Bowling Green State University Athletics
Sunday, December 22
West Lafayette, IN
12:00 PM
Bowling Green State University
at
Purdue
Purdue Looms as the Falcons' Final Exam-Week Test
December 20, 2013 | Women's Basketball
BGSU's reward for wrapping up fall-semester exams? A road game against a nationally-ranked foe.
BGSU NOTES & STATS - PDF
BIG LIFE. BIG STAGE. BIG TEN.
Purdue is the Falcons' third Big Ten Conference opponent of the season. BGSU is 2-0 vs. Big Ten schools this year to date, having defeated Michigan at a neutral site (63-52; Nov. 8) and Ohio State on the road (64-52; Nov. 24). The Falcons have never won three games vs. Big Ten foes in the same season. In fact, the 2013-14 season marks only the second time BG has won two games vs. BTC opponents. BG has not faced three Big Ten foes in the same season since 1991-92 (with wins over Purdue and Michigan and a loss to Michigan State that year).
THE FALCONS VS. NATIONALLY-RANKED TEAMS
• Purdue enters Sunday's game ranked 18th in the nation in the Associated Press poll and 21st in the country in the USA Today poll. The Falcons are receiving votes in the latter poll.
• BGSU has an all-time record of 5-31 against nationally-ranked teams, including a 3-4 record at home (1-1 at the Stroh Center) and a 4-12 mark since Jennifer Roos arrived at BG. A few more notes about BGSU and top-25 foes ...
• Last season (Dec. 30, 2012), the Falcons downed #14/15 Dayton, 65-40, at the Stroh Center. The victory over the Flyers was by far the Falcons' most lopsided win over a ranked team in school history. The first two such wins came by three points apiece. BGSU's last three wins over nationally-ranked opponents have been by six, 11 and 25 points, respectively.
• Three of the Falcons' five wins over nationally-ranked teams have come against Vanderbilt. BGSU downed the Commodores, 59-56, in the second round of the 2007 NCAA Championships in East Lansing, Mich., en route to the only 'Sweet Sixteen' appearance in school and MAC history. BGSU went to Nashville four years ago (Dec. 4, 2009) and posted a 66-60 win. And, two years ago, the Falcons vanquished Vandy at Anderson Arena, 69-58 (Dec. 1, 2010).
• The first-ever BG home win over a ranked team came against Purdue in the 1991-92 season opener, as the Falcons downed the 10th-ranked Boilermakers at Anderson Arena in Jaci Clark's head-coaching debut (Nov. 23, 1991).
• Dayton was the second nationally-ranked foe to face BGSU at the Stroh. Two seasons ago, Purdue pulled out a one-point victory, 54-53, over the Falcons in the first-ever regular-season women's basketball game in the building (Nov. 17, 2011).
BGSU'S WINS OVER RANKED TEAMS
Date ------ Opponent ---------- Opponent's Ranking --- Result
11/23/91 -- PURDUE ------------ #10 AP / #10 USA ----- W 75-72
3/20/07 --- vs. Vanderbilt ^ -- #7 AP / #8 USA ------- W 59-56
12/4/09 --- at Vanderbilt ----- #16 AP / #14 USA ----- W 66-60
12/1/10 --- VANDERBILT -------- #23 AP / #23 USA ----- W 79-68
12/30/12 -- DAYTON ------------ #15 AP / #14 USA ----- W 65-40
^ NCAA Championships Second Round; East Lansing, Mich.
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 again has nine victories, with two 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. 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)
2 ..... Toledo ......... 2009-10 (10) // 2012-13 (12)
1 ..... Kent State ..... 2008-09 (11)
1 ..... Miami .......... 2011-12 (10)
LAST TIME OUT: FALCONS DISMANTLE UMASS, 86-46
• The Falcons easily shook off the rust of an 11-day layoff, taking control early en route to an 86-46 win over Massachusetts Thursday afternoon (Dec. 19) at the Stroh Center. Junior Deborah Hoekstra led the Falcons (9-1) in scoring for the third consecutive game, with a game-high 19 points in the win. Redshirt sophomore Erica Donovan scored 18 points, while senior Alexis Rogers had 16 and junior Jasmine Matthews 10 for the Brown and Orange.
• Thursday's game was originally scheduled to be played on Sunday (Dec. 15), but the game was postponed due to travel/weather issues that prevented the UMass travel party from flying out of Boston on Saturday. The four-day delay meant that the Falcons had not played since Dec. 8.
• The Falcons made 11 three-point field goals vs. UMass, with Hoekstra hitting four and Donovan and Matthews two apiece. In all, six different players made at least one trey.
• BGSU took a 44-21 halftime lead, hitting seven triples in the opening half while holding UMass to six total field goals made during that time. After the lead stayed in the lower 20s during the initial stages of the final period, the Falcons removed all doubt with a 19-2 run over a four-minute span.
• All nine BGSU players in uniform played between 17 and 27 minutes. The Falcon starters scored a combined 46 points, while the four players off the bench – Hoekstra, Matthews and freshmen Rachel Konieczki and Abby Siefker – had 40 points between them.
• BGSU shot 86.4% from the free-throw line, going 19-of-22, while UMass hit 14-of-23 shots from the stripe. BG made 28 field goals to the visitors' 14.
QUICK HITS
• BGSU is 9-1 on the season after Thursday's 40-point win over Massachusetts. The Falcons have won five consecutive games, having beaten Old Dominion (Nov. 23), Ohio State (Nov. 24), Monmouth (Dec. 1) and Milwaukee (Dec. 8) prior to the UMass game.
• For the third consecutive week, the Falcons received seven votes in the USA Today Sports Top 25 women's basketball coaches poll. After receiving one vote in last week's Associated Press poll, and after not playing a single game last week, BG did not receive any votes in that poll this week.
• The Falcons have three home wins, three road victories and three neutral-site triumphs this season. BG a perfect 3-0 both at the Stroh Center and on the road. The Falcons have road wins over Iona, Butler and Ohio State. BGSU is 6-1 in all games played away from the Stroh, having beaten Michigan, Old Dominion and Monmouth while losing to Marist in neutral-site action.
• In BGSU's three home games, vs. Niagara, Milwaukee and UMass, the Falcons have averaged 87.7 points per game and shot 49.4 percent from the field. BG has shot better than 50% from the floor in four of the six halves of basketball at the Stroh this season, including in the second half of each of the three games. BG has shot a combined 44-of-78 (56.4%) in the second half at home this year to date.
• BGSU has a balanced scoring attack, as evidenced by the next few bullet points. Five Falcons are averaging between 9.0 and 12.7 points per game, and two other players have at least 5.9 ppg to date.
• The Falcons' five starters each have attempted between 70 and 90 shots, meaning that every starter is averaging no fewer than seven, but no more than nine, field-goal attempts per game.
• BGSU leads the MAC and ranks 26th in the nation in scoring defense, having allowed just 55.9 points per game. The Falcons also lead the MAC in rebounding margin (+9.5) and field-goal percentage (44.4%) and BG is second among league teams in scoring margin (+15.1).
• The Falcons also are second in the MAC in both field-goal pct. defense (36.9%) and three-point FG pct. (37.1%). Stated another way, BGSU has had more success at making shots from beyond the arc than the opponents have had from anywhere on the court.
• No fewer than five different Falcons had at least three assists in the UMass game, with senior Jill Stein's five leading the way. BG had 19 assists on 28 field goals in the victory. Senior point guard Jillian Halfhill had four helpers, while senior Alexis Rogers, junior Jasmine Matthews and sophomore Miriam Justinger dished out three apiece.
• All nine Falcons who saw action vs. UMass played between 17 and 27 minutes, and eight of those nine scored four or more points. Every player had at least one rebound, with six players grabbing at least four boards.
HOW MUCH CAN YOU BENCH?
In the Falcons' three home games to date, coach Jennifer Roos and her staff have seen the bench players score 40 points twice and 38 points in the other game. These numbers are all the more impressive considering that bench has consisted of just four players – juniors Deborah Hoekstra and Jasmine Matthews and freshmen Rachel Konieczki and Abby Siefker – in each of those three games.
HOEKSTRA HITS SHOTS
• Junior Deborah Hoekstra has stepped up as a viable scoring option for the Falcons over the last few games. She has set or tied her career scoring high in each of the last three contests.
• Hoekstra scored a then career-high 18 points in the win over Monmouth, and her total of seven field goals made in that game nearly doubled 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.
• On Thursday, she scored 19 points for the second-straight game, tying her career best with four three-point field goals made in the win over UMass.
• Hoekstra entered this season with a career total of two double-digit scoring games, but has hit double figures five times this year, including in each of the last four games. She has led the Falcons in scoring in each of the last three contests.
• In fact, Hoekstra has reached double digits by halftime of each of the last four games. She scored 11 points prior to the intermission in the first three, and had 13 first-half points vs. UMass. In those games, Hoekstra went a combined 16-of-22 from the field, including 10-of-15 from three-point range, in the opening half.
THEN AND NOW
• Junior Deborah Hoekstra scored a total of 83 points, making 23 total field goals including 13 three-pointers, over her first two seasons. This year to date, Hoekstra has 90 points, having hit 30 total shots including 14 from beyond the arc.
• Hoekstra has scored in double figures five times this year, after doing so on two occasions over her first two years.
• Redshirt sophomore Erica Donovan has hit double figures seven times this year. She reached double digits six times during her entire first season, at North Carolina State two years ago.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the Purdue game with a record of 9-1 on the season. BGSU's record through 10 games is tied for the best mark in school history.
BEST STARTS IN SCHOOL HISTORY
(BGSU's record through 10 games, & the result of that year's 11th game) 9-1 2005-06 lost at Kentucky, 66-62 in overtime
9-1 // 2010-11 // defeated Austin Peay, 69-42, en route to 15-1 start
9-1 // 2013-14 // at Purdue Sunday
• BGSU's wins include home games vs. Niagara, Milwaukee and Massachusetts, 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, in 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 109 and 127 points this season. Donovan is averaging 12.7 points per game, with Rogers scoring 12.4 ppg and Halfhill 10.9 ppg this year to date.
• Sophomore Miriam Justinger has averaged 9.2 points per game, while junior Deborah Hoekstra has scored 9.0 ppg off the bench. Senior Jill Stein has 6.2 points per contest.
• Stein leads the team in rebounding, with 9.4 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 57.7 percent from the floor, while Rogers is shooting 55.6% and Donovan 54.0%. The three players rank second, third and fourth, respectively, in the MAC in field-goal percentage.
• Halfhill has a team-leading 17 three-point field goals, while five of her teammates have made between seven and 14 treys apiece.
• Junior Jasmine Matthews is averaging 5.9 ppg to date, with freshmen Rachel Konieczki and Abby Siefker at 2.6 and 2.1 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 St. 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 St. Bonaventure. Monique Rosati is in her seventh season as director of operations.
• Through 10 games, the Falcons are shooting 44.4 percent from the field, 37.1% from three-point range and 68.1% from the foul line. Opponents are shooting 36.9% from the floor, 29.8% from the arc and 74.5% from the stripe. The Falcons have a scoring margin of +15.1, a rebounding margin of +9.5 and a turnover margin of +1.4 on the year.
LEAD, FOLLOW OR GET OUT OF THE WAY
Through the first 10 games of the season, there have been five (Michigan, Niagara, Old Dominion, Monmouth and UMass) contests in which BG never trailed, a sixth (Ohio State) in which the Falcons were behind for only 46 seconds, and a seventh (Milwaukee) that saw BG trail for just over a minute. This year to date, BGSU has led for a total of 332:11 – 83.0 percent of the time – and trailed for just 51:11 (12.8%). The Falcons and the opponents have been tied for a total of 16:38.
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 eight of the first 10 games, with double-digit margins in three 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 +9.5 this year to date.
STEIN HELPING BG WIN THAT BATTLE
• Senior Jill Stein entered the 2013-14 season with a career total of two double-digit rebounding games. This year, she is nearly AVERAGING 10 boards per game (9.4 rpg heading into the Purdue game), and she has had five double-digit games, including a career-high 14 against Old Dominion.
• During the Falcons' current five-game win streak, Stein has had 10 or more rebounds three times, and she is averaging 9.8 rpg in that stretch.
• Stein has led the Falcons in rebounding seven times in the first 10 games, after leading BG in boards six times last season.
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 31-7 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 31-7 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 38 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 Massachusetts game, BG has allowed an average of 53.3 ppg in all games at the Stroh, and just 50.5 ppg against MAC opponents.
• BG has held 30 of 38 opponents to fewer than 60 points at the Stroh Center. The Falcons have limited 13 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 10 games, despite playing a difficult schedule, BGSU has allowed 55.9 points per game and permitted the opponents to shoot just 36.9% from the field to date.
THE PURDUE BOILERMAKERS
Purdue enters Sunday's game with an overall record of 8-2, and the Boilermakers are riding a three-game winning streak. Purdue is ranked 18th in this week's Associated Press poll, and the Boilermakers are 21st in the USA Today Coaches poll. Purdue is 3-0 at home, 4-1 on the road and 1-1 in neutral-site matches, with the team's only two losses coming against a pair of top-10 teams in Stanford and Duke. Most recently, PU picked up road wins vs. Kansas (71-68; Dec. 15) and Green Bay (49-45; Dec. 18). Individually, Courtney Moses and KK Houser each are averaging 14.8 points per game. Moses has a team-leading total of 21 three-point field goals made, while Houser paces the team in both assists (4.9 apg) and steals (2.5 spg). Whitney Bays is averaging 10.1 ppg and is tied for the team rebounding lead, with 5.7 boards per contest. Head coach Sharon Versyp welcomed back nine letterwinners, including three starters, from last year's team. The 2012-13 edition of the Boilermakers went 25-9 overall and 10-6 in Big Ten Conference play.
THE SERIES
The Falcons trail Purdue, 5-3, in the all-time series between the teams, and the Boilermakers have won three consecutive meetings. After going nearly two decades without playing one another, BGSU and Purdue are now meeting for the third consecutive season. Last year, the Boilermakers picked up a 59-45 win in West Lafayette (Nov. 19, 2012). Two seasons ago, Purdue won a 54-53 squeaker in the first-ever women's basketball game at BG's Stroh Center (Nov. 17, 2011). The Falcons' last win in the series came by a 75-72 score at Anderson Arena in the 1991-92 season. The Falcons are 2-2 at home and 1-3 on the road vs. Purdue through the years. Jennifer Roos is 0-1 against the Boilermakers as a head coach.
THE FALCONS ARE/WERE ...
• 9-1 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;
• 291-104 since Jennifer Roos came to BGSU in the summer of 2001;
• 146-46 in MAC games in that time:
• 270-69 over the last 10-plus years, with 2012-13 marking BG's MAC-record 10th-straight season of at least 20 wins;
• a staggering 249-59 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 226-51 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 198-48 in the last seven-plus years, including a 95-17 league ledger;
• a/an (insert your own adjective here) 167-44 overall, and 80-16 in MAC regular-season games, in the last six-plus seasons, since Monique Rosati came to the BGSU program;
• 141-36 overall and 67-13 in MAC action over the last five-plus winters;
• 112-31, including a 52-12 MAC ledger, in the last four-plus seasons;
• 85-24 overall and 38-10 in the MAC since seniors Jillian Halfhill and Jill Stein ventured to campus;
• 57-19 overall, and 25-7 in MAC action, since senior Alexis Rogers and juniors Deborah Hoekstra and Jasmine Matthews first put on a BGSU uniform;
• 33-12 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;
• 232-11 when having a better FG percentage than the opposition in that time, including a 104-1 mark in the last five-plus seasons (the lone exception was the Drexel game in the third round of the WNIT last year);
• 220-38 when making more free throws than the opponent in the Roos Assistant-Coach/Associate-Head-Coach/Interim-Head-Coach/Head-Coaching Era;
• 185-22 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;
• 49-6 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
• 31-7 in the Stroh Center, with five of the seven losses coming by a combined 11 points.
UP NEXT
Following the Purdue game and a break for the holidays, the Falcons will return to Northwest Ohio for a game vs. Saint Francis (Pa.) on Sunday, Dec. 29. That game, which will begin at 2:00 p.m., will close both the 2013 calendar year and the non-conference schedule for the Brown and Orange. The Mid-American Conference schedule commences the following weekend – Saturday, Jan. 4, 2014 – when the Falcons host Buffalo in another 2:00 p.m. start.
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