Falcons Head to Los Angeles for Thanksgiving Weekend

Friday, November 28

Los Angeles, CA

4:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

UC Irvine

Tickets

Miriam Justinger & the Falcons jet to the left coast for the Thanksgiving holiday

Photo by: Bianca Garza, BGSU Marketing and Communications

November 26, 2014 | Women's Basketball

BGSU to play two games in DoubleTree LA Westside Thanksgiving Classic

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, after posting a come-from-behind win to open the road portion of the schedule, now heads across the country for a Thanksgiving weekend tournament. The Falcons of head coach Jennifer Roos travel to the left coast for the DoubleTree LA Westside Thanksgiving Classic this Friday and Saturday (Nov. 28-29) in Los Angeles, Calif. BGSU will face UC Irvine in Friday action, and the Falcons will meet either UAB or the host school, Loyola Marymount, the following day. All tourney games will be played at the Gersten Pavilion.

GAME NOTES
BGSU | UC IRVINE | UAB | LOYOLA MARYMOUNT

DOUBLETREE LA WESTSIDE THANKSGIVING CLASSIC
(all games at Gersten Pavilion; Los Angeles, Calif.)
Friday, Nov. 28
Bowling Green vs. UC Irvine, 1:00 p.m. (4:00 p.m. ET)
UAB at Loyola Marymount, 3:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. ET)

Saturday, Nov. 29
Consolation Game, 1:00 p.m. (4:00 p.m. ET)
Championship Game, 3:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. ET)

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
If you can't make the trip to Los Angeles, you can still follow the Falcons via your radio or computer machine. Both of BGSU's games will be broadcast by WBGU-FM 88.1, the flagship home of Falcon women's basketball, and will be available over the air or on the web.

Additionally, all four games in this weekend's tournament will have live stats as well as a free web stream. Log on to BGSUFalcons.com and click the 'calendar' link on the day or the game, or navigate your way to the women's basketball schedule page and bask in the veritable plethora of links.

GOING BACK TO CALI ... I DON'T THINK SO
Friday's UC Irvine game will mark the first time the women's basketball Falcons have ever played a game in the state of California. In fact, BGSU has only played three games against California-based schools in the program's history heading into this weekend, when the Falcons will face at least one California school. In the interest of creating a random list, here are all of the games against California schools in program history...
BGSU'S GAMES AGAINST SCHOOLS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Date   Opponent (Site)                                            Result
12/9/00 Fresno State (Tucson, Ariz. – Arizona Basketball Classic) W 83-73
3/19/06 UCLA (West Lafayette, Ind. – NCAA Champ. First Round)      L 61-74
12/4/10 Cal State Fullerton (Bowling Green, Ohio)      W 91-51

LAST TIME OUT: KONIECZKI KEYS FURIOUS FALCON RALLY IN 60-50 WIN
• Sophomore Rachel Konieczki scored a career-high 15 points, all in the second half, as the Falcons rallied for a 60-50 road win over Milwaukee Saturday afternoon (Nov. 22).

• Both teams shot poorly from the floor in the first half, and the hosts led by a 16-13 score at the intermission. BG briefly took the lead early in the second half, but the Panthers quickly went back on top, and Macie Dorow's layup gave UWM a nine-point lead, the hosts' largest of the game, with a transition layup with 7:37 to go.

• Following that layup, however, the Falcons would outscore the hosts by a 32-13 count the rest of the way.

• The comeback began when Konieczki hit a long two-pointer out of a BG timeout. That shot started a 10-0 run for the Brown and Orange. Konieczki scored five points during that run, which culminated with a three-point play by redshirt junior Erica Donovan.

• Milwaukee's Jenny Lindner hit a corner three to briefly give her team the lead once again, but Donovan knocked down a pair of free throws, then fed Konieczki for a left-wing triple with just over four minutes left. After a defensive stop, Donovan got back to the line and hit two more shots for a 45-40 advantage.

• A UWM three-point play cut the lead to two points, but senior Deborah Hoekstra was fouled and knocked down two shots from the stripe for a 47-43 lead with 3:04 remaining. Donovan's putback made it a six-point lead.

• Ashley Green cut the BG lead in half, but junior Miriam Justinger's rebound and layup made it a five-point game with 43.1 seconds left. The Panthers missed a shot, Hoekstra rebounded the ball and was fouled, and the senior hit two tosses for a 55-48 advantage. Armstrong canned a jumper with 27.1 seconds to go, but the home team would not score again, and BGSU then went 5-of-6 from the line to salt the game away.

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK (ACTUALLY, GO RIGHT AHEAD)
• With under eight minutes left in the Milwaukee game, the Falcons were shooting just 21.6 percent from the field, and the Panthers had just taken their largest lead of the day, 37-28.

• From that point on, however, the Brown and Orange outscored the hosts, 32-13, en route to the (don't call it a) comeback win. BG went 8-of-12 from the field and 14-of-16 from the free-throw line down the stretch. A few more numbers follow...
THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY (NOT NECESSARILY IN THAT ORDER)
Category   First 32-plus minutes   Last 7-plus minutes
Field Goals   11-51 (21.6%)         8-12 (66.7%)
Free Throws             4-8 (50.0%)      14-16 (87.5%)
Three-Pointers         2-20 (10.0%)          2-3 (66.7%)
Rebounds (BG/UWM)        35 / 38              11 / 3
Turnovers (BG/UWM)       14 / 19               1 / 5
Points (BG/UWM)          28 / 37      32 / 13
Pts. by Rachel Konieczki   5                   10
Pts. by Erica Donovan       4   10

A FEW MORE NOTES FROM THE MILWAUKEE GAME
• Sophomore Rachel Konieczki's career-high 15-point output led the Falcons in the win at Milwaukee. Konieczki scored 10 points in the game's final 7:06, with the first eight coming in a span of less than three minutes. The last of those eight points came on her trey with 4:08 remaining that broke a 40-all tie and gave BG the lead for good.

• Juniors Erica Donovan and Miriam Justinger each came close to posting double-doubles in Milwaukee. Donovan had 14 points and nine boards, while Justinger scored 12 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Justinger also had BG-best totals of three assists and four steals.

• Sophomore Abby Siefker led the Falcons with 11 rebounds, as BGSU had a 46-41 advantage on the boards. Siefker had set a new career rebounding best by halftime. Her previous career standard had been six, but she had nine boards in the first half alone at UWM.

• Konieczki was 3-of-4 from three-point range in the win, while all of the other players in the game combined to go 6-of-43 from beyond the arc.

A FEW NOTES FROM THE IONA GAME
The Falcons downed Iona last Tuesday (Nov. 18) to get into the win column for the first time in the 2014-15 season. A few notes from that win...

• Redshirt junior Erica Donovan, the Falcons' top returning scorer from a year ago, was held scoreless in the season opener vs. Bucknell. And, she did not score in the first five-plus minutes vs. Iona. But, Donovan hit a three-pointer at the 14:41 mark of the first half on Tuesday night, beginning a stretch in which she scored 10 points in just over four minutes. Donovan ended the night with 24 points vs. the Gaels.

• That 24-point total tied Donovan's career high. Her other 24-point game came against another team from the state of New York, as she had two dozen points in a road win against Buffalo last Feb. 22.

• Sophomore Abby Siefker had 12 points to set a new career best. Siefker's career-high totals entering the season were seven points and 17 minutes played. But, she has averaged 27.0 minutes per game over the first three contests of the year. Siefker set a career high with nine points vs. Bucknell, then topped that with her 12-point output against Iona.

• A pair of freshmen, Rachel Myers and Haley Puk, came off the bench to score 10 points apiece in the win over the Gaels. It marked the first collegiate double-digit scoring game for each player.

• Sophomore Rachel Konieczki has reached career marks in some category in every game. She tied her career best with 11 points vs. Bucknell, and set a new rebounding standard, with six, in the Iona game before her 15-point day at UWM.

• Junior Miriam Justinger had 10 points vs. Iona. Entering the UC Irvine game, Justinger is the lone Falcon to have scored in double figures in each of the first three games of the year. She keyed BGSU's game-opening 7-0 run vs. IC, throwing the ball inside to Siefker for a pair of layups, and hitting a left-wing three-pointer in between the two assists.

• Freshman Sarah Baer made her first collegiate appearance and also scored her first collegiate points in the Iona game. Baer had two points in two minutes of action vs. the Gaels.

SIX OF ONE, HALF DOZEN OF THE OTHER
Coach Jennifer Roos and the Falcons return six letterwinners from a year ago. Each of those returnees played in 31 or more games last winter, with three of the six playing in all 35 contests. BGSU's other six players on the 2014-15 roster have combined to play a total of 24 minutes in their collegiate careers. The latter half-dozen players include a pair of redshirt freshmen as well as four true frosh.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the UC Irvine game with a 2-1 record. After opening the season with a 53-52 loss to Bucknell, BGSU bounced back with a convincing 80-59 victory over Iona, then went on the road and picked up a 60-50 victory over Milwaukee on Saturday afternoon.

• BG's starting lineup has been the same in each of the first three games, with senior Jasmine Matthews, redshirt junior Erica Donovan, true junior Miriam Justinger and sophomores Rachel Konieczki and Abby Siefker in the starting five vs. both Bucknell and Iona. Senior Deborah Hoekstra, one of the top sixth players in the MAC a year ago, has been the Falcons' first player off the bench in each of the three games to date.

• The Falcons' balanced scoring attack features four players averaging between 9.3 and 12.7 points per game. Donovan leads the team with that 12.7-ppg average, while Justinger and Hoekstra have 11.3 and 10.7 ppg, respectively. Konieczki and Siefker have 9.3 and 7.7 ppg, respectively, after three games.

• BGSU's rebounding has been quite balanced as well. Siefker, Donovan and Justinger all have between 18 and 22 total rebounds this year to date. Siefker leads the way with 7.3 rpg, followed by Donovan with 6.7 and Justinger at 6.0 rpg. Both Matthews and Hoekstra have 3.7 rebounds per contest.

• Donovan and Justinger each have 2.7 assists per game to date. Justinger leads the Falcosn with 2.7 steals per outing, while Donovan has 1.7 and Matthews 1.3 spg. Siefker has a team-leading 1.0 blocked shots per game.

• BGSU is shooting 35.8 percent from the field, 27.9% from three-point range and 75.4% from the free-throw line through three games. The Falcons' opponents have shot 36.7% from the floor, 25.0% from the arc and 68.8% from the stripe.

• The Falcons have averaged 6.3 three-pointers made through the first three contests. Konieczki has made five, while Hoekstra has hit four and Justinger and freshman Rachel Myers three each.

• Hoekstra, Myers, redshirt freshman Kennedy Kirkpatrick and true frosh Haley Puk and Lauren Webb each have seen action in all three games off the bench, while freshman Sarah Baer has played in the Iona and UWM contests.

• The Falcons returned six letterwinners, including two starters, from a 2013-14 team that won 30 overall games and captured a MAC regular-season title with a 17-1 league ledger. BGSU won the East Division title, and the Falcons had the best overall record in MAC play for the eighth time in the last 10 seasons. The division title was the program's ninth in that 10-year span.

• Last year's edition of the Brown and Orange advanced to national postseason play for the 10th consecutive March, winning three games in the WNIT before falling in the quarterfinal round to eventual tourney champion Rutgers. BGSU won more than 20 games for the 11th consecutive year.

• In addition to the six returnees, head coach Jennifer Roos and her staff – assistant coaches Jesse Fleming, Jacey Brooks and Sahar Nusseibeh and director of operations Monique Rosati – also have six players with freshman status on the roster. That 12-player roster includes two seniors, two juniors, two sophomores, two redshirt freshmen and the four true frosh.

• Donovan is the top returning scorer and rebounder. She averaged 10.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game a year ago, ranking third on the team in both categories.

• Donovan played in all 35 games, starting 34, last season. The Falcons' other returning starter is Justinger, who made 27 starts last season and avearged 8.4 points and 3.1 rebounds per outing. Justinger also averaged 2.4 assists per contest last winter, good for second on the Falcons and tops among returnees.

• Hoekstra and Matthews scored 6.9 and 6.4 ppg, respectively, last year. Both players saw action off the bench. Hoekstra, one of the league's top sixth players, came off the bench in all 35, while Matthews made nine starts.

• Matthews made 45 three-point field goals last season, while Hoekstra hit 41 long-range shots and made 36.3% of her attempts from beyond the arc. Donovan and Justinger made 36 and 28 treys, respectively.

• The 2013-14 Falcons shot 42.3 percent from the field, 35.2% from three-point range and 74.6% from the foul line. Opponents shooting 37.4% from the floor, 25.7% from the arc and 69.0% from the stripe. The Falcons had a scoring margin of +12.9, a rebounding margin of +6.5 and a turnover margin of +1.1 on the year.

• In MAC games, BGSU shot 43.0% from the field, 36.1% from three-point land and 78.5% from the line. Opponents shot 36.4% overall, 22.0% from long range and 64.8% from the stripe in MAC play.

THIRTY WINS
BGSU finished with a 30-5 record last winter. The 2013-14 Falcons are only the second team in MAC history to reach the 30-victory mark for a season. The first? The 2006-07 BGSU club, which became the first (and still the only) team in MAC women's basketball history to advance to the Round of 16 in the NCAA Championships.

RECENT SUCCESS
The NCAA has compiled its annual lists of the winningest Division-I teams over the last five years, and Bowling Green ranks in the top 15 on both lists. BGSU has won a total of 133 games over the last five years (from the start of the 2009-10 season through the end of 2013-14), and the Falcons have won more than 79 percent of the time during that span. BGSU's winning percentage is the 11th-highest among all NCAA Division-I programs over the last half decade, while the team's win total is the 13th-best in the nation in that time.

LONG-TERM SUCCESS
The Falcons have enjoyed success not only recently, but over the long term. BGSU ranks 30th in NCAA Division-I history in winning percentage, and the Falcons were 39th among all such schools in total wins entering the 2014-15 season. Heading into the UC Irvine game, BGSU has an all-time record of 748-394, good for a winning pct. of 65.5%. No other Mid-American Conference program is listed among the top 50 on either chart.

THE UC IRVINE ANTEATERS
UC Irvine will enter Friday's game against BGSU with a record of 1-4, and the Anteaters will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak. On Monday night, UCI dropped a 96-52 decision at South Dakota. The Anteaters' win came against Grand Canyon, and the team has also played Northern Arizona, Pepperdine and San Jose State this year. Individually, redshirt sophomore Mokun Fajemisin leads the team in scoring, with 11.6 points per game, and she is tied for the team lead with 5.6 rebounds per contest. Senior forward Methlyn Onogomuho and redshirt freshman forward Brittany Glassow have 7.2 and 7.0 ppg, respectively, and Onogomuho has 5.6 rpg to tie Fajemisin for the team lead. Last year, head coach Doug Oliver's team finished 17-15 overall and 9-7 in the Big West Conference. Oliver and the Anteaters returned six players from the 2013-14 squad. UCI was picked to finish seventh in the Big West this season in the annual media poll.

THE UAB BLAZERS
UAB enters the week with a 2-1 record, and the Blazers begin a five-game road swing with a Tuesday night contest vs. Loyola (Ill.) before heading to Loyola Marymount. The Blazers fell at Florida State in the season opener, but posted double-digit home wins over Lipscomb and Alcorn State. Heading into Tuesday's game, senior forward Janae Smith leads the Blazers with 19.0 points per game. She is shooting 61.8% from the field and 92.9% from the free-throw line, and also has 5.0 rebounds per game. Junior guard Chelsee Black has 14.7 ppg and a team-best 2.7 assists per contest, while four other players average between five and six points. Head coach Randy Norton and the Blazers went 16-15 overall and 7-9 in Conference USA a year ago. Norton welcomed back seven letterwinners, including three starters, from that club.

THE LMU LIONS
Loyola Marymount is 0-3 heading into Friday's game vs. UAB. The Lions have played road games vs. Oklahoma State and UNLV and a home contest against Cal Poly to date. No fewer than five players are scoring in double digits, led by junior guard Deanna Johnson. Johnson has 21.0 points per game, and also leads the team with 4.0 assists per contest. She is 23-of-25 from the free-throw line this season. Sophomore guard Leslie Lopez-Wood has 12.7 ppg, while senior guard Taylor Anderson has 11.7 ppg and 8.7 rebounds per game. Senior forward Emily Ben-Jumbo leads the Lions with 11.0 rpg, and also has 11.3 ppg. Head coach Charity Elliott's team went 9-21 overall and 6-12 in West Coast Conference play a year ago. Elliott welcomed back eight letterwinners, including three starters, from that team. The Lions were picked to finish eighth in the WCC in the preseason coaches poll.

THE SERIES
The Falcons have never met UC Irvine, UAB or Loyola Marymount in women's basketball.

CHAMPIONS AGAIN
The Falcons won the MAC's regular-season title outright last season, achieving that feat for the eighth time in 10 years. BGSU has captured a total of 14 regular-season championships. A few more notes about BG's titles ...

• BGSU won league regular-season titles in three consecutive years from 1986-87 to 1988-89 under head coach Fran Voll, and Jaci Clark's teams captured back-to-back crowns in the 1992-93 and '93-94 campaigns. In 2005, the Falcons had the MAC's best overall record at 13-3, and won the West Division. BGSU then won the East Division outright seven years running (2006-12), with MAC marks of 16-0, 15-1, 13-3, 15-1, 14-2, 13-3 and 14-2 in those seven seasons.

• BGSU has won nine division titles in the last 10 years. The lone exception came in 2012-13, when the Falcons finished in second place in the East, one game behind Akron, with a league mark of 11-5.

• BGSU's 14 total regular-season titles are the most of any conference institution.

• A total of 13 of BGSU's 14 MAC regular-season championships have been outright crowns. In each of the Falcons' first five championship seasons (1987, 1988, 1989, 1993 and 1994), the MAC had just one division, and BGSU had the best overall regular-season record outright.

• In each of the six-straight seasons from 2005 to 2010, Falcon teams not only won a division title, but also had the best overall record among all MAC schools. The '11-12 campaign was the only year that BG won a title without winning the overall regular-season championship, as the Falcons won the East Division with a 13-3 mark, but West Division-winning Toledo was 14-2 in the league.

NATIONAL POSTSEASON PLAY FOR THE 10TH-STRAIGHT SEASON
The Falcons have participated in national postseason play in each of the last 10 seasons, a school- and MAC-record streak. BGSU has made the WNIT field in five of those seasons, participating in the tourney in 2008 and 2009 as well as each of the last three years. The Falcons also have gone to the NCAA Championships five times in that span, making three-straight trips from 2005-07, then returning to the NCAAs in 2010 and '11. Prior to the current run, the school's previous record for consecutive postseason appearances was four, as Fran Voll guided the Falcons to the NCAAs in each year from 1987 through 1990.

THE FALCONS ARE/WERE ...
• 2-1 this season, after posting a 30-5 overall record last winter;
• 17-1 in MAC play in 2013-14, winning a division title for the ninth time in a 10-season span;
• 314-109 since Jennifer Roos came to BGSU in the summer of 2001;
• 163-47 in MAC games in that time:
• 293-74 over the last 11-plus years, with 2013-14 marking BG's MAC-record 11th-straight season of at least 20 wins;
• a staggering 272-64 in the past 10-plus years, with no fewer than 23 wins in each of the 10 seasons and eight MAC overall regular-season titles (2004-10, 2012 and again in '14, plus an East Division crown in '11);
• an eye-popping 249-56 overall, and 128-18 in the MAC regular season, in the last nine-plus years, with at least 24 wins in each of those nine seasons;
• a superb 221-53 in the last eight-plus years, including a 112-18 league ledger;
• a/an (insert your own adjective here) 190-49 overall, and 97-17 in MAC regular-season games, in the last seven-plus seasons, since Monique Rosati came to the BGSU program;
• 164-41 overall and 84-14 in MAC action over the last six-plus winters;
• 135-36, including a 69-13 MAC ledger, in the last five-plus seasons;
• 108-29 overall and 55-11 in the MAC in the last four-plus years;
• 80-24 overall, and 42-8 in MAC action, since seniors Deborah Hoekstra and Jasmine Matthews first put on a BGSU uniform;
• 56-17 overall and 28-6 in league play since Jennifer Roos became head coach, junior Miriam Justinger joined the Falcons' roster, and redshirt junior Erica Donovan transferred to BG;
• 32-6 since Donovan and sophomores Rachel Konieczki and Abby Siefker began their BGSU playing careers, and redshirt freshmen Leah Bolton and Kennedy Kirkpatrick came to campus;
• 151-23 in the last 174 games vs. MAC foes (regular-season and tournament);
• A perfect 67-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field since 2001;
• 250-12 when having a better FG percentage than the opposition in that time, including a 122-2 mark in the last six-plus seasons;
• 240-40 when making more free throws than the opponent in the Roos Assistant-Coach/Associate-Head-Coach/Interim-Head-Coach/Head-Coaching Era;
• 203-25 when outrebounding the opponent in that 13-plus-year span;
• 74-7 in MAC home games in the last 10 seasons;
• 61-12 in MAC road games over the last nine years;
• 20-5 in the MAC Tournament in the last 10 years, with five titles (2005, '06, '07, '10 and '11), an additional championship-game appearance (2009), and trips to the semis in 2008, 2012 and 2014;
• 44-19 overall in the MAC Tournament since it was instituted in 1982;
• 21-7 at Gund/Quicken Loans Arena, the site of the MAC Tournament;
• 51-7 in all non-conference home games since the start of the 2003-04 season;
• 10-17 in 17 national postseason appearances (including a 3-11 record in the NCAA Championships and a 7-6 mark in WNIT trips);
• 9-10 in national postseason action since Roos arrived at BG (including a 2-5 mark in the NCAAs and a 7-5 record in the WNIT); and
• 45-9 in the Stroh Center, with seven losses coming by a combined 17 points.

UP NEXT
Following the trip to Los Angeles, the Falcons will prepare for a rare home game. BGSU faces Cincinnati on Sunday, Dec. 7, in a 2:00 p.m. start at the Stroh Center. The UC game is the only home contest in a nine-game stretch which sees BG venture to the states of Wisconsin, California, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Florida.