Bowling Green State University Athletics
Sunday, February 2
Toledo, OH
12:07 PM
Bowling Green State University
at
Toledo
BGSU, Toledo Renew Rivalry in Glass City Sunday
February 01, 2014 | Women's Basketball
Falcons head to Savage Arena for some televised #MACtion
Sunday's game is part of the MAC's television package, and is scheduled to be aired on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel. The game is also slated to be available on ESPN3 and ESPN Full Court. In the Toledo area, the BGSU-UT game will be aired on BCSN.
GAME NOTES
Bowling Green | Toledo
"THROW THE RECORDS OUT" OR SOME SUCH SOMETHING
It's sometimes said that, when rivals meet, "You can throw out the records." That may or may not be true – and recycling them would probably a better alternative than just throwing them away – but in any event, the last few BGSU-UT matchups have come right down to the wire. Each of the last five meetings has been a one-possession game with under four minutes to go, with three of the five not decided until the final horn...
• Jan. 30, 2010 – the Rockets broke a 12-game, seven-year losing streak to the Falcons, rallying for a 66-63 win in Toledo. The game was not decided until a BG three-point try bounced off the backboard and rim as the final horn sounded and UT students rushed the court.
• March 13, 2010 – the Falcons exacted some revenge for the regular-season loss with a 62-53 win over the Rockets in the MAC Tournament championship game. While the Falcons won by nine points, it was a one-point game with just 1:26 to go, and BG led by only three with under a minute remaining before closing out the win at the free-throw line.
• Jan. 26, 2011 – Toledo snapped a 23-game home winning streak for the Falcons, with a 66-65 win at Anderson Arena. BGSU was 3-of-3 from the field in the final minute, including three-pointers by Tracy Pontius and Jen Uhl. However, after UT's Naama Shafir missed two free throws with just 4.9 seconds left, the Falcons rebounded the ball but could not get a shot off before the buzzer sounded.
• Feb. 11, 2012 – UT overcame a double-digit deficit for a 52-50 win at Savage Arena, snapping BG's 18-game MAC regular-season winning streak. For the third time in as many BG-UT regular-season meetings, the outcome was not decided until the final horn, as a long, contested shot by the Falcons was off the mark.
• Jan. 13, 2013 – the first meeting between the rivals at the Stroh Center went to the Rockets, 48-38, but UT led by just one point at the final media timeout of the day. The key play came when a three-point try by Shafir banked off the glass and dropped through the hoop with 1:56 to go and the shot clock winding down.
When Sunday's game begins, there will be a face familiar to Falcon fans at the UT end of the court. Jessica Slagle, a four-year standout with the Falcons, is in her second season as a graduate assistant manager for the Rocket women's basketball squad. Slagle helped the Falcons to an overall record of 108-24 and a MAC regular-season mark of 56-8 during her tenure (2008-12).
LAST TIME OUT: FALCONS REBOUND FOR 78-62 WIN AT OHIO
• The Falcons held host Ohio without a field goal for the game's final seven minutes, rallying for a 78-62 win Thursday night (Jan. 26) at the Convocation Center.
• BG was down by seven points, 58-51, with 9:20 to go, but the Falcons ended the game on a 27-4 run en route to the road win.
• Senior Alexis Rogers led five Falcons in double digits in scoring, with a game-high 20 points. Fellow senior Jillian Halfhill had 16 points on the night, while junior Deborah Hoekstra had 14 off the bench. Senior Jill Stein had 12 points and sophomore Miriam Justinger 10 to round out the quintet.
• Stein had a whopping total of 18 rebounds on the night, just two shy of Ohio's team total. The Falcons held a 37-20 advantage on the glass.
• BGSU shot 55.8 percent from the field for the game, including a 14-of-24 (58.3%) performance in the second half. Despite shooting 52.5% in the opening period, the Brown and Orange fell behind by double figures, after holding a double-digit lead early in the game.
The Falcons took a 10-0 lead, but saw Ohio roar back for a double-digit lead of their own late in the half. The Bobcats went ahead, 35-25, before Rogers scored the last six points of the half, all at the free-throw line.
• Ohio maintained the lead for much of the second half, taking a 58-51 advantage on a three-point play with 9:20 to go. But, that's when the Falcons began the 27-4 run to end the game.
• BG scored nine-straight points, with Hoekstra hitting a three-pointer to tie the game with 8:10 left, and Rogers dishing to a wide-open Stein for a 60-58 lead. The hosts tied the score on a layup with 7:04 left, but that would be Ohio's last successful field goal of the night.
• Rogers knocked down a three-point shot from the top of the arc with 6:51 remaining, giving the Falcons the lead for good, and beginning a 12-0 run. Ohio's only remaining points came on a pair of free throws with 3:50 remaining, but the Brown and Orange scored the game's final six points to provide the final margin.
• BG went 7-of-15 from three-point land, including a 5-of-8 effort in the second period. The 'Cats were 8-of-25 from long range for the game, but just 2-for-13 in the second period.
STEIN, FALCONS CLEAN THE GLASS
The Falcons enjoyed a 37-20 rebounding advantage on Thursday night at Ohio. Senior Jill Stein led the way, shattering her career high with 18 rebounds on the evening. A few more notes about Stein's feat...
• Stein's 18 boards marked the highest total by a BGSU player in close to two decades. No Falcon had had more than 17 boards since the 1995-96 campaign. Charlotta Jones pulled down 22 rebounds against Miami on Jan. 31, 1996, at Anderson Arena.
• Several players had 17-rebound games over the last decade, including senior Alexis Rogers in this season's MAC opener vs. Buffalo. Lauren Prochaska had 17 boards (along with 22 points) in the Falcons' 72-69 win over Syracuse in a WNIT game at Anderson Arena on March 22, 2009, and Liz Honegger pulled down 17 caroms at Northern Illinois on Jan. 10, 2004.
• Stein's total of 18 rebounds on Thursday fell just two shy of matching Ohio's team total. Prior to that game, her previous rebounding high was 14 in this season's win over Old Dominion (Nov. 23, 2013).
A FEW MORE NOTES FROM THE OHIO GAME
• Trailing, 58-51, with just over nine minutes to go in Thursday's game, the Falcons proceeded to score on 10 consecutive possessions. When the smoke had cleared (figuratively), BGSU held a 72-60 lead.
• The Falcons shot a season-best 92.0 percent from the free-throw line, going 23-of-25. Senior Alexis Rogers was 11-of-12 from the stripe, while junior Deborah Hoekstra was a perfect 6-of-6.
• Rogers had seven rebounds and a career-high five assists in addition to a game-best total of 20 points in the win.
• Sophomore Miriam Justinger was a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor, hitting a pair of shots from long distance. She also had four assists vs. the Bobcats.
• Senior Jill Stein filled the stat sheet, with three assists and a game-high three blocked shots in addition to totals 12 points and 18 boards. She was 5-of-7 from the field.
• Justinger, Stein and senior Jillian Halfhill each played 39 minutes in the game, including all 20 minutes of the second half.
BATTLE OF THE BOARDS
• The Falcons have enjoyed more than their fair share of success on the glass over the last year-plus. Since the start of the 2012-13 season, BGSU has won the rebounding battle in 44 of 55 games, including in 18 of the 24 MAC contests. Three of the other games saw the teams tie in that category.
• This year, the Falcons have out-rebounded the foes in 17 of the first 20 games, with double-digit margins in seven of those matchups. BG owns a MAC-best rebounding margin of +8.9 this year to date. BGSU has out-boarded seven of eight MAC opponents so far in '13-14, with a +8.0 rebounding margin (tied for first) in league play.
LEAD, FOLLOW OR GET OUT OF THE WAY
• Through the first 20 games this season, there have been nine contests (Michigan, Niagara, Old Dominion, Monmouth, UMass, Saint Francis, Kent State, Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois) in which BG never trailed, two more (Ohio State and Akron) in which the Falcons were behind for less than a minute, and a 12th (Milwaukee) that saw BG trail for just over a minute.
• This year to date, BGSU has led for 631:46 – 78.4 percent of the time – and trailed for just 129:06 (16.0%). The Falcons and the opponents have been tied for a total of 44:08.
• BGSU has trailed for a total of just eight minutes and 19 seconds (in 320 minutes of action) in the eight home games, and the Falcons have not trailed later than the 12:40 mark of the first half of any game at the Stroh Center this season.
QUICK HITS
• BGSU is 17-3 overall and 7-1 in MAC play. The Falcons had won five-straight games and 10 of 11 contests, capturing each of those 10 decisions by double-digit margins, before suffering an 82-79 overtime loss on the road against preseason MAC favorite Central Michigan on Jan. 18. But, BG bounced back with a pair of home victories, downing Eastern Michigan, 71-57, on Thursday (Jan. 23), before topping Northern Illinois by a 57-44 count Sunday afternoon (Jan. 26).
• The Falcons take a three-game winning streak into the Toledo game, having posted a 78-62 win at Ohio Thursday night (Jan. 30). BGSU has had win streaks of five, five, four and three games (not necessarily in that order) this season.
• Fifteen of the Falcons' 17 victories this season – including all eight home games – have come by double figures. BGSU posted a one-point win at Iona (Nov. 9) in the second game of the year, and downed Butler by four points (Nov. 18) just over a week later, but each of the other wins has come by at least 11 points.
• The Falcons have posted four wins of 23 points or more, with three of those four coming at home. BGSU is 8-0 at the Stroh Center, having won those eight games by an average of 20.6 points per contest.
• In addition to the eight home wins, the Falcons have nine victories away from home, with marks of 6-2 on the road and 3-1 in neutral-site contests. BG has road wins over Iona, Butler, Ohio State, Kent State and Ball State, and the Falcons have topped Michigan, Old Dominion and Monmouth in neutral-site action. The team's losses have come to then #18/21-ranked Purdue on the road, to Marist on a neutral court, and at CMU.
• In BGSU's eight home games, the Falcons have averaged 76.9 points per game. BG has topped the 80-point plateau five times this season, with all of those totals coming in home contests.
• BGSU has had a balanced scoring attack this season. Five Falcons are averaging between 8.6 and 13.9 points per game, and two other players have at least 5.3 ppg to date.
• The Falcons' five starters each have attempted between 130 and 192 shots, meaning that every starter is averaging somewhere between 6.5 and 9.6 field-goal attempts per game.
• BGSU leads the MAC and ranks 20th in the nation in scoring defense, having allowed just 57.1 points per game. The Falcons also lead the MAC in scoring margin (+12.8) and rebounding margin (+8.9), and BG is second in the conference in field-goal percentage defense (37.2), three-point FG pct. (34.8) and three-point FG pct. defense (28.2).
• BGSU is 20th in the nation in rebounding margin in the most recent NCAA statistics. The Falcons have been out-rebounded in just one game since Nov. 18, as Ball State had a narrow 31-29 edge in that category on Jan. 15.
• The Falcons received votes in the USA Today Sports Top 25 coaches poll in 10-straight weeks, but have not done so on either of the last two Tuesdays (Jan. 21 & 28). But, BG has garnered three votes each of the last two Associated Press polls after a five-week absence.
THREE FOR ALL
BGSU made seven three-point field goals in the Ohio game. The Falcons now have hit at least one three-pointer in each of the last 296 games. BG has not been held without a trey since Feb. 12, 2005, at Akron, when the Falcons downed the Zips, 61-52, despite going 0-of-13 from long distance.
TAKE SOME, THEY'RE FREE
• BGSU struggled at the free-throw line early in the season, but the Falcons' fortunes have improved as of late. BG made fewer than 60 percent of its tosses three times in the first five games of the year, and the Falcons were shooting just 64.0% (96 of 150) through the end of November.
• Since that time, however, BGSU has shot better than 80% from the line, having gone 240-of-298 (80.5%) over the last 13 games.
• In the last seven games, the Brown and Orange have made 140 free throws in 171 attempts, good for a success rate of 81.9%. On the year, the Falcons are shooting 75.0% from the line (ranking third in the MAC), and a league-leading 81.5% (154-of-189) from the stripe in conference games.
FALCONS LIKE THEIR #MACTION
Since Jennifer Roos became head coach prior to the 2012-13 season, the Falcons have a record of 18-6 in MAC regular-season games. BGSU has won those 18 games by an average of 16.9 points per game, and the Falcons' MAC losses have been by 6.2 ppg. Sixteen of the 18 wins have been by double digits, with just two of the six losses coming by 10 points or more.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the Toledo game with an overall record of 17-3 and a 7-1 MAC ledger. BGSU currently holds a two-game lead over Buffalo and Akron in the MAC's East Division race.
• BGSU's non-conference wins included home games vs. Niagara, Milwaukee, Massachusetts and Saint Francis; road games vs. Iona, Butler and Ohio State; and neutral-site matchups against Michigan, Old Dominion and Monmouth. The Falcons' non-league losses came at the hands of Marist (Nov. 22) in the Basketball Hall of Fame Challenge, and at Purdue on the road (Dec. 22).
• BGSU opened MAC play with four consecutive double-digit wins, downing Buffalo and preseason East Division favorite Akron at home, and Kent State and Ball State on the road. In a battle of the last two remaining MAC unbeatens, host Central Michigan picked up an 82-79 overtime decision over the Falcons on Jan. 18, but the Brown and Orange bounced back with three-straight wins, including victories over Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois last week.
• On Thursday (Jan. 30), the Falcons used a 27-4 game-ending run for a 78-62 win at Ohio. All seven of BG's MAC wins have been by double figures.
• Fifth-year senior Alexis Rogers, fourth-year Falcon Jillian Halfhill and redshirt sophomore Erica Donovan lead a balanced scoring attack. Rogers is averaging 13.9 points per game, while Halfhill has 12.4 ppg and Donovan 10.8 ppg this year to date.
• Sophomore Miriam Justinger has 8.8 points per game, while junior Deborah Hoekstra is close behind with 8.6 ppg off the bench. Senior Jill Stein and junior Jasmine Matthews have scored 6.8 and 5.3 points per contest, respectively.
• Stein leads the team and ranks fifth in the MAC in rebounding, with 9.2 boards per game, while Rogers has pulled down 8.3 rpg (ninth in the league) and Donovan 5.5. Stein had an eye-popping total of 18 boards in the win at Ohio. BGSU has had at least one player with 10 rebounds in 17 of this season's first 20 games.
• Halfhill leads the Falcons with 3.2 assists per outing, with Justinger handing out 2.5 apg to date. Stein is third on the team in that category, with 2.1 helpers per game.
• Rogers is shooting 53.0 percent from the floor, ranking second in the MAC in that category, while Donovan is shooting 45.3% and Hoekstra 43.2%. From long range, Halfhill has made a team-leading 35 three-point field goals, while Hoekstra has hit 27 shots from beyond the arc. Four other Falcons have made between 10 and 21 treys apiece.
• Hoekstra ranks third in the entire MAC in three-point field-goal percentage, having gone 27-of-64 (42.2%) from long distance to date.
• Freshmen Rachel Konieczki and Abby Siefker are averaging 1.9 and 1.5 ppg, respectively. Another freshman, Kennedy Kirkpatrick, has seen action in five games off the bench, and classmate Leah Bolton has played in two contests, including the EMU match on Jan. 23. Bolton made her BGSU debut in the Monmouth game back on Dec. 1. Kirkpatrick has not seen action since the Ohio State game the previous week (Nov. 24).
• Halfhill, Justinger, Rogers and Stein each have started all 20 games this season to date, with Donovan starting 19. Donovan started the first 12 games, but Matthews took her place in the lineup for the Buffalo game, as Donovan missed tipoff due to a funeral. Donovan was back in the starting five for the Kent State game, and has started each game since that time.
• Head coach Jennifer Roos and her staff welcomed back seven letterwinners from a year ago, and the program also has added seven newcomers – five to the roster and two to the coaching staff.
• Through 20 games, the Falcons are shooting 42.4 percent from the field, 34.8% from three-point range and 75.0% from the foul line. Opponents are shooting 37.2% from the floor, 28.2% from the arc and 68.6% from the stripe. The Falcons have a scoring margin of +12.8, a rebounding margin of +9.0 and a turnover margin of +0.3 on the year.
• In MAC games, BGSU is shooting 42.9% from the field, 36.0% from three-point land and 81.5% from the line. Opponents have shot 37.3% overall, 26.5% from long range and 60.5% from the stripe in MAC play.
THE TOLEDO ROCKETS
Toledo enters Sunday's game with an overall record of 9-10, and the Rockets are 4-4 in MAC play. UT saw a two-game winning streak broken with an 82-62 home loss to Akron on Thursday night (Jan. 30). The Rockets are 5-5 at home, 3-5 on the road and 1-0 in neutral-site matches this year. Individually, junior G/F Inma Zanoguera leads the team in scoring, with 14.9 points per game, and she also paces the Rockets with 8.3 rebounds per contest. Senior guard Andola Dortch has 11.7 ppg and team-leading averages of 5.3 assists and 2.8 steals per outing, while both senior center Brianna Jones and sophomore G/F Ana Capotosto have 10.8 ppg. Jones also has 7.6 rpg, while Capotosto has 5.7 rpg and leads the team with 34 three-point field goals made. Head coach Tricia Cullop welcomed back seven letterwinners, including two starters, from last year's team. The 2012-13 edition of the Rockets went 29-4 overall and 15-1 in the MAC, winning the West Division and advancing to the WNIT.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Toledo, 41-29, in the all-time series between the teams, but the Rockets have won three-straight games and four of the last five meetings. Last year, the Rockets captured a 48-38 win at the Stroh Center (Jan. 13, 2013) in the teams' lone meeting of the season. Two years ago, in the last matchup in Savage Arena, UT rallied for a 52-50 win (Feb. 11, 2012). The Rockets have won four of the last five games after BGSU captured the previous 12 series meetings. BG's last series win was a 62-53 triumph in the championship game of the 2010 MAC Tournament (March 13, 2010) in downtown Cleveland. BGSU is 20-9 in home games, 13-17 on the road and 8-3 in neutral-site contests vs. the Rockets through the years. Jennifer Roos is 0-1 against the Rockets as a collegiate head coach.
FALCONS VS. THE MAC
The Falcons continue to own the best record in MAC history. Entering the Toledo game, BGSU has an all-time record of 380-153 (.713) in MAC regular-season contests, for the most wins and highest winning pct. of all league institutions. And, BG leads the series with all 11 MAC foes, making the Falcons the only team in the league, obviously, with a winning series record against every other school. BG also has the most overall victories (733) and highest overall winning percentage (.652) of any conference school.
DEFENSE!
• During her time as an assistant coach at BGSU, Jennifer Roos served as the team's defensive coordinator. The team enjoyed great success at the defensive end of the floor, and that success continued in her first season as head coach. In 2012-13, Roos and assistant coach Jesse Fleming helped the Falcons set a school record for fewest points allowed per game – 54.3 – breaking the record set the previous year.
• Last year's team also set new school records for fewest points allowed and lowest opponent field-goal percentage allowed in MAC games. In the 16 conference contests, league foes averaged just 51.9 points and shot only 36.1% from the floor.
• Those trends have continued in the 2013-14 season. In the first 20 games, despite playing a difficult schedule, BGSU has allowed 57.5 points per game and permitted the opponents to shoot just 37.2% from the field to date.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Senior Jill Stein had a double-double, with 12 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, in the Ohio game. BGSU now has a total of 12 double-doubles this season after recording nine during all of last year. Senior Alexis Rogers has five this winter (and 20 in her career), while Stein and redshirt sophomore Erica Donovan have three apiece and senior Jillian Halfhill one.
THE FALCONS ARE ...
• 17-3 this year to date, after posting a 24-11 overall record last season;
• 7-1 in MAC play in 2013-14, after going 11-5 in MAC action in '12-13 (Last year's team finished in second place in the East Division by a game, snapping a streak of eight-straight division titles);
• 299-106 since Jennifer Roos came to BGSU in the summer of 2001;
• 153-47 in MAC games in that time:
• 278-71 over the last 10-plus years, with 2012-13 marking BG's MAC-record 10th-straight season of at least 20 wins;
• a staggering 257-61 in the past nine-plus years, with no fewer than 23 wins in nine-straight seasons and a MAC overall regular-season title in seven of those nine years (2004-10 and again in '12, after winning an East Division crown in '11);
• an eye-popping 234-53 overall, and 118-18 in the MAC regular season, in the last eight-plus years, with at least 24 wins in each of the last eight seasons;
• a splendiferous 206-50 in the last seven-plus years, including a 102-18 league ledger;
• a/an (insert your own adjective here) 175-46 overall, and 87-17 in MAC regular-season games, in the last six-plus seasons, since Monique Rosati came to the BGSU program;
• 149-38 overall and 74-14 in MAC action over the last five-plus winters;
• 120-33, including a 59-13 MAC ledger, in the last four-plus seasons;
• 93-26 overall and 45-11 in the MAC since seniors Jillian Halfhill and Jill Stein ventured to campus;
• 65-21 overall, and 32-8 in MAC action, since senior Alexis Rogers and juniors Deborah Hoekstra and Jasmine Matthews first put on a BGSU uniform;
• 41-14 since senior Katrina Salinas and sophomore Miriam Justinger were added to the Falcons' roster;
• 141-22 in the last 163 games vs. MAC foes (regular-season and tournament);
• A perfect 64-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field since 2001;
• 239-12 when having a better FG percentage than the opposition in that time, including a 111-2 mark in the last five-plus seasons;
• 228-38 when making more free throws than the opponent in the Roos Assistant-Coach/Associate-Head-Coach/Interim-Head-Coach/Head-Coaching Era;
• 192-24 when outrebounding the opponent in that 12-plus-year span;
• 69-7 in MAC home games in the last nine-plus seasons;
• 56-12 in MAC road games over the last eight-plus years;
• 20-4 in the MAC Tournament in the last nine years, with five titles (2005, '06, '07, '10 and '11), an additional championship-game appearance (2009), and trips to the semis in 2008 and 2012;
• 44-18 overall in the MAC Tournament since it was instituted in 1982;
• 21-6 at Gund/Quicken Loans Arena, the site of the MAC Tournament;
• 50-6 in all non-conference home games since the start of the 2003-04 season;
• 7-16 in 16 national postseason appearances (including a 3-11 record in the NCAA Championships and a 4-5 mark in WNIT trips);
• 6-9 in national postseason action since Roos arrived at BG (including a 2-5 mark in the NCAAs and a 4-4 record in the WNIT); and
• 36-7 in the Stroh Center, with five of the seven losses coming by a combined 11 points.
UP NEXT
Following the Toledo game, the Falcons will return home for the next two games. BGSU will host Western Michigan on Wednesday (Feb. 5) to begin the second half of the MAC schedule, with tipoff at 7:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center. Then, the Brown and Orange will welcome Miami to town on Sunday, Feb. 9, in a 2:00 p.m. start.
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