Bowling Green State University Athletics
Monday, November 18
Indianapolis, IN
7:00 PM
Bowling Green State University
at
Butler
BGSU Battles Butler Monday Night
November 17, 2013 | Women's Basketball
Falcons, looking for 4-0 start, venture to Indianapolis
BGSU NOTES & STATISTICS - PDF
BGSU-BUTLER IN A NUTSHELL
• The Falcons are 3-0 on the young season. BGSU picked up a pair of wins at the Iona Tip-Off Tournament to open the season, defeating Michigan, 63-52 (Nov. 8), and topping host Iona by a 51-50 final the following afternoon (Nov. 9). On Friday night (Nov. 15), BGSU began the home portion of the schedule with a 90-58 win over Niagara at the Stroh Center.
• Butler is 1-2 on the year, with both losses coming in overtime. The Bulldogs downed Cleveland State by 16 points in the season opener, then lost on the road at Eastern Michigan and at home to Saint Mary's (Calif.), with each of the latter two games requiring 45 minutes.
• The Falcons hold a 4-3 lead in the series between the teams, and BGSU has captured the last three meetings. The teams have split the two previous games at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
LAST TIME OUT: FALCONS ROLL TO 90-58 WIN IN HOME OPENER
• Redshirt sophomore Erica Donovan had a game-high 20 points, pacing five BGSU double-digit scorers, as the Falcons rolled to a 90-58 win over Niagara Friday evening (Nov. 15) at the Stroh Center.
• Junior Deborah Hoekstra had 15 points in the win, while senior Jillian Halfhill chipped in with 13. Freshman Rachel Konieczki scored 11 points and junior Jasmine Matthews 10.
• For the second time in three games this season to date, the Falcons never trailed. With the game tied, 2-2, BGSU scored the next eight points of the night to take the lead for good. That lead grew as high as 13 points midway through the first half, before the Purple Eagles whittled their deficit down to four points in just over three minutes. But, the Falcons extended the margin to 14 points at the half, then scored the first five points of the second period to take a 53-34 lead.
• Konieczki's jumper with 13 minutes to go put the hosts ahead by 25, and BG took a 30-point lead on a Hoekstra three-pointer with just under nine minutes remaining.
• The Falcons more than doubled up the visitors on the glass, with 49 rebounds to Niagara's 23. BG had 20 offensive boards, leading to a 23-2 advantage in second-chance points. Senior Jill Stein had a game-high 11 rebounds, including four at the offensive end of the floor, while six of Donovan's seven total rebounds came on offense.
• The Falcons also made 30 free throws in 41 attempts on the night, as a total of 48 fouls were called in the game. NU went 18-of-21 from the stripe on Friday.
• BG had a 22-8 advantage in points off turnovers for the game, including a 16-2 margin in the first half. Niagara shot 57.9 percent from the field in that opening half, going 11-of-19 from the floor, but the Purple Eagles turned the ball over 15 times in the period.
QUICK HITS
• BGSU is off to a 3-0 start for the first time in six years, since the 2007-08 club won the first six games of the season.
• The Falcons scored 90 points in the Niagara game on Friday night (Nov. 15), reaching that total for the first time in over a year. The Brown and Orange last hit the 90-point plateau on Feb. 28, 2012, in a 91-48 road win vs. Kent State.
• Multiple Falcons set career scoring standards in the Niagara match. Redshirt sophomore Erica Donovan had a career-high 20 points vs. the Purple Eagles. The North Carolina State University transfer reached double digits for the seventh time in her career, and the second time in three games as a Falcon.
• Junior Deborah Hoekstra set a career best with 15 points vs. Niagara, while freshman Rachel Konieczki had 11 points for a new career standard.
• Senior Jill Stein tied her career high with 11 rebounds vs. NU. She had two double-digit rebounding games in her first three years with the Falcons, but now has had double-figure totals in that category in two of this year's first three games.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the Butler game with a record of 3-0 on the young season. BGSU is undefeated after three games for the seventh time in school history.
• BGSU posted wins over Michigan and Iona at the latter school's Iona Tip-Off Tournament in New Rochelle, N.Y. (Nov. 8-9), then opened the home schedule with a 90-58 victory over Niagara at the Stroh Center Friday night (Nov. 15).
• Through three games, redshirt sophomore Erica Donovan leads the team in scoring, with 14.0 points per game. Senior Jillian Halfhill is right behind, with 13.7 ppg. Donovan is third on the Falcons wth 5.7 rebounds per game, and she is shooting a BG-best 53.6 percent from the field.
• Halfhill has 4.0 rpg along with 4.0 assists per game, ranking second on the team in the latter category. Fifth-year senior Alexis Rogers has 9.3 ppg and 8.3 rpg this season to date, while sophomore Miriam Justinger has 7.3 ppg. Justinger has 3.0 rpg, and she leads the team with 4.3 assists per outing.
• Four other Falcons are averaging between five and six points per game. That list includes junior Jasmine Matthews (6.0 ppg), senior Jill Stein (5.7 ppg), freshman Rachel Konieczki and junior Deborah Hoekstra (5.0 ppg apiece). Stein leads the Falcons with 10.3 rebounds per game.
• Freshman Abby Siefker is averaging 2.0 ppg to date, while classmate Kennedy Kirkpatrick has seen action in one game off the bench.
• Head coach Jennifer Roos and her staff welcomed back seven letterwinners from a year ago, and the program also has added seven newcomers – five to the roster and two to the coaching staff.
• The returnees include three starters from last season in Halfhill, Justinger and Rogers, along with Hoekstra, Matthews, Stein and senior Katrina Salinas. Salinas suffered an injury in practice prior to the team's trip to Iona, and is expected to miss the entire 2013-14 season.
• The Falcons' newcomers to the floor include Donovan – who practiced with the team in 2012-13, sitting out the year as a transfer from North Carolina State – as well as four freshmen. That group includes Kirkpatrick, Konieczki, Siefker and Leah Bolton. Bolton, currently sidelined due to injury, has yet to see action for the Brown and Orange.
• Through three games, the Falcons are shooting 43.3 percent from the field, 30.8% from three-point range and just 63.2% from the foul line. Opponents are shooting 36.5% from the field, an even 30.0% from the arc and 83.8% from the stripe.
BENCH PRODUCTION
With several players out due to injury, the Falcons had just nine players in uniform for Friday's Niagara game. The five starters combined to score 50 points in the win, with the other four healthy players scoring a total of 40 points off of the bench. Three of those bench players – juniors Deborah Hoekstra and Jasmine Matthews and freshman Rachel Konieczki – hit double digits in the scoring column, while freshman Abby Siefker had four points, the highest total of her young career.
THAT'S THE MOST SINCE...
The Niagara game marked the first time the Falcons got 40 points from players off the bench since last season's MAC Tournament first-round game vs. Kent State. In fact, the Falcons scored a season-high 40 points in the 2012-13 regular-season meeting vs. KSU, then matched that total in the league tourney game vs. the Golden Flashes. Prior to Friday night's NU game, BG's last three games with 40 or more bench points had come vs. Kent State.
...AND WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME...?
BGSU enjoyed a whopping 49-23 rebounding advantage against Niagara. The last time the Falcons had doubled up the opponent in that category came against Madonna on Dec. 21, 2011. That Madonna game also marked the last time BG had a rebounding margin as high as +26. BG outboarded MU by a 60-27 count (+33) in that game.
...BUT WHAT ABOUT...?
Prior to the NU game, BG had not rebounded a Division-I opponent by as many as 26 since Nov. 17, 2010 (56-30 vs. Youngstown State, in an 86-40 win).
TAKE SOME, THEY'RE FREE
• The Falcons struggled at the free-throw line in the first two games of the season, but BG got to the line often, and hit a great many shots, vs. Niagara. The Brown and Orange went 30-of-41 from the stripe, for a 73.2% success rate.
• The Falcons' FTM and FTA totals were the team's highest in over a year, since BG was 34-of-41 from the line vs. Miami on Feb. 25, 2012.
• Last year, BGSU's season-high totals in free throws made and attempted came in the Niagara game, as the Falcons were 29-of-37 from the line. In the two series meetings with the Purple Eagles, BG has gone 59-for-78 from the stripe.
TOP 12 IN THE LAST FIVE
The NCAA has compiled its annual lists of the winningest Division-I teams over the last five years, and Bowling Green ranks in the top 12 on both lists. BGSU has won a total of 132 games during that span (from the start of the 2008-09 season through the end of 2012-13), and the Falcons have won 79 percent of the time over the last five seasons. During that time, the Falcons' winning percentage is the 10th-highest among all NCAA Division-I programs, and the team's win total is the 12th-best in the nation. It's also worth noting that the last five years do not include the Falcons' 31 wins en route to the NCAA Championships Round of 16, which came seven years ago, in 2006-07. The lists – sorted by both winning percentage and total wins – can be found in the PDF version of these notes.
DEFENSE!
• During her time as an assistant coach at BGSU, Jennifer Roos served as the team's defensive coordinator. The team enjoyed great success at the defensive end of the floor, and that success continued in her first season as head coach. In 2012-13, Roos and assistant coach Jesse Fleming helped the Falcons set a school record for fewest points allowed per game – 54.3 – breaking the record set the previous year.
• Last year's team also set new school records for fewest points allowed and lowest opponent field-goal percentage allowed in MAC games. In the 16 conference contests, league foes averaged just 51.9 points and shot only 36.1% from the floor.
• Those trends have continued as the 2013-14 season has gotten underway. In the first three games, BGSU has allowed 53.3 points per game and permitted the opponents to shoot just 36.5% from the field.
• At Iona, the Falcons allowed 52 points to a Michigan team that scored 73 points the next day. Then, BG faced an Iona club that scored 82 points on Friday, and the Brown and Orange limited the Gaels to only 50 points.
• Iona's Damika Martinez, the MAAC Player of the Year, scored 25 points, but had to work hard for every point she got. The BG defense – and sophomore Miriam Justinger in particular – hounded Martinez all day, and she needed 22 shots to get those 25 points.
• In addition to Justinger, junior Jasmine Matthews spent some time guarding Martinez on the afternoon.
THE BUTLER BULLDOGS
Butler is 1-2 on the young season, having suffered a pair of overtime losses the last two times out. After an 85-69 win over Cleveland State in the season opener, the Bulldogs dropped an 81-76 overtime decision at Eastern Michigan, then lost at home to Saint Mary's (Calif.), 90-86 in OT, on Saturday (Nov. 16). The Bulldogs have averaged 82.3 points per game in the first three games while allowing an even 80.0 ppg. Three players are averaging at least 15 points, led by junior center Liz Stratman. Stratman has team-leading averages of 16.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Junior guard Taylor Schippers and senior G/F Daress McClung have 15.3 and 15.0 ppg, respectively. Head coach Beth Couture welcomed back nine letterwinners, including three starters, from last year's team. The 2012-13 edition of the Bulldogs went 17-14 overall and 8-6 in league play in the team's lone season in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Butler is now a member of the Big East Conference. BU was picked to finish seventh in the Big East in 2013-14.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Butler, 4-3, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU has won the last three meetings. Last season, the Falcons used a fast second-half start to break open a close game en route to a 67-47 win at the Stroh Center (Dec. 5, 2012). The Brown and Orange picked up a 73-64 win on the team's last trip to Hinkle Fieldhouse, nearly three years ago (Dec. 29, 2010). The first four series meetings came within a six-year span, including a pair of tourney matchups in 1997-98. BGSU downed the Bulldogs, 85-67, in neutral-site play at the UCF Turkey Shootout in Orlando, Fla. (Nov. 28, 1997). Then, later that same season, the Bulldogs came to venerable Anderson Arena and posted a 95-90 win in the first round of the WNIT (March 13, 1998). BGSU has records of 2-2 in home games, 1-1 in road contests and 1-0 in neutral-site meetings with the Bulldogs. Jennifer Roos has a record of 1-0 against the Bulldogs as a head coach.
STROH'ME-COURT ADVANTAGE
• The Falcons have enjoyed a long-standing tradition of success at home. Most of that success came at venerable Anderson Arena, where the Brown and Orange enjoyed an outstanding home-court advantage over the years. But, sometimes new traditions begin, and much like (but yet so different than) the playing of 'Sweet Caroline' at various events, BG women's basketball has started a new tradition, as the Falcons now own an overall record of 29-7 in the Stroh Center.
• After losing by just one point to nationally-ranked Purdue in the first-ever women's basketball game in the building in November of 2011, the Falcons reeled off 14-straight wins at the Stroh, before losing another one-point game to VCU in the WNIT.
• Last season, the Falcons again won 14 games at home, including 25-point wins over both nationally-ranked Dayton (the Flyers' only regular-season loss last year) and Central Michigan (the Chippewas entered the game with a 7-0 MAC record).
• The 29-7 mark at the Stroh comes after the Falcons went 333-116 (74.2%) in Anderson Arena during the team's tenure there. The record was even better during MAC play, as the Falcons had a league mark of 192-54 (78.0%) at "The House That Roars" through the years.
TOUGH TO SCORE AT THE STROH
• In 36 games at the Stroh Center, the Falcons have allowed the opponent to reach 70 points just three times. Akron (61 points in a BG win on Feb. 20) is the only MAC foe to surpass the 60-point mark against the Brown and Orange in 17 trips to the building by conference foes. Through the Niagara game, BG has allowed an average of 53.2 ppg in all games at the Stroh, and just 50.5 ppg against MAC opponents.
• BG has held 29 of 36 opponents to fewer than 60 points at the Stroh Center. The Falcons have limited 12 of those foes to less than 50 points, and on three occasions, BGSU has kept the opposition under the 40-point mark.
LIGHTS, CAMERA, #MACTION
• The Falcons will be featured at least four times as part of the MAC's television schedule for the 2013-14 season. The league's TV package includes BGSU's home game vs. Northern Illinois on Jan. 26, as well as road contests at Ball State (Jan. 15), Central Michigan (Jan. 18) and Toledo (Feb. 2).
• The 55-game package will be produced and distributed by the new home for MAC basketball, Time Warner Cable Sports Channel (TWC). All games will be produced in high definition, available to Time Warner Cable subscribers and offered to ESPN for inclusion on ESPN3, Watch ESPN and ESPN Full Court. TWC will also work with affiliates in the MAC footprint concerning distribution in Michigan, Illinois and Indiana.
THE FALCONS ARE/WERE ...
• 3-0 this year to date, after posting a 24-11 overall record last season;
• 11-5 in MAC play in 2012-13, after going 14-2 and earning an eighth-straight division title in '11-12;
• 285-103 since Jennifer Roos came to BGSU in the summer of 2001;
• 146-46 in MAC games in that time:
• 264-68 over the last 10-plus years, with 2012-13 marking BG's MAC-record 10th-straight season of at least 20 wins;
• a staggering 243-58 in the past nine-plus years, with no fewer than 23 wins in nine-straight seasons and a MAC overall regular-season title in seven of those nine years (2004-10 and again in '12, after winning an East Division crown in '11);
• an eye-popping 220-50 overall, and 111-17 in the MAC regular season, in the last eight-plus years, with at least 24 wins in each of the last eight seasons;
• a splendiferous 192-47 in the last seven-plus years, including a 95-17 league ledger;
• a/an (insert your own adjective here) 161-43 overall, and 80-16 in MAC regular-season games, in the last six-plus seasons, since Monique Rosati came to the BGSU program;
• 135-35 overall and 67-13 in MAC action over the last five-plus winters;
• 106-30, including a 52-12 MAC ledger, in the last four-plus seasons;
• 79-23 overall and 38-10 in the MAC since seniors Jillian Halfhill and Jill Stein ventured to campus;
• 51-18 overall, and 25-7 in MAC action, since senior Alexis Rogers and juniors Deborah Hoekstra and Jasmine Matthews first put on a BGSU uniform;
• 27-11 since senior Katrina Salinas and sophomore Miriam Justinger were added to the Falcons' roster;
• 134-21 in the last 155 games vs. MAC foes (regular-season and tournament);
• A perfect 62-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field since 2001;
• 227-11 when having a better FG percentage than the opposition in that time, including a 99-1 mark in the last five-plus seasons (the lone exception was the Drexel game last year);
• 216-38 when making more free throws than the opponent in the Roos Assistant-Coach/Associate-Head-Coach/Interim-Head-Coach/Head-Coaching Era;
• 180-22 when outrebounding the opponent in that 12-plus-year span;
• 65-7 in MAC home games in the last nine seasons;
• 53-11 in MAC road games over the last eight years;
• 20-4 in the MAC Tournament in the last nine 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;
• 44-18 overall in the MAC Tournament since it was instituted in 1982;
• 21-6 at Gund/Quicken Loans Arena, the site of the MAC Tournament;
• 47-6 in all non-conference home games since the start of the 2003-04 season;
• 7-16 in 16 national postseason appearances (including a 3-11 record in the NCAA Championships and a 4-5 mark in WNIT trips);
• 6-9 in national postseason action since Roos arrived at BG (including a 2-5 mark in the NCAAs and a 4-4 record in the WNIT); and
• 29-7 in the Stroh Center, with five of the seven losses coming by a combined 11 points.
BATTLE OF THE BOARDS
The Falcons won the rebounding battle in 27 of last season's 35 games, including in 11 of the 16 MAC contests, and two other games saw the teams tie in that category. And, the trend has continued in the early part of the 2013-14 season. BGSU has out-rebounded the foes in each of the first three games, with a 35-30 margin vs. Michigan, a 39-31 advantage against Iona and a 49-23 annihilation of Niagara. The Falcons own a rebounding margin of +13.0 this year to date.
UP NEXT
Following the Butler game, the Falcons will head to Columbus this weekend, to play three games in as many days in the Basketball Hall of Fame Challenge. BG will face Marist (Nov. 22), Old Dominion (Nov. 23) and host Ohio State (Nov. 24) at Value City Arena (19,049).
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