The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team begins the month of March and ends the regular season with a pair of home games this week. The Falcons of head coach Jennifer Roos host the University at Buffalo on Wednesday night (March 4), with tipoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.
Then, the Brown and Orange will close regular-season play with a Saturday (March 7) contest vs. the University of Akron. That game, which begins at 2:00 p.m. at the Stroh, will be 'Senior Day' for the Falcons, with the four seniors within the BGSU program recognized in ceremonies prior to tipoff.
KATE ACHTER BOBBLEHEAD NIGHT Wednesday's Buffalo game is Kate Achter Bobblehead Night, with the first 500 fans through the Stroh Center doors receiving a miniaturized version of one of the greatest players in BGSU history. Achter helped the Falcons to an overall record of 108-23 during her four years (2004-05 to 2007-08), and guided the Brown and Orange to four MAC regular-season titles, three MAC Tournament crowns and four-straight national postseason appearances. She ranks fifth in scoring at BGSU, with 1,580 career points, and is the Falcons' all-time leader in assists, with 688. Achter is the only player in school history with over 1,000 points and 600 assists in her career. Currently, she is the associate head coach on the women's basketball staff at St. Bonaventure University.
FOLLOW THE FALCONS If you can't make it to the Stroh Center on Wednesday night, 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. Wednesday's game can be seen on BCSN in the Toledo area and on ESPN3.com on the web
Additionally, live stats for Wednesday's game, as well as a link to the free video stream, will be available via BGSUFalcons.com. 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.   Saturday is Perrysburg Day as BGSU hosts AkronTAKE SOME, THEY'RE FREE: FALCONS FIFTH IN THE NATION IN FT PCT. • As of Monday evening (March 2), the Falcons were ranked fifth in the entire nation in free-throw percentage. Despite going just 9-of-14 from the stripe at Ohio on Saturday, BGSU is still shooting 77.2% (369-of-478) from the charity stripe this season. Drexel currently leads the nation with a 78.2% free-throw rate, followed by South Dakota State (78.0%), Washington (77.8%), Iowa State (77.4%) and the Falcons. The BGSU single-season record for FT percentage is 79.9% by the 2010-11 team.
• The Falcons' 77.2% overall percentage is impressive, to be sure, but BG is shooting an even-better 77.8% as a team in MAC games. Through the first 16 conference contests, BGSU has made 207-of-266 shots from the stripe.
• The Falcons have made at least 70% of their free throws in 22 of this year's 27 games, including in 12 of the 16 MAC games.
• Individually, senior Deborah Hoekstra leads the MAC and is ranked 10th in the entire nation in free-throw percentage. Hoekstra has gone 80-of-89 at the stripe this season, good for a success rate of 89.9%.
TAKE SOME MORE – WE SAID THEY WERE FREE • As we just mentioned, the Falcons lead the MAC and are ranked fifth in the nation in free-throw percentage. And, senior Deborah Hoekstra leads the league and is 10th 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 53-of-57 shots (89.8%) in league games to date.
THREE-MENDOUS • The Falcons have made 6.7 three-point field goals per game this year, good for second in the MAC. In conference play, the Falcons have hit 7.3 treys per contest, also good for second in the league. BGSU has made at least four three-pointers in each of this season's 27 games.
• In fact, the Falcons have hit at least four triples in 38-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 Brown and Orange went 2-of-18 from long distance in a road win over Kent State.
THREE-MARKABLE BGSU made eight three-point field goals in the Ohio game. The Falcons now have hit at least one three-pointer in each of the last 338 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 (21.3) and Sarah Baer (12.3) all are averaging double-digit minutes per game, and each member of that trio has started at least six games.
• Additionally, redshirt freshman Kennedy Kirkpatrick, who missed nearly all of last season due to injury, is averaging 19.9 minutes per game this winter. Kirkpatrick made her first career start last Wednesday at Miami, and started Saturday's Ohio contest as well.
• 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 Buffalo game with an overall record of 9-18, and BGSU is 2-14 in Mid-American Conference play. BG is looking to snap a school-record nine-game losing streak after falling by a 67-47 final at Ohio Saturday afternoon (Feb. 28).
• 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 injury. Four of the 12 players on the BGSU preseason roster have suffered season- or career-ending injuries. That quartet includes two starters, and a fifth player (and third starter) has seen very little playing time during the MAC portion of the schedule.
• 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, 4-11 on the road and 1-1 at neutral-site venues this season.
• After winning four-straight games prior to Christmas, BGSU then lost 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 nine of the 16 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 the players 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 will 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 27 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 21 games. Freshmen Rachel Myers and Haley Puk have made 15 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 last Wednesday, and also was in the lineup for Saturday's Ohio game.
• Hoekstra leads the active Falcons in scoring, with 11.3 points per game, while Justinger and Myers have scored 10.1 and 8.4 ppg, respectively. Konieczki has 6.0 points per contest, with Kirkpatrick averaging 5.2 ppg and Puk 4.9.
• Hoekstra is averaging 6.4 rebounds per game, tops among the members of the active roster, and she has 8.1 rpg in MAC play. Hoekstra has led the Falcons in rebounding, or tied for the team lead, in 10 of the last 15 games, and she had a double-double on Saturday at Ohio.
• Justinger has 5.3 rpg this season to date, and tied her career high with 10 boards at Miami. Hoekstra has posted five double-doubles – all in conference contests – after Justinger had her first career double-double in the MAC opener vs. Ball State.
• Justinger has 2.1 assists per game to pace the Falcons in that category, while Konieczki has 1.6 assists and Hoekstra 1.4 helpers per contest. Kirkpatrick has handed out 1.2 assists per game.
• Justinger has 1.2 steals per game to lead the team in that category, while Konieczki has 1.1 spg and Hoekstra 1.0. Hoekstra leads the active Falcons with a total of nine blocked shots this year, and Baer has eight.
• BGSU is shooting 35.6 percent from the field, 32.1% from three-point range and 77.2% (good for fifth in the nation) from the free-throw line through 27 games. The Falcons' opponents have shot 41.3% from the floor, 30.3% from the arc and 65.1% 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 46 triples to lead the way, while Myers has knocked down 42 long-range attempts. Justinger and Puk have connected 25 and 23 times, respectively, from beyond the arc, while Konieczki has made 19 three-point tries and Kirkpatrick 16.
• Hoekstra, Justinger, Konieczki, Myers and Puk each have seen action in all 27 games, while Kirkpatrick has played in 26 games and Baer 23. Matthews has played in 14 games this season, but has missed 13 of the last 21 contests, including the last five, 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 13 games, averaging 0.3 points and 1.1 rebounds in 6.6 minutes per outing.
• In MAC games, Hoekstra leads the team with 11.9 ppg, with Justinger and Myers close behind at 11.0 and 10.2 ppg, respectively. Hoekstra, as mentioned, has 8.1 rpg to lead the Falcons in that category, and she also tops BG in blocked shots in MAC games. Justinger has 5.4 rpg and 1.9 apg in conference contests. Myers has hit 30 triples and Hoekstra 28 vs. MAC foes. BGSU is shooting 78.8% from the free-throw line in MAC games, having made 207-of-266 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.
SIXTY POINTS = SUCCESS AT THE STROH The Falcons have an overall record of 48-14 at the Stroh Center since the building opened prior to the 2011-12 season. While a 77.4% 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.
SIXTY POINTS = SUCCESS ANYWHERE Regardless of venue, the Falcons' chances of winning have significantly improved when the team scores 60 or more points. This year, however, BGSU has reached the 60-point plateau only eight times, including just twice since Christmas. The Falcons are a perfect 8-0 in such games. Last season, BG scored at least 60 points 29 times in 35 games, going 27-2.
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 27 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 six games.
DOUBLE(-DOUBLE) TROUBLE BGSU players have had nine double-doubles this season to date. Senior Deborah Hoekstra has five career double-doubles to lead the way. Her first four came in a six-game span, after junior Miriam Justinger recorded the first double-double of her career in the MAC opener vs. Ball State. Most recently, Hoekstra had a double-double on Saturday at Ohio, with BG-best totals of 13 points and 12 rebounds. Other than Hoekstra and Justinger, 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.
LAST TIME OUT: OHIO WORKS FOR 67-47 WIN • Host Ohio University built a double-digit first-half lead and never let BGSU mount a serious comeback bid Saturday afternoon (Feb. 28). The Bobcats pulled away late for a 67-47 win over the Falcons.
• With the win, Ohio (23-4, 14-2 MAC) clinched the MAC regular-season championship outright. Kiyanna Black led three double-digit scorers for the Bobcats with 15 points.
• Senior Deborah Hoekstra had 13 points, a game-high 12 rebounds and two blocked shots to lead the Falcons (9-18, 2-14 MAC) in all three categories. The double-double was Hoekstra's fifth of the season, with all five coming against conference foes.
• BGSU went 8-of-21 from three-point range, with six different Falcons hitting at least one long-range shot apiece. Sophomore Rachel Konieczki and freshman Haley Puk each made two shots from beyond the arc.
• Puk and junior Miriam Justinger scored nine points apiece, while Konieczki had eight points for the Brown and Orange.
• For the Bobcats, Quiera Lampkins and Lexie Baldwin joined Black in double figures in the scoring column. Lampkins had 14 points and a team-leading nine rebounds, going 6-for-8 from the field. Baldwin scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
• The Falcons spotted the hosts an early 5-0 lead, but Hoekstra drove down the lane and hit a layup, and Justinger's drive resulted in a short banker from the right side. Out of the day's first media timeout, Konieczki split a pair of free throws, and BG led, 8-7. But, Black knocked down a three-pointer to give the 'Cats a 10-8 lead, and a Hannah Boesinger triple put the hosts ahead by five. Ohio went 10-for-26 from long distance on the afternoon.
• After a three-point make by Konieczki, the home team proceeded to go on a 9-0 run. to take a 25-13 lead.
• The Bobcats led, 36-23, at the intermission. BG hung around for much of the second half, with a Hoekstra jumper cutting Ohio's lead to single digits (48-39) with just under 11 minutes remaining. But, the 'Cats scored six-straight points, and the lead never dropped below 14 points the rest of the day.
THE BUFFALO BULLS Buffalo will enter Wednesday's game with an overall record of 16-11, and the Bulls are 9-7 in MAC play. Buffalo sits in third place in the MAC's East Division. UB snapped a two-game losing streak with an 87-80 win over Akron on Saturday (Feb. 28). No fewer than 19 of the team's 27 games this season, including 10 of the 16 MAC games, have been decided by 10 points or fewer. Buffalo is 8-4 at home, 7-6 on the road and 1-1 in neutral-site matchups this year, and the Bulls are 6-3 at Alumni Arena and 3-4 at hostile venues in MAC play. Individually, senior forward Kristen Sharkey has 14.4 points per game to lead a balanced attack, and she also has 8.0 rebounds per game. Junior guard Mackenzie Loesing and sophomore forward Alexus Malone have 14.0 and 11.0 ppg, respectively. Malone has 7.7 rpg, while Loesing has made a team-leading 39 three-point field goals this winter. Senior C/F Christa Baccas has 8.2 ppg, 8.0 rpg and a team- and MAC-leading 2.2 blocked shots per game. Last year, head coach Felisha Legette-Jack's team went 17-13 overall and 10-8 in the MAC. Legette-Jack welcomed back nine letterwinners, including four starters, from the 2013-14 club.
THE SERIES • The Falcons lead Buffalo, 24-6, in the all-time series between the teams, but the Bulls captured this year's first meeting to snap a 20-game BG series win streak.
• In that first 2014-15 meeting, Buffalo used a strong inside game to take an early lead, and the host Bulls downed the Falcons, 66-45, in Western New York (Feb. 7, 2015). The win was UB's first over BG since February of 2003.
• Last season, Alexis Rogers had 22 points and 17 rebounds as the Falcons topped UB, 62-50, in the MAC opener for both teams at the Stroh Center (Jan. 4, 2014). The Bulls' top scorer entering the game, Mackenzie Loesing, scored eight points in the first five minutes before leaving the contest due to injury.
• Last year's rematch featured 18 lead changes, the last of which came with just over four minutes remaining. A Rogers jumper gave the Falcons a 58-57 lead and began an 11-0 run en route to a 73-63 road win for the Brown and Orange (Feb. 22, 2014).
• BGSU is 11-2 in home games, 12-4 in road contests and 1-0 in neutral-site meetings vs. the Bulls over the years.
• Jennifer Roos is 4-1 against UB as a collegiate head coach.
THE FALCONS ARE/WERE ... • 9-18 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; • 2-14 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; • 321-126 since Jennifer Roos came to BGSU in the summer of 2001; • 166-61 in MAC games in that time: • 300-91 over the last 11-plus years, with 2013-14 marking BG's MAC-record 11th-straight season of at least 20 wins; • a staggering 279-81 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 256-73 overall, and 130-32 in the MAC regular season, in the last nine-plus years, with at least 24 wins in each of those nine seasons; • a superb 228-70 in the last eight-plus years, including a 114-32 league ledger; • a/an (insert your own adjective here) 197-66 overall, and 99-31 in MAC regular-season games, in the last seven-plus seasons, since Monique Rosati came to the BGSU program; • 171-58 overall and 86-28 in MAC action over the last six-plus winters; • 142-53, including a 71-27 MAC ledger, in the last five-plus seasons; • 115-46 overall and 57-25 in the MAC in the last four-plus years; • 87-41 overall, and 44-22 in MAC action, since seniors Deborah Hoekstra and Jasmine Matthews first put on a BGSU uniform; • 63-34 overall and 30-20 in league play since Jennifer Roos became head coach, junior Miriam Justinger joined the Falcons' roster, and redshirt junior Erica Donovan transferred to BG; • 39-23 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; • 153-37 in the last 190 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; • 245-50 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; • 61-21 in MAC road games over the last 10 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 Buffalo game, the Falcons will close the regular-season schedule this weekend, hosting Akron on Saturday (March 7). That game will begin at 2:00 p.m., and it will be 'Senior Day' at the Stroh Center, with the seniors in the BGSU program recognized in ceremonies prior to the game. Then, the MAC Tournament begins two days later (Monday, March 9) at campus sites, with the fifth- through eighth-seeded teams hosting seeds nine through 12.
