Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
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Western Michigan
Falcons Head to Kalamazoo for Saturday Matinee
January 28, 2011 | Women's Basketball
BGSU concludes first half of MAC schedule by taking on WMU
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, for the first time in nearly three years, looks to bounce back after losing a Mid-American Conference home game ... the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller will begin a two-game road swing by heading to Kalamazoo, Mich., for a Saturday (Jan. 29) game against Western Michigan University ... tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at WMU's University Arena (5,421) ... Miller and his staff returned 10 letterwinners, including three starters, from last year's 27-7 team that won the MAC regular-season and tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Championships.
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THE PROCHASKA WATCH
Senior Lauren Prochaska is moving ever closer to the BGSU career scoring record ... with 11 points in Wednesday's (Jan. 26) 66-65 loss to Toledo, Prochaska now has a career total of 2,092 points at BGSU ... she currently resides in second place on the school's career scoring list, and is 30 points shy of matching the BGSU record ... that record is held by Jackie Motycka (2,122 points from 1985-89) ... Prochaska is averaging 17.1 points per game, the second-highest average in BG annals (behind Motycka's 18.1 ppg), in her storied Falcon career.
PROCHASKA MOVING UP ON MAC LIST AS WELL
BGSU senior Lauren Prochaska recently joined a very exclusive club ... with her basket just over eight minutes into the win over Akron (Jan. 12), the native of Plain City, Ohio surpassed the 2,000-point mark for her career ... Prochaska became just the second player in school history, and only the 10th in MAC annals, to reach that milestone ... she now ranks sixth in scoring in conference history ... in Saturday's CMU game, Prochaska moved past former Kent State star Tracey Lynn into seventh place on the MAC list, and she passed Tamara Bowie (Ball State) in Wednesday's Toledo game ... her next target on that list is former Falcon star Jackie Motycka.
TAKE SOME – THEY'RE FREE
As of Monday's (Jan. 24) NCAA rankings, the Falcons were once again leading the entire nation in free-throw percentage ... BGSU was converting free throws at a rate of 80.5 percent ... that percentage increased to 80.7% after the Falcons went 12-for-14 from the stripe in the Toledo game ... individually, senior Lauren Prochaska was second in the country in FT pct., at 94.4% ... Prochaska's percentage dropped after she was 3-of-4 vs. UT ... entering the WMU game, Prochaska has made 121 of her 129 attempts this year (93.8%).
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons will enter the Western Michigan game with an overall record of 17-3, and BGSU is 5-2 in MAC play ... BG is in second place in the MAC's East Division standings, a game behind Kent State ... the Falcons are 10-1 at home, 6-2 on the road and 1-0 in neutral-site games to date ... BG saw one of the longest streaks in the nation – a 15-game overall winning streak – come to an end with a 44-43 loss at KSU on Jan. 15 ... the Falcons rebounded to win the next two games, before losing to Toledo, 66-65, Wednesday night (Jan. 26) ... all three of BGSU's losses this season have come by one point.
• BG received votes in each of the most recent national top-25 polls, Monday's (Jan. 24) Associated Press poll and Tuesday's (Jan. 25) USA Today ESPN Coaches poll ... the Falcons were ranked 44th in the nation in the most recent NCAA RPI rankings (released Jan. 24) ... BGSU was second in the last (Jan. 25) CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 ... all of these rankings, of course, came prior to the Falcons' latest loss.
• The Falcons suffered a 63-62 loss at Evansville in the regular-season opener (Nov. 12), but BG bounced back with 15-straight wins before losing at KSU ... in non-conference play, BGSU's victims included Creighton, Youngstown State, Oakland, Detroit, #23/23 Vanderbilt, Cal State Fullerton and Canisius at Anderson Arena; Seattle, Western Kentucky, Austin Peay and Butler on the road; and UALR at a neutral site ... the Brown and Orange opened MAC play with a win at Ohio (Jan. 5), before returning home and scoring 90 points in back-to-back victories ... BG downed Miami, 90-52 (Jan. 8), then topped Akron by a 90-72 count (Jan. 12) prior to losing at Kent three days later ... the Falcons bounced back with a 72-61 win at Buffalo on Tuesday (Jan. 18), then dismantled Central Michigan, 90-62, on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 22) at "The House That Roars" ... but, UT snapped BGSU's lengthy homecourt winning streak four days later.
• Senior Lauren Prochaska, the MAC Player of the Year in each of the last two seasons, is averaging a team-high 19.7 points per game, and also paces the Falcons with 6.0 rebounds per contest ... Prochaska has scored 20 or more points in 11 games this year, including a season-high 31-point performance in the win over Vanderbilt in December ... she had 30 points in the win at UB ... classmate Tracy Pontius has 12.2 ppg to date, and leads the team with 4.1 assists per outing.
• Prochaska has made 50 three-point field goals this year, while Pontius has hit 44 shots from long range ... Prochaska and Pontius are shooting 42.4 and 35.2 percent from beyond the arc, respectively ... Prochaska is 121-of-129 (93.8%) from the free-throw line on the year, and was second in the nation in that category in the latest NCAA rankings ... she was 16th in the country in scoring and 20th in three-point field-goal percentage, while Pontius was ranked 19th in assist/turnover ratio (2.11) in the most recent NCAA listings.
• Head coach Curt Miller's starting lineup for each of the first 20 games has remained unchanged ... that lineup has included four seniors in Pontius, Prochaska, Maggie Hennegan and Jen Uhl, along with sophomore Chrissy Steffen.
• Steffen, Hennegan and Uhl rank third through fifth on the team in scoring, and all three have scored between 168 and 189 points this season ... Steffen has 9.5 ppg and has hit 30 three-pointers this year to date ... she leads the Falcons in steals, with 2.0 per game (Steffen has 40 steals, Prochaska 35 and Pontius 31 this year) ... Hennegan and Uhl are averaging 8.9 and 8.4 ppg, respectively ... Hennegan is second on the team in rebounding, with 5.3 rpg, while Uhl is third in that category (5.2 rpg) ... Hennegan has averaged 11.0 ppg in the seven MAC contests, good for second on the team ... she leads the Falcons in blocked shots this season (1.1 bpg) ... Uhl has averaged 10.6 ppg and a team-leading 5.6 rpg over the last 14 contests, shooting 52.2% from the floor in that time.
• 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 year ... 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 has joined the program, but will sit out this season after transferring from Duke University ... she will retain three seasons of eligibility.
• Slagle and Papenfuss each have played in all 20 games off the bench to date, and have 4.1 and 3.4 ppg, respectively ... Slagle, who had a career-high 13 points in Saturday's (Jan. 22) win over CMU, has hit 10 of her 21 three-point attempts this year (47.6%), while Papenfuss has 2.5 rpg, ranking sixth on the team in that category.
• Havel also has seen action in all 20 games, while Albert has played in 17 games, Zuercher 16 and Stein 15 ... all 15 players on the active roster have played in at least nine contests.
• BGSU is shooting 42.3% from the field, 37.4% from three-point land and 80.7% from the free-throw line ... BG has allowed opponents to shoot 38.0% from the floor and 27.2% from beyond the arc ... Falcon foes are shooting 68.4% from the stripe ... BGSU has made 145 more free throws than the opponents, and the Falcons have made 48 more free throws than the foes have attempted.
A QUICK LOOK AT WMU
Western Michigan will enter Saturday's game with an overall record of 5-15, and the Broncos are 1-6 in MAC action ... WMU is looking to snap a three-game losing streak ... all six of Western's MAC losses have come by 11 points or fewer, including a three-point overtime loss to Toledo ... most recently, the Broncos fell to visiting Akron, 77-66, Wednesday night (Jan. 26) ... WMU is 3-6 at home, 2-7 on the road and 0-2 in neutral-site games this year to date ... individually, senior guard Taylor Manley leads the team in scoring with 13.8 points per game ... she has hit 51 three-point field goals this season to date, and leads the Broncos in assists (2.7 apg) ... senior forward Ebony Cleary has 12.6 ppg and a team-leading 7.3 rebounds per contest, while senior forward Brenna Banktson is averaging 9.3 ppg and 6.1 rpg ... both Banktson and Cleary surpassed the 1,000-point mark for their respective collegiate careers, with points just over a minute apart in the Akron game ... Banktson, Cleary and Manley each have started all 20 games ... senior guard Kemmy Dominique (5.8 ppg) and redshirt junior guard Maria Iaquaniello (4.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg) have joined that trio in the starting lineup in each of the last two games for head coach Tasha McDowell ... McDowell, in her third season with the Broncos, welcomed back nine letterwinners, including four starters, from last year's club ... the 2009-10 team went 9-21 overall and 4-12 in MAC play ... the school's athletics web site is www.wmubroncos.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Western Michigan, 41-26, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU has won the last two meetings and eight of the last nine contests ... last season, Lauren Prochaska scored 23 points as the Falcons picked up a 74-56 win at Anderson Arena (Jan. 27, 2010) ... two years ago, in a game televised by ESPNU to a national audience, the Broncos nearly knocked off the Brown and Orange, but BG pulled out a 79-77 overtime win at University Arena (Feb. 7, 2009) ... in that game, the hosts had three shots bounce off the rim in the final seconds of regulation ... BGSU is 14-10 all-time in road games vs. the Broncos ... Curt Miller has a record of 8-3 against WMU in his stellar BGSU career.
PROCHASKA NAMED MAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
On Monday (Jan. 24), Falcon senior Lauren Prochaska was named MAC Player of the Week ... she earned the honor for the second time this season and the 11th time in her BGSU career ... Prochaska received the accolade after averaging 23.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists in the Falcons' wins over Buffalo and Central Michigan ... she shot 45.5% from three-point land (5-of-11) and made all 19 of her free-throw attempts on the week.
LAST TIME OUT
In a game that saw both teams make big plays down the stretch, Toledo came up with just enough big plays to escape venerable Anderson Arena with a 66-65 win Wednesday night (Jan. 26) ... the loss snapped a 23-game overall home winning streak for the Falcons, and also broke a 39-game regular-season win streak at "The House That Roars" ... the win was Toledo's first in Anderson in 12 years, since January of 1999 ... UT's Naama Shafir led all players with 21 points, as each team had three double-digit scorers ... for the Falcons, a trio of seniors hit double figures, led by Jen Uhl's 17-point night ... Maggie Hennegan had 14 points, all in the second half, while Lauren Prochaska scored 11 ... the Rockets had a 39-30 rebounding advantage, including a 24-11 margin in the first half ... the rebounding margin helped the visitors offset a total of 22 turnovers ... sixteen of those UT turnovers came in the game's first 20 minutes ... a crowd of 3,315 witnessed what was likely the last BG-UT battle inside Anderson ... the Falcons led only once, going ahead by a 4-3 score with four minutes gone in the game ... UT led by as many as 11 points on three occasions ... the Brown and Orange would battle back to within a single point on no fewer than five occasions in the final seven-and-a-half minutes, but could not take the lead ... the last few minutes of the game featured numerous twists and turns, and the final 64 seconds saw the teams score a total of 18 points ... BG went 3-for-3 from the field in the last minute, including a pair of three-pointers, and after Shafir missed two free throws with 4.9 seconds left, the Falcons had one final chance to win ... but, the hosts could not get a shot off, and the Rockets survived.
HOMECOURT STREAKS SNAPPED
The Falcons saw several impressive streaks snapped in Wednesday's loss to Toledo ... BGSU had won 23 consecutive home games, the sixth-longest streak in the nation, prior to that loss ... and, the Falcons had captured 39 consecutive regular-season home games at "The House That Roars" over a period of nearly three years ... prior to the UT game, the Falcons' last regular-season loss at Anderson Arena had come to Western Michigan on Jan. 30, 2008.
WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE (THAT ROARS)
As mentioned, BGSU had won 23 home games in a row prior to the loss to Toledo ... even after that loss, however, the Falcons have won 42 of the last 44 games in venerable Anderson Arena ... the lone losses in that stretch came to Indiana in the third round of the 2009 WNIT, and to UT on Wednesday night ... BG had won 19-straight home games before losing to IU, then won the next 23 games at "The House That Roars" ... 37 of the Falcons' 42 wins in that span came by double digits.
HOLDING ON TO THE BALL
• The Falcons have been successful at limiting turnovers this season ... BGSU turned the ball over just 10 times, tying a season low, in Saturday's (Jan. 22) win over Central Michigan, and BG had 13 turnovers against Toledo ... as of the last NCAA rankings (Monday, Jan. 24), BG was 10th in the nation in fewest turnovers per game (13.8) ... that average has dropped just slightly (13.75) after the UT game ... the Falcons have committed more turnovers than the opponent in only one of this season's 20 games to date.
• BG and Evansville each coughed the ball up 19 times in the season opener ... then, however, BGSU committed 15 or fewer turnovers in 14 of the next 15 games.
• During the 15-game win streak, the Falcons forced the opponent into an average of 18.8 turnovers per contest ... overall, BG has forced 15 or more opponent turnovers in 17 of this year's 20 games, including 19 or more in 12 contests.
PONTIUS MOVING UP BGSU SCORING LIST
As mentioned earlier in this long, rambling game-notes packet, Falcon senior Lauren Prochaska has surpassed the 2,000-point mark for her career ... classmate Tracy Pontius, like Prochaska, resides in the BGSU top-20 in career points ... with her first basket this season (in the opener at Evansville on Nov. 12), Pontius surpassed the 1,000-point mark for her career ... Pontius became the 24th player to reach the milestone ... heading into the WMU game, Pontius has a total of 1,242 points as a Falcon ... over 1,000 of those points have come since the start of her sophomore season ... Pontius currently sits in 15th place on the BGSU scoring list, having passed both Melissa Chase (1,223 points from 1979-83) and Michelle Shade (1,233 points from 1991-95) in the Central Michigan game ... for Pontius, her next target on the list is 14th-place Carin Horne, who had 1,341 points from 2003-07.
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 long-range shooter in school history, and Tracy Pontius has moved into the top three ... entering the WMU game, Prochaska has a total of 291 three-point field goals made ... she broke the BGSU record set by Liz Honegger (216 triples from 2003-07) last season ... Pontius now has 203 career threes, ranking third at BGSU ... she became just the 18th player in MAC history to reach the milestone ... Prochaska ranks second on the conference career list, and has a shot at breaking the MAC career record of 323 three-pointers made, set by Ball State's Audrey McDonald.
SPEAKING OF THAT RECORD ...
As mentioned (about five seconds ago), senior Lauren Prochaska has an outside chance (no pun intended) to break the Mid-American Conference record for three-point field goals made in a career ... Prochaska has hit a total of 291 shots from beyond the arc, good for second place on the MAC list.
THREE-MENDOUS! MANY FALCONS CONNECTING FROM DOWNTOWN
Seniors Lauren Prochaska and Tracy Pontius are certainly not the only Falcons with the capability to score from beyond the arc ... no fewer than 12 different players have hit at least one three-point field goal this season ... and, two of the three players on the active roster who have not made a triple – senior Chelsea Albert and freshman Jill Stein – have not attempted one.
SENIOR PRIDE
The Falcons' five fourth-year seniors – Chelsea Albert, Tracy Pontius, Lauren Prochaska, Jen Uhl and Kelly Zuercher – need just one more win to join a relatively exclusive, and very impressive, group ... with one more win, that quintet would become the sixth class in school history, and the fifth in a row, to be a part of at least 100 career wins at BGSU ... last year's group of fourth-year Falcons (Tara Breske, Laura Bugher and Sarah Clapper) helped the Falcons to 113 wins, the second-highest win total in school and MAC annals ... the record is held by the one-woman class of two seasons ago ... Lindsey Goldsberry ended her career with a total of 114 wins, the most by any player (male or female) in MAC basketball history ... BGSU's sixth senior in 2010-11, Maggie Hennegan, is in her second playing season after transferring from Saint Louis University.
70 IS A MAGIC NUMBER
BGSU has scored 70 or more points in 14 of the season's first 20 games, and the Falcons have posted a perfect 14-0 mark in those contests ... at the other end of the court, the Falcons have held 19 of the 20 foes under 70 points this year to date ... BG is 16-3 in those games ... Akron (72 points on Jan. 12) is the only Falcon foe to surpass 70 points this year.
2 SCORES 20 AGAIN (OR IN THIS CASE, 30)
Senior Lauren Prochaska scored a game-high 30 points in the win at Buffalo (Jan. 18) ... Prochaska has scored 20 or more points in a game 11 times this season and 44 times in her BGSU career ... she has hit the 30-point plateau twice this year (31 points vs. Vanderbilt) and five times as a Falcon.
PROCHASKA SETS AN NCAA FREE-THROW RECORD
Most people couldn't make 70 consecutive layups in an empty gym ... senior Lauren Prochaska, however, set an NCAA Division-I record by hitting 70 consecutive shots from 15 feet away ... Prochaska was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line in the Falcons' win at Western Kentucky on Dec. 9, setting the record in the process ... Prochaska had broken her own BGSU record of 45-straight shots from the stripe in the Vanderbilt game (Dec. 1), then broke the MAC record in the win over Cal State Fullerton in the following game (Dec. 4).
PROCHASKA'S GOT A SHOT AT THIS RECORD
Entering the WMU game, senior Lauren Prochaska has made 543 free throws in 596 attempts in her career ... that is good for a percentage of 91.1 ... Prochaska is in line to finish among the NCAA's all-time leaders in free-throw pct. ... if the season ended at 10:38 a.m. on Friday morning, Prochaska would finish fifth in NCAA Division-I history.
CLOSING THE DOORS OF THE HOUSE THAT ROARS
The 2010-11 season is the final year that BGSU's teams will call Anderson Arena home, and there are many events planned as part of the year-long celebration ... the All-Anderson teams for men's and women's basketball, announced in October, will be recognized at a home game ... for the BGSU women, the All-Anderson Team recognition is scheduled for the Feb. 5 game vs. Ball State ... the final women's home regular-season game inside "The House That Roars" will be March 2 vs. Buffalo ... on March 5, the festivities culminate with the B!G Event, a final farewell celebration at 8:00 p.m. ... this once-in-a-lifetime event will be attended by hundreds of Falcon faithful, as well as members of all three All-Anderson Teams, other former letterwinners, current players and coaching staff members ... for more information, contact the athletics department at 419-372-2401 or rlynv@bgsu.edu.
VERSATILITY AT THE POST
BGSU's starting post players, seniors Maggie Hennegan and Jen Uhl, displayed a tremendous amount of versatility in the Toledo game ... the duo combined for 31 points, with Uhl scoring 17 and Hennegan 14, and the two players combined to go 5-of-6 from three-point range ... Uhl was 3-for-4 from the arc, tying her career best for three-pointers made in a game ... Hennegan made both of her shots from long distance, and is a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point land in MAC games this year.
PONTIUS NOW SEVENTH ON BGSU ASSISTS LIST
Senior Tracy Pontius has moved into seventh place on the BGSU career assists list ... she passed Cathy Koch (347 assists from 1988-92) in the win at Buffalo ... Pontius now has 348 career assists at BG ... her next target on the school list is sixth-place Jaymee Wappes (387 from 1996-2000).
CAPTAINS
Seniors Maggie Hennegan and Lauren Prochaska are the captains of the 2010-11 Falcons ... Hennegan is a captain for the second consecutive year ... she was chosen as a captain before ever playing her first game as a Falcon.
UP NEXT
Following the Western Michigan game, the Falcons will have a quick turnaround, as they will leave Monday for a Tuesday (Feb. 1) game against Northern Illinois ... the WMU-NIU swing begins a stretch in which BGSU plays five times on the road in a seven-game span.
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