Falcons Head to Vegas for Thanksgiving Tourney Action

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, after a loss on the road to a nationally-ranked team, now embarks upon the longest trip of the 2012-13 regular season ... the Falcons of head coach Jennifer Roos conclude a season-long four-game road swing with a trip to Las Vegas, Nev., for the Lady Rebel Round-Up ... BGSU will face Villanova University in Saturday's (Nov. 24) first round, with that game scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. local time (6:30 p.m. ET), and the Falcons will meet either the University of Montana or host UNLV on Sunday (Nov. 25) ... the tourney will be held at Cox Pavilion (2,500), and the complete schedule follows...

LADY REBEL ROUND-UP
(all games at Cox Pavilion)
Saturday, November 24
Montana at UNLV, 1:00 p.m. PT
Bowling Green vs. Villanova, 3:30 p.m. PT

Sunday, November 25
Consolation, 1:00 p.m. PT
Championship, 3:30 p.m. PT

BGSU NOTES & STATS - PDF
Lady Rebel Round-Up web site
The Opponents: Villanova | UNLV | Montana

QUICK HITS
• The Falcons lost for the first time this season, falling on the road against #14/14 Purdue by a 59-45 final on Monday night (Nov. 19) ... the Boilermakers scored on their first five possessions to take a 10-2 lead, and never trailed ... four Falcons scored between seven and nine points on the night, with fifth-year senior Danielle Havel scoring a BG-best nine points ... senior Chrissy Steffen and redshirt junior Alexis Rogers had eight points apiece and senior Allison Papenfuss seven.

• The Boilermakers had advantages of 30-16 in points in the paint and 17-6 in points off turnovers, and Purdue held BGSU to just a 27.5-percent field-goal percentage for the game ... rebounding and turnovers were relatively even, as the home team had a narrow 37-33 advantage on the boards and turned the ball over 14 times to BG's 17.

• Monday's game marked the Falcons' first trip to Purdue's Mackey Arena in nearly seven years ... BG's last visit to West Lafayette saw the Brown and Orange fall by a 74-61 score to UCLA in the first round of the NCAA Championships (March 19, 2006) ... the Bruins' coach was Kathy Olivier, who is now the head coach at her alma mater, UNLV ... the Rebels, of course, are one of the Falcons' possible opponents this weekend.

• One of Olivier's assistant coaches, Nikki Blue, was a senior on that UCLA team ... she started that 2006 NCAA tourney game against BGSU, and had seven points, four rebounds and a game-high six assists ... a BG assistant coach started in that game as well ... Ali Mann, a junior on that 2005-06 Falcon team, led the Falcons with 16 points and eight rebounds, playing 39 minutes.

• The Purdue game was the second in the Falcons' current four-game road swing .. BG began the road portion of the '12-13 schedule with a 79-74 win at Niagara (Nov. 15) ... Steffen led the way with a career-high 28 points, as the Falcons built a double-digit lead before holding off a late charge by the Purple Eagles ... BGSU went 29-of-37 from the free-throw line in the win, with junior Jillian Halfhill making 10 of her 12 tosses to set career bests in both categories ... Halfhill had 14 points on the night.

• BGSU began the regular-season schedule with a 68-57 win over Madonna on Nov. 10 at the Stroh Center ... four BGSU starters scored in double digits in the win, which was the first official victory of the Jennifer Roos Era ... Roos was hired as the Falcons' head coach on April 16, 2012.

• Roos, of course, has been on the BGSU staff for over a decade, having been Curt Miller's first hire when he took the job in 2001 ... Roos spent three seasons as an assistant coach, and served as Miller's associate head coach for the last eight years ... BGSU captured Mid-American Conference divisional titles in each of those eight years, winning the MAC regular-season title outright in seven of those seasons.

• BGSU has gone 260-93 overall and 135-41 in MAC play since Roos arrived at BG ... those numbers represent a success rate of nearly 74 percent overall and a winning percentage of almost 77% in conference action.

• Over the last nine-plus years, the numbers are even more staggering ... the Falcons are 239-58 (80.5%) overall, 124-20 (86.1%) in MAC regular-season play and 145-24 (85.7%) in all games vs. league foes during that time ... BGSU has won more than 20 games in each of the last nine seasons, a MAC record.

• Although the Madonna game marked the 'official' head-coaching debut for Roos, as well as her first 'official' win, it was not her first regular-season contest in charge of the Falcons ... when Miller suffered a mild stroke in January of 2012, Roos assumed interim head-coaching duties and led BGSU to a 2-0 record, with wins on the road against Central Michigan and at home vs. Northern Illinois prior to Miller's return to the bench in early February.

WAYS TO FOLLOW THE FALCONS
BGSU women's basketball enthusiasts who can't make it to the game can follow the Falcons all year long in a variety of ways ... links to any available audio, video and stats can be found at BGSUFalcons.com, in the 'schedule' section on the home page, or by accessing the women's basketball schedule and choosing that day's game.

• RADIO/AUDIO STREAM: Again in 2012-13, all BGSU women's basketball games are scheduled to be broadcast by the Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization (BGRSO) ... games can be heard on the radio in the Bowling Green area on WBGU-FM 88.1, and the audio stream will be available, free of charge, at BGSUFalcons.com.

• VIDEO STREAM: All home games will be available via live video stream, through B2/America One, for a small fee ... fans can watch the action on their computers by visiting BGSUFalcons.com and clicking on the America One logo on the right-hand side of the page ... a number of the Falcons' road games also will have live video, at the jurisdiction of the host school, and the link(s) will be available at BGSUFalcons.com ... the video production for home games is courtesy of the campus television station, WBGU-TV.

• LIVE STATS: Links are also available at BGSUFalcons.com for live stats for all home games, as well as all road games in which the host team provides live stats.

• LADY REBEL ROUND-UP: Both of BGSU's games in Las Vegas will be broadcast by WBGU-FM, with live stats also available ... there will not be television or live streaming of either game this weekend.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the Villanova game with a record of 2-1 on the young season ... BGSU opened the 2012-13 campaign with a 68-57 win over Madonna at the Stroh Center (Nov. 10), then hit the road and posted a 79-74 victory at Niagara (Nov. 15) ... four players scored in double digits in the Madonna game, which marked the first 'official' victory for head coach Jennifer Roos ... on Monday night (Nov. 19), however, No. 14 Purdue downed the Falcons, 59-45, in West Lafayette, Ind.

• Roos welcomed back nine letterwinners, including four starters, from a year ago ... the Brown and Orange went 24-7 overall and 14-2 in the MAC in 2011-12 ... two of those starters, senior Chrissy Steffen and redshirt junior Alexis Rogers, were selected to the Preseason All-MAC Team in 2012-13 ... Steffen led the Falcons in scoring last season, with 13.2 points per game, and also averaged 5.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.8 steals ... she paced BG with 22 double-digit scoring games, including a team-high six games of 20 points or more.

• Rogers averaged 12.3 points and a team-leading 8.7 rebounds per game, and was named to the All-MAC First Team in her first playing season with the Falcons (Steffen earned All-MAC Second-Team honors last year) ... Rogers also was a WBCA Coaches' All-America Team honorable-mention selection in '11-12.

• Rogers was a 2012-13 Preseason All-MAC First-Team selection by the College Sports Madness web site, while Steffen was a preseason all-league second-team choice.

• In addition to Rogers and Steffen, fifth-year senior Danielle Havel returns after starting all 31 games a year ago ... Havel averaged 6.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.6 steals and a team-high 0.7 blocked shots ... sophomore Jasmine Matthews is back after making 21 starts as a freshman ... Matthews, who averaged 7.0 points per game as a freshman, hit 51 three-point field goals, the second-highest total on the team last winter.

• Junior Jillian Halfhill returns after playing in all 31 games last year, starting the first 10 ... she averaged 4.3 ppg a year ago ... the other returnees include seniors Allison Papenfuss and Simone Eli, junior Jill Stein and sophomore Deborah Hoekstra.

• Four newcomers join the roster this season ... one of those four, Erica Donovan, will sit out the season after transferring from North Carolina State Univ. ... she played in all 35 games for the Wolfpack a year ago, averaging 4.9 points and 2.5 rebounds per game ... Donovan, who graduated from John Jay H.S. in Northside, Texas, attended Notre Dame Academy in Toledo as a freshman.

• Another transfer joins the Falcons, as Katrina Salinas comes to BGSU after two years at Central Arizona College ... Salinas averaged 10.3 points and 4.1 assists last year, and helped the Vaqueras to a 20-0 league record and a 10th consecutive appearance in the NJCAA national tournament.

• Freshmen Bailey Cairnduff (Morley, Mich.) and Miriam Justinger (Sylvania, Ohio) join the Falcons this season after each earned first-team all-state honors last year ... Cairnduff finished her career at Morley Stanwood H.S. as the school's all-time leading scorer, helping the Mohawks to state titles in both volleyball and basketball last year ... Justinger helped Northview H.S. to a 21-2 record last season, averaging 19.6 points per game to lead the Northern Lakes League in scoring.

• Steffen leads the Falcons in scoring through three games this season ... her 15.7 points-per-game average includes a career-high 28 points at Niagara ... she also has 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game, leading the team in assists and tying for second in steals.

• Havel has 9.0 points along with a team-high 7.7 rebounds per game ... she also has 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocked shots per outing, tying for the BG lead in the latter ... Rogers and Halfhill are averaging 8.5 and 8.3 ppg, respectively ... Rogers, who missed the Madonna game, also has 7.0 rpg ... Halfhill is second on the Falcons with 2.0 apg.

• Papenfuss (7.7 ppg), Justinger (6.0) and Cairnduff (5.7) all are averaging over five points per game, while Salinas has 3.7 ppg to date.

• The Falcons are shooting .369 from the field, .296 from three-point range and .707 from the free-throw line through the first three games ... the opponents have shot .411 from the floor, .309 from beyond the arc and .761 from the stripe ... the Falcons have a rebounding margin of +5.7.

THE CAPTAINS
Fifth-year senior Danielle Havel, senior Chrissy Steffen and junior Jill Stein are the tri-captains of the 2012-13 Falcons ... Havel and Steffen each are captains for the second consecutive year ... the three were selected in a vote of team members as well as the coaching staff.

A QUICK LOOK AT VILLANOVA
Villanova, like BGSU, is 2-1 on the season ... the Wildcats have sandwiched wins over South Dakota State and Lafayette around a loss to Minnesota ... no game was decided by fewer than 15 points, and VU's two wins have come by an average of 31.5 points ... most recently, the Wildcats posted a 78-38 victory over visiting Bloomsburg in exhibition play Monday night (Nov. 19) ... senior forward Laura Sweeney paces the team in both scoring and rebounding, with 16.7 points and 4.7 boards per outing in the team's three regular-season games to date ... senior guard Rachel Roberts has 10.0 ppg and a team-high 4.0 assists per contest ... five players are averaging from 5.3 to 9.3 ppg for the Wildcats ... nine different players have hit at least one three-pointer, and the team is averaging 8.3 treys per game ... last year, head coach Harry Perretta's team went 19-15 overall and 6-10 in Big East Conference play, and advanced to the third round of the WNIT ... Perretta, in his 35th year at the helm, welcomed back nine letterwinners, including four starters, from that club.

THE SERIES
BGSU leads Villanova, 1-0, in the all-time series between the schools ... the only prior meeting came nearly 24 years ago, and – like Saturday's game – came at a neutral site ... Fran Voll's team posted a 72-55 win over the Wildcats in the first round of the Illini Classic in Champaign, Ill. (Dec. 2, 1988) ... BG went on to win that tournament with a victory over Iowa State the following day, and that Falcon squad finished 27-4 overall and a perfect 16-0 in the MAC.

UNLV / MONTANA
On Sunday, BGSU will face either host UNLV or Montana at Cox Pavilion ... a few quick notes about each team ...

• UNLV is 2-2 on the year, with wins over UC Santa Barbara and MAC member Ohio, and losses against Arizona and Maine ... Kelli Thompson (19.5 ppg, 8.8 rpg) and Alana Cesarz (18.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg) have combined to average 37.5 points and 16.0 rebounds per game for head coach Kathy Olivier ... last year, the Rebels went 22-10 overall and 10-4 in Mountain West Conference play, advancing to the WNIT.

• Montana has a 2-1 record, having defeated MSU Northern and Idaho after a season-opening loss at Temple ... Kenzie DeBoer and Torry Hill have 11.7 and 11.3 ppg, respectively, while Katie Baker has 9.7 ppg and a team-leading 6.0 rpg ... last season, the Lady Griz went 16-14 overall and 9-7 in Big Sky Conference action ... all five starters returned for coach Robin Selvig, who is in his 35th year at the Montana helm.

• BGSU has never met UNLV or Montana in women's basketball.

YOU ARE NOW FREE TO MOVE ABOUT THE COUNTRY
If travel is a good way to foster team bonding, the Falcons should be pretty well bonded any time now ... beginning with the bus trip to Niagara, the Falcons will log over 5,000 miles of travel (5,080, to be exact) in a 12-day span ... in addition to the NU trip, the Falcons headed to Purdue for a Monday (Nov. 19) game, and BGSU jets to Las Vegas, Nev., on Thanksgiving for a pair of contests in the Lady Rebel Round-Up ... that mileage total doesn't include trips to and from the hotel(s) to the arena(s), bus trips to and from the airport for the Vegas trip, or numerous coffee runs for the seniors as well as the elder members of the travel party.

THE FALCONS ARE/WERE ...
• 2-1 on the young season, after finishing with a 24-7 record last year;
• 14-2 in MAC play in 2011-12, having earned an eighth-straight division title;
• 260-93 since Jennifer Roos came to BGSU in the summer of 2001;
• 135-41 in MAC games in that time:
• 239-58 over the last nine-plus years, with 2011-12 marking BG's ninth-straight season of at least 20 wins;
• a staggering 218-48 in the past eight-plus years, with no fewer than 23 wins in eight-straight seasons and a MAC overall regular-season title in seven of those eight years (2004-10 and again in '12, after winning an East Division crown in 2011);
• an eye-popping 195-40 overall, and 100-12 in the MAC regular season, in the last seven-plus years, with at least 24 wins in each of the last seven years;
• a splendiferous 167-37 in the last six-plus years, including an 84-12 league ledger;
• a/an (insert your own adjective here) 136-33 overall, and 69-11 in MAC regular-season games, in the last five-plus seasons, since Monique Rosati came to the BGSU program;
• 110-25 overall and 56-8 in MAC action over the last four-plus winters;
• 81-20, including a 41-7 MAC ledger, since seniors Simone Eli, Allison Papenfuss and Chrissy Steffen ventured to BGSU;
• 54-13 overall and 27-5 in the MAC in the BG playing careers of senior Danielle Havel and juniors Jillian Halfhill and Jill Stein;
• 26-8 overall, and 14-2 in MAC action, since junior Alexis Rogers and sophomores Deborah Hoekstra and Jasmine Matthews first put on a BGSU uniform;
• 121-15 in the last 136 games vs. MAC foes (regular-season and tournament);
• A perfect 58-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field since 2001;
• 207-10 when having a better FG pct. than the opposition in that time, including a 79-0 mark in the last four-plus seasons;
• 199-34 when making more free throws than the opponent in the Roos Assistant-Coach/Associate-Head-Coach/Interim-Head-Coach/Head-Coaching Era;
• 159-15 when outrebounding the opponent in that 11-plus-year span;
• 59-5 in MAC home games in the last eight seasons;
• 48-8 in MAC road games over the last seven years;
• 18-3 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 trips to the semis in 2008 and 2012;
• 42-17 overall in the MAC Tournament since it was instituted in 1982;
• 20-5 at Gund/Quicken Loans Arena, the site of the MAC Tournament;
• 42-4 in all non-conference home games since the start of the 2003-04 season;
• 5-15 in 15 national postseason appearances (including a 3-11 record in the NCAA Championships and a 2-4 mark in WNIT trips);
• 4-8 in national postseason action since Roos arrived at BG (including a 2-5 mark in the NCAAs and a 2-3 record in the WNIT); and
• 15-2 in the Stroh Center, with each of the two losses coming by a single point.

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
Last season, the Falcons finished the non-conference schedule with 10 wins, marking the program's sixth consecutive year with a double-digit win total in non-league play ... BG won a total of 12 games during the non-league schedule two years ago ... that 2010-11 BGSU club broke the school – as well as the MAC – record for non-conference wins in a season ... the Falcons had never posted a double-digit non-league win total prior to '06-07 before beginning the current streak ... BG's six-season streak is a MAC record by far (by five seasons, to be exact).

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS II
The Falcons, as mentioned, have posted a double-digit win total in non-conference play in six consecutive seasons, a MAC record ... no other MAC team has ever had back-to-back seasons with double-digit non-league victory totals ... in fact, no other MAC program has had more than two total years, consecutive or non-consecutive, in league history ... the complete list ...
10-WIN NON-CONFERENCE SEASONS, MAC TEAMS
No. School         Years (Wins)
6    BGSU           2006-07 (11) // 2007-08 (11) // 2008-09 (11) // 2009-10 (10) // 2010-11 (12) // 2011-12 (10)
2    Eastern Mich. 2004-05 (10) // 2009-10 (10)
1    Kent State     2008-09 (11)
1    Miami          2011-12 (10)
1    Toledo         2009-10 (10)

THIS SEASON'S JUST STARTING, BUT WHAT ABOUT NEXT SEASON?
The 2012-13 season just got underway, but the Falcons already have plans for '13-14 ... BGSU will take part in the 2013 Basketball Hall of Fame Challenge, playing a total of four games in the NCAA women's exempt tournament ... the Falcons' first three games in the tourney will take place in Columbus, as BGSU will play Ohio State, Marist and Monmouth on three consecutive days in late November of 2013 ... then, on Dec. 1, 2013, all eight teams in the tournament will head to Springfield, Mass., for the final day of action ... the Falcons will take on Saint Bonaventure as part of the neutral-site showcase at the MassMutual Center.

UP NEXT
Following the Las Vegas trip, the Falcons return home to play three-straight games at the Stroh Center ... the Brown and Orange will host Temple on Wednesday (Nov. 28) in a 7:00 p.m. start ... then, BG will face Colorado State (Dec. 1) and Butler (Dec. 5) before heading to Northwestern for a Dec. 9 game.

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