Thursday, March 21
Bowling Green, OH
7:00 PM
Bowling Green State University
vs
SMU (WNIT First Round)
Falcons, Mustangs to Meet at Stroh Center Thursday Night
March 20, 2013 | Women's Basketball
BGSU participates in national postseason play for ninth consecutive year
LINKS
BGSU NOTES | SMU NOTES | WNIT Bracket
THURSDAY'S GAME: Watch | Listen | Live Stats
TUESDAY STORY: Falcons Meet with Media to Discuss WNIT Game
MONDAY STORY: BGSU to Host SMU in WNIT
BG IN THE WNIT
• The 2012-13 season marks the Falcons' fifth appearance in the WNIT, and the second in as many years ... BGSU has an overall record of 2-4 in the tourney to date ... the Falcons are 2-3 in home games in the WNIT, including a record of 0-1 in the Stroh Center ... BG split four games at venerable Anderson Arena ... and, BGSU has a 2-3 mark in the WNIT since Jennifer Roos came to Northwest Ohio.
• BGSU hosted Butler in WNIT action in 1998, losing a 95-90 decision at Anderson Arena in the team's first appearance in the tourney ... that game was the final contest for Jaci Clark as BG's head coach, as she took the Dayton job following the season.
• Five years ago, the Brown and Orange picked up a home win over Dayton, 64-52, before losing at Michigan State by a 74-66 count two days later.
• The following March, the Falcons were awarded a first-round bye in the then 48-team event, and BG played a pair of games at Anderson ... the Falcons downed Syracuse by a 72-69 final in second-round action at "The House That Roars" ... but, BGSU fell to visiting Indiana, 75-67, in the third round.
• Last season, VCU scored at the buzzer for a 72-71 win over the Falcons ... Andrea Barbour went coast-to-coast for the game-winning layup, after BGSU's Jessica Slagle had given the Falcons a 71-70 lead by hitting two free throws with just 5.1 seconds left ... Barbour and VCU teammate Courtney Hurt combined for 50 points and 28 rebounds in the game ... Slagle had a career-high 23 points in her final game as a Falcon, while Jasmine Matthews scored 13 and Chrissy Steffen 12.
BGSU'S WNIT RESULTS
| 3/13/98 | BUTLER (first round) | L 90-95 |
| 3/20/08 | DAYTON (first round) | W 64-52 |
| 3/22/08 | at Michigan State (second round) | L 66-74 |
| 3/22/09 | SYRACUSE (second round ^) | W 72-69 |
| 3/26/09 | INDIANA (third round) | L 67-75 |
| 3/15/12 | VCU (first round) | L 71-72 |
| 3/21/13 | SMU (first round) | 7:00 pm |
| ^ BGSU received a first-round bye |
QUICK HITS
• The Falcons went 2-1 in the Mid-American Conference Tournament, splitting two blowout games with a close contest in between ... the Brown and Orange opened league tourney play with a 76-35 dismantling of Kent State at the Stroh Center (March 9) ... BGSU held off Western Michigan, 55-53, in second-round action at Quicken Loans Arena on Thursday (March 14) ... but, Central Michigan ended BG's run the next day (March 15) with an 81-48 win over the Falcons in the third round ... CMU went on to defeat top-seeded Toledo in the semifinals and Akron in the championship game.
• Let's get the negative stuff out of the way early, shall we? The 33-point loss to CMU was the Falcons' most lopsided defeat since an 89-41 loss at Ohio State in the 2004 Preseason WNIT (Nov. 12, 2004) ... it was BG's worst loss to a MAC team since a 36-point setback at Eastern Michigan (50-86) in February of 2001.
• The Falcons' loss to Central Michigan was BG's largest defeat in the CMU series, and it was by far the program's worst-ever loss in the MAC Tournament ... BGSU has suffered only eight double-digit losses in the 32-year history of the league tournament ... prior to this year's CMU match, the Falcons' most lopsided league tourney setback had been a 24-point decision (63-87), against Western Michigan in the quarterfinal round of the 2000 tournament at Cleveland's Public Hall.
• BGSU committed 34 turnovers in the Central Michigan game, by far the team's highest total of the season ... the Falcons' previous season-high turnover total was 21 ... as for that turnover total's place in history, neither the BGSU record book nor the NCAA record book contain single-game turnover records.
• CMU had 22 steals, by far a season-high total for a BG opponent ... no other team has had more than 10 steals vs. the Falcons this season ... Central also set season-high totals for a BG opponent in three-point field goals made (10) and attempted (28) ... the Chippewas were called for just nine fouls, the lowest total by a Falcon foe in 2012-13.
• Juniors Alexis Rogers and Jill Stein led the Falcons in scoring in the MAC Tournament ... Rogers averaged 12.7 points per game in the three contests, and also paced BG in rebounds (6.7 rpg) ... she shot 56.7 percent from the field in the three games, making 17-of-30 shots ... Stein averaged 9.3 ppg and 5.0 rpg off the bench, and led the team with a 64.7% field-goal rate, going 11-of-17 in the three games.
• Freshman Bailey Cairnduff (7.7 ppg), senior Chrissy Steffen (7.0 ppg), junior Jillian Halfhill (6.7 ppg) and senior Allison Papenfuss (6.3 ppg) all averaged between six and eight points per game in the MAC Tournament ... Halfhill led the Falcons with five three-point field goals, and was second on the team in rebounding, with 6.3 per game.
• BGSU shot 82.9% from the free-throw line in MAC Tournament play, with Halfhill going a perfect 7-for-7 while three teammates were 4-for-4 ... the Falcons went to the line just two times (making both) in the CMU game.
• The Falcons are one of six Mid-American Conference teams to earn a national postseason berth ... Central Michigan won the MAC Tournament and earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, while Akron, Ball State, Miami and Toledo join BGSU in the WNIT.
• The Falcons posted an overall record of 6-7 against teams that advanced to national postseason play ... BGSU was 2-3 vs. NCAA Championships participants, with 25-point wins over both Dayton and Central Michigan in the regular season ... BG lost to Purdue and Villanova in November and CMU last week.
• BGSU had a 4-4 record against teams that advanced to the WNIT ... the Falcons picked up wins over Akron Ball State, Butler and Wyoming, and BG suffered losses to Miami (twice), UA and Toledo.
• A total of 11 Falcons – every player who has seen action in more than three games this season – have scored in double figures at least once ... 10 of those 11 players have hit double digits more than once ... and, after Stein tied for team honors vs. WMU, all 11 of those Falcons have led BGSU in scoring, or tied for the team lead, in at least one game this year.
• The loss to CMU snapped a five-game winning streak for the Falcons ... BGSU has won nine of 12 games since the start of February.
• On the season, BGSU has held the opponent to fewer than 50 points on 13 occasions, a new school record ... the original record was set by the 1973-74 team, while the '74-75 club kept 11 opponents under the 50-point plateau ... the 2006-07 BG team held nine opponents to fewer than 50 points, en route to an appearance in the Sweet Sixteen.
• This year's senior class – Papenfuss, Steffen, Simone Eli and Danielle Havel – has helped the Falcons to an overall record of 101-29 and a MAC mark of 52-12 since they arrived at BG ... that is an average of 25.3 overall wins and 13 MAC victories per season.
• In 2012-13, the Falcons posted a winning mark in MAC play for the 10th consecutive year, a new school record.
• The Falcons finished with a record of 11-5 in MAC play ... BG has not had more than five losses in conference action since the 2002-03 campaign.
• In fact, BGSU has 124 wins and just 20 losses in MAC games over the last nine years ... no other conference school has fewer than 53 MAC losses in that time.
• BGSU's defense has allowed just 52.6 points per game in 19 contests vs. MAC opponents this season to date.
• BGSU went 5-3 in MAC road games this year ... 2012-13 marks the 10th consecutive season in which the Falcons have had a winning record in MAC away games ... BG had gone 6-2 or better on the road in each of nine-straight seasons since a 1-7 conference mark away from home in 2002-03.
• The Falcons have a record of 12-4 at the Stroh Center this year to date ... BG has posted a double-digit home win total in each of the last eight seasons.
• In 32 games at the Stroh, the Falcons have allowed the opponent to reach 70 points just twice ... 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 games in the building ... BG has allowed an average of 52.6 ppg in all games at the Stroh, and just 50.5 ppg against MAC opponents.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the SMU game with an overall record of 22-10 on the season ... BGSU finished with a MAC ledger of 11-5, good for second place in the East Division, a game behind Akron.
• BGSU has won seven of the last nine games, but the Falcons saw a five-game winning streak snapped in a big way ... BG downed Buffalo, Ohio and Kent State to close the regular season, then beat the Flashes in the first round of the MAC Tournament and Western Michigan in the second ... but, Central Michigan bounced the Brown and Orange from the MAC Tournament with an 81-48 win in the third round ... BG is 4-1 in March after finishing February with a record of 5-2.
• Two of BG's marquee wins came by 25 points apiece at the Stroh Center, including a 65-40 win over #14/15 Dayton on Dec. 30 – the Flyers' only loss of the regular season – and an 84-59 win vs. Central Michigan on Feb. 3 ... both UD and CMU advanced to the NCAA Championships.
• BG's 11 MAC wins came by a total of 203 points, an average of 18.5 points per game ... the team's five league losses were by a combined total of 34 points (6.8 ppg), with three of those setbacks coming by five points or fewer.
• The Falcons are 12-4 at home, 9-4 on the road and 1-2 in neutral-site games this season ... BGSU has a scoring margin of +8.3 and a rebounding margin of +5.2 ... in league play, BG went 6-2 at home and 5-3 in hostile venues.
• Individually, senior Chrissy Steffen and redshirt junior Alexis Rogers pace a balanced Falcon attack ... Steffen is averaging 11.3 points per game, with Rogers scoring at a 10.7-ppg clip ... Steffen leads the Falcons with 19 double-digit scoring games this season ... Rogers has hit double figures in scoring 17 times this year.
• Rogers has a team-leading 6.0 rebounds per game, and also tops the Falcons in steals, with 1.7 spg ... Steffen averages 4.5 rpg along with 1.5 assists per contest, and she leads the Brown and Orange with 54 successful three-point field goals this season ... Steffen is shooting a team-best 84.0 percent from the free-throw line ... she has gone 63-of-75 from the stripe.
• Junior Jillian Halfhill has 8.5 ppg along with a team-leading 3.4 assists per contest ... the 5-6 point guard also has 5.1 rebounds per game, good for second on the team ... Halfhill is fourth in the MAC in assist/turnover ratio (1.5) ... Rogers (74.7%) and Halfhill (73.1%) are ranked 10th and 12th, respectively, in the MAC in free-throw pct.
• Fifth-year senior Danielle Havel has 6.3 ppg, and is near the top of the team lists in numerous categories ... Havel is second on the Falcons in assists (1.8 apg) and blocked shots and third in rebounds (5.1 rpg) ... she has a BG-best four games with 10 or more rebounds this season to date.
• Halfhill and Havel have hit 31 and 23 three-pointers, respectively, this year ... Havel is shooting 37.7% from long range.
• Freshman Miriam Justinger averages 5.3 ppg, and is shooting 81.6% from the free-throw line, having gone 40-of-49 ... sophomore Jasmine Matthews, who missed all but one MAC game due to injury, also has 5.5 ppg ... Justinger has hit 21 three-point field goals and Matthews 17 this season.
• Freshman Bailey Cairnduff has 5.0 points per game and has knocked down 24 three-pointers, the third-highest total on the team ... BGSU's two post players off the bench, junior Jill Stein and senior Allison Papenfuss, have 5.0 and 4.1 ppg, respectively.
• Stein has 4.6 rebounds per contest, while Papenfuss has 3.8 rpg ... Stein leads the Falcons with a total of 25 blocked shots, while Havel has 21, Papenfuss 12 and Steffen 11.
• Junior Katrina Salinas is averaging 2.8 ppg this season, while sophomore Deborah Hoekstra has 2.3 ppg ... Salinas has made 16 triples and Hoekstra nine.
• Each of the aforementioned 11 players has scored in double digits at least once this season, and 10 of the 11 have led BGSU in the scoring column in at least one game in 2012-13.
• Seven players have seen action in all 32 games ... that list includes Halfhill, Havel, Justinger, Papenfuss, Salinas, Steffen and Stein ... Rogers has played in 31 games, with Cairnduff seeing action in 29, Hoekstra 25 and Matthews 13 ... senior Simone Eli was sidelined due to injury nearly all year, but made her 2012-13 regular-season debut in the Ohio game on March 3, and has seen action in three games.
• Halfhill, Havel and Steffen each have started all 32 games this winter, while Rogers has made 31 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 has been among the starting five for each of the Falcons' last 19 games.
A QUICK LOOK AT SMU
SMU has an overall record of 21-9, and the Mustangs won the Conference USA regular-season title with a 12-4 league record ... SMU has lost four of the last five games, however, including a 70-66 loss to UCF in the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament ... the Mustangs have won at least 20 games for the ninth time in program history, including a school-record 15 home games ... SMU is 15-5 at home, 5-5 on the road and 1-1 in neutral-site games this season ... junior guard Keena Mays, a transfer from Kansas, was named both the Conference USA Player of the Year and the C-USA Newcomer of the Year ... she is fourth in the league in scoring, with 18.5 points per game, and also ranks sixth in C-USA in assists, with 3.8 per game ... Mays has shot a league-leading 40.7 percent from three-point range, having gone 61-of-150 from long distance ... senior guard Alisha Filmore and junior forward Akil Simpson each were named to the all-conference second team ... Filmore averages 12.2 ppg, while Simpson is scoring 10.5 ppg and leads the team with 8.2 rebounds per game to date ... junior guard Korina Baker (5.7 ppg) and sophomore forward Destynee Hives-McCray (8.6 ppg) round out the probable starting lineup for head coach Rhonda Rompola ... Rompola, in her 22nd season as head coach of her alma mater, welcomed back eight letterwinners, including three starters, from last year's club ... the 2011-12 Mustangs went 14-17 overall and 6-10 in C-USA play.
THE SERIES
The Falcons and SMU have never met in women's basketball ... absolutely no one will be interested to know that both teams participated in the Coors Classic in Boulder, Colo., on Nov. 29-30, 1996, but the teams did not play one another ... the Falcons went 0-2 on the trip, with a 74-62 loss to nationally-ranked Colorado and a 61-60 setback vs. Louisville ... the Mustangs split their two games, with a 71-54 win over the Cardinals but a 74-56 loss to the Buffs.
BGSU & SMU IN THE WNIT
Both BGSU and SMU are participating in the WNIT for the fifth time ... additionally, both the Falcons and Mustangs enter Thursday's contest with an all-time record of 2-4 in WNIT games.
UP NEXT
The BGSU-SMU winner will face either Akron or Duquesne in the second round of the WNIT ... the Zips play at DU on Thursday night in the first round game ... the second-round game will be played between Saturday (March 23) and Monday (March 25) at a site to be determined.
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