Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
#23 Vanderbilt
BGSU Hosts Nationally-Ranked Vanderbilt Wednesday
November 30, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Falcons put streaks on the line vs. No. 23/23 Commodores
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, having won six consecutive games, returns to Northwest Ohio for a two-game homestand ... the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller put a long homecourt regular-season win streak to the test with a midweek game vs. a nationally-ranked opponent ... BG will host #23/23 Vanderbilt University in Wednesday (Dec. 1) action, with tipoff set for 7:00 p.m. at Anderson Arena ... Miller and his staff returned 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.
PDF LINKS
BGSU NOTES | VANDERBILT NOTES | MAC NOTES
AUDIO
Curt Miller's Tuesday (Nov. 30) press conf.
VIDEO
Curt Miller's Tuesday (Nov. 30) press conf.: PART 1 | PART 2
Tuesday's videos also available by scrolling down to the bottom of the page
SEATTLE TRIP
Video: Women's Basketball leaves for Seattle (Nov. 25)
Video: Checking in with Jill Stein (Nov. 26)
Recap: Falcons Rally for 56-47 Win over UALR (Nov. 26)
Video: Curt Miller and Tracy Pontius - UALR Postgame (Nov. 26)
Video: Pike's Place Market (Nov. 27)
Video: Pikes Place Market, Part 2 (Nov. 27)
Video: Checking in with Allison Papenfuss (Nov. 27)
Recap: Falcons Win Seattle Tournament with 71-51 victory over Redhawks (Nov. 27)
Video: Curt Miller and Lauren Prochaska - Seattle Postgame (Nov. 27)
Video: Falcons Visit the Space Needle (Nov. 28)
Video: Word Association Take 1 (Nov. 28)
Video: Word Association Take 2 (Nov. 28)
Video: Checking in With Jen Uhl (Nov. 28)
FALCONS VS. NATIONALLY-RANKED TEAMS
Vanderbilt will enter Wednesday's game ranked in the top 25 of both the Associated Press and USA Today ESPN polls ... BGSU has an all-time record of 3-28 against nationally-ranked teams, including a 1-3 record at home and a 2-9 mark in the Curt Miller Era ... a few more notes about BGSU and top-25 foes ...
• Both of the Falcons' wins over nationally-ranked teams in the Miller Era came against Vanderbilt ... BGSU downed the Commodores, 59-56, in the second round of the 2007 NCAA Championships in East Lansing, Mich., then ventured to Nashville a year ago (Dec. 4, 2009) and posted a 66-60 win.
• The only other win over a nationally-ranked team in BGSU history came in the 1991-92 season opener ... in that game, the Falcons downed 10th-ranked Purdue at Anderson Arena in Jaci Clark's head-coaching debut (Nov. 23, 1991) ... that remains BG's only home win over a nationally-ranked team.
• BG has not had many chances to defeat a top-25 team at home, as Wednesday will mark only the fifth time that a nationally-ranked opponent will play inside "The House That Roars" ... in addition to that Purdue game, the other home games vs. top-25 foes came against Georgia (82-63 loss; Dec. 19, 1994) and Notre Dame ... the Irish have come to BG twice as a nationally-ranked team, downing BG, 85-70, in the 1996-97 opener (Nov. 23, 1996) and topping the Falcons in overtime three years ago (86-84; Dec. 5, 2007).
• Vanderbilt is the highest-ranked team the Falcons have ever defeated ... the Commodores were ranked seventh by the AP and eighth in the USA Today poll when they met BG in the '07 NCAA Championships (March 20, 2007).
SHE'S DEADLY FROM 15 FEET
Senior Lauren Prochaska continues to rewrite BGSU's free-throw-percentage records – and, for the most part, they were records that she already owned ...
• Prochaska topped her own single-game mark in Friday's (Nov. 26) win over UALR, going a perfect 15-for-15 from the stripe ... her 'old' mark was 13-for-13, set last season against Miami (Jan. 19, 2010).
• Prochaska has made 51 of her 52 shots from the stripe this year, a 98.1-percent success rate ... she ranks sixth in the country in the NCAA Division-I statistics, released Monday (Nov. 29) ... of the five players ahead of her, none have attempted more than 23 free throws this year.
• Prochaska has made 43 consecutive free-throw attempts, one of the longest streaks in NCAA history ... the current streak marks the third time she has made over 30-straight free throws in her BGSU career ... she holds that school record with 45 consecutive tosses, set during her sophomore season of 2008-09 ... the MAC record is 57 consecutive free throws made, by Central Michigan's Jody Beerman in the 1986-87 season, and the NCAA record is 66-straight FT makes, by Ginny Doyle of Richmond in 1991-92.
PROCHASKA NOW SECOND ON BGSU CAREER SCORING LIST
Lauren Prochaska, seven games into her senior season, has moved into second place on the BGSU career scoring list, and has a total of 1,830 points in 109 games ... she now trails only Jackie Motycka (2,122 points from 1985-89) ... Prochaska moved past Ali Mann (1,825 points from 2003-07) in the win over Seattle ... Prochaska is averaging 16.8 points per game, the second-highest average in BGSU annals, in her storied Falcon career.
PONTIUS MOVES INTO THE TOP 20
With her first basket in the season opener at Evansville (Nov. 12), senior Tracy Pontius surpassed the 1,000-point mark for her career ... Pontius became the 24th player to reach the milestone ... heading into the Vanderbilt game, Pontius has a total of 1,096 points as a Falcon ... exactly 1,000 of those points have come since the start of her sophomore season ... Pontius has moved into 20th place on the BGSU scoring list, and is just three points behind 19th-place Stefanie Wenzel.
WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE (THAT ROARS)
The Falcons will put an impressive streak on the line in Wednesday's Vanderbilt game ... BGSU has won 33 consecutive regular-season home games at "The House That Roars" ... the Falcons' last regular-season loss at Anderson Arena came vs. Western Michigan on Jan. 30, 2008 ... a few more Anderson Arena-related notes ...
• Overall, BGSU has won 17 home games in a row, and 36 of the last 37 ... the lone loss in that stretch came to Indiana in the third round of the 2009 WNIT ... BG had won 19-straight home games before losing to IU, then beginning the current 17-game streak ... 31 of the Falcons' 36 wins in that span have come by double digits.
• In 2009-10, the Falcons posted a 13-0 home regular-season record for the second consecutive year ... BGSU has gone undefeated at home in the regular season seven times in program history ... in three of those years, including in 2008-09, the Falcons' lone blemish was a home loss suffered in national tournament play.
HOME COOKIN'
BGSU concluded a season-long four-game homestand last Wednesday (Nov. 24), a homestand that was quite successful, to say the least ... the Falcons went a perfect 4-0 in those contests, winning by an average of 32.8 points per game ... BG scored an average of 83.3 points per contest, winning every game by at least 25 points.
FALCON HOME GAMES: A MULTIMEDIA FRENZY
BGSU fans can 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 games ... 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.
• TELEVISION: Six of the Falcons' school-record 15 home games will be televised in the Toledo area on BCSN ... two additional games at Anderson Arena will be aired as the MAC Game of the Week by SportsTime Ohio ... the televised games can be found in the schedule on page 1 of the PDF version of these notes.
• VIDEO: All home games will be available via live video stream, through B2/America One, 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).
STABILITY BREEDS SUCCESS
Part of the reason for Bowling Green's women's basketball success has been the stability at the top ... the coaching staff – head coach Curt Miller, associate head coach Jennifer Roos, and assistant coaches Brandi Poole and Kevin Eckert – has been intact for nine years ... Miller is in his 10th season at the helm of the Falcons ... Roos and Poole were on board during that 2001-02 season as well, with Eckert joining the staff in time for the 2002-03 campaign ... Bowling Green is one of just three NCAA Division-I women's basketball programs in the entire nation in which all four full-time coaches (head coach and three assistants) are in at least their ninth consecutive year at the school ... the list ...
LONGEST-TENURED NCAA DIVISION-I PROGRAMS
(All four coaches are in at least their ninth year with the school)
MONTANA – (Head Coach Robin Selvig – 33rd season • Asst. Coach Annette Rocheleau – 30th season • Asst. Coach Shannon Schweyen – 19th season • Asst. Coach Trish Duce – 17th season)
BOWLING GREEN – (Head Coach Curt Miller – 10th season • Associate H.C. Jennifer Roos – 10th season • Asst. Coach Brandi Poole – 10th season • Asst. Coach Kevin Eckert – ninth season)
NORTH CAROLINA – (Head Coach Sylvia Hatchell – 25th season • Associate H.C. Andrew Calder – 25th season • Asst. Coach Tracey Williams-Johnson – 12 th season • Asst. Coach Charlotte Smith – ninth season)
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons will enter the Vanderbilt game with a record of 6-1 ... BGSU is 4-0 at home, 1-1 on the road and 1-0 in neutral-site games to date ... the Falcons suffered a 63-62 loss at Evansville in the regular-season opener (Nov. 12) ... but, the Brown and Orange bounced back with four-straight wins, by a combined 131 points ... the victims in those four games included Creighton, Youngstown State, Oakland and Detroit ... most recently, the Falcons won a pair of games in the Seattle University Thanksgiving Tournament, with a 56-47 win over UALR Friday (Nov. 26) and a 71-51 win over the host school in Saturday's (Nov. 27) championship game.
• Senior Lauren Prochaska, the MAC Player of the Year in each of the last two seasons, is averaging a team-high 18.7 points per game, and also paces the Falcons with 7.6 rebounds per contest ... classmate Tracy Pontius has 14.0 ppg, and has a team-leading 17 three-point field goals made ... Prochaska and Pontius are shooting 35.9 and 34.7 percent from beyond the arc, respectively ... Prochaska is 51-of-52 (98.1%) from the free-throw line on the year.
• Head coach Curt Miller's starting lineup for each of the first seven games has included four seniors in Pontius, Prochaska, Maggie Hennegan and Jen Uhl, along with sophomore Chrissy Steffen.
• Steffen is third on the team in scoring, with 9.4 ppg, and leads the team in steals, with 2.0 per game ... Hennegan has 8.4 ppg and 5.6 rpg, ranking second on the team in the latter category ... she leads BGSU with 1.0 blocked shots per game ... Uhl is averaging 5.1 points and 5.0 boards, and had a double-double in the Seattle game ... that double-double was BGSU's fourth of the year, as Prochaska has had two and Hennegan one.
• Pontius paces BGSU in assists (3.4 apg), with Prochaska ranking second (2.7 apg) ... Prochaska is also second on the team in steals and blocks per game.
• BGSU returned 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 last year ... the neutral-site games came in the MAC Tournament and in the NCAA Championships.
• The Falcons lost 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.
• Miller and his staff have six seniors on the 15-player active roster this year ... that group includes three returning starters in Prochaska, Pontius and 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-league second-team honors in 2009-10.
• 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 Steffen ... 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.
LAST TIME OUT
Senior Jen Uhl had a double-double and the Falcons forced host Seattle University into 22 turnovers in a 71-51 win over the Redhawks Saturday night (Nov. 27), in the championship contest of the SU Thanksgiving Classic ... senior Lauren Prochaska was named the tournament's MVP, while classmate Tracy Pontius and sophomore Chrissy Steffen joined her on the all-tournament team ... Uhl had game-high totals of 17 points and 10 rebounds in the win, while Steffen's career-high total of 15 points included three three-point field goals ... Prochaska had nine points for the Brown and Orange, while sophomore Allison Papenfuss added eight points off the bench ... Elle Kerfoot led Seattle with 14 points, while Salena Dickerson scored 11 ... the Redhawks held a 40-37 rebounding advantage, becoming the first team to outrebound the Falcons in seven games this season ... BG spotted the hosts a three-point lead, then went on a 7-0 run ... SU forged back ahead, 8-7, but junior Jessica Slagle's long two-pointer started an 11-0 run that gave the Falcons the lead for good ... Steffen heated up late in the half, scoring eight points over the final three-plus minutes ... BG took a 36-22 lead into the break, then scored the first two buckets of the second half ... SU got back within 14 points with under seven minutes left, but a Uhl three-pointer would begin a game-clinching 11-0 run ... Uhl and Steffen combined to score all 11 points in that span.
A QUICK LOOK AT VANDERBILT
Vanderbilt will bring a record of 4-1 into Wednesday's game ... the Commodores were ranked 23rd in the nation in both the latest Associated Press poll, released Monday (Nov. 29), and the most recent USA Today ESPN poll (released Tuesday, Nov. 30) ... the Commodores are 4-0 at home and 0-1 on the road to date ... the team's lone loss came at 14th-ranked Florica State, 72-66, on Nov. 21 ... VU bounced back with a pair of home wins over the weekend, dismantling Quinnipiac by a 111-53 score on Friday (Nov. 26), and picking up a 74-68 victory over Princeton Sunday (Nov. 28) ... individually, freshman center Stephanie Holzer leads a balanced and potent scoring attack ... Holzer is averaging 14.5 points per game to pace four double-digit scorers, and also has 6.8 rebounds per contest ... she has 2.3 blocked shots per game to lead VU in that category ... another freshman, guard Jasmine Lister, has 14.2 ppg, while senior forward Hannah Tuomi has 13.0 ppg and a team-leading 7.0 rpg ... freshman guard Christina Foggie has 12.3 ppg and leads VU with 5.3 assists per outing ... both sophomore forward Tiffany Clarke and senior guard Jence Rhoads have 9.0 ppg ... Tuomi, Holzer and Clarke all are shooting over 60 percent from the field ... Lister leads the 'Dores with 14 three-point field goals made, and is shooting 50% from long range ... a total of eight different players have started at least one game for coach Melanie Balcomb ... only Lister and Tuomi have started every game to date ... Balcomb, in her ninth season in Nashville, welcomed back seven letterwinners, including four starters, from last year's club ... the 2009-10 team went 23-11 overall and 9-7 in Southeastern Conference play ... VU advanced to the second round of the 2010 NCAA Championships before losing to Xavier by one point ... the school's athletics web site is vucommodores.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons and Vanderbilt are tied, 2-2, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU has won the last two meetings ... Wednesday will mark the first time the teams have played in Northwest Ohio ... BG is 1-2 in road games and 1-0 in neutral-site contests vs. the Commodores ... last season, the Falcons shot over 56 percent from the field en route to a 66-60 win over nationally-ranked VU in Nashville (Dec. 4, 2009) ... Tracy Pontius scored 19 points to pace three players in double digits ... BGSU's other win over Vandy came in the second round of the 2007 NCAA Championships in East Lansing (March 20, 2007), by a 59-56 score ... the teams met in back-to-back years in Nashville nearly two decades ago, with the Commodores winning a narrow 69-66 decision on Dec. 10, 1992, and a 92-70 game a year and a day later (Dec. 11, 1993) ... both of those BGSU teams – the 1992-93 and '93-94 squads – went on to advance to the NCAA Championships, as did last year's Falcons ... Curt Miller has a record of 2-0 vs. VU in his BGSU career.
CLEANING THE GLASS
The Falcons have outrebounded the opponent in six of this season's first seven games ... BGSU had the advantage on the boards in each of the first six games this year, before Seattle had a slim 40-37 margin in that category on Saturday ... the Falcons are averaging 41.4 rebounds per game, to the opponents' 33.0 ... a few more rebounding-related notes ...
• BGSU had a rebounding margin of +10 or better in each of the first three games ... it marked the first time the Falcons posted three-straight double-digit rebounding advantages in nearly three years (vs. UT Martin, Chicago State and Akron in the 2007-08 season).
• The Falcons had a double-digit rebounding advantage over the opponent only four times in 34 games last year, and turned the trick just twice in 34 contests in 2008-09 ... BG has three such games this season to date.
• The Falcons' total of 56 rebounds in the Nov. 17 win over Youngstown State was the team's highest in just under six years, since BGSU pulled down 64 boards in a 115-84 track meet at IPFW (Nov. 19, 2004).
• BGSU had a rebounding margin of +26 vs. YSU ... the Falcons had not enjoyed such a decisive advantage on the boards since March of 1993 ... that season (March 13, 1993), BG pulled down 59 rebounds to Kent's 31, in a 96-68 victory over the Golden Flashes in the championship game of the MAC Tournament in Columbus.
TREY BIEN! PROCHASKA, PONTIUS AMONG BGSU'S TOP THREE
A pair of BGSU seniors sit high atop the school's three-point field-goal list ... Lauren Prochaska is the most prolific three-point shooter in BGSU history, and Tracy Pontius has moved into the top three ... through three seasons (plus seven games), Prochaska has a total of 255 three-point field goals made ... she broke the BGSU record set by Liz Honegger, who made 216 triples from 2003-07 ... Pontius has jumped five spots on the school list this year to date ... she now has 176 threes in her career, ranking third in BG history ... Prochaska has a shot at breaking the MAC career record of 323 three-pointers made, set by Ball State's Audrey McDonald.
EVERYONE LIKES FREE STUFF
Last season, the Falcons shot 75.3 percent from the free-throw line, ranking second in the MAC and 22nd in the nation ... this year, BGSU has a FT pct. of 81.9% to date, having gone 136-of-166 over the first seven games ... the Falcons are ranked fifth in the country as of the latest NCAA rankings (released Monday, Nov. 30).
RANDOM, USELESS PAGE 8 (OF THE PDF) FACT
The Falcons have never faced Montana State, but BGSU has now played in two tournaments – held exactly 11 years apart – where MSU was also participating ... on Nov. 26-27, 1999, the Brown and Orange split a pair of games in the GranTree Inn Classic, hosted by MSU, in Bozeman, Mont. ... BGSU lost to Mississippi, 80-63, in the first round, and downed Morehead State by an 88-76 count in the consolation game ... last weekend, Montana State was the fourth team involved in the Seattle University Thanksgiving Classic, dropping close games to both SU and UALR.
PROCHASKA NAMED TO NAISMITH PRESEASON WATCH LIST ...
Falcon senior Lauren Prochaska has been named to the Naismith preseason watch list ... the watch list was compiled by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors, which based its criteria on player performances from the previous year and expectations for the 2010-11 season ... the Naismith Trophy presented by AT&T will be awarded on April 4, 2011 at the NCAA Women's Final Four in Indianapolis ... through text messaging, fan voting will account for 25 percent of all of the final results, more than any other national college basketball award ... in late February, the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors will compile a mid-season team of the top 30 players in the nation ... then in March, the Naismith Trophy voting academy will vote to narrow the list to the four finalists.
... AND THE 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.
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. – 2005-06 through 2009-10 seasons)
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).
FALCONS PICKED TO DEFEND MAC TITLES IN 2010-11
The BGSU women's basketball Falcons have been picked to win both the MAC's East Division and the conference tournament titles in 2011, according to the league's preseason poll ... 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.
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.
THAT'S A LOT OF WINS II
Since 2006, a total of eight Mid-Major teams have advanced to the 'Sweet Sixteen' round of the NCAA Championships ... that list, of course, includes Bowling Green, as the Falcons advanced to the third round of the NCAAs in 2007 ... of those Mid-Major teams, BGSU has the best record over the last five years, with 141 wins and a winning percentage of nearly 84 percent in that time ... the complete list:
1. BOWLING GREEN 141-27 .839
2. Marist 139-28 .832
3. Xavier 126-37 .773
4. Gonzaga 121-45 .729
5. Utah 119-48 .713
6. Old Dominion 113-50 .693
7. George Washington 101-56 .643
8. San Diego State 80-72 .526
SIX SHOOTERS: FALCONS WIN SIXTH-STRAIGHT MAC TITLE
BGSU has won six consecutive MAC regular-season titles, a new conference record ... and, the Falcons won all six titles outright ... Kent State won five-straight MAC East Division crowns from 1998 through 2002 ... the Golden Flashes had the league's best overall record in three of those five seasons, tying for the top overall mark in one other year.
SIX-SHOOTING FROM A NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
The Falcons, as mentioned, have won six consecutive MAC regular-season titles ... all six of BGSU's crowns have been outright ... BG has won one West Division championship (2005) and five East Division titles (2006-10), but the Falcons had the MAC's best overall record in all six years ... in the history of NCAA Division-I women's basketball, the list of teams to have accomplished this feat is a relatively short one ... and, here it is ...
AT LEAST SIX-STRAIGHT OUTRIGHT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS
(all NCAA Division-I conferences; no ties for the title)
10 - UC Santa Barbara (Big West; 1996-2005)
9 - Liberty (Big South; 1998-2006)
7 - Old Dominion (CAA; 1996-2002)
7 - S.F. Austin (Southland; 1988-94)
7 - Texas (Southwest Conf.; 1983-89)
6 - Bowling Green (Mid-American; 2005-10) – current
6 - FIU (Atlantic Sun; 1993-98)
6 - Marist (MAAC; 2005-10) – current
6 - Missouri State (Missouri Valley; 1991-96) ^*
6 - Montana (Big Sky; 1986-91)
6 - Stanford (Pac-10; 2005-10) – current
6 - Virginia (ACC; 1991-96)
^ formerly SW Missouri State
* first two titles were Gateway Conf.
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.
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 focuses 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.
THE FALCONS ARE/WERE ...
• 6-1 this season to date;
• 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;
• 212-81 since Curt Miller took the BGSU helm in May of 2001;
• 108-36 in MAC games in that time:
• 203-62 overall in the eight years (plus seven 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);
• 191-46 over the last seven-plus years, with 2009-10 marking BG's seventh-straight season of at least 20 wins;
• a staggering 170-36 in the past six-plus years, with no fewer than 23 wins and a MAC regular-season title in each of the last six seasons;
• an eye-popping 147-28 overall and 73-7 in the MAC regular season in the last five-plus years, with at least 26 wins each year;
• 119-25 in the last four-plus years, including a 57-7 conference ledger;
• 88-21 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;
• 62-13 since junior Jessica Slagle and redshirt soph Maribeth Giese ventured to NW Ohio;
• 33-8 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 50-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field in the Miller Era;
• 176-10 when having a better FG pct. than the opposition in Miller's tenure, including a 48-0 mark in the last two-plus seasons;
• 163-26 when making more free throws during Miller's first nine-plus years;
• 128-12 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 last 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;
• 32-3 in all non-conference home games since the start of the 2003-04 season;
• 28-2 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).
UP NEXT
The Falcons conclude a brief, two-game homestand to begin the month of December ... BGSU hosts Cal State Fullerton on Saturday (Dec. 4) at "The House That Roars" ... tipoff is 1:00 p.m.
