@BGSUwbb Welcomes UMass to Town

NOTE: THE BGSU-UMASS GAME HAS BEEN POSTPONED. Check back with BGSUFalcons.com on Monday (Dec. 16) for an update on the status of the game.

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team concludes a brief two-game homestand this weekend. The Falcons of head coach Jennifer Roos, off to an 8-1 start, will face the University of Massachusetts on Sunday afternoon (Dec. 15), with tipoff scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center (4,280). The game is the fourth of six consecutive Sunday contests for the Brown and Orange.

BGSU NOTES & STATISTICS - PDF

SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO STROH
An additional incentive for fans young and old to come to the Stroh on Sunday will be an appearance by Santa Claus! That's right, Kris Kringle himself will be stopping by the Stroh Center on Sunday afternoon, and will be on the concourse approximately 30 minutes prior to tipoff. Stop on by, get a candy cane and let the big guy know what you want for Christmas (besides a BG win, of course).

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
The Falcons won nine games during last year's non-conference schedule. That number sounds impressive – and it is – but it was BGSU's lowest total in over half a decade. Prior to the 2012-13 season, the Falcons had posted double-digit non-league win totals in six consecutive years. This season, BG has eight victories with three non-conference games to go. BG's year-by-year list of non-conference records can be found in the PDF version of these notes.

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS, PART II
BGSU is looking to reach double digits in non-conference wins for the seventh time in school history, and the seventh time in the last eight seasons. BGSU's total of six such seasons, and the Falcons' streak of six in a row, are the MAC records by far. No other conference 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, of double-figure non-league wins.

LAST TIME OUT: FALCONS SURGE PAST MILWAUKEE, 87-64
• The Falcons used a big first-half run to surge past Milwaukee Sunday afternoon (Dec. 8), en route to an 87-64 win in non-conference action at the Stroh Center. Junior Deborah Hoekstra set a career scoring high for the second consecutive game, and four of her teammates also hit double figures in the points column as the Falcons improved to 8-1 on the season.

• BGSU shot better than 50 percent in each half, with a season-best 55.9% success rate for the game. The Falcons' 33-of-59 performance included a 17-of-29 effort (58.6%) in the second period.

The BG defense, led by sophomore Miriam Justinger, held UWM's leading scorer, Angela Rodriguez, to seven points on 3-of-15 shooting. Rodriguez entered the game averaging 20.0 points per contest on the season. Rodriguez did dish out a game-high nine assists vs. the Falcons.

• With the teams tied at 10-all, the Falcons went on an 8-0 run to take the lead for good. Hoekstra scored six of the eight points during that run, which was the start of a larger 18-2 run for the home team. The lead grew as high as 20 points late in the period before the Brown and Orange took a 44-25 lead into the intermission.

• In the second period, the Panthers hung around for the first few minutes, as both teams shot the ball well to begin the half. But, the Falcons hit 5-of-6 shots to begin the second half, and UWM never could cut the BG lead to fewer than 16 points. With just over four minutes gone in the period, senior Jillian Halfhill's layup began a 10-0 BG run to extend the margin to 26 points. The lead reached 27 points on several occasions.

• BGSU scored 52 points in the paint, and the Falcons had a 38-18 advantage in bench scoring vs. the Panthers.

MIGHT WANNA ORDER MORE PAINT
• The Falcons, as mentioned above, scored a whopping 52 points in the paint in Sunday's win over Milwaukee. That total shattered BG's previous season-high of 34, amassed at Iona on Nov. 9.

• BGSU's total of 52 points in the paint is the program's highest in nearly a decade, since a 115-84 win at IPFW on Nov. 19, 2004. The Falcons' exact total in that win in Fort Wayne is unknown, but just trust us when we say it was higher than 52. BGSU made 44 field goals that night, with 38 coming from two-point range as the Mastodons employed a frenetic run-and-press style of play and substituted players five at a time every few minutes. BG hit a veritable plethora of easy layups in the win.

QUICK HITS
• BGSU is 8-1 after posting an 87-64 win over Milwaukee at the Stroh Center on Sunday (Dec. 8). The Falcons have won four consecutive games for the second time this season, having beaten Old Dominion (Nov. 23), Ohio State (Nov. 24) and Monmouth (Dec. 1) prior to the UWM game.

• The Falcons received seven votes in this week's USA Today Sports Top 25 women's basketball coaches poll for the second consecutive Tuesday, after picking up six votes two weeks ago and five the previous week. For the second-straight week, BGSU also received one vote in the Associated Press poll.

• BGSU has a balanced scoring attack, as evidenced by the next few bullet points. Four Falcons are averaging between 9.7 and 12.1 points per game, and two other players have at least 6.9 ppg to date.

• The Falcons' five starters each have attempted between 68 and 83 shots per game, meaning that every starter is averaging no fewer than 7.6, but no more than 9.2, field-goal attempts per contest.

• The Falcons have two home wins, three road victories and three neutral-site wins this season. BG a perfect 3-0 on the road, with wins at Iona, Butler and Ohio State. BGSU is 6-1 in all games played away from the Stroh Center, having beaten Michigan, Old Dominion and Monmouth while losing to Marist in neutral-site action.

• In BGSU's two home games, vs. Niagara and Milwaukee, the Falcons have averaged 88.5 points per game and shot 50.4 percent from the field. BG has shot better than 50% from the floor in each of the last three halves at the Stroh Center, having gone 46-of-83 (55.4%) in that 60-minute span.

• BGSU leads the MAC and ranks 28th in the nation in scoring defense, having allowed just 57.0 points per game. The Falcons also lead the MAC in rebounding margin (+8.8), and BG is second among league teams in both scoring margin (+12.3) and field-goal percentage (44.0%).

• The Falcons are third in the MAC in both field-goal pct. defense (37.9%) and three-point FG pct. (36.2%). Basically, BGSU has had nearly as much success at making shots from beyond the arc as the opponents have had from anywhere on the court.

HOEKSTRA HITS SHOTS
• Junior Deborah Hoekstra has stepped up as a viable scoring option for the Falcons over the last few games. She scored a then career-high 18 points in the win over Monmouth, and her total of seven field goals made in that game nearly doubling her previous career-best total of four FGM.

• Then, in BG's next game, Hoekstra made eight field goals and again set a career scoring high, with 19 points vs. Milwaukee. The East Lansing, Mich., native was a perfect 7-for-7 from two-point range in that win, and also set a career rebounding high, with six boards.

• Hoekstra entered this season with a career total of two double-digit scoring games, but has hit double figures four times this year, including in each of the last three games. She has led the Falcons in scoring in each of the last two contests.

• Over the last three games, Hoekstra has averaged 16.0 points and made 19-of-25 shots (76.0%). BGSU has beaten Ohio State, Monmouth and UWM in that span.

• In fact, Hoekstra has reached double digits by halftime of each of the last three games, having scored 11 points prior to the intermission in all three wins. In those games, she went a combined 12-of-16 from the field, including 7-of-10 from three-point range, in the opening half.

• Hoekstra has made a total of 24 field goals, including 10 three-pointers, this season. She has topped her totals for all of last year in both categories. Hoekstra is shooting 57.1 percent from the field and 43.5 from long distance this season.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the Massachusetts game with a record of 8-1 on the season. BGSU's record through nine games is tied for the best mark in school history.
BEST STARTS IN SCHOOL HISTORY
(BGSU's record through nine games, & the result of that year's 10th game)
8-1 1974-75 lost at Cincinnati, 60-48
8-1 1991-92 lost at Michigan State, 71-63
8-1 2005-06 defeated Iona, 62-45, at St. Joseph's Tournament
8-1 2010-11 defeated Western Kentucky, 72-68, en route to 15-1 start
8-1 2013-14 vs. Massachusetts Sunday

• BGSU's wins include home games vs. Niagara and Milwaukee, road games vs. Iona, Butler and Ohio State, and neutral-site matchups against Michigan, Old Dominion and Monmouth. The Falcons' lone loss came at the hands of Marist on Nov. 22 in Columbus, as part of the Basketball Hall of Fame Challenge.

• Redshirt sophomore Erica Donovan, fifth-year senior Alexis Rogers and fourth-year Falcon Jillian Halfhill each have scored between 102 and 109 points this season. Donovan is averaging 12.1 points per game, with Rogers scoring 12.0 ppg and Halfhill 11.3 ppg this year to date.

• Sophomore Miriam Justinger has averaged 9.7 points per game to date, while junior Deborah Hoekstra has scored 7.9 ppg off the bench. Senior Jill Stein has 6.9 points per contest.

• Stein leads the team in rebounding, with 9.8 boards per game, while Rogers has pulled down 8.0 rpg and Donovan 5.7. Halfhill leads the Falcons with 3.8 assists per outing, with Justinger handing out 3.1 apg to date.

• Hoekstra is shooting a BG-best 57.1 percent from the floor, while Donovan is shooting 54.5% and Rogers 52.5%. Halfhill has a team-leading 16 three-point field goals, while five Falcons have made between seven and 10 treys.

• Junior Jasmine Matthews is averaging 5.4 ppg to date, with freshmen Rachel Konieczki and Abby Siefker at 2.4 and 1.6 ppg, respectively. Freshman Kennedy Kirkpatrick has seen action in five games off the bench, and classmate Leah Bolton made her BGSU debut in the Monmouth game.

• 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 the four freshmen.

• On the bench, Roos has a pair of first-year assistant coaches in Jacey Brooks and Sahar Nusseibeh. Brooks came to BGSU after spending the last three seasons at Canisius. She also spent three seasons on the staff at Saint Bonaventure.

• Nusseibeh, a Northeast Ohio native, coached at Holy Cross for the last two years, and was a graduate assistant at Cincinnati prior to that time. Nusseibeh attended Hoover H.S. in glorious North Canton, Ohio, playing basketball for the storied Vikings program.

• Brooks and Nusseibeh joined the wily veteran, Jesse Fleming, on the BG women's hoops staff. Fleming is in his second year with the Falcons after spending the 2011-12 campaign at Stony Brook and the previous six years at Saint Bonaventure. Monique Rosati is in her seventh season as director of operations.

• Through nine games, the Falcons are shooting 44.0 percent from the field, 36.2% from three-point range and 66.0% from the foul line. Opponents are shooting 37.9% from the floor, 30.2% from the arc and 79.2% from the stripe. The Falcons have a scoring margin of +12.3, a rebounding margin of +8.8 and a turnover margin of +1.2 on the year.

LEAD, FOLLOW OR GET OUT OF THE WAY
Through the first nine games of the season, there have been four (Michigan, Niagara, Old Dominion and Monmouth) contests in which BG never trailed, a fifth (Ohio State) in which the Falcons were behind for only 46 seconds, and a sixth (Milwaukee) that saw BG trail for just over a minute. This year to date, BGSU has led for a total of 292:25 – 81.2 percent of the time – and trailed for just 51:11 (14.2%). The Falcons and the opponents have been tied for a total of 16:24.

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 seven of the first nine games, with double-digit margins in two of those matchups. In one of the season's other two games, the Falcons and the opponent (Marist) tied in the rebounding department. BGSU owns a rebounding margin of +8.8 this year to date.

STEIN HELPING BG WIN THOSE BATTLES
• Senior Jill Stein entered the 2013-14 season with a career total of two double-digit rebounding games. This year, she is just two rebounds away from AVERAGING 10 boards per game, and she has had five double-digit games, including a career-high 14 against Old Dominion.

• During the Falcons' current four-game win streak, Stein has had 10 or more rebounds three times, and she pulled down nine boards in the other victory.

• Stein has led the Falcons in rebounding seven times in the first nine games, after leading BG in boards six times last season.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
Senior Alexis Rogers had a double-double, with 16 points and 12 rebounds, in the Falcons' win over Milwaukee. The double-double was her third of the season and the 18th of her career. Fellow senior Jill Stein and redshirt sophomore Erica Donovan each had a double-double against Old Dominion. For both players, it was the first of their career. The Falcons now have a total of five double-doubles through nine games this season, after recording nine during all of last year.

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, the BG women's basketball program now owns an overall record of 30-7 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 all year) and Central Michigan (the Chippewas entered the game with a 7-0 MAC record).

• The 30-7 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 37 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 Milwaukee game, BG has allowed an average of 53.5 ppg in all games at the Stroh, and just 50.5 ppg against MAC opponents.

• BG has held 29 of 37 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.

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 eight games, despite playing a difficult schedule, BGSU has allowed 57.0 points per game and permitted the opponents to shoot just 37.9% from the field to date.

THE MASSACHUSETTS MINUTEWOMEN
Massachusetts heads to Northwest Ohio with an overall record of 2-7, and the Minutewomen are looking to snap a four-game losing streak. The last two games, however, have seen UMass outscored by a combined three points in regulation, as the Minutewomen lost to William & Mary in overtime (96-88; Nov. 30) before dropping a 66-63 decision to visiting Boston University (Dec. 4). UMass is 1-3 at home, 1-3 on the road and 0-1 in neutral-site games. The team's wins have come against Rutgers at home and at Hartford. Junior forward Kim Pierre-Louis is averaging a team-best 10.4 points per game, and she is shooting 51.4 percent from the floor to pace the Minutewomen in that category as well. Junior guard Emily Mital and sophomore G/F Rashida Timbilla average 10.2 and 9.3 ppg, respectively, while two other players are scoring over 7.0 points per outing. Timbilla paces the club in rebounding (8.9 rpg) and assists (3.4 apg). Head coach Sharon Dawley welcomed back eight letterwinners, including four starters, from last year's team. The 2012-13 edition of the Minutewomen went 3-26 overall and 1-13 in Atlantic 10 Conference play.

THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Massachusetts, 1-0, in the all-time series between the teams. The only prior meeting came just under a year ago, as BGSU rallied for a 64-61 win at the Mullins Center (Dec. 19, 2012). Alexis Rogers made four free throws in the final 30 seconds to help BG to the road win. Rogers had a double-double, with 18 points and 12 rebounds in the win. BG led by nine points early in the second half, only to see UMass roar back to take a seven-point advantage with 8:01 to go before the Falcons rallied. Jennifer Roos is 1-0 against the Minutewomen as a head coach.

THE FALCONS ARE/WERE ...
• 8-1 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;
• 290-104 since Jennifer Roos came to BGSU in the summer of 2001;
• 146-46 in MAC games in that time:
• 269-69 over the last 10-plus years, with 2012-13 marking BG's MAC-record 10th-straight season of at least 20 wins;
• a staggering 248-59 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 225-51 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 197-48 in the last seven-plus years, including a 95-17 league ledger;
• a/an (insert your own adjective here) 166-44 overall, and 80-16 in MAC regular-season games, in the last six-plus seasons, since Monique Rosati came to the BGSU program;
• 140-36 overall and 67-13 in MAC action over the last five-plus winters;
• 111-31, including a 52-12 MAC ledger, in the last four-plus seasons;
• 84-24 overall and 38-10 in the MAC since seniors Jillian Halfhill and Jill Stein ventured to campus;
• 56-19 overall, and 25-7 in MAC action, since senior Alexis Rogers and juniors Deborah Hoekstra and Jasmine Matthews first put on a BGSU uniform;
• 32-12 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 63-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field since 2001;
• 231-11 when having a better FG percentage than the opposition in that time, including a 103-1 mark in the last five-plus seasons (the lone exception was the Drexel game in the third round of the WNIT last year);
• 219-38 when making more free throws than the opponent in the Roos Assistant-Coach/Associate-Head-Coach/Interim-Head-Coach/Head-Coaching Era;
• 184-22 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;
• 48-6 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
• 30-7 in the Stroh Center, with five of the seven losses coming by a combined 11 points.

UP NEXT
Following Sunday's Massachusetts game, the Falcons will prepare for a trip to West Lafayette, Ind., to face nationally-ranked Purdue University. BGSU will battle the Boilermakers on Sunday, Dec. 22, in a 12:00 p.m. start at Mackey Arena (14,264). Then, following a break for the holidays, the Brown and Orange will welcome Saint Francis (Pa.) to the Stroh on Dec. 29 to close both the 2013 calendar year and the non-conference schedule. The Falcons are in the midst of a stretch which sees the team play six-straight Sunday contests.

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