Falcons, Rockets Add Another Chapter to Battle of I-75 Rivalry Saturday

Saturday, January 31

Bowling Green, OH

4:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Toledo

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Falcons, Rockets Add Another Chapter to Battle of I-75 Rivalry Saturday

January 30, 2015 | Women's Basketball

BGSU hosts arch-rival UT Saturday at 4:00 p.m., in first half of hoops twinbill at the Stroh

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, having played 13 of the season's first 19 games away from home, returns to the Stroh Center for the next two contests. The Falcons of head coach Jennifer Roos begin the homestand with a Saturday (Jan. 31) contest against the arch-rival University of Toledo. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. The game is the first half of a Falcon hoops doubleheader at the Stroh, with the BGSU men's basketball team taking on the University of Akron in a 7:00 p.m. start.

GAME NOTES
BGSU | Toledo

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
If you can't make it to the Stroh Center on Saturday, 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 Saturday'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.

THERE'S A LOT GOING ON AT THE STROH
There are a number of promotions, giveaways and happenings surrounding Saturday's doubleheader. For example...
• The University's annual mascot reveal will take place at halftime of each of Saturday's two games, as Freddie and Frieda Falcon are unmasked;
• At halftime of the women's game, the BGSU football team will be recognized as Camellia Bowl champions;
• One BGSU fan will have the opportunity to win a $500 concessions gift card, courtesy of Sodexo, by making a layup, free throw, three-pointer and half-court shot. If that fan wins, every person in attendance will receive a coupon for a free Coke at the concessions stand;
• Between games of the doubleheader, the BGSU football team will be signing autographs in the Hall of Fame area of the Stroh Center; and, last but not least;
• Fans are encouraged to wear orange to the Stroh on Saturday.

LAST TIME OUT: FALCONS FALL AT NIU, DESPITE COMEBACK BID
• The Falcons nearly erased a large second-half deficit, but BGSU's comeback try fell short against Northern Illinois Wednesday night (Jan. 28). Amanda Corral and the host Huskies came away with a 67-50 win at the Convocation Center.

• Corral scored 30 points to lead the home team to victory. She hit 12-of-15 shots and was a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range.

• Senior Deborah Hoekstra scored 14 points for the Falcons (9-10, 2-6 MAC), who placed three players in double figures, and Hoekstra also paced the Brown and Orange with eight rebounds. Junior Miriam Justinger scored 13 points and freshman Rachel Myers 10 for BG.

• The Huskies (7-10, 3-4 MAC) shot over 55 percent from the field in the first half, building a 36-21 lead at the intermission, and that lead reached a game-high 22 points on a Corral three-pointer with 13:52 to go. But, the Falcons came roaring back.

Trailing by a 50-28 score after that Corral triple, BGSU proceeded to score the game's next 17 points. Myers scored eight-straight points during that span, and the Falcons crept within five points on a layup by redshirt freshman Kennedy Kirkpatrick with 7:03 remaining.

• A driving layup by Corral, however, stopped the Falcons' run, and began an 11-0 NIU run that gave the hosts a 61-45 lead with 3:35 on the clock.

• The Huskies shot 48.2% for the game, while holding the Falcons to a 34.0% field-goal rate. BGSU made six three-pointers, with Myers and Justinger hitting two apiece, but the Brown and Orange shot just 26.1% (6-of-23) from beyond the arc. By contrast, NIU went 5-of-11 (45.5%) from three-point land.

"THROW OUT THE RECORDS" OR SOME SIMILAR CLICHE'
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 be 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 six meetings has been a one-possession game with under four minutes to go, with three of the six 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.

• Feb. 2, 2014 – Deborah Hoekstra's back-to-back three pointers gave the Falcons the lead for good with 5:27 to go, in what would wind up as a 66-59 BGSU win. After Hoekstra's triples, though, the Gold and Midnight Blue scored four-straight points to cut that BG lead to one point with 4:33 remaining. The Rockets were still within a single point moments later, but three-point plays by both Alexis Rogers and Jillian Halfhill gave the Brown and Orange some breathing room, and BG hit free throws down the stretch to seal the road victory.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the Toledo game with an overall record of 9-10, and BGSU is 2-6 in Mid-American Conference play after a 67-50 loss at Northern Illinois on Wednesday night (Jan. 28).

• The Falcons have won two-straight games at the Stroh Center, downing NIU, 65-59, in the teams' first 2014-15 meeting (Jan. 14) before picking up a 66-53 win over Miami last Saturday afternoon (Jan. 24). BGSU is 4-2 at home, 4-6 on the road and 1-1 at neutral-site venues this season.

• After winning four-straight games prior to Christmas, BGSU then dropped five consecutive contests, the program's longest slide since the 2000-01 season. The Falcons snapped that streak with a 65-59 win over NIU at the Stroh on Jan. 14, but then lost at Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan before downing MU.

• That five-game losing streak, not coincidentally, came after 25 percent of the roster – three of the 12 players on the team at that time – were lost for the season due to injury. That figure reached 33.3% as a fourth player suffered a season-ending injury in early January.

• 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 that 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 home loss to Ball State and road setbacks at Akron and Kent State. The Falcons had only seven players in uniform for the UA contest on Jan. 7.

• 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 her 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.

• Sophomore Abby Siefker and redshirt freshman Leah Bolton also are expected to miss the rest of the season. Bolton saw action in the Falcons' exhibition game on Nov. 7, but did not play in a regular-season game in 2014-15.

• Siefker started the first 12 games of the year, and averaged 5.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. She was second on the team in rebounding behind Donovan, and led the Falcons in blocked shots, with 1.0 rejections per game.

• Of the active Falcons, only two – junior Miriam Justinger and sophomore Rachel Konieczki – have started all 19 games this season to date. Senior Deborah Hoekstra, after coming off the bench for the first 83 games of her BGSU career, has started the last 13 games, while freshman Haley Puk has made nine starts, classmate Rachel Myers seven and senior Jasmine Matthews six this season. Freshman Sarah Baer has started each of the last two games.

• Hoekstra leads the active Falcons in scoring, with 11.1 points per game, while Justinger and Myers have scored 9.7 and 8.4 ppg, respectively. Myers scored a career-high 21 points at Western Michigan (Jan. 21). Konieczki has 6.4 points per contest, with Puk averaging 5.1 ppg to date.

• Hoekstra is averaging 6.1 rebounds per game, tops among the members of the active roster, and she has 9.3 rpg in MAC play. Justinger has 5.4 rpg this season to date. Hoekstra has posted four double-doubles – all in conference contests – after Justinger had her first career double-double in the MAC opener vs. Ball State.

• Justinger has 2.3 assists per game to pace the Falcons in that category, while Konieczki has 1.6 assists and Hoekstra 1.4 helpers per contest. Redshirt freshman Kennedy Kirkpatrick has 1.2 assists per game. Kirkpatrick scored a career-high 18 points in last Saturday's win over Miami.

• Hoekstra has 1.3 steals per game, leading BGSU in that category, while Koneczki and Justinger each have 1.1 spg, respectively. Baer leads the active Falcons with a total of six blocked shots this season.

• BGSU is shooting 36.4 percent from the field, 30.8% from three-point range and 78.8% from the free-throw line through 19 games. The Falcons' opponents have shot 39.9% from the floor, 27.4% from the arc and 65.3% from the stripe.

• The Falcons have averaged 6.5 three-pointers made this year, including a season-high 11 at EMU. Hoekstra has hit 30 triples to lead the way, while Myers has knocked down 29 long-range attempts. Justinger and Puk each have connected 16 times from beyond the arc, while Konieczki has made 13 three-point tries.

• Hoekstra, Justinger, Konieczki, Myers and Puk each have seen action in all 19 games, while Kirkpatrick has played in 18 games and Baer 15. Matthews has played in 12 games this season, but has missed seven of the last 13 contests due to injury. After starting the first six games of the year and averaging 22.5 minutes per game, Matthews has averaged just 4.8 minutes per contest since Christmas.

• Senior Erica Fullenkamp joined the team on Jan. 8, and made her BGSU women's basketball debut six days later in the first NIU meeting. She has played in each of the last five games, averaging 0.4 points and 1.2 rebounds in 6.2 minutes per outing. Fullenkamp earned four letters on the Falcon volleyball team at BG.

• In MAC games, Hoekstra leads the team with 11.9 ppg, with Myers and Justinger averaging 11.8 and 10.8 ppg, respectively. Hoekstra, as mentioned, has 9.3 rpg to lead the Falcons in that category, and she also leads BG in steals and blocked shots in MAC games. Justinger has 5.5 rpg and 2.1 apg in conference contests, and Myers has hit a team-leading 17 three-point field goals vs. MAC foes. BGSU is shooting 82.9% from the free-throw line in MAC games, having made 102-of-123 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.

TAKE SOME, THEY'RE FREE: BGSU LEADS THE NATION IN FT PCT.
• As of Thursday night (Jan. 29), the Falcons were ranked first in the entire nation in free-throw percentage. Heading into Saturday's Toledo game, BGSU is shooting 78.8% (264-of-335) from the charity stripe. Eastern Washington and Bakersfield each are shooting 78.6% from the line, good for second and third, respectively. The BGSU single-season record for FT percentage is 79.9% by the 2010-11 team.

• The Falcons' 78.8% free-throw rate is impressive, to be sure, but BG is shooting an eye-popping 82.9% as a team in MAC games. Through the first eight conference contests, BGSU has made 102-of-123 shots from the stripe.

• BG set a Stroh Center record for free-throw percentage 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 hit 19-of-23 (82.6%) shots from the line against Northern Illinois and 9-of-10 tosses at Eastern Michigan. BG hit only 6-of-10 tosses at WMU, but rebounded with a 27-of-33 (81.8%) performance vs. Miami and went 10-of-12 at NIU. The Falcons have made at least 70% of their free throws in 17 of this year's 19 games, including 11 of the last 12 contests.

• Individually, senior Deborah Hoekstra is second in the MAC and 10th in the entire nation in free-throw percentage. Hoekstra has gone 52-of-58 at the stripe this season, good for a success rate of 89.7%.

RUNNING WITH THE FALCONS
A 17-0 run does not happen all that often, but BGSU has had a 17-point run in each of the last two games. The Falcons' first-half run vs. Miami on Saturday (Jan. 24) gave the Brown and Orange a 22-7 lead over the RedHawks. Then, at Northern Illinois on Wednesday night (Jan. 28), BG nearly rallied all the way back from a 22-point second-half deficit, cutting the margin to five before NIU fended off the Falcons for the win.

YOUNGSTERS FUEL THE SCORING RUN
• Freshmen and sophomores combined to score all 17 points during BGSU's first-half run on Saturday vs. Miami. Redshirt freshman Kennedy Kirkpatrick led the way with nine points during that span – as many points as MU scored during the entire half – while sophomore Rachel Konieczki and freshman Sarah Baer scored three points apiece and freshman Haley Puk two during that time.

• On Wednesday, Falcon freshmen scored 10 of the 17 points during BG's second-half run vs. Northern Illinois. Freshman Rachel Myers scored eight-straight points during that 17-0 surge, with Kirkpatrick scoring two. Senior Deborah Hoekstra and junior Miriam Justinger had four and three points, respectively, in that span.

HOEKSTRA'S A REBOUNDING MACHINE
• Less than a month ago, senior Deborah Hoekstra had never had more than six rebounds in a game. Over the last nine games, however, the guard has had at least eight rebounds eight times, and has AVERAGED 9.2 boards in that time. Hoekstra has set or matched her career rebounding best four times in that eight-game span, including three times in as many games. She had a then career-high nine rebounds at FIU in the final non-conference game, then pulled down nine more boards vs. Ball State in the MAC opener, and set a new career best with 12 boards at Akron. Hoekstra also had eight caroms at Kent State, 10 against both Northern Illinois and Eastern Michigan and a career-high 14 boards vs. Miami. Hoekstra grabbed eight rebounds in the second NIU meeting.

• Hoekstra is averaging 6.1 rebounds on the year. In MAC play, Hoekstra is nearly averaging a double-double, with 11.9 points and a team-high 9.3 rebounds per game through six contests. Hoekstra – again, a guard – is fifth in the MAC in rebounding in conference games.

• Hoekstra has led the Falcons in rebounding in five-straight games, and in seven of the last nine contests.

THE TOLEDO ROCKETS
Toledo enters Saturday's game with an overall record of 11-7, and the Rockets are 4-3 in MAC play. UT has been idle since a 75-61 home loss to Eastern Michigan on Saturday (Jan. 24). The Rockets have played five of the first seven MAC games at home, and UT is 1-1 in conference road contests, with a 19-point win at Western Michigan and a loss at Ohio. The team's other MAC wins have come vs. Miami, Kent State and Buffalo, with the latter game requiring overtime. Toledo has lost to Akron, in addition to OU and EMU, in MAC play. Individually, senior G/F Inma Zanoguera leads the Rockets in a multitude of categories, including scoring and rebounding. Zanoguera has 16.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per outing. Junior guard Brenae Harris and sophomore forward Janice Monakana have 9.6 ppg apiece, and Monakana has 6.7 rpg to tie Zanoguera for the team lead. UT has seven players averaging at least 6.2 ppg. Zanoguera has a UT- and MAC-leading 5.7 assists per game, and she paces the Rockets in steals (1.9 spg) as well. Last year, head coach Tricia Cullop's team went 16-16 overall and 9-9 in the MAC. Cullop welcomed back seven letterwinners, including two starters, from the 2013-14 club.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead Toledo, 42-29, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU captured last year's meeting. The Brown and Orange picked up a 66-59 win in the Glass City (Feb. 2, 2014) to snap a three-game Rocket series winning streak.

• Two years ago, in the last meeting in the Stroh Center, the Rockets captured a 48-38 win, pulling away in the last several minutes (Jan. 13, 2013).

• The Rockets have won four of the last six games after BGSU captured the previous 12 series meetings.

• BGSU is 20-9 in home games (0-1 at the Stroh Center), 14-17 on the road and 8-3 in neutral-site contests vs. the Rockets through the years.

• Jennifer Roos is 1-1 against Toledo as a collegiate head coach.

SIXTY POINTS = SUCCESS AT THE STROH CENTER
After topping Miami on Saturday (Jan. 24), the Falcons now have a record of 48-10 at the Stroh Center since the building opened prior to the 2011-12 season. While an 82.8 winning percentage is certainly impressive, BGSU's chances of winning at home have increased exponentially when the team scores at least 60 points. The Falcons are 45-1 (97.8%) when reaching the 60-point mark inside the Stroh, and BG is 28-1 when scoring at least 70 points, 12-0 when hitting the 80-point mark and 3-0 when reaching the 90-point plateau.

THE FALCONS ARE/WERE ...
• 9-10 this season, after posting a 30-5 overall record last winter;
• 2-6 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;
• 321-118 since Jennifer Roos came to BGSU in the summer of 2001;
• 166-53 in MAC games in that time:
• 300-83 over the last 11-plus years, with 2013-14 marking BG's MAC-record 11th-straight season of at least 20 wins;
• a staggering 279-73 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 256-65 overall, and 130-24 in the MAC regular season, in the last nine-plus years, with at least 24 wins in each of those nine seasons;
• a superb 228-62 in the last eight-plus years, including a 114-24 league ledger;
• a/an (insert your own adjective here) 197-58 overall, and 99-23 in MAC regular-season games, in the last seven-plus seasons, since Monique Rosati came to the BGSU program;
• 171-50 overall and 86-20 in MAC action over the last six-plus winters;
• 142-45, including a 71-19 MAC ledger, in the last five-plus seasons;
• 115-38 overall and 57-17 in the MAC in the last four-plus years;
• 87-33 overall, and 44-14 in MAC action, since seniors Deborah Hoekstra and Jasmine Matthews first put on a BGSU uniform;
• 63-26 overall and 30-12 in league play since Jennifer Roos became head coach, junior Miriam Justinger joined the Falcons' roster, and redshirt junior Erica Donovan transferred to BG;
• 39-15 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;
• 153-29 in the last 182 games vs. MAC foes (regular-season and tournament);
• A perfect 67-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field since 2001;
• 256-13 when having a better FG percentage than the opposition in that time, including a 128-3 mark in the last six-plus seasons;
• 245-45 when making more free throws than the opponent in the Roos Assistant-Coach/Associate-Head-Coach/Interim-Head-Coach/Head-Coaching Era;
• 208-26 when outrebounding the opponent in that 13-plus-year span;
• 76-8 in MAC home games in the last 10-plus seasons;
• 61-17 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
• 48-10 in the Stroh Center, with seven losses coming by a total of 17 points.

UP NEXT
Following the Toledo game, the Falcons will close out a two-game homestand by facing preseason MAC favorite Central Michigan on Wednesday (Feb. 4). After a trip to Buffalo (Feb. 7), the Brown and Orange will host MAC-leading Ohio on Saturday, Feb. 11.