BGSU Closes Regular Season with Senior Day Game vs. Akron

Saturday, March 7

Bowling Green, OH

2:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Akron

Buy tickets

BGSU seniors (left to right) Jasmine Matthews, Erica Fullenkamp & Deborah Hoekstra

March 06, 2015 | Women's Basketball

Falcons host Zips at the Stroh on Saturday afternoon

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team closes the regular season this weekend, and the Falcons of head coach Jennifer Roos will honor their seniors as well. BGSU faces the University of Akron on Saturday afternoon (March 7), with tipoff scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.

Prior to the game, the four seniors within the program – Erica Fullenkamp, Deborah Hoekstra, Jasmine Matthews and student manager Nick Fine – will be recognized in ceremonies on the Stroh Center court. The 'Senior Day' festivities are scheduled to begin at 1:45 p.m.

LINKS
GAME NOTES: BGSU | Akron
VIDEO: BGSU v Akron | It's On Us

SENIOR DAY/NIGHT SUCCESS
BGSU is looking to continue a lengthy streak of success on Saturday. The Falcons have won 13 consecutive 'Senior Day/Night' games since Jennifer Roos came to BGSU, and BG is 18-1 in the last 19 such contests. The lone loss in that time came to Miami in February of 2001, the season before Roos arrived in Northwest Ohio.

SUCCESS VS. THE ZIPS AT HOME
BGSU will put another impressive streak on the line Saturday afternoon. The Falcons have never lost a home game against Akron. BG is a perfect 27-0 vs. the Zips in games played in Bowling Green, including 3-0 at the Stroh Center. Overall, BGSU has an incredible 51-4 lead in the series with Akron.

SCOUT DAY / PERRYSBURG DAY
Saturday's game is Senior Day, as mentioned above, and there are several other promotions on the docket as well. It will be Girl Scout Day, with troops of girl scouts selling cookies on the Stroh Center concourse. In addition, Saturday is Perrysburg Community Day at the Stroh, and Falcon freshman (and Perrysburg native) Sarah Baer will sing the National Anthem prior to the game.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
If you can't make it to the Stroh Center on Saturday afternoon, 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 link to the video stream (fee required), 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.

TAKE SOME, THEY'RE FREE: FALCONS FIFTH IN THE NATION IN FT PCT.
• As of Thursday evening (March 5), the Falcons were ranked fifth in the entire nation in free-throw percentage. BGSU is currently shooting 77.1% (380-of-493) from the charity stripe this season. Drexel currently leads the nation with a 78.4% free-throw rate, followed by South Dakota State (78.0%), Washington (77.8%), Iowa State (77.3%) and the Falcons. The BGSU single-season record for FT percentage is 79.9% by the 2010-11 team.

• The Falcons' 77.1% overall percentage is impressive, to be sure, but BG is shooting an even-better 77.6% as a team in MAC games. Through the first 17 conference contests, BGSU has made 218-of-281 shots from the stripe.

• The Falcons have made at least 70% of their free throws in 23 of this year's 28 games, including in 13 of the 17 MAC games.

• Individually, senior Deborah Hoekstra leads the MAC and is ranked 10th in the entire nation in free-throw percentage. Hoekstra has gone 85-of-95 at the stripe this season, good for a success rate of 89.5%.

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 third in the MAC in free-throw accuracy, and she is second on her own team. Freshman Rachel Myers leads the league in success at the stripe in conference contests, having gone 36-of-39 (92.3%) against MAC foes, while Hoekstra has hit 58-of-65 shots (89.2%) in league games to date.

THREE-MENDOUS
• The Falcons have made 6.6 three-point field goals per game this year, good for a tie for second in the MAC. In conference play, the Falcons have hit 7.1 treys per contest, ranking second in the league. BGSU has made at least four three-pointers in each of this season's 28 games.

• In fact, the Falcons have hit at least four triples in 39-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 four three-point field goals in Wednesday's (March 4) Buffalo game. The Falcons now have hit at least one three-pointer in each of the last 339 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 (28.3), Haley Puk (21.6) 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 20.0 minutes per game this winter. Kirkpatrick made her first career start at Miami on Feb. 25, and now has started three-straight games.

• 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 Akron game with an overall record of 9-19, and BGSU is 2-15 in Mid-American Conference play. BG is looking to snap a school-record 10-game losing streak after dropping a narrow 55-47 contest vs. Buffalo at the Stroh Center on Wednesday night (March 4).

• 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 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 4-7 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.

• Redshirt junior Erica Donovan and freshman Lauren Webb were the players injured in the Illinois State game just before Christmas. 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 28 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 22 games. Freshmen Rachel Myers and Haley Puk have made 16 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 on Feb. 25, and now has been in the starting lineup for three consecutive games.

• Hoekstra leads the active Falcons in scoring, with 11.4 points per game, while Justinger and Myers have scored 10.3 and 8.4 ppg, respectively. Konieczki has 5.9 points per contest, with Kirkpatrick averaging 5.1 ppg and Puk 4.9.

• Hoekstra is averaging 6.6 rebounds per game, tops among the members of the active roster, and she has 8.4 rpg in MAC play. Hoekstra has led the Falcons in rebounding, or tied for the team lead, in 11 of the last 16 games, and she has had a double-double in each of the last two games, vs. Ohio and Buffalo.

• Justinger has 5.4 rpg this season to date, and tied her career high with 10 boards at Miami. Hoekstra has posted six 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 and Baer each have nine blocked shots this year, tied for the lead among the active Falcons.

• BGSU is shooting 35.5 percent from the field, 31.9% from three-point range and 77.1% (good for fifth in the nation) from the free-throw line through 28 games. The Falcons' opponents have shot 41.0% from the floor, 29.7% from the arc and 65.7% from the stripe.

• The Falcons have averaged 6.6 three-pointers made this year, including a season-high 11 at Eastern Michigan (Jan. 17) and 10 on three other occasions. Hoekstra has hit 47 triples to lead the way, while Myers has knocked down 43 long-range attempts. Justinger and Puk have connected 26 and 24 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 28 games, while Kirkpatrick has played in 27 games and Baer 24. Matthews has played in 14 games this season, but has missed 14 of the last 22 contests, including the last six, 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 14 games, averaging 0.3 points and 1.1 rebounds in 6.9 minutes per outing.

• In MAC games, Hoekstra leads the team with 11.9 ppg, with Justinger and Myers close behind at 11.1 and 10.1 ppg, respectively. Hoekstra, as mentioned, has 8.4 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 1.8 apg in conference contests. Myers has hit 31 triples and Hoekstra 29 vs. MAC foes. BGSU is shooting 78.6% from the free-throw line in MAC games, having made 218-of-281 shots from the stripe.

SIXTY POINTS = SUCCESS AT THE STROH
The Falcons have an overall record of 48-15 at the Stroh Center since the building opened prior to the 2011-12 season. While a 76.2% 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 28 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 10 double-doubles this season to date. Senior Deborah Hoekstra has six 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 has had double-doubles in each of the last two games, with BG-best totals of 13 points and 12 rebounds at Ohio, and 12 points and a game-high 13 boards vs. Buffalo. 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.

THE AKRON ZIPS
Akron enters Saturday's game with an overall record of 21-7, and the Zips are 11-6 in MAC play. UA sits in second place in the MAC's East Division. Akron downed Miami, 67-55, on Wednesday night, after dropping an 87-80 contest to Buffalo on the road last weekend. The Zips are 13-2 at home, 6-5 on the road and 2-0 in neutral-site matchups this year, and UA is 7-2 at Rhodes Arena and 4-4 at hostile venues in MAC play. Individually, senior G/F Sina King has 20.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game to lead the Zips – and the entire MAC – in both categories. Junior guard Anita Brown has 18.6 ppg and 6.5 rpg, while sophomore guard Hannah Plybon has 13.2 ppg and has hit a team-leading 85 three-point field goals – including a MAC-leading 56 in conference games – this season to date. King, Plybon and freshman guard Kerri McMahan (6.6 ppg and 3.8 assists per game) each have started all 28 games for head coach Jodi Kest, while Brown and junior G/F DiAndra Gibson (6.1 ppg, 6.6 rpg) have made 27 starts apiece. Last year, Kest and the Zips went 23-10 overall and 14-4 in the MAC. UA finished second (behind BGSU) in the East Division, but went on to win the MAC Tournament title for the first time in school history. Kest welcomed back nine letterwinners, including four starters, from the 2013-14 club.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead Akron, 51-4, in the all-time series between the teams, but the Zips captured this year's first meeting to snap a three-game BG series win streak.

• In that first 2014-15 meeting, the Falcons – with just seven players in uniform – led by five points with under 13 minutes to go, before the Zips went on a run to take the lead en route to a 67-59 win (Jan. 7, 2015).

• Last season, the Falcons captured both meetings, with an 81-65 decision at the Stroh Center (Jan. 12, 2014) and a 77-76 win in Akron just under two months later (March 8, 2014). The latter meeting saw Jillian Halfhill hit a layup with 6.6 seconds remaining to give the Brown and Orange a one-point win and the outright MAC regular-season crown.

• All four of Akron's series victories have come at Rhodes Arena, including a 74-56 win in the 1999 MAC Tournament quarterfinals, an 88-63 blowout in February of 2001 and a 68-63 verdict in January of 2013.

• BG won the first 26 series meetings with the Zips, saw Akron capture two of the next five games, then won 19 more in a row before UA's 2013 win.

• BGSU is a perfect 27-0 in home games, 22-4 in road contests and 2-0 in neutral-site meetings vs. the Zips over the years.

• Jennifer Roos is 3-1 against the Zips as a collegiate head coach.

THE FALCONS ARE/WERE ...
• 9-19 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;
• 2-15 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;
• 321-127 since Jennifer Roos came to BGSU in the summer of 2001;
• 166-62 in MAC games in that time:
• 300-92 over the last 11-plus years, with 2013-14 marking BG's MAC-record 11th-straight season of at least 20 wins;
• a staggering 279-82 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 256-74 overall, and 130-33 in the MAC regular season, in the last nine-plus years, with at least 24 wins in each of those nine seasons;
• a superb 228-71 in the last eight-plus years, including a 114-33 league ledger;
• a/an (insert your own adjective here) 197-67 overall, and 99-32 in MAC regular-season games, in the last seven-plus seasons, since Monique Rosati came to the BGSU program;
• 171-59 overall and 86-29 in MAC action over the last six-plus winters;
• 142-54, including a 71-28 MAC ledger, in the last five-plus seasons;
• 115-47 overall and 57-26 in the MAC in the last four-plus years;
• 87-42 overall, and 44-23 in MAC action, since seniors Deborah Hoekstra and Jasmine Matthews first put on a BGSU uniform;
• 63-35 overall and 30-21 in league play since Jennifer Roos became head coach, junior Miriam Justinger joined the Falcons' roster, and redshirt junior Erica Donovan transferred to BG;
• 39-24 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;
• 153-38 in the last 191 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;
• 208-27 when outrebounding the opponent in that 13-plus-year span;
• 76-13 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
• 48-15 at the Stroh Center, with nine of those losses coming by a total of 24 points.

UP NEXT
Following Saturday's Akron game, the Falcons will hit the road for Mid-American Conference Tournament first-round action on Monday (March 9). BGSU will be the 12th seed for the tournament, and will face the number-five seed on Monday. That number-five seed could be any one of five teams – Akron, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan, Toledo and Western Michigan – depending upon the outcomes of Saturday's games around the league.