BG Battles Bobcats to Kick Off Saturday DH at the Stroh

Saturday, January 20

Bowling Green, OH

1:00 PM ET

Bowling Green State University

Ohio

Tickets

January 19, 2018 | Women's Basketball

Falcons face Ohio in a key intradivisional matchup

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

BGSU vs. OHIO
<><> Saturday, January 20, 2018 • 1:00 p.m. <><>
<><> Stroh Center (4,347) • Bowling Green, Ohio <><>
<><><><><><><><><><><><>
<><> TELEVISION / VIDEO: ESPN3.com <><>
<><> RADIO / AUDIO: WBGU-FM 88.1 / BGRSO <><>
<><> LIVE STATS: www.BGSUFalcons.com <><>
<><> TWITTER: @BGSUwbb <><>

all available audio, stats & video links can be found at BGSUFalcons.com on game day

UP NEXT FOR THE FALCONS...
>> The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, riding a two-game winning streak vs. Mid-American Conference East Division foes, wraps up a stretch of three-straight intradivisional contests this weekend. Head coach Jennifer Roos and the Falcons welcome Ohio University to town Saturday (Jan. 20), with tipoff at 1:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.

>> Saturday's game is the first half of a doubleheader at the Stroh, with the BGSU men facing Central Michigan University in a game scheduled to begin at approximately 3:30 p.m.

EVENTS / GIVEAWAYS / PROMOTIONS
>> The first 500 Falcon basketball enthusiasts through the gates at Saturday's Ohio game will receive a BGSU T-shirt.

BGSU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL LINKS
Game Notes: BGSU | Ohio | BGSU Game Notes Central
Boxes & Recaps | 2017-18 Schedule | Spark Page | Giveaways / Promotions
Falcons Welcome Dean to Program
"In The Nest" - Parker
Nat'l Girls & Women in Sports Day Clinic Set for Jan. 27
2006-07 Team Recognition Set for Feb. 3
Get Your BGSU Women's Hoops Tickets Now!
2017-18 Record Book | Quick Facts | Career Stats of Current Falcons
PHOTO GALLERIES: Kent St. | Ball St. | Eastern Mich. | Ferris St. | Ferris St. II | Xavier | Valparaiso | Canisius | Eastern Ky. | Seton Hill
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FOLLOW THE FALCONS
If you can't make it to the arena on game day, fear not – you can still follow the Falcons via your radio- or computer-like devices. Saturday's Ohio game will feature a free video stream, as well as live stats and Twitter updates. All links will be available via BGSUFalcons.com.

All of BGSU's home games, and many road contests, will have audio broadcasts, courtesy of the Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization (BGRSO). And, every BGSU home game this season will have a free live stream, with all but one home contest in 2017-18 aired via ESPN3.com.

Live stats are also available for all games, and in-game Twitter updates for every BGSU game can be found at @BGSUwbb.

To follow the Falcons, simply log on to BGSUFalcons.com and click the 'calendar' link on the day of the game, or navigate your way to the women's basketball page. Any and all available links to ticket info. and game coverage will be available there.

"WELL THEN..."
Last year's edition of the Falcons won a total of eight games. To quote Jon Lovitz in the movie A League of Their Own, "Well then, this would be more, wouldn't it?"

Last Saturday's win at Akron was the ninth of the season for the Orange and Brown, topping the total for all of last year, and BGSU picked up win number 10 on Wednesday night vs. Kent State. BG has now surpassed both the home and road win totals for the entire 2016-17 campaign.

The Falcons have a 5-3 record at the Stroh Center this season to date. The fourth home win came on Dec. 18, topping last year's home victory total.

Last year's club won a total of five games away from the Stroh, including three true road contests. This year, BG has four road wins and five total victories away from home. BG is 5-4 in all games played away from the Stroh Center this season.
FALCONS BY VENUE
Season   Home Road Neut. Total
2016-17 3-12 3-10 2-1   8-23
2017-18 5-3   4-4   1-0   10-7

LAST TIME OUT: THOMPSON, LAMBERT HIT KEY 3'S AS BG RALLIES PAST KSU
Caterrion Thompson and Sydney Lambert hit key three-pointers in the fourth quarter, propelling the Falcons to a 60-50 win over Kent State Wednesday night (Jan. 17) inside the Stroh Center.

Thompson's triple with 5:14 left in the game broke a 46-46 tie and gave the Falcons (10-7, 2-4 MAC) the lead for good, while Lambert's shot with just 3:06 to go capped an 8-1 run that began with the Thompson trey. Lambert's long-range make came after a dizzying display of dribbling by the junior point guard near the top of the arc, and she beat the shot-clock buzzer to give the Brown and Orange a 54-47 lead, BG's largest of the game to that point.

The Golden Flashes (9-9, 2-4 MAC) scored the next three points to get back within four, but BG went a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the game's final minute.

Lambert led the Falcons with 13 points in the victory, while Thompson added 12. Both players hit three long-range shots in the win, as the hosts went 9-for-23 from beyond the arc.

Ali Poole scored 17 points and Megan Carter 12 for the Flashes. BGSU held Jordan Korinek, the MAC's leading scorer, to just seven points. Korinek entered the game averaging 20.4 points per contest.

SYD-THREE LAMBERT
Junior Sydney Lambert hit three three-pointers against Kent State, with the final triple coming with 3:06 to go and the shot clock nearing zero. Lambert's shot, unofficially dubbed the 'Bomb-Cyclone-Put-It-In-The-Mixer Three-Pointer' by a BG staff member (note: NOT the writer of these notes), gave BG a seven-point lead, the Falcons' largest of the game to that point.

That triple was also the 160th of Lambert's career, moving her into a tie for ninth on the BGSU career list. She has tied Angie Farmer (160 triples from 1997-2001), and her next target is Kim Griech, who hit 168 long-range shots from 1999-2003.

THREE-ON THOMPSON
Sophomore Caterrion Thompson hit a big three-pointer in the Kent State game as well. Thompson, like Lambert, knocked down three long-range shots, including a triple that broke a 46-46 tie with 5:14 left in the fourth quarter.

Entering the Ohio game, Thompson is shooting 47.7% from three-point range on the year, having gone 21-of-44 beyond the arc. She leads the MAC in long-distance accuracy. In league games, she is shooting 51.9% from downtown (14-for-27), ranking third in the conference.

KENNED-THREE WILLIAMS
Wednesday's fourth-quarter three-pointers by Caterrion Thompson and Sydney Lambert may not have mattered without a pair of earlier triples from freshman Kennedy Williams. BG began the KSU game by going just 1-for-14 from the field, but then made five consecutive shots, with four coming from beyond the arc.

That hot-shooting performance was part of an 11-0 run to end the first quarter and begin the second. Williams was involved in the scoring of nine of those 11 points, knocking down a triple late in the first period, then beginning the second quarter with another, before finding Thompson for yet another long-range make.

HALE-STORM (you thought we were gonna say "HALE-THREE PUK", didn't you?)
Senior Haley Puk's three-pointer with just 19.9 seconds left gave the Falcons a 65-64 lead at Akron last Saturday, and BGSU went on to a 66-64 win over the Zips.

It marked the second time in a four-game span that Puk hit a clutch three-pointer to tie the game or give the Falcons the lead with under 30 seconds to go. On Jan. 3, Puk's long triple tied the score against Eastern Michigan with just 27.5 seconds remaining, before the Eagles got a tip-in just before the buzzer.

THREE-MARKABLE
Through the years, BGSU rosters typically have been stocked with players who can score from three-point range. A total of 12 different Falcons hit at least one three-pointer in each of the last two years. This season to date, 10 different players have made at least one long-distance shot.

THREE-MENDOUS
The Falcons hit 14 triples – just one shy of the Stroh Center record and two away from the school record – against Ball State on Jan. 6. Six different players hit a triple, with four of those six connecting from long distance multiple times.

BG then knocked down nine long-range shots in both the Akron and KSU games.

THREE-LIGHTFUL
Two years ago, the Falcons made at least four three-point field goals in all 28 contests. Last year, BGSU connected at least four times in 27 of the 31 games, and this year, the Falcons have made four or more treys in 15 of the 17 games.

THREE-POSTEROUS
In fact, BG has knocked down four or more three-pointers in 102 of the last 109 games, dating to late in the 2013-14 season.

THREE-GION OF BOOM
BGSU will be looking to extend a mucho-impressive streak in the Ohio game. The Falcons have hit at least one three-pointer in each of the last 417 games. BG has not been held without a triple in close to 13 years – since Feb. 12, 2005, at Akron, when the Falcons won, 61-52, despite going 0-of-13 from long distance.

THE FALCONS: A QUICK OVERVIEW
BGSU is 10-7 on the season, and the Falcons are 2-4 in Mid-American Conference play. BG is 5-3 at the Stroh Center, 4-4 in true road games and 1-0 in neutral-site contests this season to date.

The Falcons opened the season with seven games in a 19-day span. BGSU went 6-1 during that time, then began December by downing Xavier before a large School Day crowd at the Stroh. But, BG then dropped six of the last seven games.

After an 82-73 win over Ferris State, BG suffered a loss at Cincinnati to end the non-conference slate, then opened league play with four losses vs. West Division foes. BGSU lost at Western Michigan, at home to Eastern Michigan and Ball State, and on the road vs. Central Michigan. The Brown and Orange snapped the five-game losing streak with last Saturday's 66-64 win at Akron, and BG downed Kent State, 60-50, on Wednesday.

Head coach Jennifer Roos and her staff – which is comprised of assistant coaches Jacey Brooks, Nick Moore and Jessie Ivey, director of operations Monique Rosati and video coordinator Amanda Cutcher – welcomed back a total of nine returning players, including three starters, from a year ago. The list of returnees includes two seniors, three juniors and four second-year Falcons.

Rachel Myers and Haley Puk make up the senior class, while Maddie Cole, Sydney Lambert and Carly Santoro each are in their junior year. Sophomores Andrea Cecil, Caterrion Thompson and Jane Uecker also return, as does Clare Glowniak, who is a redshirt freshman in terms of eligibility after missing the bulk of last season due to injury.

The nine returnees are joined by five freshmen, including Terri Battle, Madisen Parker, Angela Perry, Sierra Thompson and Kennedy Williams. Perry made her collegiate debut in the MAC opener at WMU, after missing the entire non-league portion of the schedule due to injury.

Cecil, Lambert, Puk and Santoro each have started all 17 games this season. Uecker started the first 13 contests of the year, while Glowniak has been in the starting five in each of the last four games.

Through 17 games, two Falcons are scoring in double digits, with two others just shy of that mark. Santoro leads the way with 14.1 ppg, and is nearly averaging a double-double, with a team-leading 9.9 rpg. She ranks second in the MAC in rebounds. Cecil has 10.4 ppg, while Lambert and Puk are averaging 9.4 and 9.3 ppg, respectively. Caterrion Thompson (5.8 ppg) and Uecker (5.2) are ranked fifth and sixth, respectively, on the team in scoring.

Lambert leads the team in assists, with 2.4 per game, while Santoro has 2.1 helpers per contest. Santoro (1.9) and Lambert (1.7) are ranked 1-2 on the team in steals per game. Lambert has knocked down 33 three-point field goals this year, while Puk has hit 29.

Through six MAC games, Santoro has BG-best averages of 12.8 ppg and 9.0 rpg, while Caterrion Thompson has 10.0 ppg and Puk 7.7 ppg. Thompson is shooting 51.9 percent from three-point range in league contests, having gone 14-of-27 from the arc. Lambert has 6.7 ppg in MAC play, while Cecil has 6.5 ppg.

FALCONS VS. THE MAC
The Falcons continue to own the best record in MAC history. Entering Saturday's Ohio game, BGSU has an all-time record of 404-199 (.670) in MAC regular-season contests, for the most wins and highest winning percentage of all league institutions.

And, BG leads the series with all 11 MAC foes, making the Falcons the only team in the league with a winning series record against every other school. BG also has the most overall victories and highest overall winning pct. of any league institution.

SCOUTING OHIO
Ohio is 9-8 on the season, and the Bobcats are 3-3 in MAC play to date. Ohio dropped a narrow 67-63 decision to East Division-leading Buffalo on Wednesday, four days after posting a double-digit road victory vs. Western Michigan. Ohio is 5-3 at home, 4-3 on the road and 0-2 in neutral-site matchups. Amani Burke leads the team in scoring, with 13.8 points per game, while Cierra Hooks has 12.6 ppg and a team-leading 5.0 rebounds per contest. The 'Cats lead the MAC in turnover margin (+10.2), and Ohio is tied for first in the league in steals (13.5 per game). Last year, Ohio went 22-10 overall and 12-6 in the MAC. Head coach Bob Boldon welcomed back a total of seven letterwinners, including one starter, from that club.

THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Ohio, 55-27, in the all-time series between the teams, but the Bobcats have won each of the last six meetings after BG had taken the previous four games. In last season's matchups, the Bobcats picked up a 69-58 win at the Stroh on New Year's Eve, before holding off the Falcons, 79-68, in Athens just over two months later (March 1, 2017). BGSU's last win in the series was a 63-39 victory on March 2, 2014. BG is 31-8 in home games (3-3 in the Stroh Center), 21-17 in road contests and 3-2 in neutral-site games vs. Ohio over the years.

UP NEXT
Following the Ohio matchup, the Falcons will prepare for a pair of MAC cross-divisional contests next week. BGSU will head to Muncie for a midweek matchup with Ball State, as the Falcons face the Cardinals on Wednesday night (Jan. 24). That contest will be followed by a home date vs. Toledo on Saturday, Jan. 27. The BSU game begins at 7:00 p.m., while the UT matchup is set for a 2:00 p.m. start at the Stroh.