Bowling Green State University Athletics
Monday, March 24
Bowling Green, OH
7:00 PM
Bowling Green State University
vs
St. Bonaventure
BG Battles Bona Monday as WNIT Rolls On
March 23, 2014 | Women's Basketball
Falcons face St. Bonaventure in second-round action at the Stroh
LINKS
GAME NOTES: BGSU | SBU
WNIT Bracket
Ticket Information for Monday's game
BGSU Game Notes from 2009-Present
BGSU Media Guide: PDF | Flip Interactive
Career Stats of Current Falcons
BG IN THE WNIT
• The 2013-14 season marks the Falcons' sixth appearance in the WNIT, and the third in as many years. BGSU has a record of 5-5 in the tourney to date. The Falcons are 5-4 in WNIT home games, with records of 2-2 at venerable Anderson Arena and 3-2 at the Stroh Center. And, BGSU is 5-4 in the WNIT since Jennifer Roos came to Northwest Ohio, including 3-1 during her head-coaching tenure.
• The Brown and Orange earned the Mid-American Conference's automatic bid to the 2014 WNIT after winning the MAC's regular-season title outright, and BGSU topped High Point, 72-62, in first-round action Thursday evening (March 20).
• Last season, the Falcons won back-to-back WNIT games for the first time in program history. BG topped SMU, 76-70, in the first round, for the program's first national postseason win since 2009. Then, the Brown and Orange rallied for a 61-54 win over Duquesne in second-round action, before falling to eventual tourney champion Drexel, 50-47, in the third round.
• BGSU hosted Butler in the 1998 WNIT, losing a 95-90 decision at Anderson in the team's first appearance in the tourney. That game was the final contest for Jaci Clark as BG's head coach, as she took the Dayton job following the season.
• Six years ago, the Brown and Orange picked up a home win over UD, 64-52, before losing at Michigan State by a 74-66 count two days later.
• The following March, the Falcons were awarded a first-round bye in the then 48-team event, and BG played a pair of games at Anderson. The Falcons downed Syracuse by a 72-69 final in second-round action at "The House That Roars," but BGSU fell to visiting Indiana, 75-67, in the third round.
• Two years ago, VCU scored at the buzzer for a 72-71 win over the Falcons at the Stroh. Andrea Barbour went coast-to-coast for the game-winning layup, after BGSU's Jessica Slagle had given her team a 71-70 lead by hitting two free throws with just 5.1 seconds left.
BGSU-SBU TIES
Storylines abound for the BGSU-St. Bonaventure game. Where do we even start? How about here...
• Two members of the BGSU coaching staff have ties to St. Bonaventure. Assistant coach Jesse Fleming spent six years on coach Jim Crowley's staff at SBU. He was associate head coach during his final season (2010-11) with the Bonnies. Fleming helped the Bonnies to over 20 wins and WNIT appearances in each of his last three seasons with the program. He was a student manager at SBU from 2001-05, and graduated from St. Bonaventure in '05.
• BGSU assistant coach Jacey Brooks spent three seasons on Crowley's staff. She moved into an assistant coach role for the 2009-10 season after spending two seasons as the director of basketball operations for the Bonnies. Brooks worked with Fleming during that time.
• St. Bonaventure associate head coach Kate Achter earned four letters for the Falcons, and was one of the top players in program history. The only player in BGSU annals with over 1,000 points and 600 assists in her career, she is the Falcons' all-time leader in the latter category, with 688 assists. Achter was a junior on the 'Sweet Sixteen' team in 2006-07, and was named the MAC Player of the Year as a senior. Achter is in her fourth season on the SBU staff and her first as associate head coach.
• SBU Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Steve Watson is a BGSU graduate. Watson transferred to BGSU from Rutgers, and played two seasons on the men's basketball team for then-Falcon coach Jim Larranaga. He earned his bachelor's degree in 1990. Watson has other MAC ties, earning a master's degree from Ohio University and spending over five years at Eastern Michigan, including more than four years as an associate A.D.
• At SBU, Watson replaced Dr. Ron Zwierlein, also a BGSU alum. Zwierlein worked at his alma mater for 24 years, including five years as the Falcons' A.D. He earned a bachelor of science degree from BGSU in 1968, and also earned a master's degree from the University. Zwierlein retired from SBU in December of 2006.
• SBU head men's soccer coach Mel Mahler coached the BGSU men's program for 10 seasons (1993, 1995-2003), guiding the Falcons to three MAC regular-season championships, three conference tournament titles and three-straight NCAA Championships appearances from 1995-97. Mahler spent a total of 17 years (1987-2003) with the Falcon program.
• Jermaine Truax, BGSU Associate AD for Compliance and Administration, came to Northwest Ohio after serving as director of compliance at SBU.
NATIONAL POSTSEASON PLAY FOR THE 10TH-STRAIGHT SEASON
The Falcons are participating in national postseason play for the 10th consecutive season, 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.
BG'S BEST TOURNAMENT RUNS
• The Falcons have advanced to the third round of a national postseason tournament three times in school history. One of those trips received slightly more attention than the other two, as it came in the NCAA Championships. The 2006-07 Falcons defeated Oklahoma State and Vanderbilt to become the only team in MAC history to advance to the "Sweet Sixteen."
• BGSU has advanced to the third round of the WNIT on two occasions, in 2009 and '13. The 2009 team earned a first-round bye, then downed Syracuse in second-round action to advance to the third round against Indiana.
• Last season, the Falcons topped SMU and Duquesne before losing a three-point decision to Drexel in the third round. All three of BGSU's 2013 games in the WNIT took place at the Stroh Center.
A DREAM SEASON FOR YOU = A TYPICAL YEAR FOR US
• The Falcons enter the St. Bonaventure game with an overall record of 28-4. At many schools around the nation, 28 wins would be a single-season record (10 of the 12 current MAC institutions have never won 28 games in a season). But, at Bowling Green, such a lofty win total has become a relatively common occurrence.
• A MAC team has won as many as 27 games on a total of 12 occasions. Bowling Green has been that team on eight of those 12 occasions, including six times in the last nine seasons. The 2006-07 "Sweet Sixteen" team won a MAC-record 31 games, while the 2008-09 club posted 29 wins. The '05-06 and '10-11 teams – along with this year's club – won 28 games, while three BGSU teams won 27 games apiece.
• A complete list of MAC teams with 27 wins or more can be found on page 10 of the PDF version of these notes.
CHAMPIONS AGAIN
The Falcons won the MAC's regular-season title outright, achieving that feat for the eighth time in the last 10 years. BGSU now 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 last season, 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.
• Thirteen 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, head coach Curt Miller's teams not only won a division title, but also had the best overall record among all MAC schools. The 2011-12 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.
LAST TIME OUT: JUSTINGER, FALCONS RALLY PAST HIGH POINT, 72-62
• Sophomore Miriam Justinger scored a career-high 22 points, lifting the Falcons past visiting High Point, 72-62, Thursday night (March 20) in WNIT first-round action at the Stroh Center.
• Justinger scored 15 of her 22 points in the second half, and paced four double-digit scorers for the Brown and Orange. Senior Alexis Rogers had 14 points, while redshirt soph Erica Donovan added 11 points and junior Jasmine Matthews 10.
• Senior Jill Stein scored six points and pulled down a team-leading 12 rebounds as BGSU had a 44-37 advantage on the glass. Stein also had four assists to tie Justinger for the team lead in the win, along with two blocked shots.
• In addition to points, Justinger also led all players in steals, with four. Rogers fell just one rebound shy of a double-double, with nine boards in the win, and had three assists and three steals.
• Stacia Robertson led High Point with 15 points and 13 rebounds, while both Kaylah Keys and Latrice Phelps had 13 points in the game.
• The game featured nine ties and seven lead changes. BGSU fell behind by 10 points early in the contest, and the Falcons trailed by eight late in the first half before going on a 10-1 run in the span of just over a minute to take a 33-32 lead into the intermission.
• The second half was a back-and-forth affair in the early going, but the Brown and Orange finally took the lead for good when senior Jillian Halfhill's long pass found Justinger for a transition layup with exactly nine minutes to go.
• BG upped the lead to 10 points, 63-53, with just over four minutes remaining, but the Panthers cut the deficit to four points on a Keys three-pointer with 2:20 to go. But, a Justinger layup began a 5-0 run, giving the Falcons a relatively comfortable nine-point lead with a minute remaining.
• For the game, the Falcons had a 42-24 advantage in points in the paint, and BG enjoyed a 27-13 lead in both points off turnovers and bench scoring, with Justinger leading the way in the latter category.
• BG shot 39.1% from the field for the game. HPU shot 40.0% from the floor, but just 34.6% in the second half.
• Justinger went 3-of-7 from three-point range, but none of her teammates made a long-distance shot on the night. The Falcons were 3-of-17 from three-point land as a team. The Panthers were 5-of-13 from beyond the arc on the night, with both Puckett and Vincent going 2-for-4.
YOU CAN'T SPELL "WNIT" WITHOUT "JENNIFER" (AS LONG AS YOU ADD A "W" AND A "T" AND MAYBE GET RID OF SOME OTHER LETTERS)
After the win over High Point, BGSU now has an overall record of 5-5 in the WNIT. The Falcons are 3-1 in the tourney with Jennifer Roos as head coach, after going 2-3 in WNIT action in the Curt Miller Era. BGSU's first-ever WNIT game, a first-round loss in 1998, came under head coach Jaci Clark.
HOME COOKIN'
Once again this winter, the Falcons have tied the school record for home wins in a season. BGSU has won 14 games at home for the fourth consecutive year and the fifth time in the last six seasons. The 2008-09 Falcons went 14-1 at oh-so-venerable Anderson Arena, with the only loss coming to Indiana in the WNIT. Three years ago, BGSU also went 14-1, in the final season at 'The House That Roars.' And, BG has won 14 games in each of the first three years at the Stroh Center, with a chance for a 15th win on Monday vs. St. Bonaventure.Â
FALCONS ARE 14-AND-OH AT THE STROH
The Falcons' win over Ohio on March 2 capped a perfect home regular-season schedule, and BG picked up another home victory against High Point on Thursday. BG has a record of 14-0 at the Stroh Center entering the SBU game. The Falcons completed the regular season with an unblemished home record for the eighth time in program history, and the first time at the Stroh. Seven Falcon teams made it through the regular season unscathed when the team called Anderson Arena home (three of those teams suffered a loss at home during national postseason play).
STROH'ME-COURT ADVANTAGE
• The Falcons have enjoyed a long-standing tradition of success at home. Most of that success came at venerable Anderson Arena, where the Brown and Orange had an outstanding home-court advantage over the years. But, the BG women's basketball program has begun a new tradition of excellence at a new building. The Falcons now own an overall record of 42-7 in the Stroh Center, including a 23-2 ledger vs. MAC opponents in regular-season games.
• After losing by just one point to nationally-ranked Purdue in the first-ever women's basketball game in the building in November of 2011, the Falcons reeled off 14-straight wins at the Stroh, before losing another one-point game to VCU in the WNIT to end that 2011-12 campaign with a 14-2 mark at home.
• Last season, the Falcons again won 14 games at home, including 25-point wins over both nationally-ranked Dayton (the Flyers' only regular-season loss all year) and Central Michigan (the Chippewas entered the game with a 7-0 MAC record).
• This year, the Falcons have gone a perfect 14-0 at home to date. BG has won those 14 games by an average of 23.1 points.
• The 42-7 mark at the Stroh comes after the Falcons went 333-116 (74.2%) in Anderson Arena during the team's tenure there. The record was even better during MAC play, as the Falcons had a league mark of 192-54 (78.0%) at "The House That Roars" through the years.
TOUGH TO SCORE AT THE STROH
• In 49 games at the Stroh Center, the Falcons have allowed the opponent to reach 70 points just three times. Akron is the only MAC foe to surpass the 60-point mark against the Brown and Orange in 26 trips to the building by conference foes, and the Zips have done so twice (61 points in a BG win last Feb. 20; 65 points in another Falcon victory this season [Jan. 12]). Entering the St. Bonaventure game, BG has allowed an average of 53.0 ppg in all games at the Stroh, and just 50.0 ppg against MAC opponents.
• BG has held 38 of 49 opponents to fewer than 60 points at the Stroh Center. The Falcons have limited 17 of those foes to less than 50 points, and on five occasions, BGSU has kept the opposition under the 40-point mark.
QUICK HITS
• BGSU is 28-4 overall, and the Falcons finished the regular season with a record of 17-1 in MAC play, good for the outright Mid-American Conference title. BGSU won 13 consecutive games before dropping a 73-55 decision to Ball State in the semifinal round of the MAC Tournament.
• The Falcons won the East Division title, obviously, en route to the overall MAC regular-season crown. BGSU now has won a division title in nine of the last 10 seasons, and the Falcons have had the best overall regular-season record in the MAC in eight of those 10 years.
• BGSU has won at least 20 games in each of the last 11 seasons, and the Falcons have posted as many as 23 wins in the last 10 years – both are school and MAC records. BG has amassed 24 or more victories in nine-straight seasons, and 2013-14 marks the sixth time in those nine years that the program has recorded 27 wins.
• BG moved into the national rankings for the first time in five years, as the Falcons were 25th in the March 10 Associated Press poll. The Falcons dropped out of the poll after the loss to Ball State, but BG received votes in both the AP and USA Today polls this week (March 17).
• Also, for what it's worth, the Falcons were ranked 32nd in the NCAA's latest RPI listings, released Monday (March 17).
• The Falcons' four losses this season all came to teams that qualified for either the NCAA Championships (Marist, Purdue) or the WNIT (Central Michigan, Ball State). All four games came away from home, with the Purdue and CMU games decided by single digits on the road, and the Marist and BSU contests being held at neutral sites.
• BGSU posted seven wins over teams in the NCAA and WNIT fields. BG went 2-2 vs. NCAA participants, with a pair of wins over Akron. The Falcons were 5-2 against the WNIT field during the regular season, picking up wins over BSU, Butler, CMU, Iona and Michigan. Four of those five wins came away from home.
• BG topped last year's MAC win total by six, albeit in two more games. The 2012-13 Falcons went 11-5 in league play. The conference returned to an 18-game schedule this season after playing 16 league games from 1998-99 through '12-13.
• Twenty-three of the Falcons' 28 victories this season – including all 14 home games – have come by double figures. The Falcons' 66-59 win at Toledo on Feb. 2 marked BGSU's first single-digit win since Nov. 18, and BG picked up a five-point victory over Eastern Michigan on Feb. 15 and a one-point win at Akron to end the regular season (March 8). The Brown and Orange posted a one-point win at Iona (Nov. 9) in the second game of the year, and downed Butler by four nine days later (Nov. 18).
• The Falcons have recorded eight wins of 22 points or more, with seven of those eight coming at home. BGSU has gone a perfect 14-0 at the Stroh Center, winning those 13 games by an average of 23.1 points per contest.
• In addition to the 14 wins at the Stroh, the Falcons have 14 victories away from home, with marks of 11-2 on the road and 3-2 in neutral-site contests. BG posted road wins over Iona, Butler and Ohio State in non-conference play, and Kent State, Ball State, Ohio, Toledo, EMU, Buffalo, Miami and Akron during the league schedule. And, the Falcons topped Michigan, Old Dominion and Monmouth at neutral sites.
• In BGSU's 14 home games, the Falcons have averaged 75.9 points. BG has topped the 80-point plateau seven 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 7.5 and 14.7 points per game, and two other players have at least 6.2 ppg to date.
• The Falcons' top-seven scorers each have attempted between 173 and 310 shots, and each of the seven are averaging between 5.4 and 9.7 field-goal attempts per game.
• BGSU leads the MAC and ranks 16th in the nation in scoring defense, having allowed just 56.7 points per game. The Falcons also lead the MAC in scoring margin (+13.6), rebounding margin (+7.3) and three-point FG percentage defense (26.0), and BG is second in the conference in FG pct. (42.2), FG pct. defense (37.0), free-throw pct. (74.7) and three-pointers made (7.6) and third in three-pt. FG pct. (34.5).
• The Falcons are third in the nation in three-point FG pct. defense, and BG ranks 10th in W-L pct. and 19th in scoring margin. In fact, BGSU is ranked among the nation's top-50 teams in eight of the 18 statistical categories kept by the NCAA, and 52nd in an additional category.
• BGSU is 27th in the country in rebounding margin. The Falcons have been out-rebounded in just four games since Nov. 18.
BATTLE OF THE BOARDS
• The Falcons have enjoyed more than their fair share of success on the glass in the Jennifer Roos Head-Coaching Era. Since the start of the 2012-13 season, BGSU has won the rebounding battle in 53 of 67 games, including in 25 of the 34 MAC contests. Three of the other games saw the teams tie in that category.
• This year, the Falcons have out-rebounded the foes in 26 of the first 32 games, with double-digit margins in nine of those matchups. BG owns a MAC-best rebounding margin of +7.3 this year to date. BGSU out-boarded 14 of 18 MAC opponents in the regular season, and had a league-best +5.9 rebounding margin in conference play.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the SBU game with an overall record of 28-4, and BG finished with a 17-1 MAC 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.
• 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 UA 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 13-straight wins.
• The Falcons ended the regular season with a 77-76 win on the road against Akron (March 8), but BG fell to Ball State, 73-55, in the MAC Tournament's semifinal round (March 14). The Brown and Orange downed High Point by 10 points (72-62 in WNIT first-round competition.
• Fourteen of BG's 17 MAC wins this season were 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 14.7 points per game, while Halfhill has 13.0 ppg and Donovan 10.8 ppg this year to date.
• Sophomore Miriam Justinger has 8.5 points per game, and junior Deborah Hoekstra has come off the bench to score 7.5 ppg. Senior Jill Stein and junior Jasmine Matthews have scored 6.7 and 6.2 points per contest, respectively.
• Stein leads the team and ranks sixth in the MAC in rebounding, with 8.5 boards per game, while Rogers has pulled down 8.3 (eighth in the MAC) rpg and Donovan 5.7.
• Halfhill leads the Falcons with 3.3 assists per outing, with Justinger handing out 2.6 apg to date. Stein ranks third on the team in that category, with 2.3 per game.
• Rogers is shooting 52.9 percent from the floor, ranking third in the MAC and 44th in the country in that category, while Donovan is shooting 43.9%. From long range, Halfhill has made a team-leading 64 three-point field goals, while Hoekstra has hit 41 shots from beyond the arc. Four other Falcons have made between 24 and 38 treys apiece.
• Halfhill is second in the MAC – and ranks 20th in the entire nation – in three-point field-goal percentage, having gone 64-of-153 (41.8%) from long distance to date, while Hoekstra is seventh in the league on that list (36.9%).
• Freshmen Rachel Konieczki and Abby Siefker are averaging 1.9 and 1.8 ppg, respectively. Konieczki has seen action in all 32 games to date, while Siefker has played in 28. Another freshman, Kennedy Kirkpatrick, saw action in five games off the bench, and classmate Leah Bolton played in two contests. Kirkpatrick has not seen action since the Ohio State game on Nov. 24, while Bolton's two appearances came on Dec. 1 and Jan. 23.
• Halfhill, Rogers and Stein each have started all 32 games this season to date, with Donovan starting 31 and Justinger 27. Matthews has made six starts, including the first Buffalo game (Jan. 4, in place of Donovan) as well as the last five games. Justinger missed the Ohio and Miami contests in early March, and has come off the bench to play in each of the last three games.
• 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.
• The returnees include three starters from last season in Halfhill, Justinger and Rogers, along with Hoekstra, Matthews, Stein and senior Katrina Salinas. Salinas suffered an injury in practice prior to the season opener, and is expected to miss the entire 2013-14 campaign.
• The Falcons' newcomers to the floor include Donovan – who practiced with the team in 2012-13, sitting out the year as a transfer from North Carolina State – as well as the four freshmen.
• On the bench, Roos has a pair of first-year assistant coaches in Jacey Brooks and Sahar Nusseibeh. Brooks came to BGSU after spending the last three seasons at Canisius. She also spent three seasons on the staff at St. Bonaventure.
• Nusseibeh, a Northeast Ohio native, coached at Holy Cross for the last two years, and was a graduate assistant at Cincinnati prior to that time. Nusseibeh attended Hoover H.S. in glorious North Canton, Ohio, playing basketball for the storied Vikings program.
• Brooks and Nusseibeh joined the wily veteran, Jesse Fleming, on the BG women's hoops staff. Fleming is in his second year with the Falcons after spending the 2011-12 campaign at Stony Brook and the previous six years at St. Bonaventure. Monique Rosati is in her seventh season as director of operations.
• Through 32 games, the Falcons are shooting 42.2 percent from the field, 34.5% from three-point range and 74.7% from the foul line. Opponents are shooting 37.0% from the floor, 26.0% from the arc and 69.1% from the stripe. The Falcons have a scoring margin of +13.6, a rebounding margin of +7.3 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.
• Rogers tied for fifth in scoring in MAC games, with 16.4 ppg, and she finished sixth in rebounding, with 8.6 rpg. Rogers shot 52.2% from the field to rank fourth in the league.
• Halfhill finished 10th in the league in scoring (14.7 ppg), and she led the MAC in three-point FG pct. in MAC games, hitting 47.1% (40-of-85) of her long-range tries. She was third in the MAC in three-pointers made (2.2 per game) and fifth in assist/turnover ratio.
• Stein wound up eighth in the league in rebounding (8.2 rpg) and fourth in blocked shots (1.4 bpg) in MAC matches. Justinger led the entire conference in free-throw pct., making 38-of-40 shots from the stripe (95.0%) in MAC play, while Rogers (86.7%) and Halfhill (83.3%) finished third and seventh, respectively, in the league.
THE ST. BONAVENTURE BONNIES
St. Bonaventure enters Monday's game with an overall record of 24-10, and the Bonnies went 11-5 in Atlantic 10 Conference play to finish second in the league. SBU advanced to the WNIT's second round with an 81-62 home win over Charlotte on Friday night (March 21). Bona is 13-1 at home, 8-7 on the road and 3-2 in neutral-site games. In A-10 play, the Bonnies went 8-0 at home and 3-5 at hostile venues. Individually, sophomore forward Katie Healy leads the team in scoring, with 16.4 points per game, and she is second on the club with 7.8 rebounds per contest. Four of her teammates are averaging between 9.5 and 10.8 ppg, including sophomore guard Nyla Rueter, who has 10.8 ppg, and sophomore forward Hannah Little, with 10.8 ppg and a team-leading 9.1 rpg. Healy earned all-conference first-team honors and was the A-10's Most Improved Player, while Reuter earned all-league third-team accolades and Little was named the A-10 Sixth Woman of the Year. Head coach Jim Crowley, the Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year, welcomed back seven letterwinners, including two starters, from last year's team. The 2012-13 edition of the Bonnies went 10-19 overall and 3-11 in the Atlantic 10.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead St. Bonaventure, 4-2, in the all-time series between the teams, but the Bonnies captured the most recent meeting. The teams met in back-to-back years, in a home-and-home series at the turn of the century, with the host team winning each time. Then, BG and Bona faced off in each of four-straight years from 2006 to '09. The Falcons won the first three meetings, including a pair at Anderson Arena, but the Bonnies captured a 70-54 decision on Dec. 12, 2009, in the last matchup between the clubs. SBU's last trip to BGSU resulted in a 77-59 win at Anderson the prior year (Dec. 14, 2008). The Falcons are 3-0 in home games and 1-2 on the road vs. the Bonnies over the years. Monday will mark the teams' first meeting inside the Stroh Center. Jennifer Roos is meeting SBU for the first time as a collegiate head coach.
THE FALCONS ARE ...
• 28-4 this year to date, after posting a 24-11 overall record last season;
• 17-1 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, but BG has won the East again in 2014);
• 310-107 since Jennifer Roos came to BGSU in the summer of 2001;
• 163-47 in MAC games in that time:
• 289-72 over the last 10-plus years, with 2013-14 marking BG's MAC-record 11th-straight season of at least 20 wins;
• a staggering 268-62 in the past nine-plus years, with no fewer than 23 wins in 10-straight seasons now, and a MAC overall regular-season title in eight of the last 10 years (2004-10, 2012 and again in '14, plus an East Division crown in '11);
• an eye-popping 245-54 overall, and 128-18 in the MAC regular season, in the last eight-plus years, with at least 24 wins in each of those nine years;
• a superb 217-51 in the last seven-plus years, including a 112-18 league ledger;
• a/an (insert your own adjective here) 186-47 overall, and 97-17 in MAC regular-season games, in the last six-plus seasons, since Monique Rosati came to the BGSU program;
• 160-39 overall and 84-14 in MAC action over the last five-plus winters;
• 131-34, including a 69-13 MAC ledger, in the last four-plus seasons;
• 104-27 overall and 55-11 in the MAC since seniors Jillian Halfhill and Jill Stein ventured to campus;
• 76-22 overall, and 42-8 in MAC action, since senior Alexis Rogers and juniors Deborah Hoekstra and Jasmine Matthews first put on a BGSU uniform;
• 52-15 since senior Katrina Salinas and sophomore Miriam Justinger were added to the Falcons' roster;
• 151-23 in the last 174 games vs. MAC foes (regular-season and tournament);
• A perfect 66-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field since 2001;
• 247-12 when having a better FG percentage than the opposition in that time, including a 119-2 mark in the last five-plus seasons;
• 236-38 when making more free throws than the opponent in the Roos Assistant-Coach/Associate-Head-Coach/Interim-Head-Coach/Head-Coaching Era;
• 200-25 when outrebounding the opponent in that 12-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;
• 50-6 in all non-conference home games since the start of the 2003-04 season;
• 8-16 in 17 national postseason appearances (including a 3-11 record in the NCAA Championships and a 5-5 mark in WNIT trips);
• 7-9 in national postseason action since Roos arrived at BG (including a 2-5 mark in the NCAAs and a 5-4 record in the WNIT); and
• 42-7 in the Stroh Center, with five of the losses coming by a combined 11 points.
UP NEXT
The winner of Thursday's BGSU-SBU game will face either Duquesne or Michigan in the WNIT's third round, with date and site to be determined.
Amy Velasco, Lexi Fleming, & Coach Chmiel Postgame Interview (Mar. 5, 2025)
Thursday, March 06
Paige Kohler, Coach Chmiel, & Amy Velasco Postgame Interview (Feb. 26, 2025)
Thursday, February 27
In the Paint: Lexxus Graham-Blincoe
Wednesday, February 26
Erika Porter, Amy Velasco, & Coach Chmiel Postgame Interview (Feb. 22, 2025)
Sunday, February 23