Bowling Green State University Athletics
Wednesday, January 16
Bowling Green, OH
7:00 PM
Bowling Green State University
vs
Ball State
BG Hosts Ball State Wednesday Night
January 15, 2013 | Women's Basketball
Falcons close five-game homestand with MAC cross-divisional matchup
KIDS ADMITTED FREE
All kids ages 12 and under will be admitted free to Wednesday night's game ... kids must go to the ticket window to receive a free ticket, and all free tickets will be for sections 108, 109 and 110 ... this offer will be extended for all midweek men's and women's basketball games throughout the remainder of the season.
BGSU NOTES | BALL STATE NOTES | 2012-13 BGSU MEDIA GUIDE
WEDNESDAY'S GAME: Watch | Listen | Live Stats | Tickets
QUICK HITS
• The Ball State game is the fifth and final contest in a season-long homestand for the Falcons ... BGSU has not played on the road since a Dec. 19 win over Massachusetts, but the Brown and Orange will spend a great deal of time on the road over the last half of January and the first half of February ... beginning with Sunday's (Jan. 20) game at Ohio University, BG will play six road contests in an eight-game span.
• BGSU's defense has been solid in the first two MAC games, to say the least ... the Falcons are allowing just 40.5 points per game in league play, and BG has allowed the opponents – Kent State and Toledo – to shoot a combined 28.7 percent from the field.
• The Falcons, however, struggled at the offensive end against UT in a 48-38 loss on Sunday afternoon (Jan. 13) at the Stroh Center ... the Rockets held the Brown and Orange to just 11 field goals and a 22.4% success rate ... still, the visitors held just a one-point lead with under four minutes to go.
• BGSU missed a potential game-tying three-point try with under three minutes to go, and when Toledo banked home a three-pointer late in the shot clock, the Rockets had a six-point lead with 1:56 remaining ... Toledo went 6-of-8 at the free-throw line in the last minute of play to make the final margin a deceptive 10 points.
• Junior Jillian Halfhill led the Falcons with 13 points against the Rockets, scoring all 13 in the second half ... Halfhill and senior Chrissy Steffen were the only two BG players to find the scoresheet after halftime on Sunday.
• The UT game came three days after the Falcons had opened the MAC schedule 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.
• The Falcons' 38-point total in the Toledo game, though, was BG's lowest since the 2011-12 season opener, a 69-38 setback at Dayton (Nov. 11, 2011).
• BG made just six first-half field goals against Toledo, and the Falcons hit only five shots in the second period ... in the first half, BG missed six-straight shots to start the game, made three of the next five field-goal attempts, missed 12 more shots, then went 3-for-3 to end the period ... in the second period, Halfhill was the only Falcon to score in the first 16-plus minutes.
• BGSU enters Wednesday's Ball State game with an all-time record of 363-148 (.710) 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.
• Junior Katrina Salinas and sophomore Deborah Hoekstra tied for team honors with 12 points apiece – the most of their respective BGSU careers – in the Kent State game ... 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.
• 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's minutes-played total was the most of her BG career to that point, but she obliterated that figure with 33 minutes on the court vs. Toledo ... Justinger is averaging a team-high 27.5 minutes per game in MAC play after averaging 12.5 mpg in the Falcons' 13 non-conference contests.
• The 60-point mark has proven to be a barometer of BGSU's success in the season's first 15 games ... the Falcons have a record of 10-0 when scoring 60 or more points this year, and BG is 0-5 when the offense is held under the 60-point mark.
• The BG-UT game drew a crowd of 3,327, the highest total for a BGSU women's basketball game in the brief history of the Stroh Center ... the highest attendance for a women's basketball event at the Stroh is 4,205 for the first round of the 2012 NCAA Championships (March 18, 2012), when Ohio State played Florida and Baylor took on UC-Santa Barbara ... the second-round game between Florida and Baylor (March 20, 2012) saw 4,097 walk through the Stroh Center doors.
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 ... and, in the loss to UT three days later, BG limited the Rockets to only 48 points ... in the season's first 15 games, BG has held the opposition to fewer than 60 points 10 times ... that includes six 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 in the next 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.
• BG also held UT without a hoop for a lengthy stretch in the middle of the game ... the Rockets did not score a point for a span of 6:45, including the last 2:53 of the opening half and the first 3:52 of the second period.
• Kent State shot 22.2 percent from the field and 24.0% for the game on Thursday ... the latter figure represents a season low for a BG opponent ... the Falcons have held three teams – Northwestern, nationally-ranked Dayton and KSU – to less than 30% shooting over the last seven games.
FALCONS VS. THE MAC
The Falcons, entering the Ball State game, continue to own the best record in MAC history ... BGSU has an all-time record of 363-148 (.710) 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.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the Ball State game with an overall record of 10-5 on the season ... BGSU is 1-1 in the MAC after a 48-38 loss to Toledo on Sunday afternoon (Jan. 13) ... the Falcons have gone 1-2 to begin the month of January, losing by a 59-56 count to UCF in the final conference game (Jan. 4), before opening MAC play with a 69-33 win over Kent State on Thursday (Jan. 10).
• The loss to UCF snapped a six-game winning streak which coincided with the month of December ... the Falcons capped that win streak with a 65-40 win over #14/15 Dayton (Dec. 30).
• The Falcons are 6-3 at home, 4-1 on the road and 0-1 in neutral-site games this season to date ... BGSU has a scoring margin of +7.5, and the Falcons lead the MAC in rebounding margin, at +4.2.
• Individually, senior Chrissy Steffen paces a balanced Falcon scoring attack, with 11.7 points per game ... Steffen also averages 4.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists per contest, and she leads the Brown and Orange with 24 successful three-point field goals this season ... the senior is shooting a team-best 43.8% from the floor.
• Redshirt junior Alexis Rogers and true junior Jillian Halfhill have 10.3 and 9.4 ppg, respectively ... Rogers has a team-leading 6.5 rpg, and she also leads BGSU in steals (2.2 spg) ... Halfhill has 4.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists per contest, leading the team in helpers and ranking third in boards.
• Fifth-year senior Danielle Havel has 7.0 ppg, and is near the top of the team lists in numerous categories ... she is second on the Falcons in both rebounds (5.1 rpg) and assists (2.3 apg), and she paces the Brown and Orange in blocked shots ... Havel is second on the Falcons in field-goal pct.
• Sophomore Jasmine Matthews has 5.5 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-17 (41.2%) from three-point land and 28-of-34 (82.4%) from the free-throw line this year to date ... she leads the team in FT pct. by a slim margin over Steffen.
• Senior Allison Papenfuss and junior Jill Stein have 4.2 and 3.8 ppg, respectively, this season ... Stein has 4.1 rebounds per contest, while Papenfuss has 3.6 rpg ... Papenfuss ranks second on the Falcons with nine blocked shots, while Stein has eight this year to rank third.
• 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 eight games and is averaging 2.1 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 15 games this year ... that list includes Halfhill, Havel, Justinger, Papenfuss, Salinas, Steffen and Stein ... Rogers has played in 14 games, with Matthews seeing action in 13, Cairnduff 12 and Hoekstra eight ... 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 15 games to date, while Rogers has made 14 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 the KSU game, and also was in the starting five vs. Toledo.
• 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.
• The Falcons are shooting .373 from the field, and BG is .318 from three-point range and .726 from the free-throw line through the first 15 games ... the opponents have shot .376 from the floor, .272 from beyond the arc and .680 from the stripe.
A QUICK LOOK AT BALL STATE
Ball State has a record of 5-10 on the season, but the Cardinals are off to a 2-0 start in MAC play ... BSU downed preseason East Division favorite Miami, 62-59, in the league opener (Jan. 10), before going on the road and picking up a 57-51 win over Northern Illinois Sunday (Jan. 13) ... the Cards had dropped seven of eight games to end non-conference play ... Ball State is 3-4 at home and 2-6 on the road this season to date ... individually, freshman guard Nathalie Fontaine leads the Cardinals in scoring, with 13.3 points per game, while junior guard Brandy Woody joins Fontaine in double figures ... Woody averages 10.7 ppg and a team-best 3.7 assists per outing ... sophomore guard Brittany Carter and junior forward Katie Murphy are averaging 9.5 and 8.9 ppg, respectively, with Murphy pulling down a team-leading 6.6 rebounds per game ... Fontaine has 6.3 rpg, while Woody has 5.3 boards per contest ... sophomore guard Shelbie Justice (7.5 ppg) joins the aforementioned quartet in the probable starting lineup for head coach Brady Sallee ... Sallee, in his first year at BSU after eight seasons at the Eastern Illinois helm, inherited six letterwinners from last year's club ... the 2011-12 Cardinals went 9-21 overall and finished with a 4-12 MAC ledger.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Ball State, 42-14, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU has captured three consecutive series meetings ... last year, the Brown and Orange posted a 63-52 victory in Muncie (Jan. 25, 2012) ... two seasons ago, in BSU's last visit to Bowling Green, the Falcons picked up a 61-46 win at Anderson Arena (Feb. 5, 2011) ... Wednesday will mark BSU's first game in the Stroh Center ... BGSU is 23-2 in home games, 17-10 in road contests and 2-2 in neutral-site meetings vs. the Cardinals through the years ... Jennifer Roos is meeting Ball State for the first time as a collegiate head coach.
THEY'RE FREE, YOU KNOW
If the first 15 games are any indication, the 2012-13 Falcons are continuing an impressive program trend of getting to the line waaaaay more often than the other team ... BGSU has made a total of 209 free throws this season to date ... that total is three more than the opponents have attempted ... BG has made more tosses than the foes have attempted in three of the last four years ... and, the Falcons' total of free throws made has been at least 100 higher than the opponents' FTM total in each of the last seven seasons ... the 2002-03 season was the last time the opposition made, or attempted, more free throws than BG.
UP NEXT
Following the Ball State game, the Falcons will take to the road for the first time in MAC play ... BGSU will meet Ohio University on Sunday afternoon (Jan. 20) in Athens, with tipoff set for 2:00 p.m. ... then, following a home game vs. Miami on Jan. 24, the Brown and Orange will play five of the next six games on the road.
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