Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Georgia Tech (First Round)
NCAA Tournament Notes: BGSU Heads to Columbus to Face GT
March 16, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Falcons make seventh-straight appearance in a national postseason tourney
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, after winning the Mid-American Conference Tournament title for the second-straight season, now advances to the NCAA Championships ... the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller have been named a #12 seed in the Dayton regional, and will face #5 seed Georgia Tech in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday (March 19) ... the Falcons and Yellow Jackets will meet at St. John Arena (13,276), with tipoff scheduled for 11:20 a.m. ET ... the game will be televised on ESPN2.
BGSU POSTSEASON GUIDE
Front Cover
Notes and Stats (pp. 1-31)
Player Bios (pp. 32-61)
Game-by-Game Boxscores (pp. 62-77)
Anderson Arena (pp. 78-79)
BGSU Radio/TV Roster (p. 80)
Entire Postseason Guide (pp. 1-80)
FALCONS MAKE 11TH TRIP TO NCAAS
Bowling Green has won the MAC Tournament championship and advances to the NCAA Championships for the 11th time in school history, the most of any conference program ... BGSU earned the MAC's automatic bid to the NCAAs by virtue of picking up three wins in the conference tourney at Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena ... the Falcons are 3-10 in NCAA tournament games, with a 1-2 mark in home games and records of 0-4 on the road and 2-4 in neutral-site affairs ... BGSU is 2-4 in NCAA games under head coach Curt Miller ... the complete list of BGSU's NCAA Championships games can be found in the PDF version of these notes.
WE COULD GET USED TO THIS
Just six 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 prior to 2005 ... now, however, Curt Miller's Falcons have won at least 27 games in no fewer than five of the last six 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, 27 more games last season, and 28 games in 2010-11 to date ... in the last six seasons, BGSU has AVERAGED 28.2 wins per year.
NATIONAL POSTSEASON PLAY FOR THE SEVENTH-STRAIGHT SEASON
The Falcons, as mentioned, are participating in the NCAA Championships for the 11th time in school history ... BGSU is in the field of 64 for the fifth time in the last seven years ... the Falcons have qualified for national postseason play for the seventh-straight season, a school record ... BG made WNIT appearances in both 2008 and 2009 ... the school's previous record for consecutive postseason trips was four, as Fran Voll guided the Falcons to the NCAA Championships in each year from 1987 through 1990.
HOW THEY GOT HERE
The Falcons earned the MAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships by winning the conference tournament ... BGSU posted three single-digit victories at Quicken Loans Arena and downtown Cleveland, with a 66-57 win over Ohio in the quarterfinal round, an 80-72 triumph over Central Michigan in the semifinals, and a 51-46 win against Eastern Michigan in Saturday's (March 12) championship game ... Georgia Tech earned an at-large bid ... the Falcons are the lone MAC team in the NCAA Championships, although a total of six MAC schools (Buffalo, CMU, EMU, Kent State and Toledo) have been invited to national postseason play ... the Yellow Jackets are one of six Atlantic Coast Conference programs (Duke, Florida State, Maryland, Miami [Fla.] and North Carolina) in the NCAAs.
THE MAC IN THE NCAA
Entering the 2011 NCAA Championships, Mid-American Conference schools have posted a combined record of 8-31 in NCAA tourney play ... BGSU has three of those eight wins, with two coming in 2007 under Curt Miller ... Toledo also has won three NCAA Tournament games, with Kent State and Ball State winning one apiece ... BSU's win came two years ago against Tennessee.
SENIOR PRIDE
The Falcons' five fourth-year seniors – Chelsea Albert, Tracy Pontius, Lauren Prochaska, Jen Uhl and Kelly Zuercher – have joined a relatively exclusive, and very impressive, group ... that quintet became 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 ... entering the NCAA Championships, the fourth-year Falcons have helped BGSU to an overall record of 110-24, the third-highest four-year win total in school – and Mid-American Conference – history.
THAT'S A LOT OF WINS!
The Falcons are 28-4 overall on the season ... BGSU has won at least 21 games in each of the last eight seasons, and the Falcons have posted 23 or more wins in each of the last seven years ... and, the 2010-11 campaign is the sixth-straight year that BG has won 26 or more games.
THAT'S A LOT OF WINS! PART 2
Over the last eight years, BGSU has averaged nearly 27 wins per season ... after posting a combined record of 21-35 in Curt Miller's first two seasons (9-19 in 2001-02, 12-16 in '02-03), the Falcons have gone 213-49 since that time ... that is an average of 26.6 wins – and just 6.1 losses – per year.
LAUREN PROCHASKA: BGSU'S CAREER SCORING LEADER
Senior Lauren Prochaska is the top scorer in BGSU history ... Prochaska scored a game-high 21 points in the Falcons' win over Ball State on Feb. 5, including the record-breaking layup early in the second half ... she posted up to take a pass from classmate Maggie Hennegan and hit a shot over her defender with 16:39 left in that game ... Prochaska had an otherworldly performance in the win at Eastern Michigan one week later (Feb. 12), with 37 points, the second-highest total in school history ... she enters the NCAA Championships with a career total of 2,271 points ... the old BGSU scoring record, set by Jackie Motycka (2,122 points from 1985-89), had stood for over two decades ... Prochaska is averaging 16.9 points per game, the second-highest average in BG annals (behind Motycka's 18.1 ppg), in her storied Falcon career.
PROCHASKA HOLDS A LOT OF CAREER RECORDS
As mentioned, Lauren Prochaska is the BGSU career scoring leader, with 2,271 career points ... she also is the school's all-time leader in three-point field goals made, free throws made and FT pct. ... Prochaska ranks third in MAC history in scoring, and is second on the conference list in three-pointers made ... she has started every game since arriving at BG ... and, she has a chance to finish her career in the top-five in NCAA Division-I history in free-throw percentage ... let's put together a list, in bullet-point form, shall we?
BGSU CAREER RECORDS HELD BY LAUREN PROCHASKA
• Points: 2,271
• Three-Point Field Goals Made: 310
• Free Throws Made: 617
• Free-Throw Percentage: 90.5%
• Games Started: 134
• Consecutive Games Started: 134
PROCHASKA IS THIRD ON MAC LIST
Senior Lauren Prochaska is the leading scorer – male or female – in BGSU history ... she has also made her way up the Mid-American Conference list this year ... Prochaska ranks third on the MAC list, having passed former Western Michigan standout Carrie Moore (2,224 points from 2003-07) with her 22-point effort in the final regular-season game, March 2 vs. Buffalo ... Prochaska very likely will end her career in third place on that chart.
THE PROCHASKA 500
Falcon senior Lauren Prochaska now has 572 points this season to date ... she is the first player in BGSU women's basketball history to score over 500 points in each of her four years.
SHE'S A SCORER ...
Falcon women's basketball followers have gotten used to the consistent scoring prowess displayed by senior Lauren Prochaska over the years ... Prochaska has scored in double digits in 118 of her 134 career games ... she has scored 20 or more points in a game 15 times this season and 48 times in her career ... Prochaska has hit the 30-point plateau three times this year and six times as a Falcon ... her total of six career 30-point games ties the school record set by Jackie Motycka.
... AND A REBOUNDER
Falcon senior Lauren Prochaska became just the seventh player in school history to pull down 800 career rebounds ... she surpassed the 800 mark in the MAC Tournament semifinal game vs. Central Michigan ... Prochaska now has 808 rebounds in her career, good for seventh place on the BGSU list.
PROCHASKA NAMED MAC TOURNAMENT MVP ...
Senior Lauren Prochaska was named the MAC Tournament MVP for the second consecutive year as the Falcons captured the title, also for the second-straight March ... Prochaska averaged 15.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in the Falcons' three wins in Cleveland last week ... she tied for the team scoring lead, and deadlocked for second on the team in rebounding ... Prochaska led the Falcons in blocked shots, with 1.7 bpg, and also had 2.0 assists per contest ... she went 28-of-33 from the free-throw line in the three games ... Prochaska had a game-high 20 points in the championship-game win over Eastern Michigan.
... FOR THE SECOND TIME
Senior Lauren Prochaska becomes the first BGSU player, and only the third player in MAC history, to be named the conference tournament MVP more than once ... Toledo's Dana Drew was named the MVP in 1991 and 1992, and also shared the award in 1995 ... UT's Mimi Olson earned league tourney MVP honors in both 1996 and '97.
PONTIUS EARNS ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS
Senior Tracy Pontius joined classmate Lauren Prochaska on the MAC's All-Tournament Team ... Pontius earned the honor after averaging 15.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and a team-leading 3.3 assists per game in the Falcons' three wins ... she also averaged 1.3 steals in the three games, and led BG with a total of eight three-point field goals made in Cleveland ... Pontius had 18 points in the semifinal-round win over Central Michigan, and had 13 points the next day vs. Eastern Michigan ... in the championship game, she had assists on back-to-back baskets to start a 7-0 run that gave BG a 42-35 second-half lead ... the first assist came on a behind-the-back pass to Prochaska on a two-on-one break.
PROCHASKA, PONTIUS NAMED TO ALL-MAC TEAM
Seniors Lauren Prochaska and Tracy Pontius were named to the All-MAC Team ... Prochaska was voted to the All-MAC First Team for the third consecutive year after earning second-team honors as a freshman ... Prochaska became only the second player in BGSU history to earn all-league first-team accolades as many as three times in a career ... Jackie Motycka was a first-team choice in all four of her seasons at BG ... Pontius garnered All-MAC honors for the third-straight year ... she was named to the third team in 2010-11 after being named to the second team as a junior and the first team as a soph.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons will enter the NCAA Championships with an overall record of 28-4 ... BGSU finished the regular season with a mark of 13-3 in MAC play, then posted three more wins in the MAC Tournament to earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships ... three of BG's four losses this season have come by a single point.
• BG won the MAC's East Division title, and the Falcons were the number-two seed for the MAC Tournament ... BGSU defeated 10th-seeded Ohio and third-seeded Central Michigan to advance to the championship game, then downed fifth-seeded Eastern Michigan, 51-46, on Saturday (March 12) to capture the crown.
• The Falcons are 14-1 at home, 10-3 on the road and 4-0 in neutral-site games to date, and BGSU has won 11 consecutive games heading into the NCAA tourney ... the Falcons ended the regular season by downing Buffalo, 92-68, on March 2 in the team's final game in the history of venerable Anderson Arena.
• The regular-season-ending win over UB came after BGSU went a perfect 7-0 in the month of February ... the Falcons broke a two-game MAC losing streak – the team's first such streak in three years – with a 67-64 win at Northern Illinois (Feb. 1), then returned home to top Ball State ... the Falcons had entered the NIU game having lost three of the previous five games after winning 15 in a row ... following the BSU game and a 'bye' week, BG defeated Eastern Michigan on the road, 60-55, posted double-digit victories over Ohio at home and Miami on the road, then ventured to Akron and pulled-out a last-second win, 47-45 on Feb. 22 ... BGSU returned home and downed Kent State, 80-59 (Feb. 26), before closing the regular season with the win over UB at Anderson.
• The Falcons' 15-game winning streak was one of the longest in the nation at the time it was snapped ... it came to an end with a 44-43 loss in the first KSU meeting, in Northeast Ohio on Jan. 15 ... the Falcons rebounded to win the next two games, before losing to Toledo, 66-65, and dropping a 66-55 decision at Western Michigan.
• BGSU received votes in both major polls – the Associated Press poll and the USA Today ESPN Coaches listings – for much of the year ... the Falcons garnered four votes in the latest (March 14) AP poll, but did not receive any votes in this week's (March 14) USA Today ESPN rankings ... the Falcons are ranked 41st in the nation in the most recent NCAA RPI rankings, and BGSU was fifth in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25.
• The Falcons suffered a 63-62 loss at Evansville in the regular-season opener (Nov. 12), but BG reeled off 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 went 4-1 in the first round-robin swing through the MAC's East Division, and BGSU finished the cross-divisional phase with a 4-2 mark before posting a perfect 5-0 mark vs. East teams in the second go-around ... the Falcons had opened league play with a win at Ohio on Jan. 5, before returning home and scoring 90 points in back-to-back victories over Miami and Akron ... BG lost at Kent, but the Falcons bounced back with a 72-61 win at Buffalo, then dismantled Central Michigan, 90-62, at "The House That Roars" ... however, UT snapped BGSU's lengthy homecourt winning streak, and the Falcons then lost at Western before winning each of the last 11 games.
• Senior Lauren Prochaska, a three-time All-MAC First-Team selection, is averaging a team-high 17.9 points per game, and also has 6.0 rebounds per contest ... Prochaska, the MVP of the MAC Tournament in each of the last two years, has scored 20 or more points in 15 games this year, including three games of more than 30 points ... she had 31 points in the Falcons' win over nationally-ranked Vanderbilt in December, and exploded for 37 points and 12 rebounds in the regular-season victory over Eastern Michigan (Feb. 12) ... Prochaska hit the first game-winning shot of her career last month, draining a three-pointer at Akron (Feb. 22) with just 0.2 seconds left ... Prochaska is second on the team in rebounding, assists, steals and blocked shots.
• Classmate Tracy Pontius has 12.3 ppg to date, and leads the team with 3.5 assists per outing ... she went off for a season-high 29 points at Miami, part of a five-game stretch in which she averaged 16.0 points to end the regular season.
• Pontius has made 75 three-point field goals this year, while Prochaska has hit 69 shots from long range ... Prochaska and Pontius are shooting 38.5 and 36.4 percent from beyond the arc, respectively ... Prochaska is 195-of-215 (90.7%) from the free-throw line on the year, and is fourth in the nation in that category in the latest NCAA rankings (Monday, March 14) ... she is 37th in the country in scoring and 47th nationally in three-point FG percentage, while Pontius is ranked 65th in assist/turnover ratio (1.64) in the NCAA listings.
• Head coach Curt Miller's starting lineup for each of the first 32 games has remained unchanged ... that lineup has included four seniors in Pontius, Prochaska, Maggie Hennegan and Jen Uhl, along with sophomore Chrissy Steffen.
• Steffen, Uhl and Hennegan rank third through fifth on the team in scoring ... Steffen has 10.2 ppg and has hit 54 three-pointers this year to date ... she leads the Falcons in steals, with 1.7 per game (Steffen has 54 steals, Prochaska 44 and Pontius 39 this year), and is shooting 36.0% from three-point land.
• Uhl and Hennegan are averaging 9.2 and 8.8 ppg, respectively ... Uhl has 294 points to Hennegan's 283 this year to date ... Uhl leads the team with 6.2 rpg, while Hennegan ranks third with 5.5 rpg ... Uhl led the Falcons in rebounding in six of 10 contests to end the regular season ... Hennegan is shooting a team-best 51.2% from the field, and also leads the Falcons in blocked shots (1.1 bpg).
• In MAC regular-season games, the Falcons went 7-1 at home and finished at 6-2 on the road ... including MAC Tournament contests, BGSU went 10-1 vs. East Division foes and 6-2 against the West ... all five starters averaged at least 9.8 points per game in league regular-season action ... Prochaska had 16.6 ppg and 5.4 rpg in the 16 conference games ... Steffen, who scored a career-high 22 points in back-to-back home games (Ohio and KSU), had 11.4 ppg in MAC contests, good for second on the team, while Pontius had 10.8 ppg vs. league foes ... Hennegan and Uhl scored 10.2 and 9.8 ppg, respectively, in conference games.
• Steffen had 4.1 rpg, 2.4 apg and 1.8 spg in MAC games, leading the team in steals and ranking third in assists ... Hennegan had 5.0 rpg and shot 57.8% from the field, ranking third in the league in the latter category ... Uhl led BGSU with 7.1 rebounds, while Pontius paced the club with 3.0 apg in MAC matches.
• 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.
• 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 was named the MAC Player of the Year as both a sophomore and a junior, while Pontius earned all-league second-team honors in 2009-10 before being named to the third team this season.
• 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.
• 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 joined 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 is sitting out this season after transferring from Duke University ... she will retain three seasons of eligibility.
• Slagle has played in all 32 games off the bench, while Papenfuss has seen action in 28 ... Slagle and Papenfuss have 3.8 and 2.8 ppg, respectively ... Slagle has hit 15 of her 35 three-point attempts this year (42.9%), while Papenfuss has 2.0 rpg, good for seventh on the team in that category.
• Havel has seen action in all 32 games, while Albert has played in 28, Stein 26 and Zuercher 23 ... all 15 players on the active roster have played in at least 13 contests.
• BGSU is shooting 41.3% from the field, 36.1% from three-point land and 79.6% from the free-throw line, leading the nation in the latter category ... BG has allowed opponents to shoot 38.0% from the floor and 27.7% from beyond the arc ... Falcon foes are shooting 67.9% from the stripe ... BGSU has made over 200 more free throws than the opponents (544 to 336), and the Falcons have made 49 more free throws than the foes have attempted.
STREAKY FALCONS
BGSU enters the NCAA Championships riding an 11-game winning streak ... earlier this season, the Falcons won 15 consecutive games before a mid-January loss at Kent State ... BG now has had a total of 10 double-digit winning streaks in program history, including six in the last six seasons ... this marks the first time the Falcons have had two double-figure win streaks in the same season.
THE FALCONS IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT
The Falcons, after winning three games in Cleveland last week, now have an all-time record of 42-16 in the league tourney ... BGSU's win total is the second highest among MAC teams, and the Falcons' .724 winning percentage is the best in the league ... BG's total of 11 MAC Tournament titles is also the highest of any league institution ... the Falcons now have a record of 21-5 under Curt Miller in conference tourney games ... BGSU has advanced to the championship game of the tournament seven times in the last eight seasons, and the Falcons have captured five of the last seven MAC Tournament titles.
A FEW MAC TOURNAMENT NOTES AND NUMBERS
The Falcons, as mentioned, now have an all-time mark of 42-16 in the MAC Tournament ... BGSU is a perfect 9-0 in home games, and the Falcons are 2-5 in road contests and 31-11 in neutral-site contests over the years ... BG has gone 3-2 in first-round games, and the team is now 15-6 in quarterfinal-round action and 13-6 in semifinal games ... the Falcons now have a record of 11-2 in championship-game appearances ... of BGSU's MAC-record total of 11 tournament titles, only two have come when the Falcons were not the top seed ... BG was a #3 seed in 1990, and the Falcons were the tourney's number-two seed in 2011.
THREE-MENDOUS: BGSU TIES SCHOOL RECORD VS. BUFFALO
The Falcons tied a school record by making a total of 16 three-point field goals in the win over Buffalo in the final regular-season game (March 2) ... BG originally set the mark with 16 treys in a home win vs. Akron on Jan. 26, 2000, and the Falcons tied that record on Jan. 16, 2008, in a victory at Kent State.
THREE-LIGHTFUL: BGSU FOURTH IN THE NATION IN THREE-POINTERS
The Falcons have had a great deal of success from three-point land this year ... BGSU leads the MAC and ranks fourth in the country in three-pointers made per game (8.3) ... the Falcons tied a school record by making 16 treys in the March 2win over Buffalo, and BG has hit at least seven triples in an amazing 25 of this year's 32 games to date ... the Falcons have hit nine or more treys in a game 15 times this season.
TREY BIEN: PROCHASKA, PONTIUS RACK UP LONG-DISTANCE FEES
The top-two long-distance shooters in BGSU history reside on the current roster ... seniors Lauren Prochaska and Tracy Pontius rank first and second, respectively, on the BGSU list for three-pointers made ... Prochaska broke the school career record last season, and now has hit 310 three-pointers since venturing to Northwest Ohio ... Pontius moved past Liz Honegger (216 triples from 2003-07) into second place on the BGSU list on Feb. 19, and she now has 234 career threes.
THREE-MARKABLE: MANY FALCONS CONNECTING FROM DOWNTOWN
Seniors Lauren Prochaska and Tracy Pontius have combined to make 144 three-point field goals this year to date, but they are certainly not the only Falcons with the capability to score from beyond the arc ... no fewer than 13 different players have hit at least one three-pointer this season ... and, the only two players on the active roster who have not made a triple – senior Chelsea Albert and freshman Jill Stein – have not attempted one.
PROCHASKA, PONTIUS DOMINATE SINGLE-SEASON THREE-POINT LIST
Lauren Prochaska and Tracy Pontius have made their mark on the BGSU record books, and the BGSU single-season three-point list is no exception ... they are the only two players to make more than 70 triples in a season three times, and Prochaska has a chance to make it four years with at least 70 treys.
THE FALCONS ARE/WERE ...
• 28-4 this season to date; after finishing with a 27-7 record last season;
• 13-3 in MAC play this season, having won a seventh-straight division title;
• 234-84 since Curt Miller took the BGSU helm in May of 2001;
• 121-39 in MAC games in that time:
• 225-65 overall in the nearly nine 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);
• 213-49 over the last seven-plus years, with 2010-11 marking BG's eighth-straight season of at least 20 wins;
• a staggering 192-39 in the past six-plus years, with no fewer than 23 wins in seven-straight seasons and a MAC regular-season title each year from 2004-10;
• an eye-popping 169-31 overall, and 86-10 in the MAC regular season, in the last five-plus years, with at least 26 wins in each of those six years;
• a/an (insert your own adjective here) 141-28 in the last four-plus years, including a 70-10 conference ledger;
• 110-24 overall, and 55-9 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;
• 84-16 overall and 42-6 in MAC action since junior Jessica Slagle and redshirt soph Maribeth Giese ventured to NW Ohio;
• 55-11 overall and 27-5 in the MAC 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.);
• 107-12 in the last 119 games vs. MAC foes (regular-season and tournament);
• A perfect 54-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field in the Miller Era;
• 189-10 when having a better FG pct. than the opposition in Miller's tenure, including a 61-0 mark in the last two-plus seasons;
• 179-29 when making more free throws during Miller's first nine-plus years;
• 139-13 when outrebounding the opponent in the Miller Era;
• 51-5 in MAC home games in the last seven seasons;
• 42-6 in MAC road games over the last six years;
• 18-2 in the MAC Tournament in the last seven years, with five titles (2005, '06, '07, '10 and '11), an additional championship-game appearance (2009), and a trip to the semis in 2008;
• 42-16 overall in the MAC Tournament since it was instituted in 1982;
• 31-11 in MAC Tournament contests played at a neutral site;
• 20-4 at Gund/Quicken Loans Arena, the site of the MAC Tournament;
• 21-5 in MAC Tournament games in the Miller Era;
• 20-3 at "The Gund"/"The Q" under Miller;
• 35-3 in all non-conference home games since the start of the 2003-04 season;
• 31-2 against non-league foes at Anderson Arena over the venerable venue's final seven years (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).
THANKS, SENIORS
Entering the Georgia Tech game, BGSU's six seniors have combined for 5,435 points, 2,355 rebounds, 924 assists, 643 three-point field goals made, 512 steals and 251 blocked shots during their time in the Brown and Orange.
FALCONS WIN 20, AGAIN; BGSU SETS A NEW MAC RECORD
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 at Eastern Michigan on Feb. 12 enabled BGSU to reach the 20-victory total ... the Falcons have won at least 20 games in eight consecutive years, extending the school record and setting a new MAC mark ... the old conference record was set by Bob Lindsay's Kent State teams from 1995-96 through 2001-02 ... prior to BG's current run, the longest streak in school 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 20 games for the 16th time in school history, the most of any MAC school ... other than BGSU, only Toledo (15) and Kent State (13) have posted 20 or more wins on 10 or more occasions.
CHAMPIONS AGAIN
For the seventh consecutive year and the 12th time in school history, Bowling Green captured a regular-season championship ... the Falcons won the East Division, with a 13-3 record against conference competition ... a few more notes ...
• The 2010-11 season marks the first of 12 MAC regular-season championships (most of any conference team, by the way) in which the Falcons did not earn an outright league title ... in each of the Falcons' first five regular-season championships (1987, 1988, 1989, 1993 and 1994), the MAC had just one division, and BGSU had the best overall regular-season record outright ... in each of the last six seasons (2005 through 2010), Curt Miller's teams not only won a division title, but also had the best overall record among all MAC schools.
• BGSU won league regular-season titles in three consecutive years from 1986-87 to 1988-89 under head coach Fran Voll, and Jaci Clark's teams captured back-to-back crowns in the 1992-93 and '93-94 campaigns ... in 2005, the Falcons had the MAC's best overall record at 13-3, and won the West Division ... and, BG has won the East Division six years running, with MAC marks of 16-0, 15-1, 13-3, 15-1, 14-2 and 13-3.
FALCONS VS. THE MAC
The Falcons, through the end of the 2010-11 regular season, continue to own the best record in MAC history ... BGSU has an all-time record of 348-145 (.706) 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.
SEVEN-STRAIGHT DIVISION TITLES, BUT ONLY SIX IN THE EAST
The Falcons won a MAC divisional title for the seventh consecutive season ... the last six of those have been outright East Division crowns ... the seven-year run for Curt Miller and his staff began with a West Division title in 2005, before the Falcons were moved from the West to the East Division prior to the 2005-06 season.
SUCCESS VS. THE EAST
The Falcons' win over Ohio in the MAC Tournament quarterfinal gives BGSU a record of 10-1 vs. MAC East Division foes this season ... since returning to the East Division prior to the 2005-06 season, BGSU has posted an overall record of 61-5 in intra-divisional games (including regular-season and tournament contests).
PRETTY SUCCESSFUL AGAINST THE WEST, TOO
The Falcons closed the MAC Tournament run with wins over Central Michigan in the semifinal round and Eastern Michigan in the championship ... BGSU went 6-2 vs. West Division teams this season, and the Falcons are 40-7 in all games (regular-season and tournament) since the start of the 2005-06 campaign.
BGSU'S 'PROBABLE' STARTING LINEUP
Bowling Green is believed to be two of just three NCAA Division-I teams to have used the same starting lineup in every game this season ... that short list includes only the Falcons, fellow MAC member Central Michigan and Miami (Fla.).
A QUICK LOOK AT GEORGIA TECH
Georgia Tech will enter Saturday's game with an overall record of 23-10, the Yellow Jackets posted an Atlantic Coast Conference record of 9-5, tying for fourth in the final regular-season standings ... GT, seeded fifth for the ACC Tournament, defeated Virginia Tech and #13/15 Maryland to advance to the semifinals, before falling to #8/7 Duke ... the Yellow Jackets went 14-3 at home and 6-4 on the road this season, and GT is 3-3 in neutral-site games to date ... 2001 marks the program's seventh NCAA Championships appearance, and the fifth in a row ... the team's #5 seed is the best in program history ... the Rambling Wreck ranks among the nation's top 20 in both rebound margin (+6.7) and steals per game (11.5) ... individually, senior G/F Alex Montgomery leads the team in both scoring and rebounding, with 14.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per game ... she leads the team with 71 three-point field goals made, and also has 2.3 assists and 2.1 steals per game to rank second on the team in both categories ... freshman guard Tyaunna Marshall has 13.7 ppg and 4.3 rpg, while junior center Sasha Goodlett and junior point guard Metra Walthour have 9.6 and 8.7 ppg, respectively ... Goodlett has 5.9 rpg, while Walthour has hit 50 three-pointers and leads GT with 3.8 assists and 2.3 steals ... Walthour has started all 33 games this season, while Montgomery has made 32 starts and Goodlett and Marshall 30 apiece ... senior guard Deja Foster (5.3 ppg, 6.2 rpg) joins that quartet in the probable starting lineup for head coach MaChelle Joseph ... Joseph, in her eighth season at GT, welcomed back 10 letterwinners, including four starters, from last year's club ... the 2009-10 team went 23-10 overall and 8-6 in ACC play ... the school's athletics web site is www.ramblinwreck.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons and Georgia Tech have never met in women's basketball ... BGSU has an all-time record of 1-3 against current Atlantic Coast Conference teams, with a win over Boston College and losses to Duke, Maryland and North Carolina ... three of those four games came during the Fran Voll Era, as the Falcons lost at Maryland, 78-65, in the 1989 NCAA Championships, and faced BC (a 60-47 win in December of 1985) and UNC (a 74-71 loss in December of 1990) in in-season tournaments ... BGSU's lone prior game against an ACC team during Curt Miller Era was a 55-46 loss to Duke in Cancun, Mexico on Dec. 19, 2006.
FALCONS WIN FINAL GAME IN "THE HOUSE THAT ROARS"
The Falcons downed Buffalo, 92-68, in the regular-season finale on March 2 at venerable Anderson Arena ... BGSU's qualification for the NCAA Championships means that the UB contest was the final game for head coach Curt Miller's team in "The House That Roars" ... BGSU will move into the Stroh Center in time for the 2011-12 season ... Anderson provided the Falcons with quite a home-court advantage over the years ... BG won nearly three-quarters of the women's basketball games played in the venue, with an overall record of 333-116 (74.1%) ... the record was even better in MAC play, as the Falcons had a league regular-season mark of 192-54 – a winning percentage of 78.0% – at Anderson through the years.
A FEW MORE ANDERSON ARENA-RELATED FACTS
As mentioned in the previous note, the Falcons leave Anderson Arena on a successful note ... want more proof? Keep reading ...
• BGSU won 46 of the last 48 games in "The House That Roars" ... the Falcons had home winning streaks of 23 and 19 games during that time ... 41 of BG's 46 wins in that span came by double-digit margins.
• BG posted a record of 103-24 (81.1%) at Anderson Arena during the Curt Miller Era ... the Falcons have gone 83-7 (92.2%) at home over the last seven seasons.
• In MAC play, the Falcons went 63-16 (79.7%) in the Miller Era, including a conference mark of 50-5 (90.9%) at "The House That Roars" over the last seven years ... not coincidentally, BGSU won MAC divisional titles in all seven of those seasons, with outright league championships in six of those years.
• BGSU went 14-1 at Anderson this year, tying the school record for home wins in a season ... the Falcons also went 14-1 at home two years ago (2008-09).
TAKE SOME – THEY'RE FREE
As of the latest NCAA rankings (released Monday, March 14), the Falcons were leading the entire nation in free-throw percentage ... BGSU is converting free throws at a rate of 79.6 percent ... individually, senior Lauren Prochaska was fourth in the country in FT pct. as of Monday ... Prochaska has made 195 of her 215 attempts this year to date (90.7%).
ON PACE FOR A SCHOOL – AND A MAC – RECORD
The Falcons, as mentioned, have made free throws at a 79.6 percent clip this year ... should BGSU maintain that pace, it would set new school and MAC records ... many members of the current team helped to set the old records ... the 2008-09 Falcons set school and conference marks with a FT percentage of 79.4%.
LAUREN'S TAKEN MORE THAN HER SHARE
Entering the GT game, senior Lauren Prochaska has made a school-record 617 free throws in 682 attempts in her career ... that is good for a percentage of 90.5 ... Prochaska is in line to finish among the NCAA's all-time leaders in free-throw pct.
HOLDING ON TO THE BALL
For the most part, the Falcons have been successful at limiting turnovers this season ... BGSU has turned the ball over just 10 times in three of the last four games, including in the MAC Tournament semifinal win over Central Michigan and the championship-game triumph against Eastern Michigan ... as of the last NCAA rankings (Monday, March 14), BG was 12th in the nation in fewest turnovers per game (14.0) ... the Falcons have committed more turnovers than the opponent in only four of this season's 32 games to date ... and, the opponent has had more points off turnovers than BG just six times ... BG has forced 15 or more opponent turnovers in 24 of this year's 32 games, including 19 or more in 15 contests ... these stats all will be put to the test on Saturday, as Georgia Tech has forced nearly 22 opponent turnovers per game this season to date.
FALCONS AMONG NCAA LEADERS
BGSU is ranked among the national leaders in numerous categories, according to the latest NCAA statistics, released Monday (March 14) ... the Falcons are ranked in the top-40 in no fewer than 10 total categories ... as mentioned, BG leads the entire nation in free-throw percentage ... the Falcons also are ranked in the top-10 in the country in three-point field goals made per game (fourth; 8.3) ... additionally, BGSU is ninth in the nation in Charlie Sheen's favorite category, WINNING, with a W-L pct. of 87.5% ... the Falcons are 12th in turnovers per game (14.0), 16th in scoring margin (+15.2), 20th in three-point field-goal pct. (36.1%), 23rd in three-point FG percentage defense (27.7%), 24th in assist/turnover ratio (1.0), 36th in scoring offense (72.3) and 38th in turnover margin (+3.44).
CAPTAINS
Seniors Maggie Hennegan and Lauren Prochaska are the captains of the 2010-11 Falcons ... Hennegan is a captain for the second consecutive year ... impressively, she was chosen as a captain before ever playing her first game as a Falcon.
UP NEXT
The BGSU-Georgia Tech winner will advance to the second round of the NCAA Championships, and will face either UCF or Ohio State on Monday night at St. John Arena ... UCF, seeded #13 in the Dayton regionat, faces fourth-seeded OSU in Saturday's second game in Columbus.
