Previewing BGSU Women's Basketball

Senior Deborah Hoekstra & the Falcons are preparing for the 2014-15 season (photo by Bianca Garza)

October 05, 2014 | Women's Basketball

Falcons enter third season of Roos head-coaching era

By: by MATT DALEY, BGSU Athletic Communications

The following article appeared in Saturday's (Oct. 4) BGSU football game program...

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team will soon begin the third year of the Jennifer Roos Era. The Falcons' head coach, who has compiled a 54-16 record in her first two seasons, will lead the team into fall practice in just two days, while the team's exhibition is one month away.

Roos and her roster of 12 seek to bring BGSU the team's 10th Mid-American Conference regular season championship in the last 11 years. She will also try to lead the program to its first NCAA appearance since 2011.

Roos' squad accomplished much in her second season. The team won 30 games for only the second time in program history, and it advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2014 WNIT. That tournament march, which saw the Falcons host four straight games, was the deepest postseason run BGSU has ever made. It was ranked 25th in the final week of the AP poll, and academically, the team was in the top 25 nationally with a 3.4 cumulative GPA.

"We had a tremendous amount of success. I was really proud of what we did athletically and academically," Roos said. "I like to tell the team each year that we're going to remember the past, but we're not going to talk about a lot about it. Every season is a brand new team."

Roos knows that this year's team will be very different. Three starters from last year's team have departed. In their place, the Falcons have six freshmen and two sophomores in addition to four upperclassmen. Of the six freshmen, four are new to the program, while the other two redshirted after combining for just 24 minutes last season. How can the team overcome inexperience?

"We have a tradition in place. We have a philosophy that carries over to how we recruit, how we prepare, how we act on and off the court. We have a consistent offensive and defensive system. When you come into the program, you know what you're getting," Roos said. "That consistency can bring success. It's helped create a very good flow for our team."

Despite the new faces on the roster, Roos is pleased with how the team is coming together. "Right now, I'm probably most excited about our team chemistry. It's stronger at this time than it has been at other times during previous seasons," she said.

The faces that you will see in the backcourt will be familiar. Erica Donovan started 34 games last season and was third on the team in points (10.9) and rebounds (5.6) per game, and she was second in blocks (12). She will be joined by Miriam Justinger, who started 27 games and averaged 27 minutes during the 2013-14 campaign. Justinger scored 8.4 points per game and was second on the team with 80 assists. Fellow guards Deborah Hoekstra and Jasmine Matthews will also return for the Falcons and should occupy more prominent roles after averaging 18.1 and 21.5 minutes per game last season, respectively.

The frontcourt will be a different story. Alexis Rogers and Jill Stein finished their careers last season, and there is scant experience to fill that void. "We've got five post players on the team with Abby Siefker and Leah Bolton being sophomores. Erica (Donovan) can play on the inside as well, but you're looking at two freshman, Sarah Baer and Lauren Webb, that will have to add depth to that position," Roos said. Outside of Donovan, Siefker is the only one among that group with significant in-game experience; she averaged 8.1 minutes last season.

Roos believes that a key to combating the team's inexperience is to utilize a strength from last season. "Last year, because of injuries, we were going into games with only nine players. Six of those nine were leading scorers at one time or another, so our balance ended up being a big strength for us," said Roos. "It put pressure opponents. We'll need to have that same balance in order to create success for our team this year."

Bowling Green opens the 2014-15 season with back-to-back home games against Bucknell on November 14 and Iona on November 18. After that, the team will have to, in Roos' words, become road warriors. After Iona, BGSU must play 12 of 15 games on the road, including four of the first six MAC contests.

The gauntlet includes tournaments in California and Florida, as well as road games at Milwaukee, Saint Francis (Pa.), Illinois State and Bradley. The Falcons' only non-conference reprieve will be a home contest with Cincinnati on December 7. However, once league play rolls around, Bowling Green will host seven of the team's final 12 conference games, including the final two of the season against Buffalo and Akron.

BGSU opens the 2014-15 season with an exhibition against Davis & Elkins College on November 7 at the Stroh Center.