 55 helpers just three behind Pontius ... Nurse is third on the team with 20 three-pointers made this season ... Prochaska and Nurse have made 73 and 69 free throws, respectively, this season, while Pontius has hit 41 shots from the stripe ... Pontius and Prochaska each are converting their free-throw tries at a rate of 89 percent or better.

• Senior Tara Breske and junior Jen Uhl have scored 8.3 and 6.3 ppg, respectively ... Breske, who missed two games due to injury in early December, has 4.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocked shots per game, leading the Falcons in the latter category Breske also paces BGSU in steals, with 1.5 per game ... Uhl has 4.9 rebounds per game, ranking second on the team ... Uhl and Breske are shooting .489 and .475, respectively, from the field.

• Junior Maggie Hennegan has 4.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, tying her for third on the team in the latter category ... she has shot .484 from the field this year ... six players are averaging from 2.1 to 3.0 ppg heading into the Miami 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 Jessica 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 18 games to date, while Uhl has made 15 starts ... Breske has started 13 total contests, including each of the last nine games ... she had started the first four games of the year before suffering her injury ... Hennegan has made eight starts.

• Prochaska has 19.0 ppg in MAC games to date, while Pontius has averaged 15.0 ppg ... the duo has combined for 23 successful three-pointers in the four conference contests ... Breske has 10.0 ppg and 4.8 rpg in league play, while Uhl has 7.8 ppg and a team-leading 5.8 rpg ... Uhl is shooting .542 from the field against MAC foes.

• Through 18 games, the Falcons are shooting .429 from the field, .381 from three-point land and .783 from the free-throw line ... BG's opponents are shooting .386 overall, .304 from long range and .673 from the stripe ... the Falcons have 37.5 rebounds per game to the opponents' 35.4 ... BGSU has been outrebounded only four times in 18 games this year.

THE FALCONS ARE ...
• 14-4 in the 2009-10 season to date, after going 29-5 in 2008-09;
• 4-0 in the MAC, after finishing 15-1 last year and winning a fifth-straight league regular-season title;
• 193-77 since Curt Miller took the BGSU helm in May of 2001;
• 98-34 in MAC games in that time:
• 184-58 overall in the seven years (plus 18 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);
• 172-42 over the last six-plus years, with 2008-09 marking BG's sixth-straight season of at least 20 wins;
• a staggering 151-32 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 128-24 overall and 63-5 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;
• 100-21 in the last three-plus years, including a 47-5 conference ledger, since seniors Tara Breske, Laura Bugher and Sarah Clapper joined the program;
• 69-17 overall, and 32-4 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;
• 43-9 since sophomores Maribeth Giese and Jessica Slagle ventured to NW Ohio;
• 78-7 in the last 85 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;
• 163-10 when having a better FG pct. than the opposition in Miller's tenure, including a 12-0 mark this year to date;
• 145-23 when making more free throws during Miller's first eight-plus seasons;
• 114-11 when outrebounding the opponent in the Miller Era;
• 51-18 in January games since Miller took the helm, including 34-4 in the last four-plus seasons;
• 38-4 in MAC home games in the last five-plus seasons; and
• 32-2 in MAC road games over the last four-plus years (with the lone losses during that time coming in 2007-08 at Ball State and last March at Miami).

THE FALCONS VS. THE MAC
BGSU enters the Miami game with an all-time record of 325-140 (.699) in MAC regular-season contests, the most wins and highest winning pct. of all league institutions ... and, BGSU leads the series with all 11 MAC foes (the only team in the MAC, obviously, with a winning series record against every other school).

SCOUTING MIAMI
Miami enters Tuesday's game with an overall record of 4-13, and the RedHawks are 2-2 in MAC play ... MU is 2-6 at home, 1-4 on the road and 1-3 at neutral sites this year to date ... the RedHawks have split their last six games after beginning the season with a 1-10 record ... in MAC action, the 'Hawks are 1-0 on the road to date ... MU opened conference play with a 62-55 win at Buffalo ... the RedHawks just completed a three-game homestand, with losses to Kent State and Akron sandwiched around a 66-58 win over Ohio ... the last time out, MU dropped a 55-40 decision to UA Saturday (Jan. 16) ... individually, freshmen guard Courtney Osborn leads the team in scoring, with 18.7 points per game ... she also paces the team in assists (3.8 apg) and steals (2.6 spg), and has made 44 of the team's 77 three-point field goals this year ... three players are averaging between eight and nine points per game ... sophomore guard Maggie Boyer and sophomore forward Rachael Hencke have 8.8 and 8.6 ppg, respectively ... Boyer is second on the team with 3.2 apg, while Hencke has 4.4 rebounds per outing ... senior guard Ashleigh Brown has 8.1 ppg and a team-leading 6.5 rpg ... Boyer and Osborn have started all 17 games this season, while Hencke has made 15 starts and Brown 13 ... sophomore forward Lillian Pitts (4.0 ppg) has made 15 starts, and joined Boyer, Brown, Hencke and Osborn in the starting five for the Akron game ... head coach Maria Fantanarosa welcomed back eight letterwinners, including three starters, from last year's team that finished with a 16-15 overall mark and a 7-9 MAC ledger ... Fantanarosa has a record of 181-161 in her 12th season at her alma mater ... she is 188-181 in her 13th year as a collegiate head coach ... the school's athletics web site is www.MURedHawks.com.

THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Miami, 38-25, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU has won nine of the last 11 meetings ... the RedHawks, however, won the most recent game between the teams, with a 45-40 victory late last season in Oxford (March 4, 2009) ... the Falcons had captured last year's first meeting, 87-79, in Anderson Arena (Jan. 14, 2009) ... the teams have split the two regular-season games in each of the last two years, as MU snapped a seven-game BG series winning streak with a 63-60 triumph at "The House That Roars" two seasons ago (Jan. 22, 2008), before the Falcons picked up a win at MU a month later ... BGSU is 18-11 in home games vs. the Redskins/RedHawks over the years ... Curt Miller has a record of 9-5 against Miami during his head-coaching tenure.

HOME COOKIN'
The Falcons are 7-0 at venerable Anderson Arena this season to date, and BGSU has won 26 of the last 27 games at "The House That Roars" ... 21 of those 26 wins have come by double digits ... the lone loss in that time came to Indiana in the third round of the 2009 Postseason WNIT.

ROAD WARRIORS
The Falcons have posted seven wins on the road this year, including five in non-conference play ... three of those victories came against teams – Oakland, Vanderbilt and Canisius – that qualified for national postseason play last year ... BG played a total of nine non-conference road games, including seven vs. 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.

ROAD WARRIORS, MAC VERSION
The Falcons are 2-0 in MAC road games this season, having won those two contests by an average of 31.5 points ... BGSU downed Ohio by a 77-42 count (Jan. 9) before picking up an 89-61 win at Kent State Saturday (Jan. 16).

HOME IS WHERE THE JANUARY GAMES ARE
After playing nine of the season's first 13 games on the road, the Falcons are at home for much of the month of January ... BG plays six of this month's nine games in the friendly confines of Anderson Arena ... the Falcons spent 11 nights in hotels during the first month-and-a-half of the season ... however, BGSU has/had just one overnight trip – the win at Ohio – during the entire month of January.

TREY BIEN!
A pair of juniors are moving up the BGSU career list for three-point field goals made ... Lauren Prochaska, who hit five triples at Kent State, is in sole possession of second place on that list ... with 196 long-range makes in her career to date, she 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 ninth on the list ... Pontius has 127 threes in her career ... she moved ahead of her former teammate, Lindsey Goldsberry (123 from 2005-09), in the UB game.

THREE-MENDOUS!
Junior Lauren Prochaska tied her career high for three-point field goals made in Saturday's win at Kent State, hitting five long-distance shots, all in the first half ... Prochaska has made five triples in a game no fewer than seven times in her Falcon career.

TAKE SOME, THEY'RE FREE
The Falcons are shooting .783 from the free-throw line as a team ... four of the team's five starters have shot .850 or better from the stripe to date, with the fifth hitting free throws at a .775 rate.

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 100-21 overall and 47-5 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 69-17 overall, and the Falcons are 32-4 in MAC regular-season games since Chelsea Albert, Tracy Pontius, Lauren Prochaska, Jen Uhl and Kelly Zuercher set foot on campus ... the team has won an average of 27.5 wins per year through their 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 43-9 overall and 19-1 in the MAC 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.

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).

#2 SCORES 20 FOR 27TH TIME
Junior Lauren Prochaska scored 24 points vs. Kent State, for her eighth game of 20 points or more this year, and the 27th such contest of her Falcon career ... Prochaska has scored in double digits in 78 of her 86 career games at BGSU.

PRODUCTIVE AT THE STRIPE
The Falcons are shooting a MAC-best .783 from the free-throw line this season ... last year, BGSU had a school-record FT percentage of .794, a rate that ranked fourth in the nation and was the 15th-highest figure in NCAA Division-I history.

CAPTAINS
Seniors Tara Breske and Sarah Clapper and redshirt junior Maggie Hennegan are the captains of the 2009-10 Falcons ... Breske is a captain for the second consecutive year ... the captains earned that distinction in a vote of their teammates ... the award is particularly impressive in Hennegan's case, as she was chosen as a captain before ever playing her first game as a Falcon.

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