Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Evansville
BGSU Heads to Evansville for Season Opener
November 10, 2010 | Women's Basketball
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team opens the 2010-11 season with a pair of games against Missouri Valley Conference opponents ... the Falcons of coach Curt Miller hit the road for the season opener, against the University of Evansville ... tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. local time (8:00 p.m. Eastern) at Roberts Stadium (11,600) ... Miller and his staff return 10 letterwinners, including three starters, from last year's 27-7 team that won the Mid-American Conference regular-season and tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Championships.
BGSU GAME NOTES (34 pages) - PDF
BGSU 2010-11 'MEDIA GUIDE' - PDF | FLIP INTERACTIVE
FALCONS PICKED TO DEFEND MAC TITLES IN 2010-11
Expectations are high for the BGSU women's basketball team once again this year ... the Falcons were picked to win both the MAC's East Division and the conference tournament titles in 2011, according to the league's preseason poll ... the poll was released on Oct. 27 by the MAC office ... additionally, senior Lauren Prochaska was selected to the Preseason All-MAC Team ... the Falcons received 43 of the 48 votes to win the East ... BGSU was picked ahead of – in order – Kent State, Miami, Akron, Ohio and Buffalo ... BG has won six consecutive MAC regular-season titles outright, and the Falcons have won four of the last six MAC Tournament crowns, including the 2010 title ... Toledo was picked to win the West Division, followed by Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan, Ball State, Northern Illinois and Western Michigan
PROCHASKA NAMED TO WOODEN AWARD PRESEASON TOP 30 LIST
Senior Lauren Prochaska was named to the Women's Basketball John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 30 list by the Los Angeles Athletic Club ... the list is comprised of 30 student-athletes who, based on last year's individual performance and team records, are the early frontrunners for college basketball's most prestigious honor ... these 30 players, along with others who excel throughout the season, will be evaluated and considered for December's Midseason list and the official voting ballot released in March ... the Wooden Award All American Team, consisting of the nation's top five players, will be announced the week of the 'Elite Eight' round of the NCAA Tournament.
HOW TO FOLLOW BGSU-EVANSVILLE
If you can't make it to Evansville Friday night, there are a number of ways to follow the Falcons ... the game can be heard on the radio at WBGU-FM 88.1, and the audio stream will be available, free of charge, at BGSUFalcons.com ... live stats will be accessable through BGSUFalcons.com or Evansville's web site, www.gopurpleaces.com ... and, live video streaming will also be available through the UE web site for a fee ... the links to the audio, video and stats can be found at BGSUFalcons.com, in the 'schedule' section on the home page, or by accessing the women's basketball schedule and choosing the Evansville game.
FALCON HOME GAMES: A MULTIMEDIA FRENZY
BGSU fans will be able to follow the Falcons all year long in a variety of ways ...
• AUDIO: WBGU-FM 88.1 is scheduled to carry all of this season's game ... the radio broadcasts can be heard online for free by logging on to BGSUFalcons.com ... click on 'Fan Zone' and 'Live Audio' to hear all the action.
• VIDEO: All home games will be available via live video stream for a small fee ... fans can watch the Anderson Arena action on their computers by visiting BGSUFalcons.com and clicking on the America One logo on the right-hand side of the page.
• LIVE STATS: Links are also available at BGSUFalcons.com for live stats for all home games (and all road games in which the host team provides live stats).
TOP FIVE IN THE LAST FIVE
The NCAA has compiled its annual list of the winningest Division-I teams over the last five years, and Bowling Green ranks fifth on that list ... the Falcons are the top-ranked team among so-called 'Mid-Major' schools ... BGSU has won a total of 141 games, and the Falcons have won nearly 84 percent of the time over the last five seasons.
WINNINGEST TEAMS DURING PAST FIVE YEARS
(sorted by winning pct.)
1. Connecticut 178-11 .942
2. Stanford 159-24 .869
3. Tennessee 155-24 .866
4. North Carolina 147-28 .840
5. BOWLING GREEN 141-27 .839
6. Green Bay 135-26 .839
7. Duke 145-28 .838
8. Ohio State 139-27 .837
9. Marist 139-28 .832
10. Maryland 147-32 .821
BGSU TO APPEAR ON STO AT LEAST TWICE IN 2010-11
The Falcons will be featured on SportsTime Ohio (STO) at least twice during the upcoming season ... BGSU's home games against Central Michigan (Jan. 22) and Kent State (Feb. 26) will be aired by the Cleveland-based network, and both of those Saturday games will begin at noon at Anderson Arena ... the latter will be the final weekend regular-season game at "The House That Roars" ... three additional TV games are yet to be determined, as STO will choose a contest 21 days ahead of time ... those dates are three consecutive Saturdays: Feb. 5, Feb. 12 and Feb. 19 ... STO's coverage also will include the MAC Tournament semifinals (March 11) and championship (March 12).
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• BGSU returns 10 letterwinners, including three starters, from last year's team that won 27 games, captured MAC regular-season and tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Championships ... the Falcons finished the 2009-10 season with an overall record of 27-7, and BGSU went 14-2 in MAC play ... BG won an outright MAC regular-season championship for the sixth-straight season, a conference record ... the Falcons earned the league's East Division title for the fifth consecutive year (after winning the West crown in 2005) ... BGSU won three more games in Cleveland to capture the MAC Tournament title for the fourth time in those six seasons ... the Falcons went 13-0 at home, 11-6 on the road and 3-1 in neutral-site games ... the neutral-site games came in the MAC Tournament and in the NCAA Championships.
• The Falcons lose the services of four seniors – Tara Breske, Laura Bugher, Sarah Clapper and Tamika Nurse – from a year ago ... the three fourth-year players were part of 113 wins, the second-highest total in school and MAC annals ... Nurse was in her first playing season in 2009-10 after transferring from the University of Oregon ... Breske, Bugher and Clapper averaged 28.25 wins per season and helped the Falcons go 57-7 in MAC regular-season games after their arrival on campus.
• Head coach Curt Miller and his staff have six seniors on the 15-player active roster this year ... that group includes three returning starters in Lauren Prochaska, Tracy Pontius and Jen Uhl ... Prochaska and Pontius each started all 34 games a year ago, while Uhl made 31 starts ... Prochaska, of course, has been named the MAC Player of the Year in each of the last two seasons, while Pontius earned all-conference second-team honors a year ago.
• Senior Maggie Hennegan, a co-captain along with Prochaska, played in all 34 games last season ... post players Chelsea Albert and Kelly Zuercher round out the senior class ... Zuercher played in 30 games off the bench last winter, while Albert appeared in 28 contests.
• The Falcons' lone junior is Jessica Slagle, who played in every game last season ... BG has a pair of redshirt sophomores in Maribeth Giese and Danielle Havel ... Giese played in two games early last season before suffering an injury and sitting out the rest of the season as a redshirt ... Havel sat out the entire campaign after transferring from DePaul University.
• The roster includes three true sophomores in Simone Eli, Allison Papenfuss and Chrissy Steffen ... Steffen drew the start in the Falcons' exhibition game vs. Findlay last week (Nov. 3).
• Four newcomers join the program in 2010-11 ... that list includes a pair of guards in Jillian Halfhill and Noelle Yoder, along with post player Jill Stein ... additionally, Alexis Rogers joins the program, but will sit out this season after transferring from Duke University ... she will retain three seasons of eligibility.
CONTRACT EXTENSIONS FOR MILLER, ROOS
In late September, BGSU Assistant V.P./Director of Athletics Greg Christopher announced that Falcon head coach Curt Miller and associate head coach Jennifer Roos had received contract extensions ... the contracts of both Miller and Roos now run through June 30, 2016 ... Miller and his staff – Roos, assistant coaches Brandi Poole and Kevin Eckert and director of operations Monique Rosati – have built a perennial power, as the Falcons have records of 206-80 and 108-36 in the MAC ... Roos and Poole have been with Miller from the start, while Eckert joined the staff one year later ... Rosati enters her fourth year with the program in 2010-11.
THAT'S A LOT OF WINS!
Just five years ago, the Mid-American Conference record for wins in a season was 27 ... four conference teams, including two BGSU clubs (the 1986-87 and 1988-89 teams), had reached that milestone ... Curt Miller's Falcons, however, have won at least 27 games in no fewer than four of the last five years – with 26 wins in the other season ... that streak includes a then-MAC record 28 wins in the 2005-06 campaign, followed by a 31-win season in '06-07 ... that 31-win total remains the conference standard ... Miller's Falcons won 26 games in 2007-08, 29 games in '08-09 and 27 more games last season ... in the last five seasons, BGSU has AVERAGED 28.2 wins per year.
PROCHASKA IS THIRD ON BGSU CAREER SCORING LIST
Senior Lauren Prochaska third on the BGSU career scoring list, and has a total of 1,699 points in 102 games ... she trails only Jackie Motycka (2,122 points from 1985-89) and Ali Mann (1,825 points from 2003-07) ... Prochaska is averaging 16.7 points per game, the second-highest average in BGSU annals, in her storied Falcon career.
PONTIUS NEARING 1,000 POINTS
Senior Tracy Pontius will enter the season needing just two points to reach the 1,000-point mark for her career ... Pontius, with 998 points in her first three years at BGSU, will be the 24th player in school history to reach the milestone.
CLASSY. VERY CLASSY.
With 27 wins, the MAC regular-season and tournament titles and a trip to the NCAA Championships, it is obvious that the BGSU women's basketball team had another successful year on the court in 2009-10 ... and, the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller were equally successful in the classroom again last season ... the Falcons were ranked sixth in the entire nation on the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)'s 2009-10 Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll ... the announcement marked the second-straight year that the Falcons were ranked among the top 10 ... BGSU was ranked fifth on the '08-09 list ... the women's basketball student-athletes had a combined grade-point average of 3.500 during the 2009-10 academic year, up from 3.470 in the 2008-09 season ... BGSU was the only MAC program on the list for the second consecutive year, and the Falcons were the only program from the state of Ohio in the Division-I Top 25, also for the second-straight season ... a few other notes re: the Falcons and the WBCA Academic Top 25 ...
• In the fall 2009 semester, no fewer than six student-athletes posted a perfect 4.00 GPA ... 15 team members had a GPA of at least 3.00 that semester, with 14 of those 15 earning a GPA of 3.25 or higher.
• In the spring 2010 semester, 15 players again had at least a 3.00 GPA, with 12 earning a GPA of 3.20 or better.
• The Falcons were one of five schools to make an appearance both in the 2010 NCAA Championships and on the WBCA Top 25 Team Honor Roll (South Dakota State - 2nd; Northern Iowa - 7th; DePaul - 8th and Hartford - 23rd).
• BGSU has made the list three times in the last four seasons ... the Falcons made the WBCA Top 25 Team Honor Roll in 2006-07 ... the 'Sweet Sixteen' team ranked 23rd in the nation with a GPA of 3.300.
ADDITIONAL ACADEMIC ACCOLADES
• The Falcons saw a league-high five student athletes named to the 13-member Academic All-MAC Team last year, as Tara Breske, Laura Bugher, Maggie Hennegan, Tamika Nurse and Lauren Prochaska all were voted to the team ... BGSU was the only school with more than one player selected.
• Bugher and Hennegan were named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Team, earning second-team honors ... they were the only two MAC women's basketball student-athletes named to any of the ESPN Academic All-District teams in 2010.
• Additionally, the women's basketball team earned numerous honors when the BGSU Department of Athletics held its annual Athletics Honors Night in April of 2010 ... Bugher was one of three female finalists for the Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award, while Hennegan made the list of the final three Junior S-A-O-Y candidates ... as a team, the Falcons picked up two honors, earning both the female team Highest GPA Award and the Most Improved Award.
THEY LIKE THE FALCONS
BGSU was listed on several national lists over the summer and early fall ... here are just a few of those mentions ...
• The Athlon Sports College Basketball 2010-11 Preview listed BGSU as the number-17 program in the nation.
• The Falcons were ranked fifth in the country among mid-major women's basketball programs in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25's preseason poll.
• In late August, BGSU was ranked No. 32 on Swish Appeal's list of the Top 100 Programs in Division I Women's College Basketball.
FALCONS RECEIVE A MARKETING GRANT
The BGSU Department of Athletics was one of 14 institutions and conferences to receive a marketing grant through the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Grant Program ... the aim of the program is to increase awareness and exposure of, and attendance at, women's basketball ... BGSU will receive $34,000 from the NCAA to begin the Talon Tailgate Series, a group of pre-game tailgating events targeting the BGSU faculty and staff and student populations ... each event will consist of a food/non-alcoholic beverage spread and audio entertainment in a tent or facility separate from Anderson Arena ... the goal is to increase attendance at Falcon women's basketball games and springboard the program into the first year of competition in the Stroh Center in 2011-12.
BGSU TO HOST 2012 NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP FIRST AND SECOND ROUNDS
BGSU's Stroh Center has been selected as one of 16 sites for the first and second rounds of the 2012 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship ... that announcement was made by the NCAA Women's Basketball Committee on Oct. 26 ... BGSU will host first- and second-round games at the Stroh Center on either Saturday, March 17, and Monday, March 19 or Sunday, March 18, and Tuesday, March 20, 2012 ... exact dates will be determined in June of 2011, with ticket information to be released at a later time ... the 2011-12 season will be the first year of operation for the Stroh Center, which will serve as the new home for the Falcon men's and women's basketball, volleyball and gymnastics teams ... Anderson Arena served as the site for first-round games in 1989, 1993 and 1994.
WBGU-PBS CHRONICLES THE HISTORY OF FALCON WOMEN'S HOOPS
Late August marked the debut of the WBGU-PBS documentary "BGSU Women's Basketball: A Legacy of Excellence" ... the one-hour, 42-minute program covers the history of Falcon women's hoops, including the early years, prior to its founding as an intercollegiate sport in 1962, and includes highlights from then until now ... BGSU alumnus Larry Weiss, a long-time University administrator, and former Falcon head coach Sue Hager were co-chairs of the project, with Tom Zapiecki, Tony Howard and others at WBGU helping to chronicle the history of the program ... a preview of the documentary was held on Aug. 26 at University House, hosted by BGSU President Dr. Carol Cartwright, and the film made its television debut on Nov. 2.
LAST TIME OUT
Four players scored in double digits as the Falcons rolled along to an 88-41 exhibition-game win over Findlay Wednesday night (Nov. 3) ... senior Tracy Pontius scored a game-high 18 points to lead the way, while classmates Jen Uhl and Maggie Hennegan had 14 and 13 points, respectively ... freshman Jillian Halfhill had 11 points off the bench for the Brown and Orange ... Clare Aubry, a transfer from Toledo, led the Oilers with 12 points on the night ... the Falcons forced a total of 30 Findlay turnovers, and BGSU had a 38-6 advantage in points off turnovers ... trailing by a 6-5 count with several minutes gone, the hosts proceeded to go on a 19-0 run over a seven-minute span ... sophomore Chrissy Steffen's three-point field goal midway through the half gave the home team a 24-6 lead ... BGSU took a 43-20 lead into the halftime break, and the Falcons put together a 22-0 run, holding the Oilers scoreless for a span of 9:45, in the second period ... BG had a team total of 16 steals, with Steffen coming up with a game-high four ... the Falcons shot 51.5 percent in the second half en route to a 45.5% rate for the game.
PROCHASKA A CANDIDATE FOR LOWE'S SENIOR CLASS AWARD
Falcon senior Lauren Prochaska is one of 30 women's basketball student-athletes nationally who were selected as candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award ... to be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition ... an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award focused on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities ... the candidate class will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those names will be placed on the official ballot ... the winner will be announced at the NCAA Women's Final Four in Indianapolis.
A QUICK LOOK AT EVANSVILLE
Evansville, like BGSU, opens the regular season on Friday evening ... in the lone exhibition, the Purple Aces picked up a 79-54 win over Oakland City on Saturday (Nov. 6) ... sophomore Meagan Collins led UE with 20 points in the win ... the Aces have seven returning letterwinners, including a trio of starters in senior Stephanie Bamberger, junior Chelsea Falkenstein and sophomore Samantha Heck ... head coach Misty Murphy begins her third season at UE ... last year, the Aces had an overall record of 4-26 and a Missouri Valley Conference mark of 1-17 ... three of the wins came at home, including a 73-67 victory over the MAC's Ball State on Dec. 22 ... the school's athletics web site is www.gopurpleaces.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Evansville, 1-0, in the all-time series between the teams ... the lone meeting was an 88-78 BGSU triumph at Anderson Arena on Nov. 5, 1986 ... Friday night, obviously, will be the teams' first meeting in Evansville.
A CHAMPION VISITS THE CHAMPIONS
The Falcons had a visitor at practice on Oct. 6 ... Brian Agler, head coach of the WNBA Champion Seattle Storm, was in attendance at Anderson Arena ... Agler, less than three weeks after winning the WNBA title, was in Northwest Ohio to view the Falcons' practice and trade coaching secrets with Curt Miller ... Agler addressed the BGSU players at the end of practice before meeting with the Falcons' head coach ... Miller had spoken with Agler and his staff at the NCAA Women's Final Four several months prior.
THREE-MENDOUS!
The Falcons shattered the school single-season records for three-point field goals made and attempted last year ... BGSU went 284-of-733 from beyond the arc in 2009-10 ... last year's team broke the records set by the 1999-2000 club, which made 259 threes in 710 attempts ... the Falcons' total of three-pointers made also set a new MAC record (Ball State, 282 in 2001-02).
THE FALCONS ARE/WERE
• 27-7 last season, after going 29-5 in 2008-09;
• 14-2 in the MAC last winter, winning a sixth-straight league regular-season title;
• 206-80 since Curt Miller took the BGSU helm in May of 2001;
• 108-36 in MAC games in that time:
• 197-61 overall in the eight 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);
• 185-45 over the last seven years, with 2009-10 marking BG's seventh-straight season of at least 20 wins;
• a staggering 164-35 in the past six years, with no fewer than 23 wins and a MAC regular-season title in each of the last six seasons;
• an eye-popping 141-27 overall and 73-7 in the MAC regular season in the last five years, with at least 26 wins each year;
• 113-24 in the last four years, including a 57-7 conference ledger, spanning the careers of Tara Breske, Laura Bugher and Sarah Clapper;
• 82-20 overall, and 42-6 in MAC regular-season games, since seniors Chelsea Albert, Tracy Pontius, Lauren Prochaska, Jen Uhl and Kelly Zuercher began their respective playing careers at BGSU;
• 56-12 since junior Jessica Slagle and redshirt soph Maribeth Giese ventured to NW Ohio;
• 27-7 in the BGSU playing careers of senior Maggie Hennegan and sophomores Simone Eli, Allison Papenfuss and Chrissy Steffen (2009-10 was Hennegan's first playing season at BGSU, after she sat out the prior year as a transfer from Saint Louis Univ.);
• 91-9 in the last 100 games vs. MAC opponents (regular-season and tournament);
• A perfect 49-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field in the Miller Era;
• 171-10 when having a better FG pct. than the opposition in Miller's tenure, including a 43-0 mark in the last two seasons;
• 156-26 when making more free throws during Miller's first nine seasons;
• 123-11 when outrebounding the opponent in the Miller Era;
• 44-4 in MAC home games in the last six seasons, including three 8-0 marks;
• 36-4 in MAC road games over the last five years (with the losses coming in 2007-08 at Ball State, in '08-09 at Miami and this year at Toledo and Central Michigan);
• 15-2 in the MAC Tournament over the last six years, with four titles (2005, '06, '07 and 2010), a championship-game appearance last year, and a trip to the semis in 2008;
• 39-16 overall in the MAC Tournament since it was instituted in 1982;
• 27-11 in MAC Tournament contests played at a neutral site;
• 17-4 at Gund/Quicken Loans Arena, the site of the MAC Tournament;
• 18-5 in MAC Tournament games in the Miller Era;
• 17-3 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.
• 5-13 in 13 national postseason appearances (including a 3-10 record in the NCAA Championships and a 2-3 mark in WNIT trips); and
• 4-6 in national postseason action under Miller (including a 2-4 mark in the NCAAs and a 2-2 record in the WNIT).
THE FALCON SENIORS
BGSU has posted a record of 82-20 overall, and the Falcons are 42-6 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 27.3 games per year to date ... the Falcons have made national postseason play in each of those three years, having gone to the NCAA once and the WNIT twice ... BG played national postseason games at Anderson Arena in each of their first two years, beating Dayton in the '08 WNIT and hosting Syracuse and Indiana in that tourney in 2009 ... Maggie Hennegan joined that group for the 2009-10 season.
THE JUNIOR
The Falcons are 56-12 overall and 29-3 in the MAC since junior Jessica Slagle arrived in Northwest Ohio ... that stretch includes a 25-game winning streak in Slagle's freshman year ... redshirt sophomore Maribeth Giese has been at BGSU for those two seasons, but played in just two games a year ago before missing the rest of the year due to injury ... Giese and Slagle helped the Falcons to a total of 29 wins – the second-highest total in school and MAC history – during their freshman campaign.
THE SOPHOMORES
Three sophomores helped the Falcons to a 27-7 mark a year ago ... that group includes Simone Eli, Allison Papenfuss and Chrissy Steffen (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) ... Danielle Havel is now a member of the sophomore class, having sat out the '09-10 season after transferring from DePaul Univ.
THE FRESHMEN
Three freshmen have joined the Falcons for the 2010-11 season ... that list includes Jillian Halfhill (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield), Jill Stein (Clyde, Ohio/Tiffin Columbian) and Noelle Yoder (Millersburg, Ohio/Berlin Hiland) ... Alexis Rogers also joins the Brown and Orange this year, but will sit out the '10-11 season after transferring from Duke Univ.
HOME COOKIN'
The Falcons finished with a perfect 13-0 record at venerable Anderson Arena last year, and BGSU has won 30 consecutive regular-season home games at "The House That Roars" since a loss to Western Michigan on Jan. 30, 2008 ... overall, BG has won 32 of the last 33 home games, with the lone loss coming to Indiana in the third round of last year's WNIT ... 27 of those 32 wins have come by double digits.
WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE (THAT ROARS)
In 2009-10, the Falcons posted a 13-0 home regular-season record for the second consecutive year ... BGSU now has gone undefeated at home in the regular season seven times in program history ... in three of those years, including the 2008-09 campaign, the Falcons' lone blemish was a home loss suffered in national tournament play.
CAPTAINS
Seniors Maggie Hennegan and Lauren Prochaska are the captains of the 2009-10 Falcons ... Hennegan is a captain for the second consecutive year ... she was chosen as a captain before ever playing her first game as a Falcon.
UP NEXT
The Falcons face Creighton on Monday night (Nov. 15), opening the home portion of the regular-season schedule ... tipoff for that game, the first half of a Falcon hoops doubleheader, is 6:00 p.m. at venerable Anderson Arena ... pregame festivities will include a banner unveiling and a ring ceremony ... the Creighton game begins a season-long four-game homestand.
