BGSU Returns Home to Face NIU Wednesday Night

Wednesday, January 14

Bowling Green, OH

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Northern Illinois

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Huddle v Ball State - Konieczki Hoekstra

Photo by: Bianca Garza, BGSU Marketing and Communications

January 13, 2015 | Women's Basketball

Enjoy the game & get hot dogs, popcorn & 12-oz. soft drinks for just $1 each!

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team returns to the friendly confines of the Stroh Center (4,347) for a midweek Mid-American Conference cross-divisional matchup. The Falcons of head coach Jennifer Roos meet Northern Illinois University on Wednesday night (Jan. 14) at the Stroh, with tipoff set for 7:00 p.m. The game will be a 'Dollar Day' event, with hot dogs, popcorn and 12-ounce soft drinks available for just one dollar apiece.

GAME NOTES
BGSU | Northern Illinois

ROAD WARRIORS
The Falcons played a pair of road games last week, heading to Akron and Kent State, and 10 of BGSU's last 12 games came away from home. Following the NIU game, the Brown and Orange will return to the road for the next two games and three of the next four contests. BG plays at Eastern Michigan on Saturday (Jan. 17) and Western Michigan next Wednesday (Jan. 21), then mixes in a home game vs. Miami (Jan. 24) before facing Northern Illinois for the second time in two weeks, with a Jan. 28 game in DeKalb.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
If you can't make it to the Stroh Center on Wednesday evening, you can still follow the Falcons via your radio or computer machine. The game 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, live stats for Wednesday's game will be available via BGSUFalcons.com, and a video stream (fee required) will be available as well. And, in-game twitter updates can be found at @BGSUwbb. 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.

LAST TIME OUT: HOT-SHOOTING KENT STATE DOWNS FALCONS, 55-48
• Kent State shot nearly 62 percent from the field in the second half, and the Golden Flashes held off a late BGSU charge Saturday afternoon (Jan. 10), posting a 55-48 win over the Falcons at the M.A.C. Center.

• KSU's win was the Flashes' first over the Falcons in just under four years, and snapped an eight-game BGSU series winning streak. Kent State had gone six-straight games without reaching the 50-point mark against the Brown and Orange.

• Senior Deborah Hoekstra led the Falcons with 12 points on Saturday, and she also had eight rebounds, two assists, three steals and a career-best two blocked shots. Hoekstra's steals total tied her career high. Junior Miriam Justinger joined Hoekstra in double digits with 10 points, adding nine rebounds, four assists and two steals.

• CiCi Shannon led the Golden Flashes with 16 points and 20 rebounds, while Jordan Korinek had 13 points on the afternoon. Kent State hit 13-of-21 shots from the field (61.9%) in the second half, and the hosts shot 51.1% from the floor for the game.

• The Golden Flashes scored the last 10 points of the first half, holding the Falcons scoreless for the final 6:27 of the period, to take a 22-16 halftime lead. BG cut the deficit to three points on two occasions early in the second half, but the hosts opened up a 12-point lead, 40-28, midway through the period.

• The Falcons went on an 11-2 run to get within three points with 4:30 to go, and BG closed the gap to two points in the final minute of play. The Brown and Orange then came up with a steal on the ensuing inbounds pass, but a three-point try that would have given the Falcons the lead did not drop. The Flashes went 5-of-9 from the free-throw line in the last minute of play, but it was enough to keep BG at bay.

• Sophomore Rachel Konieczki scored eight points and freshman Rachel Myers seven for the Falcons. All eight BG players to see action in the game made at least one field goal.

BGSU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL INJURY UPDATE
BGSU women's basketball student-athletes Erica Donovan and Lauren Webb are expected to miss the remainder of the 2014-15 season due to injury, head coach Jennifer Roos announced on Jan. 2. Both Donovan, a redshirt junior, and Webb, a freshman, were injured during the Falcons' win at Illinois State on Dec. 19.

Additionally, redshirt freshman Leah Bolton will apply for a medical retirement with the NCAA due to recurring injuries, ending her BGSU playing career.

Donovan, who was voted to the Preseason All-MAC Team in October, started each of the Falcons' first eight games of the season, and was leading the team in both scoring (15.3 points per game) and rebounding (9.1 rebounds per game). She had 20 points and 15 rebounds in BG's win at ISU, her second-straight 20-point game, before suffering an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury with just over two minutes remaining in the second half.

Webb played in seven of the first eight games off the bench before suffering an ACL injury during the first half of the ISU game. She was averaging 0.1 ppg and 1.6 rpg in 5.9 minutes per contest.

Bolton played in the Falcons' exhibition win over Davis & Elkins on Nov. 7, and had two points and four rebounds. But, she has not seen action during the 2014-15 regular season. Injuries limited her to playing in just two games in 2013-14.

Senior Jasmine Matthews and sophomore Abby Siefker did not make the trip to Akron for last Wednesday's (Jan. 7) game, leaving the Falcons with just seven players in uniform for that contest. Both Matthews and Siefker were on the bus to Kent State for the Falcons' game vs. the Flashes three days later.

FULLENKAMP JOINS FALCONS
BGSU volleyball standout Erica Fullenkamp has joined the Falcon women's basketball program. Fullenkamp, a senior at the University, completed a successful four-year career with the volleyball Falcons in November, and helped that team to a MAC Tournament championship and a trip to the second round of the NCAA Championships in 2012. Fullenkamp participated in practice with the women's basketball team on Thursday (Jan. 8) and was in uniform for the Falcons' game at Kent State on Saturday.

THE STARTING FIVE
Last season, head coach Jennifer Roos used a total of three different starting lineups over the 35-game schedule. But, this year's version of the Falcons had used four different lineups by the 13th game. Junior Miriam Justinger and sophomore Rachel Konieczki are the only two players to have started all 14 contests for the Brown and Orange this year to date.

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
Due to injuries, a total of only seven players suited up for last Wednesday's game at Akron. That group consisted of one senior (Deborah Hoekstra), one junior (Miriam Justinger), one sophomore (Rachel Konieczki) and four freshmen (redshirt freshman Kennedy Kirkpatrick and true frosh Sarah Baer, Rachel Myers and Haley Puk). On the road against the defending MAC Tournament champions – who had 15 players in uniform – the Falcons led with under 10 minutes to go in the second half before a late run gave the Zips the lead for good.

VETERAN ON-COURT LEADERSHIP
• BGSU had three seniors and one junior in uniform for Saturday's game at Kent State. But, one of those seniors, Jasmine Matthews, played just four minutes after missing nearly all of the previous seven games due to injury, and another senior, Erica Fullenkamp, is a Falcon volleyball standout who was added to the basketball roster just two days earlier.

• The third senior, Deborah Hoekstra, and junior Miriam Justinger, however, rarely came off of the floor at KSU. Hoekstra played a career-high 38 minutes, setting a new career standard in that category for the second time in three games. And, Justinger also set a career high, playing all but the final 10 seconds of the contest vs. the Flashes.

• Hoekstra and Justinger ranked 1-2 on the Falcons in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals vs. KSU, combining for 22 points, 17 boards, six assists and five steals.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the Northern Illinois game with an overall record of 7-7, and BGSU is 0-3 in Mid-American Conference play after suffering a 55-48 loss at Kent State on Saturday (Jan. 10). After winning four-straight games prior to Christmas, BGSU is looking to snap a five-game losing streak, the program's longest slide since the 2000-01 season.

• After opening the season with a one-point loss to Bucknell, BGSU bounced back with three-straight wins, beginning with a convincing 80-59 home victory over Iona. The Falcons went on the road and downed Milwaukee, then headed to the left coast and topped UC Irvine before suffering a narrow loss to Loyola Marymount. The latter two games came at the DoubleTree LA Westside Thanksgiving Classic, hosted by LMU.

• The Falcons returned home and posted a 66-55 win over Cincinnati, the team's lone home game in a month-and-a-half span, to begin a four-game winning streak. Road wins over Saint Francis (Pa.), Illinois State and Bradley followed, but two players suffered season-ending injuries in the ISU game.

• The Brown and Orange dropped a pair of games just after the Christmas holiday in Miami, Fla., against Hampton and the host school at the FIU Sun & Fun Classic. BG opened MAC play with a 62-50 loss to Ball State at the Stroh Center (Jan. 3), then – with just seven players in uniform – fell by a 67-59 score at Akron last Wednesday (Jan. 7), prior to the KSU game.

• Redshirt junior Erica Donovan and freshman Lauren Webb were injured in that Illinois State game. Both are expected to miss the remainder of the 2014-15 season. Donovan was the Falcons' leading scorer and rebounder at the time of injury, with 15.3 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. She had 20 points in each of her last two games, vs. SFU and ISU, with a career-high 15 boards in the latter contest.

• Two Falcons – junior Miriam Justinger and sophomore Rachel Konieczki – have started all 14 games this season to date. Another sophomore, Abby Siefker, started the first 12 games of the year before missing the Akron and KSU contests.

• Senior Deborah Hoekstra, after coming off the bench for the first 83 games of her BGSU career, has started the last eight games, while freshman Haley Puk made her first collegiate start in the win at Bradley and has now started six games. Another freshman, Rachel Myers, made her first collegiate start at Akron, and also was in the lineup at KSU.

• Hoekstra leads the active Falcons in scoring, with 10.6 points per game, while Justinger and Myers have scored 9.4 and 7.0 ppg, respectively. Konieczki has 6.9 points per contest, with Siefker averaging 5.4 ppg and Puk 5.3 to date.

• Siefker is averaging 6.3 rebounds per game, while Justinger has 5.7 rpg. Hoekstra has 5.1 boards per game after pulling down 12 rebounds at Akron and eight more at Kent State. Justinger had the first double-double of her career in the Ball State game, with 16 points and a career-high 10 rebounds, while Hoekstra had her first career double-double at UA, with 12 points to go along with those 12 boards.

• Justinger has 2.4 assists per game to pace the Falcons in that category, and she is tied for second on the team in steals, with 1.1 per game. Hoekstra leads BGSU with 1.3 steals per contest, and is third on the Falcons in assists (1.3 apg), while Koneczki is second on the team in assists (1.5 apg) and tied for second in steals (1.1 spg). Siefker has a team-leading 1.0 blocked shots per game, with her total of 12 rejections three times more than any of her teammates.

• BGSU is shooting 35.7 percent from the field, 29.0% from three-point range and 78.1% from the free-throw line through 14 games. The Falcons' opponents have shot 39.0% from the floor, 26.7% from the arc and 62.4% from the stripe.

• The Falcons have averaged 6.1 three-pointers made to date. Hoekstra has hit 23 triples to lead the way, while Myers has knocked down 19 long-range attempts, including a career-high four treys en route to 17 points (also a career high) at Akron. Puk has connected 12 times from beyond the arc, Konieczki 10 and Justinger nine.

• Hoekstra, Justinger, Konieczki, Myers and Puk each have seen action in all 14 games, while redshirt freshman Kennedy Kirkpatrick has played in 13 games and Siefker 12 to date. Freshman Sarah Baer has played in 10 games off the bench, while Donovan, as mentioned, played in the first eight games of the year before suffering her injury. Senior Jasmine Matthews has played in eight games as well, while Webb came off the bench to play in seven games.

• In MAC games to date, Hoekstra, Justinger and Myers all are averaging 11.0 ppg, and Hoekstra also has 9.7 rpg to lead the Falcons in that category. Justinger has 7.3 rpg and 2.3 apg in conference contests. BGSU is shooting 88.6% from the free-throw line in MAC games, having made 31-of-35 shots from the stripe.

• The Falcons returned six letterwinners, including two starters (Donovan and Justinger), 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 crown, 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 added six players with freshman status on the roster. The 12-player active roster at the start of the 2014-15 season included two seniors, two juniors, two sophomores, two redshirt freshmen and the four true frosh.

THE NORTHERN ILLINOIS HUSKIES
Northern Illinois has an overall record of 5-7 on the season, and the Huskies are 1-1 in MAC play after a 56-43 loss at Central Michigan on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 10). NIU's other conference contest was a 54-48 overtime win at home against Eastern Michigan. The Huskies are 3-1 at home, 1-5 on the road and 1-1 at neutral sites this season to date. Northern has allowed just 54.1 points per game, but the Huskies are averaging only 53.2 ppg themselves. Individually, senior guard Amanda Corral is the lone Huskie scoring in double digits, with 14.9 points per game, and she has hit 15 of the team's 34 successful three-point field goals. Five of Corral's teammates are averaging from 6.6 to 8.2 ppg. One of those five, sophomore guard Ally Lehman, has 8.2 ppg and a team-leading 7.8 rebounds per game. Lehman also leads NIU in assists (3.4 apg) and steals (1.3 spg). Last year, head coach Kathi Bennett's team went 11-19 overall and 6-12 in the MAC. Bennett welcomed back eight letterwinners, including all five starters, from the 2013-14 club.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead Northern Illinois, 22-12, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU has won the last 12 meetings. In last season's lone matchup, BG used a late first-half run to take a 15-point halftime lead en route to a 57-44 win at the Stroh Center (Jan. 26, 2014).

• BGSU is 13-5 in home games (including 2-0 at the Stroh Center), 8-7 on the road and 1-0 in neutral-site contests vs. the Huskies through the years.

• The Falcons' wins over NIU at the Stroh have come by nearly identical scores, In addition to last season's victory, the Brown and Orange defeated the Huskies by a 57-47 score at the Stroh on Feb. 1, 2012.

• NIU's last win over the Falcons was an epic, four-overtime affair at Anderson Arena nearly 11 years ago. The Huskies pulled out a 102-97 decision after 60 minutes of action at "The House That Roars" on Feb. 18, 2004.

• Jennifer Roos is 2-0 against the Huskies as a collegiate head coach. That record does not include that 2012 BG win over NIU, when she was serving as interim head coach of the Falcons.

FALCONS LIKE THEIR #MACTION
Since Jennifer Roos became head coach prior to the 2012-13 season, the Falcons have a record of 28-9 in MAC regular-season games. BGSU has won those 28 games by an average of 17.6 points per game, and the Falcons' MAC losses have been by 7.1 ppg. Twenty-three of the 28 wins have been by double digits, with just three of the nine losses coming by 10 points or more.

FALCONS VS. THE MAC
The Falcons continue to own the best record in MAC history. Entering the conference portion of the 2014-15 regular season, BGSU has an all-time record of 390-156 (.714) 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 (753) and highest overall winning percentage (.653) of any conference school.

MAKE MORE THAN THEY TAKE
So far this season, BG appears to be continuing an impressive program trend of getting to the foul line much more often than the other team. BGSU has made a total of 193 free throws this year to date. That total is more than the opponents have attempted (186), much less made (116). The Falcons' total of free throws made has been at least 100 higher than the opponents' FTM total in each of the last nine seasons, and BG is on pace to accomplish that feat yet again this year. The 2002-03 campaign was the last time the opposition made, or attempted, more free throws than BG.

HOEKSTRA'S A REBOUNDING MACHINE
• Just two weeks ago, senior Deborah Hoekstra had never had more than six rebounds in a game. In the last four games, however, the guard has averaged 9.5 boards per contest, and has set or tied her career-best total three times. Hoekstra had nine rebounds at FIU (Dec. 30), then matched that total against Ball State. Hoekstra had 12 rebounds vs. Akron, and grabbed eight more at Kent State.

• In MAC play, Hoekstra is nearly averaging a double-double, with 11.0 points and 9.7 rebounds per game through two contests. She is tied for third in the MAC in rebounding in conference games.

THEY'RE FREE
• Senior Deborah Hoekstra and the Falcons have enjoyed their share of success at the free-throw line. Hoekstra has gone 35-of-38 at the stripe this season, good for a success rate of 92.1%. She ranks second in the MAC in that category, and is eighth in the entire nation.

• As a team, the Falcons have shot 78.1% from the free-throw line. That average leads the MAC and ranks third in the country. BG set a Stroh Center record by shooting 92.3% in the Ball State game, and the Falcons were an identical 12-of-13 at Akron as well. After going 7-for-9 at Kent State, BGSU is shooting 88.6% from the stripe in MAC games.

THE FALCONS ARE/WERE ...
• 7-7 this season, after posting a 30-5 overall record last winter;
• 0-3 in MAC play. BG was 17-1 in the MAC in 2013-14, winning a division title for the ninth time in a 10-season span;
• 319-115 since Jennifer Roos came to BGSU in the summer of 2001;
• 164-50 in MAC games in that time:
• 298-80 over the last 11-plus years, with 2013-14 marking BG's MAC-record 11th-straight season of at least 20 wins;
• a staggering 277-70 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 254-62 overall, and 128-21 in the MAC regular season, in the last nine-plus years, with at least 24 wins in each of those nine seasons;
• a superb 226-59 in the last eight-plus years, including a 112-21 league ledger;
• a/an (insert your own adjective here) 195-55 overall, and 97-20 in MAC regular-season games, in the last seven-plus seasons, since Monique Rosati came to the BGSU program;
• 169-47 overall and 84-17 in MAC action over the last six-plus winters;
• 140-42, including a 69-16 MAC ledger, in the last five-plus seasons;
• 113-35 overall and 55-14 in the MAC in the last four-plus years;
• 85-30 overall, and 42-11 in MAC action, since seniors Deborah Hoekstra and Jasmine Matthews first put on a BGSU uniform;
• 61-23 overall and 28-9 in league play since Jennifer Roos became head coach, junior Miriam Justinger joined the Falcons' roster, and redshirt junior Erica Donovan transferred to BG;
• 37-12 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;
• 151-26 in the last 177 games vs. MAC foes (regular-season and tournament);
• A perfect 67-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field since 2001;
• 254-12 when having a better FG percentage than the opposition in that time, including a 126-2 mark in the last six-plus seasons;
• 243-44 when making more free throws than the opponent in the Roos Assistant-Coach/Associate-Head-Coach/Interim-Head-Coach/Head-Coaching Era;
• 207-26 when outrebounding the opponent in that 13-plus-year span;
• 74-8 in MAC home games in the last 10-plus seasons;
• 61-14 in MAC road games over the last nine-plus 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;
• 52-7 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
• 46-10 in the Stroh Center, with seven losses coming by a combined 17 points.

MAKE IT TOUGH FOR THEM TO SCORE
Just prior to Christmas, the Falcons ranked 18th in the nation in scoring defense, as BGSU had surrendered just 53.9 points per game. Now, despite playing the last six contests with at least 25 percent of the roster sidelined due to injuries, BG still ranks 45th in the nation in scoring defense. The Falcons have allowed 57.2 ppg heading into Wednesday's game vs. Northern Illinois.

DOUBLE(-DOUBLE) TROUBLE
Junior Miriam Justinger recorded the first double-double of her career in the Ball State game, with a game-high 16 points and a game- and career-best 10 rebounds. Then, at Akron four days later, senior Deborah Hoekstra posted her first career double-double, with 12 points and a career-high 12 boards against the Zips. Other than Justinger and Hoekstra, redshirt junior Erica Donovan is the only other member of the 2014-15 roster to have recorded a double-double in college. Donovan's six career double-doubles included three in this season's first eight games.

HOEKSTRA NAMED MAC SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Last Wednesday (Jan. 7), senior Deborah Hoekstra was named MAC Scholar-Athlete of the Week, earning that honor for the second time this season. Hoekstra averaged 9.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game the previous week, leading BG in rebounding and tying for the team lead in scoring. She has a perfect 4.000 cumulative GPA as a health science major.

WRITE THEM DOWN IN PENCIL (AND BRING AN ERASER)
With a smaller active roster due to injuries, there has been plenty of playing time to go around in the last few games. And, numerous Falcons are taking advantage by setting new career standards in various categories...

• Senior Deborah Hoekstra's rebounding prowess has been documented earlier in these notes. At Kent State on Saturday (Jan. 10), she played a career-high 38 minutes, and had the first two-block game of her career. Hoekstra also tied her career best with three steals vs. the Flashes.

• Freshman Haley Puk made her first collegiate start in the Bradley game. She set a career standard with seven rebounds in that game, then broke that mark with eight caroms vs. Hampton. The next day, Puk scored a career-high 12 points vs. FIU. Puk had 11 points at Akron.

• Another freshman, Rachel Myers, made the first start of her BG career at Akron. She responded by going 4-for-6 from three-point land en route to a career-high 17 points. Myers' previous single-game bests had been 10 points and two three-pointers made. She also set career standards in field goals made (six) and attempted (11) and minutes played (35) vs. the Zips.

• Redshirt freshman Kennedy Kirkpatrick scored a total of two points over her first 10 career games (five last year, five this year). Since then, however, she has averaged 4.9 ppg, with 39 points over the last eight contests off the bench. She set or tied her career highs for minutes played in each of four consecutive games, including 18 minutes on the court vs. Hampton and 21 vs. FIU. Kirkpatrick had a career-high two assists vs. HU, then doubled that mark the next day, leading BG with four helpers against FIU. Kirkpatrick played 20 minutes at Akron.

• Freshman Sarah Baer played in four of the Falcons' first eight games, seeing a total of 14 minutes of playing time in that span. Baer has posted double-digit minute totals in each of the last six games, however, including 19 minutes against both FIU and Ball State. She scored a then career-high three points vs. Hampton, then had career bests of seven points and six rebounds in the FIU contest. Baer also had the first two steals of her career in the latter game, and she blocked four shots over a four-game span. Baer scored six points on 2-for-2 shooting at AKron.

UP NEXT
• Following the Northern Illinois game, the Falcons will return to the road, taking on Eastern Michigan on Saturday afternoon in Ypsilanti (Jan. 17). That game will begin at 2:30 p.m. at the Convocation Center.

• Then, the Brown and Orange will meet Western Michigan next Wednesday (Jan. 21), ending a 15-game stretch in which BG plays away from home 12 times.