Tourney Time is Here: Falcons Face Miami in Quarterfinal Round

THE OPENING TIP
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, after winning a conference-record sixth consecutive Mid-American Conference regular-season championship, heads to Cleveland for the 2010 MAC Tournament ... the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller, the tourney's top seed, will face eighth-seeded Miami University in the quarterfinals on Wednesday afternoon (March 10) ... tipoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. at Quicken Loans Arena (20,562) ... the winner will advance to Friday's (March 12) semifinal round, playing in that day's second game (2:30 p.m. tip).

BGSU Notes | BGSU Boxscores & Recaps | BGSU Radio/TV Roster
Curt Miller Monday Press Conference Audio (video links available at the bottom of this page)
2010 MAC Tournament Bracket

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.

FALCONS IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT
The Falcons enter the 2010 MAC Tournament with an all-time record of 36-16 in the league tourney ... BGSU's win total is the second highest among MAC teams, and the Falcons' .692 winning percentage is also second in the league ... BG's total of nine MAC Tournament titles is the highest of any league institution ... BGSU has a 3-0 tournament record against Miami ... the Falcons are 15-5 under Curt Miller in conference tourney games, including a 2-0 mark vs. the RedHawks during that time ... more information on BGSU and the MAC Tournament can be found on pages 41 and 42 in the PDF version of these notes.

CHAMPIONS AGAIN
For the sixth consecutive year and the 11th time in school history, Bowling Green has captured a regular-season championship ... the Falcons won the East Division and posted the league's best overall regular-season mark, with a 14-2 record against conference competition ... BGSU won league regular-season titles in three consecutive years from 1986-87 to 1988-89, and captured back-to-back crowns in the 1992-93 and '93-94 campaigns ... five years ago, the Falcons had the MAC's best overall record at 13-3, and won the West Division ... and, BG has won the East Division five years running, with MAC marks of 16-0, 15-1, 13-3, 15-1 and 14-2.

POSTSEASON AGAIN
The Falcons, as mentioned, compiled the best record in the MAC ... BGSU earned the outright conference crown for the sixth consecutive year ... that distinction assures the Falcons of a berth in a national postseason tourney ... should BGSU not make the NCAA Championships, the Falcons would earn the MAC's automatic bid to the WNIT ... the Falcons will participate in national postseason play for the sixth consecutive year, having advanced to the NCAA Tournament in three-straight years before participating in the WNIT in March of both 2008 and 2009.

BGSU AT THE Q
The Falcons enter this year's MAC Tournament with an all-time record of 14-4 at Quicken Loans (formerly Gund) Arena ... in their first-ever appearance, the Falcons, seeded ninth, led top-seeded Toledo at halftime before losing in the quarterfinals of the 2001 tourney ... that was BGSU's final game before the Curt Miller Era began ... six years ago, the Brown and Orange picked up a pair of one-point wins at then-Gund Arena, topping Western Michigan and Miami on buzzer-beating jumpers by Lindsay Austin ... that '04 team fell to Eastern Michigan in the championship game, and BG then proceeded to win 10-straight games at "The Gund"/"The Q" ... that streak included MAC Tournament titles in 2005, 2006 and 2007, and a quarterfinal-round win over Kent State in '08 ... the streak came to an end with a double-overtime loss to Ohio in the 2008 tourney's semifinal round ... last year, BGSU downed Central Michigan and UT to advance to the title game, before falling to Ball State, 55-51 ... BG has a record of 14-3 at the facility during Miller's head-coaching tenure.

PROCHASKA MOVES TO THE TOP OF THIS THREE-POINT LIST
Junior Lauren Prochaska has displayed a level of three-point consistency unmatched in BGSU history ... Prochaska made four treys in the final regular-season game, at Miami, in the process breaking the school's single-season record ... Prochaska has made a total of 80 treys this season, topping the old record of 78 (set by 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. Lauren Prochaska (2009-10) 80
2. Angie Farmer (1999-2000) 78
3. Tracy Pontius (2008-09) 77
4. Lauren Prochaska (2008-09) 75
5. Lauren Prochaska (2007-08) 74
Current BGSU players in Bold

TREY BIEN! PROCHASKA WAS ALREADY AT THE TOP OF THE LIST
Junior Lauren Prochaska has become the most prolific three-point field-goal shooter in BGSU history ... she broke Liz Honegger's record early in the Central Michigan game (Feb. 10) ... entering the MAC Tournament, Prochaska now has a total of 229 three-point field goals made ... Honegger made 216 triples from 2003-07 ... Tracy Pontius, in just her second year as a starter, has moved into eighth place on the list, with 146 threes in her career.

WE NEED A NURSE, STAT: FALCON SENIOR NAMED MAC P-O-W
Senior Tamika Nurse was named the MAC Player of the Week last Monday (March 1) ... Nurse has stepped up her scoring as the season winds down ... she earned the weekly honor after averaging 22.0 points in the Falcons' two games the prior week ... Nurse tied for team honors with 20 points at Buffalo (Feb. 24), her highest point total in a MAC game to that point ... then, she topped that total with a career-high 24-point game in the win over Kent State (Feb. 27) ... Nurse tied her career best with four three-point field goals made in each game ... Nurse's previous scoring highs were 21 points at BGSU (vs. Chicago State on Nov. 13, 2009) and 22 points in her career (in a game vs. UCLA while at the Univ. of Oregon).

PROCHASKA NAMED MAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK, TOO
Junior Lauren Prochaska was named MAC Player of the Week on Sunday (March 7), giving BGSU honorees in back-to-back weeks ... Prochaska earned the honor for the fourth time this season and the ninth time in her career ... she scored a game-high 25 points and added seven rebounds and three steals in BGSU's lone game of the week, a 63-58 win at Miami (March 2) that clinched the MAC's regular-season title outright ... Prochaska hit four three-point field goals, breaking the school's single-season record in the process.

FALCONS FACE REDHAWKS AGAIN
The Falcons, after closing the season with a narrow win at Miami, turn around and face the RedHawks again in the MAC Tournament ... 2010 marks the second time in the Curt Miller Era, and the fourth time in school history, that BGSU plays back-to-back games against the same team ... in each case, the second of the back-to-back games took place in the quarterfinal round of the MAC Tournament ... in 1992, Jaci Clark's Falcons ended the regular season with a 95-83 win at Ohio (March 7, 1992), then beat the Bobcats, 91-57, three days later (March 10, 1992) at Anderson Arena ... Clark's 1994-95 team dropped an 86-68 game to Western Michigan at Anderson (March 4, 1995) to end the regular season, then lost a 67-64 verdict in Kalamazoo (March 7, 1995) ... under Miller, the Falcons downed Eastern Michigan, 70-69, at home on "Senior Night" seven years ago (March 4, 2003) ... but, the Eagles topped the Brown and Orange in Ypsilanti, 66-54, four days later (March 8, 2003).

MILLER BECOMES FASTEST MAC COACH TO 200 WINS
BGSU's 66-56 win at Akron on Feb. 20 was Falcon head coach Curt Miller's 200th win ... Miller, now 203-79 at the BGSU helm, became the fastest coach to 200 wins in MAC women's basketball history ... he is third on the MAC list for overall career wins, and trails only Kent State's Bob Lindsay and former Toledo coach Mark Ehlen on the list ... Miller reached the 200-win mark in his 279th career game... the lists of winningest MAC women's basketball coaches can be found in the PDF of these notes.

MILLER HOLDS THIS RECORD, TOO
BGSU's Curt Miller is believed to be the fastest basketball coach – in MAC men's or women's basketball annals – to 200 wins ... since the inception of the MAC, a total of six men's coaches have amassed 200 career wins at one or more conference institutions ... that list includes Bob Nichols (Toledo), James Snyder (Ohio), Charlie Coles (Central Michigan and Miami), Darrell Hedric (Miami), Larry Hunter (Ohio) and Stan Joplin (Toledo) ... none of those six coaches are believed to have reached 200 wins faster than Miller.

MILLER ALREADY HAD REACHED 100 MAC WINS ...
BGSU's 83-71 win over Eastern Michigan on Jan. 23 was the 100th MAC victory in Falcon head coach Curt Miller's career ... Miller ends the 2009-10 regular season with a career record of 108-36 (.750) in conference games as a head coach ... he became just the seventh coach in MAC history – and the second fastest – to amass 100 league victories.

... AND HOLDS YET ANOTHER RECORD
Add yet another record to the long list for Falcon head coach Curt Miller ... Miller has the most MAC wins of any BGSU basketball coach, men's or women's ... as mentioned in the previous note, he ends the 2009-10 regular season with 108 conference victories ... Jim Larranaga, who coached the BG men from 1986-97, posted a total of 102 MAC wins ... Larranaga is now the head men's coach at George Mason University (if the name still doesn't sound familiar to you, perhaps the 2006 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament rings a bell).

MILLER. ANDERSON. THAT'S IT; THAT'S THE LIST.
Curt Miller, who became the winningest coach in Falcon women's basketball history two years ago, is only the second basketball coach at Bowling Green (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.

THANKS, SENIORS
The Falcons closed the home portion of the regular-season schedule with a 69-55 win over Kent State (Feb. 27) ... that game was "Senior Day" for the BGSU women ... the program's four seniors – Tara Breske, Laura Bugher, Sarah Clapper and Tamika Nurse – were recognized in ceremonies prior to the game ... heading into the MAC Tournament, the three fourth-year seniors have helped the Falcons to an overall record of 110-23 (the second-most wins in a four-year span in school history) ... they finish their careers with a MAC regular-season mark of 57-7 ... Nurse is in her first playing season with the Brown and Orange after transferring from the University of Oregon.

"SENIOR DAY" SUCCESS
BGSU continued a streak of success with the win over Kent State on Feb. 27 ... the Falcons are now a perfect 9-0 in "Senior Day/Night' games in the Curt Miller Era, and BG is 14-1 in the last 15 such contests ... the lone loss in that time came to Miami in February of 2001.

SENIOR PRIDE
The Falcons' win at Miami was the 110th 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 27.5 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.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons are 24-6 on the season, and BGSU finished the regular season with a record of 14-2 in MAC play ... BG won the MAC's East Division title for the fifth consecutive year (after winning the West crown in 2005), and the Falcons won the MAC's overall regular-season championship outright for a sixth-straight season ... the Falcons, 13-0 at home and 11-6 on the road this year, have won five consecutive games entering the MAC Tournament ... Wednesday's (March 10) game vs. Miami will be BG's first neutral-site contest of the season.

• BGSU is 7-2 over the last nine games, after winning the previous eight contests ... BGSU has won 23 of the last 27 games ... after losing a 67-65 verdict at Central Michigan (Feb. 10), the Brown and Orange bounced back for a 73-57 win over Ohio (Feb. 13), then beat Akron (66-56; Feb. 20), Buffalo (81-64; Feb. 24), Kent State (69-55; Feb. 27) and Miami (March 2) ... the win over KSU clinched the divisional title for the Falcons, and the 63-58 triumph at MU gave BG the outright conference crown.

• BG's two losses in MAC play came to Toledo and CMU ... the Falcons saw that aforementioned eight-game winning streak snapped with a 66-63 loss at UT (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 unbeaten, meaning that the Falcons have gone a perfect 10-0 vs. East Division opponents this season to date ... the Brown and Orange 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.

• 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.

• Junior Lauren Prochaska leads the Falcons in scoring and rebounding ... Prochaska, the reigning Mid-American Conference Player of the Year, is averaging 17.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game ... she has paced BG in scoring 16 times this year, and had a double-double in the win over Kent State.

• Prochaska leads the MAC in three-point field-goal pct. (.447) and ranks second in free-throw percentage (.899) and third in both scoring and three-pointers made per game (2.67).

• Junior Tracy Pontius and senior Tamika Nurse have 12.1 and 10.7 ppg, respectively ... Pontius has 2.6 rpg, and is second on the team in three-point field goals made ... Prochaska has hit a school-record 80 shots from long range to 61 for Pontius ... Pontius is second on the Falcons in assists (3.1 apg) ... Nurse has a team-high 3.2 assists per game, and ranks third on the team with 38 three-pointers made ... Nurse has averaged 19.0 points per game over the last three contests, including back-to-back games of 20 points or more in the wins over Buffalo and Kent State ... Prochaska and Nurse have made 133 and 124 free throws, respectively, while Pontius has hit 61 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 7.9 and 6.8 ppg, respectively ... Breske, who missed two games due to injury in early December, has 4.4 rebounds and 1.0 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 5.4 rebounds per game, ranking her second on the team, and paces the Falcons with three double-doubles this year to date ... Uhl and Breske are shooting .500 and .459, respectively, from the field.

• Junior Maggie Hennegan has 4.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game, placing her fourth on the team in boards ... she has shot .441 from the field this year ... six players are averaging from 2.0 to 3.1 ppg heading into the MAC Tournament.

• A total of six players have played in all 30 games this year ... that list includes Hennegan, Nurse, Pontius, Prochaska, Uhl and sophomore Jessica Slagle.

• 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 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 30 games to date, while Uhl has made 27 starts and Breske 25 ... that quintet has started each of the last 20 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 had 17.4 ppg and 5.5 rpg in MAC games, while Pontius averaged 12.2 ppg ... the duo combined for 79 successful three-pointers in the 16 conference contests ... Nurse finished with 11.0 ppg and a team-leading 3.1 apg in league play, while Breske had 8.1 ppg and 4.6 rpg ... Uhl had 7.6 ppg and a BG-best 6.1 rpg, and shot .523 from the field ... Hennegan, Steffen and Zuercher all scored at least 3.4 ppg in MAC action ... the Falcons finished with a +13.9 scoring margin, a rebounding margin of +0.9 and a +4.8 turnover margin in MAC games.

• Overall, the Falcons are shooting .425 from the field, .376 from three-point land and .766 from the free-throw line ... BG's opponents are shooting .397 overall, .304 from long range and .702 from the stripe ... the Falcons have 37.0 rebounds per game to the opponents' 35.6 ... BGSU has been outrebounded only 10 times in 30 games this year.

HOME COOKIN'
BGSU's 69-55 win over Kent State (Feb. 27) means that the Falcons have completed the home portion of the regular-season schedule with a 13-0 record at venerable Anderson Arena ... BGSU has won 30 consecutive regular-season games at "The House That Roars" ... the last regular-season home loss for the Falcons came to Western Michigan, as the Broncos captured a 79-73 decision two years ago (Jan. 30, 2008).

HOME COOKIN' II
In addition to the regular-season wins noted above, the Falcons have played three national postseason games at Anderson Arena in the last two years ... those games include wins over Dayton in the 2008 WNIT and Syracuse in the '09 WNIT ... overall, BGSU has won 32 of the last 33 games at "The House That Roars" ... 27 of those 32 wins have come by double digits ... the lone loss in that time came to Indiana in the third round of last year's WNIT.

LUCKY 13
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 last season, the Falcons' lone blemish was a home loss suffered in national tournament play.

WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE (THAT ROARS)
BGSU is 44-4 in MAC home games over the last six seasons ... since the start of the 2004-05 season, the Falcons have gone a perfect 8-0 in MAC home games on three occasions, including in each of the last two years ... BG also has had a pair of 7-1 records and one 6-2 mark at "The House That Roars."

PROCHASKA NOW FOURTH ON BGSU SCORING LIST
Lauren Prochaska, just a junior, has moved into fourth place on the BGSU career scoring list, and now has a total of 1,619 points ... she passed Francine Miller, who had 1,574 points from 1998-2003, in the Akron game (Feb. 20), and moved ahead of Kate Achter (1,580 points from 2004-08) in the Buffalo contest (Feb. 24) ... Prochaska's next target is third-place Sara Puthoff (1,678 points from 1994-98) ... Prochaska is averaging 16.5 points per game, the second-highest average in BGSU annals, in her storied Falcon career.

BLOCK BY BRESKE
Senior Tara Breske now has blocked 98 shots in her career ... Breske has moved into a tie for third place on the BGSU career list, matching the total amassed by Megan McGuire (98 blocks from 1985-89).

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 (Feb. 13) was BG's 20th of the season ... the Falcons have 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.

LAST TIME OUT
The Falcons earned a sixth-straight conference regular-season title outright, gutting out a 63-58 victory at Miami Tuesday (March 2) ... the win gave BGSU a 14-2 MAC record to close regular-season play ... junior Lauren Prochaska led the Falcons with a game-high 25 points, in the process breaking the BGSU single-season record for three-point field goals made ... senior Tamika Nurse had 13 points for the Brown and Orange, while junior Tracy Pontius scored 12 ... for the RedHawks, Courtney Osborn scored 23 points, while Kirsten Olowinski had 12 points and a game-high 17 rebounds ... both Prochaska and Pontius made four three-pointers in the game as the Falcons went 10-of-27 from long range ... junior Jen Uhl had five points and a team-leading 12 rebounds for the visitors ... Miami held a narrow 46-44 advantage on the boards ... the Falcons shot a season-low 29.0 percent from the field, but held the RedHawks to just a .316 success rate ... MU was 3-of-17 from three-point land ... trailing, 10-5, the Falcons went on a 15-1 run over a four-minute span to take the lead for good ... but, there would be plenty of tense moments for the visitors over the remainder of the evening ... BGSU led by six points at the half, but the hosts got back to within a single point early in the second half ... Prochaska hit a big triple with just 1:40 left, giving the Falcons a 57-49 edge, but the 'Hawks rallied to within three points in the final minute before BG salted away the win at the free-throw line.

THE FALCONS VS. THE MAC
BGSU closed the 2009-10 regular season with an all-time record of 335-142 (.702) 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 MIAMI
Miami enters Wednesday's game with an overall record of 9-21, and the RedHawks finished with a record of 6-10 in MAC play ... MU lost the final three games of the regular season, including single-digit losses to two teams that earned first-round byes for the MAC Tournament ... the RedHawks suffered a seven-point setback, 72-65, at Akron (Feb. 27), before closing regular-season play with a 63-58 loss to the Falcons (March 2) ... MU downed Northern Illinois, 67-66, in Saturday's (March 6) tourney first round to advance to Cleveland ... individually, freshman guard Courtney Osborn leads the team in scoring, with 16.8 points per game ... she has made a team-high 71 three-point field goals, and also leads the RedHawks in assists (4.1 apg) and steals (2.5 spg) ... sophomore guard Maggie Boyer has 10.6 ppg and has hit 44 three-pointers this season to date ... sophomore forward Rachael Hencke has 9.6 ppg and 4.0 rebounds per contest, but has missed each of the last two games – the BGSU and NIU contests – due to injury ... senior guard Ashleigh Brown has 7.6 ppg and 6.0 rpg, tying her for the team rebounding lead ... freshman forward Kirsten Olowinski also has 6.0 rpg, along with 7.4 ppg ... Osborn has started all 30 games this year, while Boyer, Brown and Hencke all have made at least 26 starts ... senior guard Courtney Reed (6.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg) has joined Boyer, Brown, Olowinski and Osborn in the starting lineup in each of the last two games for head coach Maria Fantanarosa ... Fantanarosa welcomed back eight letterwinners, including three starters, from last year's team that finished with a 16-15 overall mark and a 7-9 MAC ledger ... Fantanarosa has a record of 186-169 in her 12th season at her alma mater ... she is 193-189 in her 13th year as a collegiate head coach ... the school's athletics web site is www.MURedHawks.com.

THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Miami, 40-25, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU has won each of the last two meetings ... the Brown and Orange captured this season's two regular-season games, with an 85-65 triumph inside Anderson Arena (Jan. 19, 2010) and a 63-58 win in Oxford (March 2, 2010) ... Tracy Pontius scored a season-high 27 points in this year's first game ... the RedHawks, however, held the entire Falcon team to just 40 points when BG ventured to Oxford late last season, posting a 45-40 win (March 4, 2009) ... Miami has won two of the last six meetings with BGSU, after the Falcons had captured seven-straight games from MU ... BGSU is 3-0 in road games vs. the Redskins/RedHawks through the years ... Curt Miller has a record of 11-5 against Miami during his head-coaching tenure ... additional series information can be found in the PDF version of these never-tedious game notes.

BGSU VS. MIAMI IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT
The Falcons are 3-0 in MAC Tournament games against Miami, including a 2-0 mark under Curt Miller ... the teams' first-ever league tourney meeting came exactly 20 years prior to this year's game (March 10, 1990) ... that year, BGSU downed MU, 84-63, in the championship game at Cobo Arena in Detroit ... the teams met in Cleveland in back-to-back years, with the Falcons winning a 75-74 decision on a buzzer-beating shot by Lindsay Austin in the 2004 semifinals (March 12, 2004) ... Miami was the number-one seed in both the 1990 and 2004 seasons ... in '05, the Brown and Orange picked up an 84-68 win over the RedHawks in the teams' lone prior meeting in the quarterfinal round (March 9, 2005).

TAKE SOME, THEY'RE FREE
The Falcons are shooting .766 from the free-throw line as a team, not too far off of last year's school-record .794 pace ... four of BGSU's starters are shooting .775 or better, including three who are hitting FTs at .847 or higher ... in fact, the five starters – Tara Breske, Tamika Nurse, Tracy Pontius, Lauren Prochaska and Jen Uhl – have combined to shoot .826 (376-for-455) from the stripe.

THE FALCONS ARE ...
• 24-6 this season to date, after going 29-5 in 2008-09;
• 14-2 in the MAC, having won a sixth-straight league regular-season title;
• 203-79 since Curt Miller took the BGSU helm in May of 2001;
• 108-36 in MAC games in that time:
• 194-60 overall in the nearly 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);
• 182-44 over the last six-plus years, with 2009-10 marking BG's seventh-straight season of at least 20 wins;
• a staggering 161-34 in the past five-plus years, with no fewer than 23 wins and a MAC regular-season title in each of the last six seasons;
• an eye-popping 138-26 overall and 73-7 in the MAC regular season in the last four-plus years;
• 110-23 in the last three-plus years, including a 57-7 conference ledger, since seniors Tara Breske, Laura Bugher and Sarah Clapper joined the program;
• 79-19 overall, and 42-6 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;
• 53-11 since sophs Maribeth Giese and Jessica Slagle ventured to NW Ohio;
• 88-9 in the last 97 games vs. MAC opponents (regular-season and tournament);
• A perfect 47-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field in the Miller Era;
• 168-10 when having a better FG pct. than the opposition in Miller's tenure, including a 40-0 mark in the last two seasons;
• 154-25 when making more free throws during Miller's first eight-plus seasons;
• 120-11 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);
• 12-2 in the MAC Tournament over the last five years, with three titles (2005, '06 and '07), a championship-game appearance last year, and a trip to the semis 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).

BUGHER, HENNEGAN EARN ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT HONORS
A pair of BGSU student-athletes were named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 4 Team ... senior Laura Bugher and redshirt junior Maggie Hennegan each were named to the second team ... both Bugher and Hennegan maintain a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade point average ... the District 4 team is made up of student-athletes from Division I schools in the states of Alabama, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee ... to be nominated, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore and must carry a cumulative GPA of 3.30 or higher ... Bugher and Hennegan were the only two MAC players named to any of the eight district teams.

SENIORS SURPASS CENTURY MARK IN OVERALL WINS ...
The Falcons' 89-61 win at Kent State on 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 MAC Tournament, the Falcons have a 110-23 record since the trio joined the program, the second-highest win total in school and MAC annals ... 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 – won more than 50 MAC games in their careers ... that trio helped the Falcons go 57-7 in conference regular-season games since their arrival on 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.

PURA VIDA!
Head coach Curt Miller and the Falcons jump-started their season in August, heading to Costa Rica on the first foreign tour in program history ... the Falcons benefitted from four games vs. local competition, in addition to 10 days of practices leading up to the tour ... the 12 players (the 10 returnees from 2008-09, plus the two transfers who sat out last season at BGSU) were able to bond together through a week and a half of diverse experiences, including whitewater rafting, zip-lining through the rainforest and hiking on a volcano.

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