Falcons, Toledo Meet Sunday Afternoon at the Stroh Center

Katrina Salinas vs Kent State - Bianca Garza photo

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, coming off a 36-point win in the Mid-American Conference opener, renews the 'Battle of I-75' this weekend ... the Falcons of head coach Jennifer Roos continue a season-long five-game homestand with a Sunday (Jan. 13) contest vs. the University of Toledo ... tipoff is set for shortly after 2:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center (4,347) ... the game, part of the MAC's television package, will be aired by SportsTime Ohio, with Mike Cairns and Jacki Windon on the call ... the BG-UT game also will be available on the web on ESPN3.

QUICK HITS
• The Falcons opened MAC play with a 69-33 win over Kent State on Thursday night (Jan. 10) at the Stroh Center ... KSU's total marked the fewest points the Falcons had allowed in a game in six years, since a 61-32 win at Akron on Jan. 3, 2007 ... that UA game, like Thursday's KSU contest, was the MAC opener.

• The Flashes' 33 points also represented the fewest allowed by BGSU against the Golden Flashes since the 1973-74 season, in a 77-30 BG victory.

• Of the 10 Falcons to see action in Thursday's KSU game, all played at least 14 minutes, but none played more than 24.

• Junior Katrina Salinas led the Brown and Orange with 24 minutes played ... Salinas and sophomore Deborah Hoekstra tied for team honors with 12 points apiece – the most of their respective BGSU careers – vs. the Golden Flashes.

• With Hoekstra and Salinas each scoring 12 points vs. KSU, all 11 of the BGSU players who have seen action this season have hit double digits in the scoring column at least once in 2012-13.

• BGSU enters Sunday's game with an all-time record of 363-147 (.712) in MAC regular-season contests ... the Falcons have the most conference wins and highest winning percentage of all league institutions, and BG leads the series with each of the other 11 schools.

• The Falcons lead Toledo, 41-28, in that series ... but, the Rockets have won the last two games and the last three regular-season meetings ... three years ago, Toledo picked up a 66-63 win at Savage Arena before a crowd of over 5,800 (Jan. 30, 2010) ... that win snapped a 12-game BGSU series winning streak ... the Falcons won the rematch, with a 62-53 triumph in the championship game of the MAC Tournament (March 13, 2010) ... but, the Rockets escaped Anderson Arena with a 66-65 win over the Falcons two years ago (Jan. 26, 2011), then won another narrow decision, 52-50, last season at Savage (Feb. 11, 2012).

• Overall, Toledo has won back-to-back games vs. the Falcons for the first time since the Rockets captured three-straight series wins from March of 2001 to January, 2003 ... that streak included the last game of the Dee Knoblauch Era as well as the Falcons' first two meetings with their arch-rivals under head coach Curt Miller.

• Yes, BGSU fans, that person on the Toledo bench DOES look familiar ... Jessica Slagle, a four-year standout with the Falcons, is enrolled in graduate school at Toledo, and is a graduate assistant manager for the Rocket women's basketball squad ... Slagle helped the Falcons to an overall record of 108-24 and a MAC regular-season mark of 56-8 during her tenure (2008-12).

• Thursday's win over Kent State gives the Falcons a record of 9-3 in MAC home-opening games in the Roos Era ... BGSU has won the last eight such contests ... the team's last loss in the conference home opener came on Jan. 12, 2005, a narrow 51-48 setback to Eastern Michigan ... over the last eight seasons, BG has won the MAC home opener by an average of 24.3 points per game ... the Falcons' lone single-digit win in that time came four years ago (Jan. 14, 2009), an 87-79 win over Miami ... four of those eight wins have been by more than 30 points.

• Hoekstra set career bests in a multitude of categories vs. the Golden Flashes ... she scored 12 points after entering the game with a total of five points on the season and 30 in her BGSU career.

• Hoekstra went 4-of-6 from three-point land vs. KSU, matching her career total for three-point field goals made ... the East Lansing, Mich., native had been 0-for-3 from beyond the arc this season and 4-of-21 in her career.

• Hoekstra's previous career highs for both points and three-pointers had come in the Falcons' last meeting vs. Kent State ... she had eight points, including a pair of long-range makes, in BG's 91-48 win on the last night of the 2011-12 regular season in Kent, Ohio (Feb. 28, 2012).

• Hoekstra also set career standards in minutes played (23) and field goals made (four) on Thursday night, and she tied her previous bests in both assists (two) and blocked shots (one) ... the only prior block in her career came in KSU's only prior visit to the Stroh Center, on Jan. 4, 2012.

• Salinas, a first-year transfer, had the best statistical game of her BGSU career to date ... the Sacramento native doubled her previous best point total (six in the Niagara game), and also set season standards in field goals made (four) and attempted (10), three-pointers made (two) and minutes played (24) ... she doubled her previous bests in all categories but minutes, and nearly doubled her prior best (13) in that column.

• Freshman Miriam Justinger made the first start of her collegiate career in the Kent State game, and responded with nine points and three assists in 22 minutes ... Justinger amassed nearly all of her stats in the first half as the Falcons built a 35-14 halftime lead.

• While Justinger helped the Falcons to that three-touchdown advantage at the half, senior Allison Papenfuss helped ensure that there would be no comeback ... Papenfuss, like Justinger a Northwest Ohio native, had 10 points, eight rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots in the game, tying her career bests in each of the last two categories ... she had nine points, eight boards, three blocks and a steal in the second half alone.

• Hoekstra and Salinas tied for the team scoring lead vs. KSU ... nine different played have either led the Falcons in scoring, or tied for the team lead, in at least one game this season.

• The BGSU bench combined to score a season-high 40 points vs. the Flashes ... not only did the Falcon bench outscore their KSU counterparts by a 40-6 margin; the BG reserves also outscored the BG starters (who had 29 points), along with the entire Kent State team.

• A few other stats from the KSU game ... BGSU had 16 assists and nine turnovers, with nine different Falcons recording at least one assist ... by contrast, the Flashes had just five assists and 18 turnovers ... BG had a 25-6 advantage in points off turnovers on the night ... the Falcons also had a season-high seven blocked shots.

• The Falcons posted a winning record in non-conference play for the 11th consecutive season, going 9-4 ... however, BG ended non-league action with a 59-56 loss to UCF at the Stroh Center on Jan. 4.

• Although the Falcons continued the streak of winning non-league records, another streak came to an end ... BGSU did not post a double-digit win total in non-conference play, ending the Falcons' streak at a MAC-record six consecutive seasons ... the Falcons had at least 10 non-league victories in every season from 2006-07 to 2011-12 ... no other MAC program has had more than two years, consecutive or non-consecutive, in league history.

• BGSU's six total seasons of 10 or more non-league wins is by far the most in MAC annals ... the complete list of seasons with double-digit non-conference wins is as follows: BGSU 6; Eastern Michigan and Toledo 2; Kent State and Miami 1.

• The 60-point mark has proven to be a barometer of BGSU's success in the season's first 14 games ... the Falcons have a record of 10-0 when scoring 60 or more points this year, and BG is 0-4 when the offense is held under the 60-point mark.

DOING IT WITH DEFENSE
• BGSU held Kent State to just 33 points, the lowest total by a Falcon opponent in six years, on Thursday night ... in the season's first 14 games, BG has held the opposition to fewer than 60 points nine times ... that includes five games of less than 50 points, and two contests – a 60-37 win at Northwestern and Thursday's KSU game – in which the opponent has not reached 40 points.

• On Dec. 1, the Falcons held Colorado State to just four successful field goals in the first half ... that marked the lowest FGM total for a BG opponent in a half in five years ... beginning with that CSU game, however, the Falcons have held an opponent to just four field goals in a half four times over the last eight games.

• The Falcons allowed KSU to hit two field goals in the first 1:47 of Thursday's contest ... but, BG then permitted the Flashes to make just two more buckets over the final 18-plus minutes of the half.

• In fact, the BGSU defense held Kent State without a field goal for a stretch of 15:03 ... after KSU's Ashley Evans made a three-pointer with 9:42 left in the first half, the Flashes would not make another basket until 14:39 remained in the game.

• Kent State shot 22.2 percent from the field and 24.0% for the game ... the latter figure is a season low for a BG opponent ... the Falcons have now held three teams – Northwestern, nationally-ranked Dayton and KSU – to less than 30% shooting over the last six games.

FALCONS VS. THE MAC
The Falcons, entering the Toledo game, continue to own the best record in MAC history ... BGSU has an all-time record of 363-147 (.712) in MAC regular-season contests, for 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 ... BG also has the most overall wins (702) and highest overall winning percentage (.648) of any conference women's basketball-playing institution.

BG WINNING THE BATTLE OF THE BOARDS
• The Falcons have won the rebounding battle in 12 of the season's first 14 games, including each of the last eight games ... and, BGSU has pulled down at least six more boards than the opponent in nine of those 12 contests ... the Falcons have posted a double-digit advantage on the glass three times this season ... on the year, the Falcons have a MAC-best rebounding margin of +5.6.

• BGSU has a total of 185 offensive rebounds (13.2 per game) this season, and has turned many of those offensive boards into points ... the Falcons have had more second-chance points than the opponent in 11 of this season's 14 games (including in each of the last six games), and that category was tied on one occasion.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the Toledo game with an overall record of 10-4 on the season ... BGSU is 1-0 in the MAC after a 69-33 win over Kent State on Thursday night (Jan. 10) ... that win came after a rare home loss; a 59-56 setback against UCF in the final non-conference game (Jan. 4).

• The loss to UCF snapped a six-game winning streak which coincided with the month of December ... the Falcons capped off that win streak with a 65-40 win over #14/15 Dayton (Dec. 30).

• BG had begun the month with home victories over Colorado State (71-49; Dec. 1) and Butler (67-47; Dec. 5) ... the Brown and Orange then recorded a third-straight win of 20-plus points, downing Northwestern, 60-37, in Chicagoland (Dec. 9) ... BG returned home to post a 79-69 win over Wyoming (Dec. 16), and won a 64-61 decision at Massachusetts (Dec. 19) prior to breaking for the holidays.

• BGSU opened the 2012-13 campaign with a 68-57 win over Madonna at the Stroh (Nov. 10), then hit the road and bested Niagara, 79-74 (Nov. 15) ... BG then suffered back-to-back losses at Purdue (45-59; Nov. 19) and against Villanova, with the latter setback coming by a 53-42 score in Las Vegas (Nov. 24).

• The Brown and Orange bounced back with a 64-54 win over host UNLV (Nov. 25), before falling to Temple, 70-56, at the Stroh (Nov. 28) ... again, though, after losing to a Philadelphia Big Five school, the Falcons responded with a win over a Mountain West Conference foe, as BG topped CSU to begin the aforementioned six-game win streak.

• The Falcons are 6-2 at home, 4-1 on the road and 0-1 in neutral-site games this season to date ... BGSU has a scoring margin of +8.8, and the Falcons lead the MAC in rebounding margin, at +5.6.

• Individually, senior Chrissy Steffen paces a balanced Falcon scoring attack, with 12.0 points per game ... Steffen also averages 4.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists per contest, and she leads the Brown and Orange with 23 successful three-point field goals this season ... the senior is shooting a team-best 45.3% from the floor.

• Redshirt junior Alexis Rogers and true junior Jillian Halfhill have 10.7 and 9.1 ppg, respectively ... Rogers has a team-leading 6.5 rpg, and she also leads BGSU in steals (2.2 spg) ... Halfhill has 5.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists per contest, leading the team in helpers and tying for second in boards.

• Fifth-year senior Danielle Havel has 7.5 ppg, and is near the top of the team lists in numerous categories ... she is second on the Falcons in assists (2.4 apg) and tied for second in rebounds (5.2 rpg), and she is also tied for second on the Brown and Orange in blocked shots ... Havel is second on the Falcons in field-goal pct. (44.3%).

• Sophomore Jasmine Matthews has 5.7 ppg, while freshman Miriam Justinger averages 4.9 ppg ... Matthews, who missed the KSU game, is second on the Falcons in three-pointers, having hit 17 long-range attempts on the season ... Justinger is 7-of-16 (43.8%) from three-point land and 26-of-32 (81.3%) from the free-throw line this year to date ... she leads the team in FT pct.

• Senior Allison Papenfuss and junior Jill Stein have 4.4 and 4.1 ppg, respectively, this season ... Stein has 4.2 rebounds per contest, while Papenfuss has 3.6 rpg ... Papenfuss leads the Falcons with nine blocked shots, while Stein and Havel have eight apiece.

• Freshman Bailey Cairnduff averages 2.9 points per outing, and has made seven three-pointers this season to tie for fifth on the Falcons ... junior Katrina Salinas is averaging 2.7 ppg in her first season at BGSU, while sophomore Deborah Hoekstra has played in seven games and is averaging 2.4 ppg ... Hoekstra and Salinas each had 12 points to share game scoring honors against Kent State.

• Each of the aforementioned 11 players has scored in double digits at least once this season.

• Seven players have seen action in all 14 games this year ... that list includes Halfhill, Havel, Justinger, Papenfuss, Salinas, Steffen and Stein ... Rogers has played in 13 games, with Cairnduff and Matthews seeing action in 12 and Hoekstra seven ... senior Simone Eli is currently sidelined due to injury and has yet to see game action this season.

• Halfhill, Havel and Steffen each have started all 14 games to date, while Rogers has made 13 starts ... Cairnduff started the first four games of the season, while Matthews was in the starting lineup for each of the next nine contests ... Justinger made her first collegiate start in Thursday's KSU game.

• Head coach Jennifer 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, Steffen and Rogers, were selected to the Preseason All-MAC Team in 2012-13.

• Havel, Rogers and Steffen each started all 31 games a year ago, while Matthews made 21 starts as a freshman ... Halfhill played in all 31 games last year, starting the first 10.

• The Falcons are shooting .382 from the field, and BG is .323 from three-point range and .735 from the free-throw line through the first 14 games ... the opponents have shot .379 from the floor, .283 from beyond the arc and .674 from the stripe.

A QUICK LOOK AT TOLEDO
Toledo has a record of 12-2 on the season, but the Rockets saw an 11-game winning streak come to an end with a 73-66 loss to visiting Central Michigan in the MAC opener on Thursday night (Jan. 10) ... despite the loss, UT is off to the second-best start in school history ... the Rockets lead the MAC in turnover margin (+5.4), assist/turnover ratio (1.1) and steals (11.1 spg) ... UT is 6-1 at home, 4-1 on the road and 2-0 in neutral-site games to date ... individually, fifth-year senior guard Naama Shafir leads the veteran Rockets with 12.7 points and 5.4 assists per game ... junior guard Andola Dortch and senior center Yolanda Richardson have 10.8 and 9.9 ppg, respectively, while sophomore forward Inma Zanoguera has 9.1 ppg ... Richardson is shooting 59.1% from the floor, and leads the club with 6.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocked shots per game, while Zanoguera has 5.5 rpg ... Dortch has 4.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and a team-leading 2.7 steals ... senior forward Lecretia Smith (6.8 ppg) rounds out the probable starting five for fifth-year head coach Tricia Cullop ... Cullop welcomed back 11 letterwinners, including four starters, from last year's club ... the 2011-12 Rockets went 24-10 overall and tied for the MAC's West Division title with a 13-3 league ledger.

THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Toledo, 41-28, in the all-time series between the teams, but the Rockets have won three of the last four meetings ... the last three regular-season matchups have been decided by a total of six points ... last year, the Rockets rallied for a 52-50 win over the Brown and Orange at Savage Arena (Feb. 11, 2012) ... two years ago, Toledo escaped Anderson Arena with a 66-65 win over the Falcons (Jan. 26, 2011) ... three seasons ago, UT picked up a 66-63 win at Savage, before a crowd of over 5,800 (Jan. 30, 2010) ... that win snapped a 12-game BGSU series winning streak ... but, the Falcons won the rematch, with a 62-53 triumph in the championship game of the 2010 MAC Tournament (March 13, 2010) in downtown Cleveland ... BGSU is 20-8 in home games, 13-17 in road contests and 8-3 in neutral-site meetings vs. the Rockets through the years ... Jennifer Roos is meeting Toledo for the first time as a collegiate head coach.

UP NEXT
Following the Toledo game, the Falcons will conclude a stretch of three games in seven days with a Wednesday (Jan. 16) contest vs. Ball State ... that game will also wrap up a season-long five-game homestand, and will begin at 7:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center ... then, the Falcons will play seven of the next nine contests on the road, beginning with a game at Ohio on Sunday, Jan. 20.

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