Women's Basketball Falcons Celebrate Yet Another Successful Season

Senior Chrissy Steffen picked up a pair of awards as the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team celebrated another successful season Sunday evening (April 14). The 2012-13 BGSU Women's Basketball Awards Banquet was held in the Lenhart Grand Ballroom of the Bowen Thompson Student Union.

Steffen was named the team's Player of the Year in a vote of team members, and also earned the Fran and Marty Voll Senior Achievement Award.

Seven other team members picked up awards as well. Senior Danielle Havel was the winner of the Falcon Award, which is given to the person or persons who embody qualities such as dedication, commitment, effort and being the ultimate team player. Redshirt junior Alexis Rogers was named the team's Power Player of the Year, while true junior Jill Stein was named the Impact Player of the Year.

Junior Jillian Halfhill won the Falcons' Playmaker-of-the-Year award, while freshman Miriam Justinger was named the team's Most Improved Player. Sophomore Deborah Hoekstra and freshman Bailey Cairnduff were co-recipients of the Scholar-Athlete-of-the-Year award.

Steffen, a native of Carmel, Ind. (Carmel H.S.), was named to the All-Mid-American Conference Second Team in 2012-13, earning that honor for the second-straight season. A three-year starter, she led the Falcons in scoring with 11.2 points per game, and also had 4.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists per contest. Steffen led the team with 58 three-point field goals made in her senior season, and finished her career with 184 three-pointers made and 1,245 points. She is ranked fourth in school history in three pointers, and is 16th on the BGSU career scoring list.

Havel, also a native of Carmel, Ind. (Carmel H.S.), started all 35 games in 2012-13, averaging 5.9 points and 5.0 rebounds. She was third on the team in rebounding and fourth in scoring, and ranked second on the Falcons in blocked shots (23; 0.7 per game). Havel shot 37.7 percent from three-point range, making 23 shots from beyond the arc on the season. She averaged 6.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in MAC games, and shot a blistering 48.0% from three-point land in conference contests, going 12-of-25.

Rogers, a native of West Chester, Ohio (Lakota West), was named the team's Power Player of the Year for the second-straight season. An All-MAC Second-Team selection, she played in 34 games, starting all 34, and was second on the team in scoring with 10.9 points per game. Rogers led the Falcons in both rebounding, averaging 6.0 boards per contest, and steals, with 1.7 per game. She shot a team-best 44.8% from the floor, with BG-leading totals of 142 field goals made and 317 attempted.

Stein, who hails from Clyde, Ohio (Tiffin Columbian H.S.), was a 2012-13 tri-captain along with Steffen and Havel. Stein played in all 35 games off the bench, averaging 5.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. She led the Falcons in blocked shots, with a total of 26 (0.7 per game), and shot 48.4% from the field on the year. Stein hit 45.5% of her three-point tries, going 10-of-22 from beyond the arc. Stein averaged 10.0 points and 6.4 rebounds per game in the month of March, shooting 61.7% from the floor during that time. She had 11.2 ppg over the last five games of the season, including two MAC Tournament contests and three WNIT games.

Halfhill, a native of Canfield, Ohio (Canfield H.S.), started all 35 games, averaging 8.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per outing. She ranked third on the team in scoring and second in rebounding, and led the Falcons in both assists (114; 3.3 per game) and minutes played (1,086; 31.0 per game). Halfhill was second on the team with 33 three-point field goals made, and finished third on the Brown and Orange in steals, with 1.3 per outing. She averaged 8.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and a team-leading 4.0 assists in MAC games. Halfhill scored a career-high 23 points on two occasions, and the 5-foot-6 point guard pulled down a BG season-high 13 rebounds in a win over Colorado State. She led the Falcons with 13.7 ppg in the team's WNIT contests.

Justinger, who hails from Sylvania, Ohio (Northview H.S.), played in all 35 games, starting each of the final 22, in her first year on campus. She tied for fifth on the team in scoring, with 5.6 points per game, and also averaged 2.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 0.9 steals. Justinger made 23 three-point field goals on the year, and shot 81.0% from the free-throw line, making 47 of her 58 free-throw attempts. She averaged 8.3 points in the Falcons' three WNIT games, and tied for fourth on the team with 6.3 points per contest in MAC regular-season play.

Hoekstra, from East Lansing, Mich. (East Lansing H.S.), saw action in 25 games off the bench, and had 2.3 points and 1.0 rebounds per game. She shot 73.9% from the foul line, making 17-of-23 tosses. After seeing action in six of the Falcons' 13 pre-conference games, Hoekstra played in all 16 MAC contests and averaged 2.9 points per outing. Hoekstra hit nine three-point field goals on the season, including a career-high four in the Falcons' win over Kent State in the MAC opener. She scored a career-high 12 points in that game, and had 11 points vs. Western Michigan. A health science major at BGSU, she has a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade-point average through the Fall 2012 semester.

Cairnduff, a native of Morley, Mich. (Morley Stanwood H.S.), saw action in 32 of BGSU's 35 games, making four starts. She averaged 4.7 points and 1.5 rebounds per game in her first season at BG, and ranked third on the Falcons with 24 three-point field goals made. Cairnduff shot 30.8% from long range and a blistering 94.4% from the free-throw line, with a 34-of-36 performance from the stripe. In MAC games, she averaged 5.9 points per game and went 26-of-27 (96.3%) from the line. Cairnduff had 12 points in her collegiate debut, vs. Madonna, and exploded for a game- and career-high 18 points in a road win against Eastern Michigan. Cairnduff, a tourism, leisure and event planning major, has a 3.86 GPA through the Fall 2012 semester.

In addition to the presentation of awards, the crowd was treated to dinner and a season highlight video. Cairnduff delivered the invocation, and the team's four seniors – Havel, Steffen, Simone Eli and Allison Papenfuss – had the opportunity to speak, sharing their thoughts and memories on their four years at BGSU.

The 2012-13 Falcons went 24-11 overall under first-year head coach Jennifer Roos, with an 11-5 record in the MAC. BGSU won more than 20 games for the 10th consecutive season, a MAC record, and the Falcons advanced to national postseason play for the ninth consecutive year, qualifying for the WNIT. BGSU won a pair of games in the WNIT before losing by three points to Drexel, the eventual tournament champion.

The team's seniors were part of 103 wins during their time at BGSU, with an overall mark of 103-30 and a MAC regular-season record of 52-12 over the last four seasons. That is an average of 25.75 overall wins and 13 MAC victories per year. BGSU won three MAC East Division titles, two outright conference regular-season championships and two MAC Tournament crowns during the four years, advancing to national postseason play in all four seasons.

2012-13 BGSU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL AWARDS
* Player of the Year: Chrissy Steffen
(Sponsored by Dan Long/Long's Cleaners)

* Falcon Award: Danielle Havel
(Sponsored by Joan Slebos)

* Power Player of the Year: Alexis Rogers
(Sponsored by George & Susan Lang)

* Playmaker of the Year: Jillian Halfhill
(Sponsored by Ron Thompson)

* Impact Player of the Year: Jill Stein
(Sponsored by Bill Lloyd)

* Most Improved Player: Miriam Justinger
(Sponsored by Larry & Fran Weiss)

* Scholar-Athletes of the Year: Bailey Cairnduff & Deborah Hoekstra
(Sponsored by Steve & Rhonda Melchi)

* Fran & Marty Voll Senior Achievement Award: Chrissy Steffen

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results