BGSU Faces Valpo in Final Pre-Holiday Contest

Molly Dever steal v UDM - Dec 17 2018 - Lambert McMillen Cecil

Photo by: Bianca Garza, BGSU Marketing and Communications

December 20, 2018 | Women's Basketball

BGSU Game Notes Valparaiso Game Notes Watch on ESPN3

Falcons meet Crusaders on Friday evening

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

BGSU at VALPARAISO
Friday, December 21, 2018 • 6:00 p.m. ET
Athletics-Recreation Center • Valparaiso, Ind.

TELEVISION / VIDEO: ESPN3.com
LIVE STATS: www.ValpoAthletics.com
TWITTER: @BGSUwbb

all 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 hits the road for one more game before the holiday break. Head coach Robyn Fralick and the Falcons will face Valparaiso University on Friday (Dec. 21), with tipoff set for 5:00 p.m. locally (6:00 p.m. ET) at the Athletics-Recreation Center.

Then, the Brown and Orange will close the 2018 portion of the schedule with a home game vs. Davis & Elkins College on Sunday, Dec. 30. That game will be the second half of a BGSU basketball doubleheader at the Stroh Center.

SHARING IS CARING
The Falcons did a masterful job of sharing the ball, to say the least, in Monday's (Dec. 17) 79-73 win over Detroit Mercy at the Stroh Center. BGSU had 23 assists on 25 baskets, and all six players who saw more than five minutes of action had at least one assist.

Two BGSU players dished out eight assists apiece, as senior Sydney Lambert set a career best in that category, while freshman Kadie Hempfling had eight helpers for the second time this season.

FOUR HOME GAMES, FIVE THREE-POINT RECORDS
Long-standing long-distance records have been falling in BGSU home games like prices at a Christmas tree lot on Dec. 26. No fewer than five three-point records have been tied or broken in this season's first four games at the Stroh Center.

Freshman Morgan McMillen, in her first-ever home game as a Falcon, tied the school single-game record by making eight three-point field goals in the win over Marshall. That same night, the Thundering Herd attempted 38 long-distance shots to set a new Stroh Center record (since broken – more on that in a minute).

BGSU tied the school single-game record for three-point field goals made, hitting 16 long-range shots vs. the Thundering Herd.

Then, on Monday, McMillen and her teammates shattered the school records for three-point field goals attempted. McMillen took 18 shots from outside the arc, and the Falcons fired 40 triple tries as a team.

BGSU has made 92 three-point field goals in nine games this season. As of Wednesday morning (Dec. 19), the Falcons were ranked eighth in the nation in treys per game (10.2) and 29th in the country in three-point field-goal pct. (37.4%). Junior Andrea Cecil was eighth in the nation with a 51.2% success rate from the arc.

LAST TIME OUT: BG DOWNS UDM TO REMAIN UNBEATEN AT HOME
Junior Andrea Cecil scored a career-high 30 points, and senior point guard Sydney Lambert went 6-for-6 at the free-throw line down the stretch as the Falcons defeated Detroit Mercy, 79-73, at the Stroh.

Cecil had a double-double for the Falcons (5-4), as she was one of three players to pull down 11 rebounds on the night. Freshman Morgan McMillen scored 16 points and Lambert added 15, and Lambert also had eight rebounds and eight assists.

Redshirt sophomore Clare Glowniak and freshman Kadie Hempfling each had 11 boards as well, as the Falcons owned a 46-33 advantage on the glass. McMillen and Cecil each knocked down four three-point tries on the night, as the Falcons hit 13 long-range shots in a school-record 40 attempts.

Lexey Tobel had 19 points to lead three double-digit scorers for the Titans. Zoey Oatis added 17 points and Jiera Shears 16 for the visitors.

BG had 23 assists on 25 baskets. All six players who saw more than five minutes of action had at least one, and Lambert and Hempfling each had eight.

The Falcons burst out to a 16-2 lead, as the Titans had used two timeouts before the game was five minutes old. The lead fluctuated between nine and 14 points for the remainder of the half, and Cecil's three-point play late in the second period gave the home team a 37-24 lead at the intermission.

A Cecil three-pointer gave the Brown and Orange an 18-point lead, the largest of the night, early in the third period, but the Titans nearly came all the way back. UDM had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead in the final minute, before freshman Molly Dever – who did not play in the game's first 35-plus minutes – came up with a big steal with 43.9 seconds left.

Lambert was a perfect 6-for-6 at the line in the last 40 seconds of the game.

LAMBERT'S LEAVING A LEGACY...
One anagram for "Sydney Lambert" is "merely stand by", but that phrase could not be less accurate when describing the senior guard. Lambert has been an important part of the Falcons' lineup since the day she arrived on campus, and is adding her name to numerous BGSU career charts.

LAMBERT'S LEGACY II: START ME UP
Lambert has started every game since coming to BG, and has made 98 career starts entering the Valpo game. If she is in the lineup on Friday, she would tie Chrissy Steffen (99 starts from 2009-13) for 13th on the school career list.

BG has at least 21 games left on the 2018-19 schedule, meaning Lambert has a realistic chance to finish her career as high as fifth in school history in games started. BGSU Hall-of-Famers Kate Achter (124 from 2004-08) and Jackie Motycka (115 from 1985-89) rank fourth and fifth, respectively, on the BG list for career starts.

LAMBERT'S LEGACY III: THOUSAND POINTS OF LIGHT
Lambert enters the Valparaiso game with a career total of 969 points. She has averaged between 9.4 and 10.4 points per game in every season at BG, and is averaging 10.0 ppg this season and 9.9 ppg in her career.

With 15 points in the win over Detroit Mercy, Lambert moved past Rhonda Moore (966 points from 1982-86) on the BGSU career scoring list. She is now 31 points away from becoming the 28th BGSU player to reach the 1,000-point mark.

LAMBERT'S LEGACY IV: SYD-THREE LAMBERT
Lambert's first successful three-point field goal in the Falcons' win at Canisius was the 200th of her BGSU career. Lambert hit three triples vs. Detroit Mercy, giving her 204 in her career. She is just the fourth Falcon to make 200 career three-pointers. Lambert is averaging just over two treys per game in her career, and if she keeps up that pace, she will move past both Liz Honegger (216 three-pointers from 2003-07) and Tracy Pontius (235 from 2007-11) to finish her career in second place.

EYASSES (IT'S THE PLURAL OF EYAS) (LOOK IT UP)
A total of seven players have seen action in all nine games this season to date. That group includes one senior, one junior, two sophomores (including one redshirt soph) and three freshmen.

Four additional Falcons have seen action in at least five of the nine games. That trio consists of one junior, two sophomores and the remaining freshman.

In BG's last eight games, the starting lineup has included two freshmen and a sophomore. All five of BGSU's players who saw action off the bench in the Mercer game were either freshmen or sophomores. At Xavier, all but 21 seconds of time off the bench went to either frosh or sophs, and in the UDM contest, 29 of the 31 minutes allotted to bench players also went to freshmen or sophomores.

THE FALCONS: A QUICK OVERVIEW
BGSU enters the Valparaiso game with a record of 5-4 on the young season, and the Falcons have won the last two games. BGSU picked up a 74-53 win at Canisius (Dec. 8), then returned home and topped Detroit Mercy, 79-73, on Monday (Dec. 17).

After winning three-straight games at the Stroh Center, the Falcons dropped a pair of contests in Conway, S.C., over the Thanksgiving holiday, then fell at Xavier to end the November slate.

BG fell, 99-69, on the road against Michigan State in the season opener, but the Falcons then picked up a 99-76 win over Marshall in the home opener. The Brown and Orange then captured a 61-60 last-second victory against Robert Morris before downing Loyola Chicago, 88-74, at the Stroh Center.

BG lost a narrow 81-80 decision at Coastal Carolina (Nov. 23), before falling to Mercer by a 76-63 score (Nov. 25) two days later. Both of those games were part of the Coastal Carolina Tournament. Xavier picked up a 65-49 win over BG on Nov. 29, but the Falcons responded with the 21-point road win over Canisius.

The Falcons are 4-0 at home, 1-3 on the road and 0-1 in neutral-site contests this season to date.

Head coach Robyn Fralick is in her first season on the BGSU bench. Her staff includes associate head coach Kim Cameron, assistant coach/recruiting coordinator Karmen Graham, assistant coach Joel Whymer, director of operations Monique Rosati and video coordinator Amanda Cutcher.

Nine games into the schedule, four players are scoring in double digits. Freshman Morgan McMillen has 17.3 points per game, and has scored in double digits in eight of her first nine career games. McMillen tied the school single-game record with eight triples vs. Marshall (in her second collegiate game), and she is shooting 38.8% from the arc, having gone 33-for-85 from long range.

Junior Andrea Cecil has 14.6 ppg to date, after exploding for a career-high 30 points against UDM. Cecil, who also had 11 rebounds vs. the Titans, is second on the Falcons in that category, with 5.2 boards per game. Cecil has had 19 or more points five times in nine games this season, and is shooting 51.2% from three-point land, having hit 21-of-41 long-distance attempts.

Sophomore Angela Perry has 14.6 points per game and is shooting 64.1% from the floor. Perry obliterated her previous career scoring high in the Marshall game, with 25 points, and had 24 vs. Loyola and 19 at Xavier. Perry, who has seen action in seven of the nine games, has already topped her point total for all of last season.

Senior Sydney Lambert is averaging 10.0 ppg and leads the team with 4.6 assists per contest. Lambert, who had 15 points, eight boards and a career-high eight assists vs. UDM, has hit 17 three-pointers, good for third on the team. She is also third on the Falcons with 4.2 boards per outing.

Freshman Kadie Hempfling and sophomore Madisen Parker have 6.3 and 5.3 ppg, respectively. Hempfling has a BG-best 9.2 rebounds per game, and she is also averaging 4.1 assists per game to rank second on the Falcons in that category. She has had five double-digit rebounding totals in her first nine games, and has had eight assists on two occasions. Parker has gone 11-of-31 from three-point range.

The 2018-19 roster includes two seniors, three juniors, two redshirt sophomores, four true sophs and four frosh. Lambert and Maddie Cole comprise the senior class.

Cecil, Caterrion Thompson and Jane Uecker each are in their junior season, while Alyssa Dean and Clare Glowniak are the redshirt sophs. Dean, a transfer from Memphis, will be eligible following the conclusion of the fall semester.

The sophomore class includes Parker, Perry, Terri Battle and Sierra Thompson, while Hempfling, McMillen, Molly Dever and Sydney Palermo make up the freshman class.

Cecil, Lambert and McMillen have started all nine games, while Glowniak and Hempfling each have made eight starts and Perry and Uecker one apiece.

BGSU returned a total of 10 letterwinners, including three starters, from last year's team that finished with an 11-19 overall record and a 3-15 mark in Mid-American Conference play. The Falcons went 6-8 at the Stroh Center, 4-11 in road games and 1-0 in neutral-site contests a year ago.

THREE-MARKABLE, THREE-MENDOUS, THREE-LIGHTFUL, THREE-POSTEROUS
Through the years, BGSU rosters typically have been stocked with players who can score from three-point range. Last year, for the third-straight season, a total of 12 different Falcons hit at least one three-pointer.

Three years ago, the Falcons made at least four three-point field goals in all 28 contests. Two seasons ago, BGSU connected at least four times in 27 of the 31 games.

Last year, the Falcons made four or more treys in 27 of the 30 games. And, this season, BG has hit at least five triples in every game, and the Falcons have made at least eight treys in seven contests, including a school record-tying 16 vs. Marshall.

In fact, BG has knocked down four or more three-pointers in 123 of the last 131 games, dating to late in the 2013-14 season.

BGSU will be looking to extend a mucho-impressive streak in the Valparaiso game. The Falcons have hit at least one three-pointer in each of the last 439 games. BG has not been held without a triple in close to 14 years – since Feb. 12, 2005, at Akron, when the Falcons won, 61-52, despite going 0-of-13 from long distance.

A QUICK LOOK AT VALPARAISO
Valparaiso is 4-7 on the season, and the Crusaders are coming off of a 68-64 win at Purdue Fort Wayne on Wednesday night (Dec. 19). Nine of the team's 11 games have been decided by 10 points or fewer, including four of the five home contests. Meredith Hamlet leads the team with 15.1 points per game, while Addison Stoller has 12.2 ppg and a team-leading 7.2 rebounds per game. Last year, the Crusaders went 13-18 overall and 5-13 in the Missouri Valley Conference. First-year head coach Mary Evans inherited 12 letterwinners, including four starters, from that team.

THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Valparaiso, 4-1, in the all-time series between the teams. Last season (Nov. 28, 2017), in the teams' first meeting in over nine years, BG posted a 90-77 win over the Crusaders at the Stroh Center. BGSU is 3-0 at home and 1-1 on the road vs. Valpo. The Falcons picked up a 91-79 win at venerable Anderson Arena in January of 1990, then captured a 127-99 victory on the road two years later. That 1992 game saw school records set for points in a game as well as combined points by both teams in a game, and both records still stand. BG opened the 2007-08 season with an 81-56 win over VU at "The House That Roars," but the Crusaders picked up a 69-58 victory over the visiting Falcons the following year (Nov. 19, 2008). The latter result dropped BG to 0-2 on the season, but the Falcons responded by winning the next 25 games en route to a 29-5 overall record.

DOWN THE ROAD
Following the Valparaiso game, the Falcons will take a break for the holidays, then will return to action on Sunday, Dec. 30, against Davis & Elkins. That game, BG's final non-conference contest, is scheduled to start at 5:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.

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