BGSU Begins Cross-Divisional Play by Hosting Eastern Michigan

THE OPENING TIP
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, holding a two-game lead in the Mid-American Conference's East Division race, begins a six-game swing against the league's West Division teams this weekend ... the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller face one of the West's co-leaders, Eastern Michigan University, on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 23) ... tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at venerable Anderson Arena (3,500).

BGSU NOTES & STATS | EMU NOTES | LISTEN LIVE | LIVE STATS

WELCOME BACK
Saturday's game is part of the women's basketball team's annual Alumnae Day celebration ... the program will acknowledge all alumnae, and will celebrate the 20-year anniversary of the 1990 MAC Championship team, as well as the five-year anniversary of the 2005 league title team, who won the current staff's first MAC Championship ... a number of former Falcon greats are scheduled to be on hand at Saturday's game.

LET'S "PACK THE HOUSE"
Saturday's Eastern Michigan game is BGSU's annual "Pack the House" contest ... each MAC marketing program has earmarked one specific home date as a "Pack the House" game, as part of a league- and nation-wide women's basketball initiative with the goal of growing the sport of women's basketball ... Saturday marks the second of four consecutive weekends that the Falcons are playing in front of a "Pack the House" crowd, as three conference schools – Kent State (Jan. 16), Toledo (Jan. 30) and Ball State (Feb. 6) – chose their game with BGSU for their event.

TWO FOR TEN
On several Saturdays in the months of January and February – including this weekend – Falcon fans can get a ticket for two events for one low price of ten dollars ($10) ... the remaining four dates follow ... for more information, log on to BGSUFalcons.com.
• Jan. 23 - WBK vs. Eastern Michigan (2 pm); IH vs. Western Michigan (5:05 pm)
• Feb. 13 - WBK vs. Ohio (2 pm); IH vs. Miami (5:05 pm)
• Feb. 20 - MBK vs. TBA (TBA - BracketBuster); IH vs. Notre Dame (5:05 pm)
• Feb. 27 - WBK vs. Kent State (Noon); MBK vs. Akron (2:30 pm)

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' win over Miami on Tuesday means that BGSU has gone 5-0 in the initial East Division round robin four times in those five years ... BG also 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).

LOOKING FOR ANOTHER STRONG START
As mentioned, the Falcons have started MAC play with a 5-0 record for the fourth time in the last five years ... BGSU is looking to begin the conference slate with a 6-0 mark. also for the fourth time in five seasons ... believe it or not, the Brown and Orange has gotten off to a 14-0 MAC start in three of the previous four seasons

TAKING CARE OF THE BALL
It's no secret that a big key to offensive success is limiting turnovers ... if you can force your opponent to turn the ball over while keeping your own turnovers to a minimum, that's even better ... BGSU had a season-low 10 turnovers in Tuesday's (Jan. 19) win over Miami, while forcing the RedHawks into 24 turnovers ... the Falcons, after turning the ball over at least 16 times in each of this season's first seven games, have had 15 or fewer turnovers in 10 of the last 11 contests ... and, BGSU's total of 18 turnovers in that one game (at Kent State; Jan. 16) 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 10 games, with nine in one additional contest ... in the last 10 games, the Falcons have had 132 turnovers (13.2 per game) while the opponents have had 211 (21.1 per game) ... BG has averaged 9.8 steals per contest in that stretch.

SENIORS SURPASS 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 ... including the win over Miami, the Falcons now have a 101-21 record since the trio joined the program ... the group became the fifth in school history, and the fourth in a row, to be a part of at least 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.

COACH NEARING CENTURY MARK
Falcon head coach Curt Miller is nearing yet another career milestone ... BGSU's next victory will be Miller's 100th MAC win ... he has a career record of 99-34 in conference games as a head coach ... Miller, who holds the school records for overall and MAC wins, would be just the seventh coach in MAC history to amass 100 league wins.

LAST TIME OUT
The Falcons got to the free-throw line often, and cashed in when they got there, in an 85-65 win over Miami Tuesday night (Jan. 19) ... the win enabled BGSU to complete the first swing through the MAC's East Division with a perfect 5-0 conference record ... the teams combined to attempt 59 free throws on the night ... BGSU shot over 90 percent, making 28-of-31 tosses, while Miami was 23-of-28 (.821) from the stripe ... junior Tracy Pontius scored a season-high 27 points, while classmate Lauren Prochaska added 17 ... Prochaska set a school single-game record by going a perfect 13-for-13 from the line ... additionally, she moved up four spots into seventh place on the BGSU career scoring list ... Maggie Boyer led the RedHawks with 18 points off the bench, while Rachael Hencke added 16 ... the 'Hawks led on just one occasion, ahthough the game was tied twice in the opening five minutes ... the Falcons reeled off five-straight points in the early stages, only to see the visitors answer with a six-point run to take an 8-7 lead ... Pontius answered with one of her game-high four three-pointers ... Boyer answered with a jumper to tie the game at 10-all, but a layup by freshman Chrissy Steffen began an 8-0 run for the hosts ... with just over six minutes left in the first half, Pontius hit two free throws to put the lead into double digits for the first time, then picked Courtney Osborn's pocket and took the ball in for a layup and a 29-17 lead ... BG led by 19 at the half and never looked back ... the Falcons' lead got as high as 27 in the second period, and BGSU still led by 25 before the visitors scored the final five points of the night.

PROCHASKA MOVING UP
Just over halfway through her junior season, Lauren Prochaska has moved into seventh place on the BGSU career scoring list ... Prochaska now has a total of 1,433 points in her Falcon tenure ... she passed no fewer than four players on that list in the Miami game, moving ahead of Chris Tuttle (1,420 career points), Lori Albers (1,424), Charlotta Jones (1,430) and Talita Scott (1,432) in that game ... Prochaska's next target on the list is sixth-place Liz Honegger, who had 1,522 points from 2003-07 ... Prochaska is averaging 16.5 points per game, the second-highest average in BGSU annals, in her career.

MILLER, TOO
Falcon coach Curt Miller has moved into third place on the MAC list for career wins ... Miller, who became the winningest coach in BGSU history two years ago, enters the Eastern Michigan game with a career total of 194 victories ... he trails only KSU's Bob Lindsay and former Toledo coach Mark Ehlen ... in MAC games only, Miller ranks seventh all time, and now has 99 wins in conference games.

PROCHASKA PROLIFIC AT THE STRIPE
Junior Lauren Prochaska set a school record in Tuesday's (Jan. 19) win over Miami ... Prochaska set a single-game mark for free-throw percentage, going a perfect 13-for-13 from the stripe ... a BGSU player had gone 12-of-12 from the line on four occasions, the most recent being Prochaska last season at Akron.
BGSU SINGLE-GAME RECORDS – FT PCT.
1.000 (13-13), Lauren Prochaska vs. Miami, 1/19/10
1.000 (12-12), four times (Most recent: Prochaska at Akron, 2/21/09)
(other 12-12 gms.: Kate Achter in 2005; Sara Puthoff in 1997 & Talita Scott in '94)

WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE THAT ROARS
The Falcons are 8-0 at venerable Anderson Arena this season to date, and BGSU has won 27 of the last 28 games at "The House That Roars" ... 22 of those 27 wins have come by double digits ... the lone loss in that time came to Indiana in the third round of the 2009 Postseason WNIT.

HOME COOKIN'
BGSU is 39-4 in MAC home games over the last five-plus seasons ... since the start of the 2004-05 season, the Falcons have gone a perfect 8-0 in MAC home games on two occasions, with a pair of 7-1 records and one 6-2 mark ... the Falcons are 3-0 in MAC games at Anderson Arena this year to date.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons are 15-4 on the season, and BGSU is 5-0 in MAC play ... BG is 8-0 at home and 7-4 on the road this year to date ... the Falcons have won 14 of the last 16 games, including each of the last six games heading into Saturday's EMU contest ... most recently, BGSU downed Miami, 85-65, at Anderson Arena Tuesday evening (Jan. 19).

• BG completed the first swing through the East Division unbeaten, beginning with a 74-62 decision vs. visiting Akron in the league opener (Jan. 6) ... the Falcons also picked up home wins over Buffalo (78-60; Jan. 13) and Miami, and road victories against Ohio (77-42; Jan. 9) and Kent State (89-61; Jan. 16) ... in the KSU game, the Falcons took a 30-point halftime lead before winning by 28.

• 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 19 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 ... after averaging 10.3 ppg in the three Preseason WNIT games, she has averaged 19.5 ppg over the last 16 contests ... Prochaska, who has been named the league's Player of the Week three times this season to date, is averaging 20.0 ppg in the Falcons' eight home games.

• Junior Tracy Pontius and senior Tamika Nurse have 13.5 and 9.4 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 42 for Pontius ... Pontius leads the Falcons in assists, with 3.2 per game, and is in a virtual tie for the team's steals lead (1.5 spg) ... Nurse has 3.1 assists per contest, with her total of 58 helpers just three behind Pontius ... Nurse is third on the team with 21 three-pointers made this season ... Prochaska and Nurse have made 86 and 71 free throws, respectively, this season, while Pontius has hit 48 shots from the stripe ... Pontius and Prochaska each are converting their free-throw tries at a rate of 88 percent or better.

• Senior Tara Breske and junior Jen Uhl have scored 8.2 and 6.4 ppg, respectively ... Breske, who missed two games due to injury in early December, has 4.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocked shots per game, leading the Falcons in the latter category Breske also has 1.5 steals per game ... Uhl has 4.7 rebounds per game, ranking second on the team ... Uhl and Breske are shooting .495 and .476, respectively, from the field.

• Junior Maggie Hennegan has 4.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, ranking third on the team in the latter category ... she has shot .477 from the field this year ... six players are averaging from 1.9 to 2.9 ppg heading into the Eastern Michigan 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 19 games to date, while Uhl has made 16 starts and Breske 14 ... Breske, who had started the first four games of the year before suffering her injury, has been in the starting lineup in each of the last 10 contests ... Hennegan has made eight starts this year.

• Prochaska has 18.6 ppg in MAC games to date, while Pontius has averaged 17.4 ppg ... the duo has combined for 27 successful three-pointers in the five conference contests ... Breske has 9.4 ppg and 4.4 rpg in league play, while Uhl has 7.8 ppg and a team-leading 4.8 rpg ... Uhl is shooting .552 from the field against MAC foes ... four players have averaged between 2.0 and 2.6 assists in conference games.

• Through 19 games, the Falcons are shooting .431 from the field, .378 from three-point land and .793 from the free-throw line ... BG's opponents are shooting .387 overall, .297 from long range and .686 from the stripe ... the Falcons have 36.8 rebounds per game to the opponents' 35.5 ... BGSU has been outrebounded only five times in 19 games this year.

THE FALCONS VS. THE MAC
BGSU enters the Eastern Michigan game with an all-time record of 326-140 (.700) 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 EMU
Eastern Michigan enters Saturday's game with an overall record of 14-3, and the Eagles are 4-1 in MAC play ... Eastern has nearly doubled last year's overall win total, and has matched the conference victory total for all of last season after just five games ... the Eagles, tied for the lead in the MAC's West Division, are 8-0 at home and 6-3 on the road to date ... Eastern's lone MAC loss was a 72-63 decision at Toledo (Jan. 13), which snapped a seven-game winning streak ... but, the team bounced back with home victories over Northern Illinois and Ball State, with the latter game a 64-54 decision Wednesday night (Jan. 20) ... the Eagles lead the MAC in scoring offense, scoring defense and – obviously – scoring margin, with BGSU second in all three categories ... sophomore guard Tavelyn James leads the entire league in scoring, with 21.3 points per game ... she has made 54 three-point field goals, also a MAC best, this year ... junior guard Cassie Schrock has 12.5 ppg and 5.7 rebounds per game ... she is third on the team in rebounding, and leads the Eagles with 6.4 assists per game ... freshman G/F Chenise Miller and junior guard Sydney Huntley have 7.5 and 6.9 ppg, respectively ... Miller has 6.5 rpg and is shooting a team-leading .514 ... James, Schrock and junior forward Kristin Thomas (3.9 ppg, 8.8 rpg) each have started all 17 games, while sophomore forward Paige Redditt (5.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg) has made 16 starts to date ... freshman guard Lindsey Mahone (5.1 ppg) joined that quartet in the starting lineup for the BSU game ... head coach AnnMarie Gilbert welcomed back nine letterwinners, including four starters, from last year's team that finished 8-21 overall (4-12 MAC) ... Gilbert has a record of 39-36 in her third season with the Eagles ... she is 97-172 in her 11th year as a collegiate head coach ... the school's athletics web site is emueagles.com.

THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Eastern Michigan, 43-14, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU has won six consecutive meetings ... last season, the Brown and Orange picked up a 69-55 win in Ypsilanti in the teams' lone matchup (Jan. 24, 2009) ... the last time the teams met at Anderson Arena, the Falcons used a game-ending 22-3 run to post a 57-43 win over the Eagles (Feb. 16, 2008) ... BGSU is 24-4 in home games vs. Eastern through the years ... prior to BG's current six-game winning strea, EMU had won five-straight games and eight of 11 meetings ... that came after the Falcons took 33-of-34 contests vs. the Hurons/Eagles from 1983 to 1998 ... Curt Miller has a record of 8-5 against EMU during his head-coaching tenure ... additional series information can be found on pages 5 and 11 in the PDF version of these never-tedious (yeah, right) game notes.

LEADERS OF THE MAC
Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan rank 1-2 (or 2-1) in no fewer than five MAC categories ... Eastern leads the MAC in numerous categories, including scoring offense, scoring defense, scoring margin and turnover margin ... the Falcons are second in the conference in all four of those categories ... additionally, EMU is first in the MAC in field-goal percentage defense, rebounding margin and steals ... for their part, the Falcons pace the conference in four categories, including free-throw pct., three-point FG pct., assist/turnover ratio and three-pointers made per game.

THE FALCONS ARE ...
• 15-4 this season to date, after going 29-5 in 2008-09;
• 5-0 in the MAC, after finishing 15-1 last year and winning a fifth-straight league regular-season title;
• 194-77 since Curt Miller took the BGSU helm in May of 2001;
• 99-34 in MAC games in that time:
• 185-58 overall in the seven years (plus 19 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);
• 173-42 over the last six-plus years, with 2008-09 marking BG's sixth-straight season of at least 20 wins;
• a staggering 152-32 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 129-24 overall and 64-5 in the MAC regular season in the last four-plus years;
• 101-21 in the last three-plus years, including a 48-5 conference ledger, since seniors Tara Breske, Laura Bugher and Sarah Clapper joined the program;
• 70-17 overall, and 33-4 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;
• 44-9 since sophomores Maribeth Giese and Jessica Slagle ventured to NW Ohio;
• 79-7 in the last 86 games vs. MAC opponents (regular-season and tourney games);
• A perfect 46-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field in the Miller Era;
• 164-10 when having a better FG pct. than the opposition in Miller's tenure, including a 13-0 mark this year to date;
• 146-23 when making more free throws during Miller's first eight-plus seasons;
• 114-11 when outrebounding the opponent in the Miller Era;
• 52-18 in January games since Miller took the helm, including 35-4 in the last four-plus seasons;
• 39-4 in MAC home games in the last five-plus seasons; and
• 32-2 in MAC road games over the last four-plus years.

NOW THAT'S A FIVE-YEAR PLAN (CONFERENCE-ONLY VERSION)
In MAC games over the last five years (plus five games), the Falcons have no fewer than 76 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.

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 19 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.

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 ... after hitting four treys vs. Miami, Pontius now has 131 threes in her career.

THREE-MENDOUS!
Junior Lauren Prochaska tied her career high for three-point field goals made in last Saturday's win at Kent State (Jan. 16), 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 .793 from the free-throw line as a team, just off of last year's school-record .794 pace ... four of BGSU's five starters have shot .818 or better from the stripe to date, with the fifth hitting free throws at a .780 rate.

PRODUCTIVE AT THE STRIPE
As mentioned, the Falcons are shooting a MAC-best .793 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.

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 101-21 overall and 48-5 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 70-17 overall, and the Falcons are 33-4 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 44-9 overall and 20-1 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).

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