BGSU Closes Regular-Season Schedule with Wednesday Matchup at Kent State

Jillian Halfhill Danielle Havel Simone Eli - Bianca Garza photo

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, for the second consecutive year, will end the regular-season schedule with a road game against Kent State University ... the Falcons of head coach Jennifer Roos face the Golden Flashes on Wednesday night (March 6), with tipoff set for 7:00 p.m. at the M.A.C. Center (6,327).

LINKS
BGSU Notes | Kent State Notes
WEDNESDAY'S GAME: Watch | Listen | Live Stats | Tickets
MAC Women's Basketball site
SUNDAY RECAP: Falcons Down Ohio on Senior Day
THIS YEAR'S FIRST MEETING: BGSU Tops KSU in MAC Opener

THE FALCONS AND THE MAC TOURNAMENT RACE
• If the regular season was over, the MAC Tournament seedings would look a little something like this ...

Seed	School	Record	Wednesday
1	Toledo	14-1	v Ball State
2	Ball State	12-3	@Toledo
3	Central Mich.	11-4	@Eastern Mich.
4	Akron	11-4	@Buffalo
5	Bowling Green	10-5	@Kent State
6	Miami	9-6	@Ohio
7	Buffalo	8-7	v Akron
8	Eastern Mich.	6-9	v Central Mich.
9	Western Mich.	5-10	v Northern Ill.
10	Northern Ill.	2-13	@Western Mich.
11/12	Kent State	1-14	v BGSU
11/12	Ohio	1-14	v Miami

• As it currently stands, the Falcons would be the tournament's fifth seed, and would host the number-12 seed, either Kent State or Ohio, in first-round action on Saturday, March 9.

• BGSU could finish as high as the third seed and as low as the sixth ... the scenarios are below...

• BGSU FINISHES THIRD IF... The Falcons beat KSU on Wednesday night, AND Akron and Central Michigan both lose ... UA plays at Buffalo, while CMU is at Eastern Michigan ... in such a case, the Falcons, the Zips and the Chippewas would be tied for third ... BGSU would win the tiebreaker on the basis of head-to-head record with the other schools involved in the tie (BGSU 2-1; CMU 1-1; Akron 1-2).

• BGSU FINISHES FOURTH IF... The Falcons beat KSU AND Central Michigan loses ... in this case (which assumes an Akron win on Wednesday), BGSU and CMU would be tied for fourth ... BG wins the tiebreaker by virtue of a win in the lone head-to-head meeting ... the Falcons downed CMU, 84-59, on Feb. 3.

• BGSU FINISHES FIFTH IF... The Falcons beat KSU, but both Akron and CMU win their Wednesday games ... even if BGSU wins and UA loses, the Zips win the tiebreaker ... the teams split their two regular-season meetings, but Akron would win the tiebreaker by virtue of a better record in games against the East Division ... the Zips would have a record of 8-2 vs. the rest of the division, while the Falcons would be 7-3 vs. the East.

• BGSU ALSO FINISHES FIFTH IF... The Falcons lose at KSU, but Miami loses at Ohio on Wednesday night.

• BGSU FINISHES SIXTH IF... The Falcons lose at KSU AND Miami wins at Ohio ... BG and MU would be tied with 10-6 league records, but the RedHawks would win the tiebreaker by virtue of a sweep of the season series with the Falcons.

• Under the MAC Tournament format instituted prior to last season, the top-four seeds receive multiple byes ... the third and fourth seeds each earn a 'double-bye' and are placed into the third round ... seeds one and two earn a 'triple-bye' and will advance directly to the semifinals ... put another way, a team seeded first or second will need to win only two MAC Tournament games to capture the title, while the third or fourth seed would need three wins ... any team seeded fifth through 12th will need to reel off five consecutive wins to capture the tourney crown ... seeding is based on conference winning percentage, regardless of division ... the MAC tiebreaker procedure can be found on page 19 of the PDF version of these notes.

• Should BGSU finish as the fifth or sixth seed, the Falcons would host a first-round game against either Kent State or Ohio ... that first-round game would take place on Saturday (March 9) at 1:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center ... the winner would advance to the second round, which is scheduled for the afternoon of Wednesday, March 13, at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland.

• Should the Falcons finish as the third or fourth seed, BGSU's first MAC Tournament game would be in the third round, on Thursday, March 14, at Quicken Loans Arena ... the semifinals are scheduled for Friday, March 15, with the championship set for Saturday, March 16.

THIS SEEMS FAMILIAR
• Last season, BGSU journeyed to Kent, Ohio, needing a win on the final day of the regular season along with a favorable result in the Central Michigan-Eastern Michigan game ... in 2011-12, the Falcons needed a win over KSU to clinch at least a tie for the MAC's overall regular-season title ... a BG win, combined with a CMU win over EMU, would give the Falcons a one-game lead over Eastern in the final standings and an outright title ... the games broke BGSU's way, as the Falcons posted a 91-48 win over the Flashes, while the Chippewas topped the Eagles ... BG finished with a 14-2 MAC ledger, with Eastern a game back at 13-3.

• This season, the Falcons need a win over KSU and an EMU win against CMU, in order for BG to earn a top-four seed and a 'double bye' for the MAC Tournament ... the teams seeded third and fourth would need to win three games to capture the league tournament title ... teams seeded fifth through 12th will need to reel off five consecutive MAC Tournament wins to claim the crown.

SENIOR DAY SUCCESS
The Falcons picked up a 73-52 win over Ohio Sunday afternoon (March 3), on 'Senior Day' at the Stroh Center ... BGSU's four seniors – Simone Eli, Danielle Havel, Allison Papenfuss and Chrissy Steffen – were recognized in pregame ceremonies ... the Falcons now have won 12 consecutive 'Senior Day/Night' games since Jennifer Roos came to BGSU, and BG is 17-1 in the last 18 such contests ... the lone loss in that time came to Miami in February of 2001.

QUICK HITS
• The Falcons, as mentioned, are coming off a 73-52 win over Ohio on Sunday afternoon (March 3) at the Stroh Center ... BGSU scored the first 12 points of the game, and the Falcons had a 19-2 lead with just over seven minutes gone.

• BGSU shot a blistering 69.2 percent from the field in the first half, making 18-of-26 shots from the floor and opening up a 44-23 lead on Ohio at the break ... that marked the Falcons' best field-goal percentage in a half this season.

• Senior Chrissy Steffen had 14 points to lead four double-digit scorers for the Falcons ... Steffen was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field against the Bobcats, hitting three shots from behind the three-point line.

• Redshirt junior Alexis Rogers scored 13 points, going 6-of-9 from the field, while senior Allison Papenfuss and freshman Bailey Cairnduff had 10 points apiece.

• Junior Jill Stein had nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds vs. Ohio ... Stein has averaged 8.5 points and 9.0 boards over the Falcons' last two games.

• Senior Simone Eli entered the Ohio game with 4:25 to go ... Eli had played in the Falcons' exhibition game vs. Slippery Rock back on Nov. 3, but had missed the entire regular season due to injury ... she saw over four minutes of action vs. Ohio before exiting with 15 seconds remaining.

• This year's senior class – Eli, Papenfuss, Steffen and Danielle Havel – has helped the Falcons to an overall record of 98-28 and a MAC mark of 51-12 ... that is an average of 24.5 overall wins and 12.75 MAC wins with one regular-season game remaining.

• The seniors are looking to become the eighth group in school history – and the seventh in a row – to reach the 100-win mark for their careers.

• BGSU held last week's two opponents, Ohio and Buffalo, to an average of just 47.5 points per game and a 31.6% field-goal percentage ... the Falcons downed UB, 56-43, on Thursday night (Feb. 28) before topping Ohio three days later.

• With the win over UB, the Falcons clinched a winning record in MAC play for the 10th consecutive year, a new school record.

• BGSU allowed Ohio to make only one three-point field goal in each of the teams' two meetings this season ... the 'Cats went 1-for-14 in the game in Athens (Jan. 20), and Ohio was 1-of-12 from long range on Sunday.

• The BGSU bench combined to score 36 points in Sunday's win, marking the sixth time this season the Falcon reserves have exceeded 30 points in a game ... the opponents have yet to get 30 points from the bench against BG this year.

• Sunday's game marked the first time in over a month (since the Eastern Michigan game of Jan. 27) that BG never trailed in a game ... the Falcons have led from wire to wire in four games this season.

• On the season, BGSU has held the opponent to fewer than 50 points on 11 occasions, setting a 'modern-day' record ... the school record is 12 such games, amassed by the 1973-74 team ... the '74-75 club kept 11 opponents under the 50-point mark ... the 2006-07 BG team held nine opponents to fewer than 50 points, en route to an appearance in the Sweet Sixteen.

• In 31 games at the Stroh Center, 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 16 games in the building ... BG has allowed an average of 53.2 ppg in all games at the Stroh, and just 51.4 ppg in MAC games.

• BGSU is ranked 36th in the nation in scoring defense this season, having allowed 54.1 points per game ... the Falcons also are among the country's top 50 teams in fewest personal fouls (29th; 13.7 per game) and fewest turnovers committed (47th; 14.5 per game) ... BG is 39th in the nation in three-point field goals made per game (6.7).

• The following few notes illustrate how successful BGSU has been over the last decade ... the Falcons are currently 10-5 in MAC play ... BG has not had more than five losses in conference action since the 2002-03 campaign.

• In fact, BGSU has 123 wins and just 20 losses in MAC games over the last eight-plus years ... no other conference school has fewer than 52 MAC losses in that time.

• The Falcons' 15-point loss to Miami on Feb. 23 was the team's largest margin of defeat this season ... believe it or not, it also was BGSU's most lopsided loss to a MAC team in over five years, since a 68-47 setback at Ball State on Jan. 26, 2008.

• Miami became the first team to defeat BGSU twice in the same season since Eastern Michigan in the 2004-05 campaign ... the Eagles won both regular-season meetings that year, but the Falcons gained a measure of revenge in the MAC Tournament, earning a 77-57 win in the semifinal round en route to the first of three consecutive conference tourney championships.

• Steffen has moved into the top 20 on the BGSU career scoring list ... she currently has 1,180 career points as a Falcon, ranking 19th ... Steffen's next target is 18th-place Jacki Raterman, who scored 1,213 points at BGSU from 1995-99.

• Steffen is now fourth in school history in three-point field goals made, having hit 175 long-distance shots in her career ... Steffen moved past Sara Puthoff on that list in the Ohio game.
BGSU CAREER RECORDS, THREE-POINT FG MADE
1 -- Lauren Prochaska (2007-11) 310
2 -- Tracy Pontius (2007-11)    235
3 -- Liz Honegger (2003-07)     216
4 -- CHRISSY STEFFEN           175
5 -- Sara Puthoff (1994-98)     173

• Steffen has played in a total of 123 career games ... she has hit double digits in scoring in 60 of those contests.

• The Falcons have a record of 11-4 at the Stroh Center this year to date ... BG has posted a double-digit home win total in each of the last eight seasons.

• The Falcons have a record of 18-2 when scoring 60 or more points this year ... after the win over Buffalo Thursday, BGSU is now 1-7 when the offense is held under the 60-point plateau.

• The Falcons' conference opponents have averaged just 52.5 points per game over the first 15 league contests.

• A total of 11 Falcons – every player who has seen action in more than one game this season – have scored in double figures at least once ... nine of those 11 players have hit double digits more than once ... and, no fewer than 10 different players have led BGSU in scoring in at least one game this season.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the Kent State game with an overall record of 19-9 on the season ... BGSU is 10-5 in the MAC, and the Falcons are a game behind East Division-leading Akron ... BG is a game ahead of third-place Miami.

• Currently, the Falcons are fifth overall in the seeding for the MAC Tournament ... if the regular season had ended following Sunday's game, BGSU would host either Kent State or Ohio in the first round of the league tourney.

• BGSU has won four of the last five games, including a pair of victories at the Stroh Center last week ... the Falcons downed Buffalo, 56-43, on Thursday night (Feb. 28) before defeating Ohio by a 73-52 final on Sunday afternoon (March 3) ... the two wins came after a 76-61 loss at Miami on Feb. 23.

• The Falcons finished February with a record of 5-2, and BGSU is 1-0 to begin the month of March ... BG opened February with wins at home against then MAC-leading Central Michigan (84-59; Feb. 3) and on the road vs. UB (61-56; Feb. 7) ... after seeing a two-game winning streak come to an end with a 55-54 loss at Western Michigan (Feb. 10), the Brown and Orange went to the MAC's "West Coast" and came away with a 60-49 win at Northern Illinois (Feb. 16) ... BG then downed Akron, 74-61, to move into a tie for first place in the East, before dropping back out after the loss at MU.

• BG's 10 MAC wins have come by a total of 195 points, an average of 19.5 points per game ... the team's five league losses have been by a combined total of 34 points (6.8 ppg), with three of those setbacks coming by five points or fewer.

• After going undefeated in the month of December, the Falcons finished January with a 4-4 record ... that 6-0 December run was capped off by a double-digit win over a nationally-ranked foe, as BG downed #14/15 Dayton, 65-40, on Dec. 30 ... the month also included double-digit victories over Colorado State, Butler and Wyoming at home and Northwestern on the road ... BG won a 64-61 decision at Massachusetts (Dec. 19) prior to breaking for the holidays.

• The Falcons are 11-4 at home, 8-4 on the road and 0-1 in neutral-site games this season ... BGSU has a scoring margin of +8.9 and a rebounding margin of +4.6 ... in league play, BG went 6-2 at home and the Falcons are 4-3 in hostile venues.

• Individually, senior Chrissy Steffen and redshirt junior Alexis Rogers pace a balanced Falcon scoring attack ... Steffen is averaging 11.7 points per game, with Rogers scoring at a 10.7 ppg clip.

• Steffen leads the Falcons with 18 double-digit scoring games this season ... after being held in single digits for five consecutive games to begin MAC play, she has scored at least 10 points in nine of the last 10 contests ... she was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field vs. Ohio ... Rogers has hit double figures in scoring 14 times this year.

• Rogers has a team-leading 6.0 rebounds per game, and also tops the Falcons in steals, with 1.9 spg ... she was limited to just six minutes of action in Thursday's Buffalo game, after reinjuring her nose, which had been broken in the first UB game (Feb. 7) ... but, Rogers returned to play 19 minutes and go 6-of-9 from the field in Sunday's win over Ohio.

• Steffen averages 4.5 rpg along with 1.5 assists per contest, and she leads the Brown and Orange with 49 successful three-point field goals this season ... Steffen is shooting a team-best 84.9 percent from the free-throw line, and leads the entire MAC in that category ... she has gone 62-of-73 from the stripe.

• Junior Jillian Halfhill has 8.8 ppg along with a team-leading 3.3 assists per contest ... the 5-6 point guard also has 4.9 rebounds per game, good for third on the team ... Halfhill is fourth in the MAC in assist/turnover ratio (1.6) ... she led the Falcons in scoring in two-straight games, with a career-high 23 points along with seven boards at Miami, and 12 points vs. UB.

• Rogers and Halfhill, like Steffen, each are ranked among the MAC leaders in free-throw percentage ... Rogers is 11th in the league (74.4%), while Halfhill is 12th (71.3%).

• Fifth-year senior Danielle Havel has 7.1 ppg, and is near the top of the team lists in numerous categories ... Havel is second on the Falcons in both rebounds (5.4 rpg) and assists (2.0 apg), and she is also second on the team in blocked shots ... Havel has a BG-best four games with 10 or more rebounds this season to date ... she is shooting a team-best 46.1% from the field.

• Halfhill and Havel have hit 28 and 23 three-pointers, respectively, this year ... Havel is shooting 43.4% from long range.

• Freshman Miriam Justinger averages 5.4 ppg, and is shooting 79.1% from the free-throw line this year, having gone 34-of-43 ... sophomore Jasmine Matthews, who has missed 14 of the 15 MAC games due to injury, has 5.5 ppg ... Justinger has hit 19 three-point field goals and Matthews 17 this season.

• Freshman Bailey Cairnduff has 4.8 points per game and has knocked down 19 three-pointers ... BGSU's two post players off the bench, junior Jill Stein and senior Allison Papenfuss, have 4.5 and 3.9 ppg, respectively.

• Stein has 4.6 rebounds per contest, while Papenfuss has 3.5 rpg ... Stein leads the Falcons with a total of 22 blocked shots, while Havel has 18, Papenfuss 12 and Steffen 10 ... Stein had nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds vs. Ohio, while Papenfuss scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

• Junior Katrina Salinas is averaging 2.9 ppg this season, while sophomore Deborah Hoekstra has 2.4 ppg ... Salinas has made 15 triples and Hoekstra eight.

• 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 28 games ... that list includes Halfhill, Havel, Justinger, Papenfuss, Salinas, Steffen and Stein ... Rogers has played in 27 games, with Cairnduff seeing action in 25, Hoekstra 21 and Matthews 13 ... senior Simone Eli was sidelined due to injury nearly all year, but made her 2012-13 regular-season debut in Sunday's Ohio game.

• Halfhill, Havel and Steffen each have started all 28 games this winter, while Rogers has made 27 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' 15 MAC games.

• In MAC play, BGSU's scoring is quite balanced, as six players are averaging at least 6.0 points per game, but only two Falcons have more than 8.2 ppg ... Steffen leads that scoring list at 10.9 ppg, followed by Rogers (10.2 ppg), Halfhill (8.2 ppg), Havel (6.7 ppg), Justinger (6.1 ppg) and Cairnduff (6.0 ppg) ... five other Falcons are averaging between 3.0 and 4.9 ppg in MAC action (aka #MACtion) ... Halfhill has 3.9 assists per contest and a league-best 2.3 assist-to-turnover ratio in MAC play ... Havel and Rogers each have 5.5 rebounds per game against conference foes, while Stein has 5.2 rpg ... Rogers is shooting 52.8% from the field, with Havel hitting 48.7% of her shots ... Havel is shooting 50.0% (12-of-24) from three-point range, a percentage which would lead the league, but she is three three-pointers shy of the minimum standard required to qualify for the league rankings ... 10 players are averaging double digits in minutes played against conference competition, with an 11th Falcon at 9.5 mpg.

• 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 38.9% from the field, and BG is 32.5% from three-point range and 72.1% from the free-throw line through the first 28 games ... the opponents have shot 37.6% from the floor, 27.8% from beyond the arc and 67.9% from the stripe.

• In MAC action, BGSU is shooting 39.8% from the floor, 32.1% from long range and 71.8% from the line ... the opponents have a field-goal pct. of 36.5%, a three-point rate of 26.6% (66-of-248) and a free-throw pct. of 68.1% in league play.

A QUICK LOOK AT KENT STATE
Kent State has a record of 3-25 on the season, and the Golden Flashes are 1-14 in MAC action ... KSU is coming off an 81-45 loss at Buffalo on Sunday (March 3), and the Flashes are looking to snap a seven-game losing streak ... Kent State's lone MAC win came on the road, a 57-55 decision at Ohio on Feb. 3 ... the Flashes are 2-11 at home, 1-12 on the road and 0-2 in neutral-site games this year to date ... in MAC play, KSU is 0-7 at the M.A.C. Center and 1-7 away from home ... senior guard Tamzin Barroilhet leads the Flashes in scoring, with 10.0 points per game ... she also paces the team in rebounding (6.7 rpg), assists (2.5 apg) and steals (1.5 spg) ... senior guard Trisha Krewson has 8.0 ppg and has hit a team-leading 33 three-point field goals, while junior guard Ashley Evans has 6.0 ppg along with 2.4 assists per outing ... Krewson is the lone player to have started all 28 games this year, while Barroilhet has made 25 starts ... Evans, senior forward Diamon Beckford (8.1 ppg, 5.2 rpg) and senior center Leslie Schaefer (3.5 ppg) joined that duo in the starting lineup at UB ... first-year head coach Danielle O'Banion inherited seven letterwinners, including four starters, from last year's club ... the 2011-12 Golden Flashes went 6-21 overall and 5-11 in MAC play.

THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Kent State, 48-28, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU has won the last four meetings and 17 of the last 18 matchups ... in this year's first game, the Brown and Orange posted a 69-33 triumph over the Golden Flashes at the Stroh Center (Jan. 10) ... the Falcons swept last year's two contests, including a 76-57 win at the Stroh, in the first-ever MAC game in the building's history (Jan. 4, 2012) ... nearly two months later, BGSU scored early and often in a 91-48 win in Kent (Feb. 28, 2012), a victory that clinched the outright regular-season title for the Brown and Orange ... the teams split their two matchups two seasons ago, as KSU broke a 13-game BG series win streak with a 44-43 win in Kent (Jan. 15, 2011), and the Falcons answered with an 80-59 victory at Anderson Arena the following month (Feb. 26, 2011) ... the Falcons are 23-10 in home games, 18-16 in road contests and 7-2 in neutral-site meetings with Kent/Kent State ... overall, the Flashes had won 12-straight matchups, and 17-of-18 contests, before BGSU captured the next 13 meetings prior to KSU's win in January of '11 ... Jennifer Roos has a record of 1-0 vs. Kent State as a collegiate head coach.

UP NEXT
Following the Kent State game, the Falcons will begin MAC Tournament play ... BGSU will either host KSU or Ohio in first-round action on Saturday (March 9) at 1:00 p.m., or the Falcons will earn a top-four seed and a 'double-bye' into the third round ... the third-round games will be held at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland on Thursday, March 14.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results