Falcons Head to Athens to Meet League-Leading Ohio

Saturday, February 28

Athens, OH

2:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Ohio

Miriam Justinger drives to the basket during BGSU's first 2014-15 meeting with Ohio

Photo by: Larry Clapper

February 27, 2015 | Women's Basketball

BGSU battles Bobcats in final regular-season road game

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team hits the road for the final time during the regular season. The Falcons of head coach Jennifer Roos head to Athens for a Saturday (Feb. 28) matchup with league-leading Ohio University. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at the Convocation Center.

GAME NOTES
BGSU | Ohio

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
If you can't make it to Athens on Saturday, you can still follow the Falcons via your radio- or computer-like devices. 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, as well as a free video stream, will be available. And, as always, 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.

TAKE SOME, THEY'RE FREE: FALCONS THIRD IN THE NATION IN FT PCT.
• As of Thursday evening (Feb. 26), the Falcons were ranked third in the entire nation in free-throw percentage. Despite an uncharacteristic 3-for-7 night from the stripe at Miami Wednesday night, BGSU is still shooting 77.6% (360-of-464) from the charity stripe this season. Washington currently leads the nation with a 78.1% free-throw rate, followed by Drexel (78.0%) and the Falcons. The BGSU single-season record for FT percentage is 79.9% by the 2010-11 team.

• The Falcons' 77.6% overall percentage is impressive, to be sure, but BG is shooting an even-better 78.6% as a team in MAC games. Through the first 15 conference contests, BGSU has made 198-of-252 shots from the stripe.

• The Falcons have made at least 70% of their free throws in 22 of this year's 26 games, including 16 of the last 19 contests (and 12 of the 15 MAC games).

• Individually, senior Deborah Hoekstra leads the MAC and is ranked 12th in the entire nation in free-throw percentage. Hoekstra has gone 76-of-85 at the stripe this season, good for a success rate of 89.4%.

GO ON ... TAKE SOME
• As we just mentioned, the Falcons lead the MAC and are ranked third in the nation in free-throw percentage. And, senior Deborah Hoekstra leads the league and is 12th in the country among individuals.

• In conference games, Hoekstra ranks second in the MAC in free-throw accuracy, and she is also second on her own team. Freshman Rachel Myers leads the league in success at the stripe in conference contests, having gone 33-of-35 (94.3%) against MAC foes, while Hoekstra has hit 49-of-55 shots (89.1%) in league games to date.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES
• Just under a year ago, the Falcons faced Ohio in the third-to-last game of the regular season. BGSU entered that game atop the MAC's East Division with a 14-1 league record, while Ohio was 4-11 in conference play heading into that contest. And, in the game (March 1, 2014), host BGSU posted a 63-39 win en route to a MAC outright regular-season title.

• This season, the third-to-last game of the regular season sees BGSU face Ohio once again. This time, however, the Bobcats are at the top of the East Division. In fact, Ohio has clinched at least a tie for the division title, as the 'Cats are three games ahead of second-place Akron with three to play (and Ohio swept the two meetings with UA this year). Meanwhile, the injury-ravaged Falcons enter Saturday's game with a MAC record of 2-13.

• Four of the 12 players on the BGSU preseason roster have suffered season- or career-ending injuries. That group includes two starters, and a fifth player (and third starter) has been limited to a total of just 35 minutes of action over the 15 MAC contests to date.

THREE-MENDOUS
• The Falcons have made 6.7 three-point field goals per game this year to date, good for second in the MAC. In conference play, the Falcons have hit 7.2 treys per contest, also good for second in the league. BGSU has made at least four three-pointers in each of this season's 26 games.

• In fact, the Falcons have hit at least four triples in 37-straight games against MAC foes. The last time BG failed to make four three-pointers against a conference opponent came on March 6, 2013, when the Falcons went 2-of-18 from long distance in a road win over Kent State.

THREE-MARKABLE
BGSU made 10 three-point field goals in the Miami game. The Falcons now have hit at least one three-pointer in each of the last 337 games. BG has not been held without a triple in over 10 years – since Feb. 12, 2005, at Akron, when the Falcons won, 61-52, despite going 0-of-13 from long distance.

YOUTH IS SERVED
• The Falcons have had four players suffer season- or career-ending injuries this season, with a fifth player missing large chunks of time due to injury as well. As a result, many BG freshmen have had an opportunity to gain valuable experience. True frosh Rachel Myers (28.0), Haley Puk (21.1) and Sarah Baer (12.2) all are averaging double-digit minutes per game, and each member of that trio has started at least five games.

• Additionally, redshirt freshman Kennedy Kirkpatrick, who missed nearly all of last season due to injury, is averaging 19.7 minutes per game this winter. Kirkpatrick made her first career start in Wednesday night's game at Miami.

• The 2014-15 season marks the first time four freshmen have started one or more games since 2003-04 (Liz Honegger and Ali Mann each started 30 of BG's 31 games that year, while Megan Thorburn made 23 starts and Carin Horne eight).

• BGSU has not had four frosh average double-digit minutes since that 2003-04 season, when first-year Falcons Honegger, Horne, Mann and Thorburn each played over 10 minutes per game. That quartet went on to lead BG to 31 wins and a trip to the 'Sweet Sixteen' round of the 2007 NCAA Championships as seniors.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the Ohio game with an overall record of 9-17, and BGSU is 2-13 in Mid-American Conference play. BG is looking to snap a school-record eight-game losing streak after falling by a 59-51 final at Miami Wednesday night (Feb. 25).

• It's a pretty impressive feat that, prior to this season, no BG team had ever lost more than seven games in a row. Additionally, it's very likely that no Falcon women's basketball team ever lost one-third of the preseason roster to season-ending injuries.

• BGSU's last win came in this season's first meeting with Miami, a 66-53 triumph at the Stroh Center on Jan. 24. The Falcons had won two-straight games at home before dropping contests to Toledo (Jan. 31) and Central Michigan (Feb. 4) at the Stroh. BG is now 4-6 at home, 4-10 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, including the first three MAC games of the season. The Falcons snapped that streak with a 65-59 win over Northern Illinois at the Stroh on Jan. 14, and BG's other MAC win came against Miami 10 days later.

• That five-game post-holiday 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 percentage reached 33.3% as a fourth player suffered a season-ending injury in early January. Two of those four players were starters, and a fifth Falcon – and third starter – has played only 35 minutes during the MAC schedule, missing eight of the 15 MAC matches altogether.

• 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. 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. 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 26 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 20 games. Freshmen Rachel Myers and Haley Puk have made 14 and 11 starts, respectively, with senior Jasmine Matthews and freshman Sarah Baer starting six games apiece. Redshirt freshman Kennedy Kirkpatrick made her first collegiate start at Miami Wednesday night.

• Hoekstra leads the active Falcons in scoring, with 11.3 points per game, while Justinger and Myers have scored 10.2 and 8.7 ppg, respectively. Justinger scored a season-high 19 points in last Saturday's Kent State game. Konieczki has 5.9 points per contest, with Kirkpatrick averaging 5.3 ppg and Puk 4.8.

• Hoekstra is averaging 6.2 rebounds per game, tops among the members of the active roster, and she has 7.9 rpg in MAC play. Hoekstra has led the Falcons in rebounding, or tied for the team lead, in nine of the last 14 games. Justinger has 5.4 rpg this season to date, and tied her career high with 10 boards at Miami. 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 2.2 assists per game to pace the Falcons in that category, while Konieczki has 1.5 assists and Hoekstra 1.4 helpers per contest. Kirkpatrick has handed out 1.2 assists per game.

• Konieczki has 1.2 steals per game to lead the team in that category, while Justinger also has 1.2 spg (Justinger has 30 total steals to Konieczki's 31) and Hoekstra 1.1. Baer leads the active Falcons with a total of eight blocked shots this year, and Hoekstra has seven.

• BGSU is shooting 35.7 percent from the field, 31.9% from three-point range and 77.6% (good for third in the nation) from the free-throw line through 26 games. The Falcons' opponents have shot 41.2% from the floor, 29.8% from the arc and 65.7% from the stripe.

• The Falcons have averaged 6.7 three-pointers made this year, including a season-high 11 at Eastern Michigan (Jan. 17) and 10 on three other occasions. Hoekstra has hit 45 triples to lead the way, while Myers has knocked down 41 long-range attempts. Justinger and Puk have connected 24 and 21 times, respectively, from beyond the arc, while Konieczki has made 17 three-point tries and Kirkpatrick 15.

• Hoekstra, Justinger, Konieczki, Myers and Puk each have seen action in all 26 games, while Kirkpatrick has played in 25 games and Baer 22. Matthews has played in 14 games this season, but has missed 12 of the last 20 contests due to injury. After starting the first six games of the year and averaging 22.5 minutes per game, Matthews has averaged just 4.5 minutes per appearance 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. A former Falcon volleyball standout, Fullenkamp has played in each of the last 12 games, averaging 0.3 points and 1.2 rebounds in 6.7 minutes per outing.

• In MAC games, Hoekstra leads the team with 11.9 ppg, with Justinger and Myers close behind at 11.1 and 10.7 ppg, respectively. Hoekstra, as mentioned, has 7.9 rpg to lead the Falcons in that category, and she also tops BG in blocked shots in MAC games. Justinger has 5.5 rpg and 1.9 apg in conference contests. Myers has hit 29 triples and Hoekstra 27 vs. MAC foes. BGSU is shooting 78.6% from the free-throw line in MAC games, having made 198-of-252 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 four true frosh.

THE OHIO BOBCATS
Ohio will enter Saturday's game with an overall record of 22-4, and the Bobcats are 13-2 in MAC play. Ohio has clinched at least a share of the East Division crown, as the 'Cats are three games ahead of second-place Akron with three games to play. Ohio has won two-straight games and 12 of the last 13 contests. Most recently, the Bobcats picked up a 78-70 win over visiting Buffalo on Wednesday night (Feb. 25). Ohio is 12-3 at home, 9-1 on the road and 1-0 in neutral-site matchups this year, and the 'Cats are 6-1 at The Convo and 7-1 at hostile venues in MAC play. Ohio has made 9.2 three-point field goals per game, good for fourth in the nation. Individually, junor guard Kiyanna Black is averaging a team-high 16.1 points per game, and she has made 83 three-pointers this season to date. Sophomore guard Quiera Lampkins and senior guard Mariah Byard are averaging 13.0 and 9.3 ppg, respectively. Lampkins leads the team in rebounding (6.8 rpg) and assists, while Byard has made 59 treys. Black, Byard, Lampkins, junior forward Lexie Baldwin (8.5 ppg) and redshirt junior guard Kat Yelle (6.7 ppg) each have started all 26 games for head coach Bob Boldon this season. Last year, in Boldon's first winter in Athens, the team went 9-21 overall and 4-14 in the MAC. Boldon – a graduate of Walsh University in glorious North Canton, Ohio – welcomed back all 10 letterwinners, including all five starters, from the 2013-14 club.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead Ohio, 55-22, in the all-time series between the teams, but the Bobcats captured this year's first meeting to snap a four-game BG series win streak.

• In that first 2014-15 meeting, a cold-shooting start doomed the Falcons as Ohio posted a 71-46 victory at the Stroh Center (Feb. 11, 2015). BG missed 15-straight shots to begin the game.

• In the Falcons' last trip to Athens, BG trailed for much of the night, but used a game-ending 27-4 run to come away with a 78-62 victory (Jan. 30, 2014). The 2013-14 return match saw BGSU's three seniors each hit double digits in scoring as the Falcons posted a 63-39 win on "Senior Day" at the Stroh (March 2, 2014).

• Ohio's last win over BG in Athens came on Feb. 22, 2012, when the Bobcats' Tenishia Benson scored eight points in the final 2:08 of the game for a 60-56 win over the Falcons.

• BGSU is 31-6 in home games, 21-14 on the road 3-2 in neutral-site meetings vs. the Bobcats over the years.

• Jennifer Roos is 4-1 against Ohio as a collegiate head coach.

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 has utilized six different lineups to date. Junior Miriam Justinger and sophomore Rachel Konieczki are the only two players to have started all 26 contests for the Brown and Orange this year to date. A total of 10 different Falcons have made at least one start this season, and nine of those 10 have started at least five games.

THE FALCONS ARE/WERE ...
• 9-17 this season, after posting a 30-5 overall record last winter, and after suffering season-ending injuries to four of the 12 players on the roster at the start of this year;
• 2-13 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;
• 321-125 since Jennifer Roos came to BGSU in the summer of 2001;
• 166-60 in MAC games in that time:
• 300-90 over the last 11-plus years, with 2013-14 marking BG's MAC-record 11th-straight season of at least 20 wins;
• a staggering 279-80 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 256-72 overall, and 130-31 in the MAC regular season, in the last nine-plus years, with at least 24 wins in each of those nine seasons;
• a superb 228-69 in the last eight-plus years, including a 114-31 league ledger;
• a/an (insert your own adjective here) 197-65 overall, and 99-30 in MAC regular-season games, in the last seven-plus seasons, since Monique Rosati came to the BGSU program;
• 171-57 overall and 86-27 in MAC action over the last six-plus winters;
• 142-52, including a 71-26 MAC ledger, in the last five-plus seasons;
• 115-45 overall and 57-24 in the MAC in the last four-plus years;
• 87-40 overall, and 44-21 in MAC action, since seniors Deborah Hoekstra and Jasmine Matthews first put on a BGSU uniform;
• 63-33 overall and 30-19 in league play since Jennifer Roos became head coach, junior Miriam Justinger joined the Falcons' roster, and redshirt junior Erica Donovan transferred to BG;
• 39-22 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;
• 153-36 in the last 189 games vs. MAC foes (regular-season and tournament);
• A perfect 67-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field since 2001;
• 256-14 when having a better FG percentage than the opposition in that time, including a 128-4 mark in the last six-plus seasons;
• 245-49 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;
• 76-12 in MAC home games in the last 10-plus seasons;
• 61-20 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
• 48-14 at the Stroh Center, with nine of those losses coming by a total of 24 points.

UP NEXT
Following the Ohio game, the Falcons will close the regular-season schedule with a pair of games at the Stroh Center. BGSU will host Buffalo on Wednesday (March 4) and Akron next Saturday (March 7). The MAC Tournament begins on Monday, March 9, at campus sites, with the fifth- through eighth-seeded teams hosting seeds nine through 12.