Falcons Face Akron in Key MAC Matchup Saturday

THE OPENING TIP
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, with three-quarters of the Mid-American Conference schedule complete, holds a one-game lead in the East Division race ... next up for the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller is a game against one of their closest pursuers ... BGSU takes to the road for a Saturday (Feb. 20) game against the University of Akron ... tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at Rhodes Arena (5,500) ... the Falcons are 10-2 in MAC play, with UA and Kent State each a game back at 9-3 ... the Akron game begins a stretch in which the Falcons play three of four games on the road to end the regular season.

PDFs: BGSU Notes | BGSU Boxscores | Akron's Notes
AUDIO: Curt Miller's Thursday Press Conference (Feb. 18)
FOLLOW THE GAME: Listen Live | Watch Live (subscription) | Live Stats
BRACKETBUSTER SATURDAY
OK, the title of this note has nothing to do with MAC women's basketball ... but, the fact that the conference's men's teams are taking part in BracketBuster games Saturday means that the regular season is winding down ... for both the Falcons and Zips, a win on Saturday would go a long way in the quest for an East Division title ... a BGSU win would put the Brown and Orange two games ahead of UA with three to play, and BG would own the first tiebreaker with the Zips by virtue of a sweep of the two regular-season games ... an Akron win would put the teams in a tie for first place (potentially a three-way tie, should Kent State defeat Ohio), and would give the teams a split of the two regular-season meetings.

IF THE SEASON ENDED TODAY ...
If the MAC Tournament began on Saturday, the Falcons would be the number-two seed, and would have a first-round bye ... BGSU would play a quarterfinal-round game against the winner of the #10 Buffalo-at-#7 Miami game ... beginning this year, the MAC women's basketball tournament seeding mirrors the men's basketball procedure ... the two divisional champions earn the top-two seeds, and the remaining teams are seeded #3 through #12, regardless of division.
Current MAC Tournament seeding: 1 - Toledo (10-2); 2 - Bowling Green (10-2); 3 - Akron (9-3); 4 - Kent State (9-3); 5 - Eastern Michigan (8-4); 6 - Central Michigan (7-5); 7 - Miami (5-7); 8 - Ball State (4-8); 9 - Northern Illinois (3-9); 10 - Buffalo (3-9); 11 - Western Michigan (2-10); 12 - Ohio (2-10).

A CHART-TOPPER: FALCONS REACH 20 WINS AGAIN
BGSU coach Curt Miller has talked about wanting his program to maintain a level of consistency, and avoid being a 'one-hit wonder' ... it is safe to say that mission has been accomplished ... the Falcons' win over Ohio Saturday (Feb. 13) gives BGSU a total of 20 wins this season to date ... BG has won at least 20 games in seven consecutive years, extending the school record and tying the MAC record ... the conference mark was set by Bob Lindsay's Kent State teams from 1995-96 through 2001-02 ... prior to the current run, the longest such streak in BGSU history was four-straight seasons, by the Fran Voll-coached teams of the late 1980s.

BGSU WAS ALREADY AT THE TOP OF THIS LIST
The Falcons have won at least 20 games for the 15th time in school history, the most of any MAC school ... other than BGSU, only Toledo (14) and Kent State (11) have posted 20 or more wins on 10 or more occasions.

MILLER REACHES 100 MAC WINS ...
BGSU's 83-71 win over Eastern Michigan (Jan. 23) was the 100th MAC victory in Falcon head coach Curt Miller's career ... entering the Akron game, Miller now has a career record of 104-36 in conference games as a head coach ... Miller, who holds the school records for overall and MAC wins, became just the seventh coach in MAC history – and the second fastest – to amass 100 league victories.

... AND APPROACHES 200 OVERALL WINS
If the Falcons win one of their next 13 games, BGSU head coach Curt Miller will become the fastest coach to 200 overall wins in MAC history ... Miller has a 199-79 overall record in his ninth year at the Falcon helm ... he has moved into third place on the MAC list for career wins, and is just one away from the 200 mark ... Miller trails only Kent State's Bob Lindsay and former Toledo coach Mark Ehlen on the MAC list for overall wins ... the lists of winningest MAC women's basketball coaches can be found in the PDF version of these notes.

MILLER LOOKING TO JOIN AN ELITE GROUP
Curt Miller, who became the winningest coach in BGSU women's basketball history two years ago, is looking to become only the second basketball coach at the school (men's or women's) to reach the 200-win mark ... the legendary Harold Anderson had a 367-193 (.655) record in 21 years at the helm of the BGSU men's program.

TREY BIEN! PROCHASKA MOVES TO THE TOP OF THE LIST
Junior Lauren Prochaska has become the most prolific three-point field-goal shooter in BGSU history ... Prochaska's shot with 14:55 left in the first half of the Central Michigan game (Feb. 10) was the 217th made trey of her BGSU career, moving her past Liz Honegger ... entering the Akron game, Prochaska now has a total of 221 three-point field goals made ... Honegger made 216 triples from 2003-07 ... Tracy Pontius, in just her second year as a starter, ranks ninth on the list, with 141 threes in her career.

PROCHASKA MOVING UP THE SINGLE-SEASON LIST, TOO
Junior Lauren Prochaska has displayed a level of three-point consistency that is perhaps unmatched in BGSU history ... Prochaska has made a total of 72 treys this season, and is just six shy of the school record (78, Angie Farmer in 1999-2000) ... Prochaska is the only player in BG history to make more than 70 triples in a season three times ... in fact, she has three of the five such seasons in school annals (Farmer and Tracy Pontius have made 70 threes in a season once each) ... the MAC record is 96 three-pointers made, by Toledo's Kelly Savage in 1988-89.
BGSU RECORD BOOKS: THREE-POINT FG MADE, SEASON
1. Angie Farmer (1999-2000) -- 78
2. Tracy Pontius (2008-09) -- 77
3. Lauren Prochaska (2008-09) -- 75
4. Lauren Prochaska (2007-08) -- 74
5. Lauren Prochaska (2009-10) -- 72
Current BGSU players in Bold

BUT DO YOU HAVE ANY NOTES ABOUT LAUREN PROCHASKA?
Junior Lauren Prochaska has moved into sixth place on the BGSU career scoring list, and now has a total of 1,556 points ... her next target on the list is fifth-place Francine Miller, who had 1,574 points from 1998-2003 ... Kate Achter ranks fourth, with 1,580 points from 2004-08) ... Prochaska is averaging 16.6 points per game, the second-highest average in BGSU annals, in her storied Falcon career.

LAST TIME OUT
A pair of 10-0 runs bridging the halftime break enabled the Falcons to surge past Ohio, 73-57, Saturday afternoon (Feb. 13) ... junior Lauren Prochaska had a game-high 22 points, while freshman Allison Papenfuss had the finest game of her young career, with 13 points and six rebounds ... Papenfuss made five of her seven shots from the field ... Prochaska led all players in rebounding, with nine boards as the Falcons had a 35-28 advantage on the glass ... Carolyn Barnett led the Bobcats with 14 points off the bench, while Thia Gholson had 12 ... the first half of the game featured six ties and four lead changes ... the final lead change of the day came when a Papenfuss layup gave BGSU a 31-30 lead and sparked a 10-0 run ... BG scored those 10 points in a span of just 1:43, culminating with a half-court shot by senior Tamika Nurse at the buzzer ... leading by a 39-30 count at the break, the Brown and Orange saw Ohio score five quick points to begin the second period ... but, another 10-0 run gave the hosts a 49-35 advantage with just over 17 minutes left in the game, and the Bobcats never got closer than eight points the rest of the way ... junior Tracy Pontius had nine points for the Falcons, while Nurse and senior Tara Breske had eight points apiece ... Breske had a well-rounded stat line, with four rebounds and game-high totals of five assists and five steals ... Prochaska had 17 first-half points, including 13 in the final 4:38 before intermission ... Ohio shot .471 from the field, including an even 50 percent in the first half, to the Falcons' .441 for the game ... but, BG forced the Bobcats into 24 turnovers, and enjoyed a 32-17 advantage in points off turnovers.

FALCONS' NEST A NO-FOWL ZONE
BGSU was whistled for just eight fouls in the Ohio game, tying a school record-low for a MAC contest ... it marked the fifth time in BGSU history that the Falcons had committed just eight infractions in a conference game ... the school's overall record for fewest fouls in a game is six, vs. Michigan on March 2, 1981.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons are 20-6 on the season, and BGSU is 10-2 in MAC play ... BG, leading the MAC's East Division by one game over both Akron and Kent State, is 12-0 at home and 8-6 on the road this year to date ... the Falcons are 3-2 over the last five games, after winning the previous eight contests ... BGSU has won 19 of the last 23 games ... last week, the Brown and Orange lost a 67-65 decision at Central Michigan (Feb. 10), but bounced back for a 73-57 win over Ohio (Feb. 13).

• BG saw that eight-game winning streak snapped with a 66-63 loss at Toledo (Jan. 30), but rebounded with wins over Northern Illinois at home (85-67; Feb. 2) and Ball State (80-76; Feb. 6) on the road, prior to the CMU game.

• BG completed the first swing through the East Division unbeaten, with home wins over Akron (74-62), Buffalo (78-60) and Miami (85-65), and road victories against Ohio (77-42) and Kent State (89-61) ... the Brown and Orange then began cross-divisional play with home wins over Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan, before losing to UT.

• The Falcons went 10-4 in non-conference play ... BG 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).

• After a loss at St. Bonaventure (Dec. 12), BG bounced back with three wins in a five-day span before Christmas ... the Falcons ended the 2009 calendar year with a five-point loss at Hartford (Dec. 30), but topped SIU Edwardsville (Jan. 2) before beginning the MAC portion of the schedule with seven-straight wins.

• 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.

• Junior Lauren Prochaska leads the Falcons in scoring and rebounding ... Prochaska, the reigning Mid-American Conference Player of the Year, is averaging 17.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game ... she has paced BG in scoring 14 times this year ... Prochaska, who has been named the league's Player of the Week three times this season, is averaging 19.5 ppg in the Falcons' 12 home games.

• Prochaska leads the MAC in free-throw percentage (.917) and three-point field-goal pct. (.447) and ranks second in three-pointers made (2.77) ... she is third in the conference in scoring.

• Junior Tracy Pontius and senior Tamika Nurse have 12.5 and 9.7 ppg, respectively ... Pontius has 2.5 rpg, and is second on the team in three-point field goals made ... Prochaska has hit 72 shots from long range to 52 for Pontius ... Pontius is second on the Falcons in both assists (3.1 apg) and steals (1.4 spg - tied for second with Prochaska) ... Nurse has a team-high 3.3 assists per game, and ranks third on the team with 30 three-pointers made ... Prochaska and Nurse have made 110 and 99 free throws, respectively, while Pontius has hit 59 shots from the stripe ... Pontius and Prochaska each are converting their free-throw tries at a rate of better than 84 percent.

• In the post, senior Tara Breske and junior Jen Uhl have scored 8.5 and 6.3 ppg, respectively ... Breske, who missed two games due to injury in early December, has 4.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocked shots per game, leading the Falcons in the latter category and ranking third in the former ... Breske also has a team-leading 1.6 steals per game ... Uhl has 4.8 rebounds per game, ranking her second on the team ... Uhl and Breske are shooting .477 and .470, respectively, from the field.

• Junior Maggie Hennegan has 4.9 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, ranking fourth on the team in boards ... she has shot .450 from the field this year ... six players are averaging from 1.7 to 3.4 ppg heading into the Akron game.

• A total of six players have played in all 26 games this year ... that list includes Hennegan, Nurse, Pontius, Prochaska, Uhl and sophomore Jessica Slagle.

• Nurse, Pontius and Prochaska each have started all 26 games, while Uhl has made 23 starts and Breske 21 ... that quintet has started each of the last 16 games ... Breske, who had started the first four games of the year before suffering her injury, came off the bench for several contests before returning to the starting lineup ... Hennegan has made eight starts this year.

• Prochaska has 18.0 ppg and 4.9 rpg in MAC games to date, while Pontius has averaged 13.0 ppg ... the duo has combined for 62 successful three-pointers in the 12 conference contests ... Breske has 9.3 ppg and 4.8 rpg in league play, while Nurse has 8.8 ppg and a team-leading 3.3 apg ... Uhl has 6.7 ppg and a 4.9 rpg, tying her for the team lead in the latter, and is shooting .484 from the field ... Hennegan, Steffen and Zuercher all have scored at least 3.9 ppg in MAC action ... the Falcons have a +14.7 scoring margin, and are dead even in rebounding with the opponents in MAC games this year to date.

• Overall, the Falcons are shooting .429 from the field, .370 from three-point land and .782 from the free-throw line ... BG's opponents are shooting .400 overall, .308 from long range and .706 from the stripe ... the Falcons have 36.6 rebounds per game to the opponents' 35.4 ... BGSU has been outrebounded only nine times in 26 games this year.

THE FALCONS VS. THE MAC
BGSU heads into the Akron game with an all-time record of 331-142 (.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, making the Falcons the only team in the league, obviously, with a winning series record against every other school.

SCOUTING AKRON
Akron enters Saturday's game with an overall record of 15-10, and the Zips are 9-3 in MAC play ... UA is tied for second place in the East Division, just one game behind the Falcons ... Akron is just one win shy of matching the program records for most wins, both in the MAC (10) and overall (16 - UA's highest Division-I total) ... the Zips have won six of the last seven games, including a 63-57 win at Buffalo last time out (Feb. 13) ... UA is 9-1 at home this year to date, including a perfect 5-0 at Rhodes Arena in MAC games ... Akron leads the MAC in scoring defense and field-goal percentage defense, both in conference games and overall ... the Zips are allowing opponents to score just 57.4 points per game in MAC play ... individually, junior forward Kara Murphy leads the team in scoring, with 14.6 points per game, and also has 4.8 rebounds per contest ... no fewer than three Zips have at least six rebounds per game ... sophomore center Kyle Baumgartner has 10.8 ppg and 6.3 rpg, while freshman F/C Rachel Tecca has 10.2 ppg and 6.0 rpg ... senior forward Jolene Tamboue has 8.4 ppg and a team-leading 7.6 rpg ... the team's other senior, guard Ayla Guzzardo, has 6.2 ppg and paces the Zips with 4.1 assists per game ... Guzzardo, Murphy, Tamboue and junior guard Amber Witt (4.7 ppg) each have started all 25 games for head coach Jodi Kest, while Baumgartner has made 23 starts ... that quintet has started 11 of the team's 12 MAC games ... Kest welcomed back eight letterwinners, including all five starters, from last year's team that finished with an 11-19 overall mark and a 6-10 MAC ledger ... Kest has a record of 43-72 in her fourth season in Akron ... she is 269-225 in her 18th year as a collegiate head coach ... the school's athletics web site is GoZips.com.

COACHING TIES
If it seems like BGSU's Curt Miller has coached with everyone in the country, that's because it's true ... well, pretty much ... Miller and UA head coach Jodi Kest were on the same staff for one season, the 1992-93 campaign, at Cleveland State ... Kest came to Akron after spending four years as the head coach at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi ... Kest and Miller met as head coaches for the first time in the 2003-04 season, as the Islanders posted a 68-59 win in Corpus Christi, in the championship game of the Islander Classic (Nov. 29, 2003) ... Saturday will mark the eighth time they have met since Kest took the Akron job.

THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Akron, 42-2, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU has won the last 13 meetings ... earlier this season, the Falcons downed the Zips by a 74-62 final in the MAC opener for both teams at Anderson Arena (Jan. 6, 2010) ... that 12-point gap is tied for BGSU's slimmest margin of victory in a MAC home game this year ... last season, the Falcons posted an 80-51 home win (Jan. 17, 2009), and pulled away late for an 81-70 decision in the last trip to Rhodes Arena (Feb. 21, 2009) ... BGSU is 18-2 in road games vs. the Zips ... overall, the Falcons won the first 26 series meetings before UA's initial win, in the 1999 MAC Tournament ... the Zips' other win was an 88-63 blowout in Akron in February of 2001 ... Curt Miller has a record of 13-0 against Akron during his head-coaching tenure ... additional series information can be found in the PDF version of these notes.

SENIORS SURPASS CENTURY MARK IN OVERALL WINS ...
The Falcons' 89-61 win at Kent State (Jan. 16) enabled BGSU's three fourth-year seniors, Tara Breske, Laura Bugher and Sarah Clapper, to reach a career milestone ... 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 ... entering the Akron game, the Falcons have a 106-23 record since the trio joined the program ... 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.

... AND HALF-CENTURY MARK IN MAC PLAY
BGSU's fourth-year seniors – Tara Breske, Laura Bugher and Sarah Clapper – have won more than 50 MAC games in their careers ... heading into Saturday's Akron game, the Falcons are 53-7 in conference regular-season games since that trio came to campus ... the school record for MAC wins in a four-year span is 59, set by the 1986-89 teams and matched by the 2006-09 clubs ... it should be noted that the MAC utilized an 18-game schedule in 1985-86 ... the complete list of BGSU's best MAC records in a four-year span can be found way back on page 32 of the PDF version of these notes.

SENIOR PRIDE
As mentioned, the Falcons' win over Ohio was the 106th victory for the team's three fourth-year seniors ... even if BGSU doesn't win another game this year, those three players – Tara Breske, Laura Bugher and Sarah Clapper – will have finished their careers with an average of 26.5 wins per season ... BGSU's other senior, Tamika Nurse, is in her first playing season with the Falcons after transferring from the University of Oregon.

THE FALCONS ARE ...
• 20-6 this season to date, after going 29-5 in 2008-09;
• 10-2 in the MAC, after finishing 15-1 last year and winning a fifth-straight league regular-season title;
• 199-79 since Curt Miller took the BGSU helm in May of 2001;
• 104-36 in MAC games in that time:
• 190-60 overall in the seven years (plus 26 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);
• 178-44 over the last six-plus years, with 2009-10 marking BG's seventh-straight season of at least 20 wins;
• a staggering 157-34 in the past five-plus years, with no fewer than 23 wins in each year and a MAC regular-season title in every full season;
• an eye-popping 134-26 overall and 69-7 in the MAC regular season in the last four-plus years;
• 106-23 in the last three-plus years, including a 53-7 conference ledger, since seniors Tara Breske, Laura Bugher and Sarah Clapper joined the program;
• 75-19 overall, and 38-6 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;
• 49-11 since sophomores Maribeth Giese and Jessica Slagle ventured to NW Ohio;
• 84-9 in the last 93 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;
• 166-10 when having a better FG pct. than the opposition in Miller's tenure, including a 15-0 mark this year to date;
• 151-25 when making more free throws during Miller's first eight-plus seasons;
• 117-11 when outrebounding the opponent in the Miller Era;
• 50-16 in February games since Miller took the helm, including 40-3 in the last five-plus seasons;
• 43-4 in MAC home games in the last five-plus seasons; and
• 33-4 in MAC road games over the last four-plus years (with the lone losses coming in 2007-08 at Ball State, in March of 2009 at Miami and this season at Toledo and Central Michigan).

LEADERS OF THE MAC
The Falcons lead the MAC in a total of six team statistical categories, including scoring offense, scoring margin, free-throw percentage, three-point FG pct., assist/turnover ratio and three-pointers made per game ... and, BGSU ranks second in the league in five additional categories ... in MAC games only, BG leads the league in seven categories, including five of the aforementioned six (all but three-point FG pct.) as well as field-goal pct. and turnover margin.

THE FALCON SENIORS
Fourth-year Falcons Tara Breske, Laura Bugher and Sarah Clapper have helped the Brown and Orange average 26.5 wins per season – with at least five games remaining this year – since 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 106-23 overall and 53-7 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 75-19 overall, and the Falcons are 38-6 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 25.0 games per year to date ... the Falcons have played national postseason tournament games at Anderson Arena in each of their first two years, 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 49-11 overall and 25-3 in the MAC since the duo arrived in Northwest Ohio ... Danielle Havel is a member of the sophomore class, but is sitting out the '09-10 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).

TAKE SOME, THEY'RE FREE
The Falcons are shooting .782 from the free-throw line as a team, not too far off of last year's school-record .794 pace ... all five of BGSU's starters are shooting .771 or better from the stripe, including three who are hitting FTs at .843 or higher.

PRODUCTIVE AT THE STRIPE
As mentioned, the Falcons are shooting a MAC-best .782 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 ... individually, junior Lauren Prochaska is shooting .917 from the line this season to date, and is ranked third in the country (as of Feb. 14) ... last year, Prochaska led the nation with a .933 FT rate.

UP NEXT
The Falcons head to Buffalo for a Wednesday (Feb. 24) night game, before returning home to host Kent State next Saturday (Feb. 27) in a noon tip at Anderson Arena ... the regular season concludes with a game at Miami on Tuesday, March 2.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Next Event

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Falcons Face Akron in Key MAC Matchup Saturday

Next Event

Related Videos