BGSU Opens Road Portion of MAC Schedule with Trip to Athens

THE OPENING TIP
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, after opening the Mid-American Conference schedule with a home victory, now hits the road for the first time in league action this year ... the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller head to Athens for a Saturday matchup with Ohio University ... tipoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at the Convocation Center (13,168) ... the game is the second half of a doubleheader in Athens, as the Bobcat men's team hosts Kent State at 2:00 p.m.

BGSU Notes & Stats - PDF

BGSU-OHIO HAS BEEN A BATTLE
Since late February of 2005, BGSU has won 75 of the last 82 games vs. MAC opponents (regular-season and tournament play) ... three conference teams, including Ohio, have downed the Falcons twice in that time ... BG leads the all-time series with Ohio, 45-20, but the 'Cats have captured two of the last six meetings ... the Falcons' 75-7 record vs. MAC foes in that span of nearly five years includes two losses to the Bobcats, Ball State and Miami, and one loss to Western Michigan ... Ohio picked up a three-point win at BGSU in February of 2007, becoming the lone MAC school to beat the 'Sweet Sixteen' Falcon team ... and, the Bobcats knocked the Brown and Orange out of the 2008 MAC Tournament with a double-overtime win in Cleveland in the semifinal round.

MILLER MOVING UP
Wednesday's (Jan. 6) 74-62 win over Akron was the 190th victory of Curt Miller's head-coaching career ... Miller, who became the winningest coach in BGSU history two years ago, has moved into sole possession of third place on the Mid-American Conference list ... Fran Voll had a total of 189 victories, at BGSU and Central Michigan (Voll had 144 victories with the Falcons and 41 with the Chippewas) ... only Kent State's Bob Lindsay and former Toledo coach Mark Ehlen have more wins at a MAC institution than Miller ... in MAC games only, the win over Akron was Miller's 95th, moving him past former UT coach Bill Fennelly into seventh place on that chart ... the lists are in the PDF version of these notes.

PROCHASKA, TOO
Roughly halfway through her junior season, Lauren Prochaska has moved into a tie for 12th place on the BGSU career scoring list ... Prochaska now has a total of 1,363 points in her Falcon tenure ... she passed Carin Horne (1,341 points from 2003-07) in the Akron game, moving into a deadlock with Stephanie Coe (1983-87) ... Prochaska's next target is 11th-place Angie Bonner, who had 1,412 points from 1987-90 ... Prochaska is averaging 16.4 points per game, the second-highest average in BGSU annals, in her career.

#2 SCORES 20 FOR 26TH TIME
Junior Lauren Prochaska scored 23 points vs. Akron, for her seventh game of 20 points or more this year, and the 26th such contest of her Falcon career ... Prochaska has scored in double digits in 75 of her 83 career games at BGSU.

'SECOND SEASON' UNDERWAY: THE FALCONS VS. THE MAC
The non-league schedule is complete, and the Falcons have embarked upon the Mid-American Conference schedule ... BGSU enters the Ohio game with an all-time record of 322-140 (.697) in MAC regular-season contests, the most wins and highest winning percentage 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 record against every other school.

NOW THAT'S A FIVE-YEAR PLAN (CONFERENCE-ONLY VERSION
In MAC games over the last five years (plus one game), the Falcons have no fewer than 73 victories ... BGSU has averaged 14.4 conference wins per year over the last five seasons (a pretty impressive feat considering each team plays just 16 MAC games per season) ... BGSU'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 11-4 on the season, and BGSU is 1-0 in MAC play ... BG is 6-0 at home and 5-4 on the road this year to date ... the Falcons have won 10 of the last 12 games, including 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 Wednesday night (Jan. 6) ... 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 a five-game winning streak snapped with a 70-54 loss at St. Bonaventure (Dec. 12), but bounced back with three wins in five days before Christmas ... 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, starting with a 76-41 win over Chicago State at venerable Anderson Arena ... then, however, the Brown and Orange lost road games against third-ranked Ohio State and Marist ... BGSU bounced back with wins in the next five games, with three on the road ... included in that five-game win streak was a trip to Nashville, where head coach Curt Miller's club defeated nationally-ranked Vanderbilt, 66-60 (Dec. 4).

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

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

• Through 15 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 18.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game ... Prochaska has paced BG in scoring nine times this year, including seven times in the last eight games ... after averaging 10.3 ppg in the three Preseason WNIT games, she has averaged 20.2 ppg and shot over 50 percent from the field over the last 12 contests ... Prochaska, who was named the league's Player of the Week on two-straight Mondays (Dec. 7 and Dec. 14), is averaging 21.8 ppg and 6.2 rpg in the Falcons' six home games this season.

• Junior Tracy Pontius and senior Tamika Nurse have 12.1 and 10.2 ppg, respectively ... Pontius has 3.2 rpg, and is second on the team behind Prochaska in three-point field goals made ... Prochaska has hit 36 shots from long range to 29 for Pontius ... Pontius is tied for the Falcons' assists lead, with 3.3 per game, and paces the team in steals (1.3 spg) ... Nurse also has 3.3 assists per contest, as each player has dished out 49 total helpers ... Nurse is third on the team with 20 three-pointers made this season ... Prochaska and Nurse have made 59 and 57 free throws, respectively, this season, while Pontius has hit 33 shots from the stripe ... Pontius and Prochaska each are converting over 86 percent of their free-throw tries.

• Senior Tara Breske and junior Jen Uhl have scored 8.2 and 6.1 ppg, respectively ... Breske, who missed two games due to injury in early December, has 4.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocked shots per game, leading the Falcons in the latter category ... Uhl has 4.9 rebounds per game, ranking second on the team ... she is shooting .480 from the field, while Breske has a .463 field-goal rate.

• Junior Maggie Hennegan has 5.0 points and 4.5 rebrounds per game, ranking third on the team in the latter category ... she has shot .491 from the field this year ... six players are averaging from 1.5 to 2.6 ppg heading into the Ohio 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 15 games to date, while Uhl has made 12 starts ... Breske has started 10 total contests, including the first four games of the year and each of the last six ... Hennegan has made eight starts.

• Through 15 games, the Falcons are shooting .422 from the field, .373 from three-point land and .782 from the free-throw line ... BG's opponents are shooting .386 overall, .317 from long range and .704 from the stripe ... the Falcons have 37.3 rebounds per game to the opponents' 35.7 ... BGSU has been outrebounded only four times in 15 games this year.

THE MAC SCHEDULE
The 2009-10 season is the fifth utilizing the current MAC scheduling format for women's basketball ... each of the 12 schools opens conference action with five intra-divisional games, followed by six cross-divisional contests and five more intra-divisional games to close the regular season ... so, BGSU plays five games vs. East Division schools to begin and end the MAC season, with six games vs. the West Division teams in the middle of the conference schedule.

THE FALCONS ARE ...
• 11-4 in the 2009-10 season to date, after going 29-5 in 2008-09;
• 1-0 in the MAC, after finishing 15-1 last year and winning a fifth-straight league regular-season title;
• 190-77 since Curt Miller took the BGSU helm in May of 2001;
• 95-34 in MAC games in that time:
• 181-58 overall in the seven years (plus 15 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);
• 169-42 over the last six-plus years, with 2008-09 marking BG's sixth-straight season of at least 20 wins;
• a staggering 148-32 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 125-24 overall and 60-5 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;
• 97-21 in the last three-plus years, including a 44-5 conference ledger, since seniors Tara Breske, Laura Bugher and Sarah Clapper joined the program;
• 66-17 overall, and 29-4 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;
• 40-9 since sophomores Maribeth Giese and Jessica Slagle ventured to NW Ohio;
• 75-7 in the last 82 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;
• 160-10 when having a better FG pct. in Miller's tenure, including a 9-0 mark this year to date;
• 143-23 when making more free throws during Miller's first eight-plus seasons;
• 111-11 when outrebounding the opponent in the Miller Era;
• 48-18 in January games since Miller took the helm, including 31-4 in the last four-plus seasons;
• 37-4 in MAC home games in the last five-plus seasons;
• 30-2 in MAC road games over the last four years (with the lone losses during that time coming in 2007-08 at Ball State and last March at Miami);
• 12-2 in the MAC Tournament over the last five years, with three titles (2005, '06 and '07), a championship-game appearance last season, and a trip to the semifinals in 2008;
• 36-16 overall in the MAC Tournament since it was instituted in 1982;
• 24-11 in MAC Tournament contests played at a neutral site;
• 14-4 at Gund/Quicken Loans Arena, the site of the MAC Tournament;
• 15-5 in MAC Tournament games in the Miller Era;
• 14-3 at "The Gund"/"The Q" under Miller;
• 28-3 in all non-conference home games since the start of the 2003-04 season;
• 24-2 against non-league foes at Anderson Arena since November of 2004.
• 5-12 in 12 national postseason appearances (including a 3-9 record in the NCAA Championships and a 2-3 mark in WNIT trips); and
• 4-5 in national postseason action under Miller (including a 2-3 mark in the NCAAs and a 2-2 record in the WNIT).

LAST TIME OUT
The Falcons broke open a tie game with a double-digit run late in the first half, en route to a 74-62 win over visiting Akron in Wednesday night's (Jan. 6) MAC opener for both teams ... junior Lauren Prochaska led the Brown and Orange with 23 points on the evening, pacing three players in double digits ... Rachel Tecca had 26 points off the bench for the Zips ... the Falcons now lead the all-time series with Akron by a 42-2 count, and BGSU has won 13 consecutive series meetings ... BG has a perfect 23-0 record in home games vs. the Zips over the years ... Akron never led, but bounced back from an early seven-point deficit to tie the contest ... the game was deadlocked five times in the first half, the last at 24-24 after a Jolene Tamboue layup ... but, the Falcons proceeded to score 12-straight points as part of a 19-4 run to end the half ... in the second half, the home team never let the lead drop under double digits, but never quite put the Zips away, either ... BGSU's advantage reached a game-high 17 points after a four-point possession with 6:44 to go, but the visitors cut the lead to 10 points on numerous second-half occasions, including in the final minute ... senior Tara Breske had 14 points for the Brown and Orange, while junior Tracy Pontius added 13 ... Tecca was the lone UA player in double digits ... BGSU went 18-of-19 from the free-throw line, making 16 in a row before finally missing in the last minute of the game ... UA was just 6-of-13 from the stripe on the night, a season-low percentage for a Falcon opponent.

SCOUTING OHIO
Ohio enters Saturday's game with an overall record of 4-10, and the Bobcats are 0-1 in MAC play after a narrow, 70-66 loss at Kent State Wednesday (Jan. 6) ... the 'Cats had closed non-league play with a blowout win over Colgate, snapping a six-game losing streak with a 74-40 victory to close non-conference play last weekend (Jan. 2) ... Ohio is 3-4 in home games to date, with wins over George Washington, Marshall and Colgate ... the team's other victory came on the road against Utah Valley ... despite the 4-10 record, the Bobcats have been outscored by just three points per game, and are outrebounding opponents ... Ohio's defense has allowed just 59.9 ppg ... senior guard Jenny Poff leads the team with 12.0 points per game, and paces the Bobcats with 30 three-point field goals made ... another senior guard, Jennifer Bushby, has 9.3 ppg off the bench, and also has 4.6 rebounds and a team-leading 2.2 steals per contest ... Bushby led the 'Cats with 21 points at KSU Wednesday ... sophomore G/F Da'Keisha Mann has 8.3 ppg and 4.7 rpg, while junior forward Kamille Buckner has 6.2 ppg and leads the Bobcats in both rebounding (6.1 rpg) and blocked shots (1.6 bpg) ... Buckner, Mann, Poff and freshman guard Ashley Fowler (4.6 ppg, a team-best 3.0 assists per game) each have started all 14 games ... junior center Thia Gholston (3.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg) rounds out the probable starting lineup for head coach Sameka Randall ... Randall welcomed back nine letterwinners, including three starters, from last year's team that finished with a 13-18 overall mark and a 7-9 MAC ledger ... Randall has a record of 17-28 in her second season as a collegiate head coach, both in Athens ... the school's athletics web site is OhioBobcats.com.

THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Ohio, 45-20, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU has won the last two meetings ... last year, the Falcons captured both games, including a 62-52 decision in the team's last trip to the Convocation Center (Jan. 10, 2009) ... then, the Brown and Orange picked up a 79-64 victory on 'Senior Day' at Anderson Arena (March 7, 2009) ... Ohio's last series win was a 68-66, double-overtime decision in the semifinal round of the 2008 MAC Tournament (March 14, 2008) in downtown Cleveland ... BGSU has won five consecutive road games vs. the Bobcats ... Ohio's last win over the Falcons in 'The Convo' was a 74-68 triumph in the first round of the 2002 MAC Tournament, ending Curt Miller's initial season in BG ... Miller has a record of 11-4 against Ohio during his head-coaching tenure ... additional series information, as well as much more info on all things BGSU women's basketball, can be found in the PDF version of these notes.

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