BGSU Hosts Huskies to Begin Busy Home Stretch

Wednesday, January 16

Bowling Green, OH

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Northern Illinois

Tickets

January 15, 2019 | Women's Basketball

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Falcons to play four times at the Stroh in a five-game span

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

BGSU vs. NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Wednesday, January 16, 2018 • 7:00 p.m.
Stroh Center • Bowling Green, Ohio

TELEVISION / VIDEO: ESPN+
RADIO: Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization (BGRSO)
LIVE STATS: www.BGSUFalcons.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 will end the month of January with four home contests in a five-game span, beginning Wednesday (Jan. 16). Head coach Robyn Fralick and the Falcons host Northern Illinois University, with tipoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.

NEED-TO-KNOW INFORMATION
(We provide these three fascinating facts only on a need-to-know basis; If you don't know, now you know.)
>> The Falcons have lost three MAC games by a total of just 12 points, and all three contests have been one-possession games in the last minute of the fourth quarter.

>> BGSU scored 46 points in the paint, and the Falcons got 48 points from players off the bench in Saturday's (Jan. 12) game at Akron. The bench-points total is the program's highest in nearly seven years, while the Falcons have not scored more points in the paint in a MAC game since at least the turn of the century.

>> Senior Sydney Lambert is now tied for third place on the BGSU career list for three-point field goals made.

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HOW MUCH CAN YOU BENCH?
The Falcons got 48 points from players off the bench on Saturday (Jan. 12) at Akron. That total is BG's highest in nearly seven years, since the Brown and Orange had 49 bench points in a win at Kent State on Feb. 28, 2012.

PROLIFIC POST PRODUCTION
BGSU scored 46 points in the paint in the Akron game. That total is the second-highest by the Falcons this year, trailing only the 48 points scored in the paint in the win over Loyola Chicago on Nov. 20.

The Falcons' total of points in the paint was the highest in a MAC game in just under nine years, since BG also had 46 such points vs. Buffalo on Jan. 13, 2010. The Falcons also had 46 points in the paint in conference contests vs. Kent State (Feb. 20, 2007) and Ohio (Feb. 5, 2005).

BGSU specialty stats have only been kept since the 2001-02 season. Since that time, the Falcons have never had more than 46 points in the paint in a MAC game.

PERRY PROPELS THAT PROLIFIC POST PRODUCTION
Sophomore Angela Perry was a big reason for the Falcons' productivity in the paint last week. On Wednesday (Jan. 9) at Ball State, she was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field en route to 13 points.

Then, three days later, Perry had a game-high 24 points – just one point shy of her career best – at Akron. She scored 20 points in the second half alone, including 12 in the fourth quarter, and also had a career-high nine rebounds, a career-high four assists, a block and a steal.

Perry averaged 18.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 blocks per game last week. In MAC games, she has 16.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg and a 62.5% field-goal percentage.

Entering the NIU game, Perry is shooting 61.0 percent from the field. She leads the MAC and ranks 16th in the entire nation in field-goal percentage. Perry scored 75 points in 18 games last winter. This year, she has 151 points in just 11 games.

COLE CONNECTS FROM CLOSE (AND LONG) RANGE
Senior Maddie Cole had arguably the best game of her BGSU career at Akron on Saturday (Jan. 12). Cole came off the bench to score a career-high 13 points. She was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field, hitting her first three-point field goal – in her first long-range attempt – of the season. Cole also had a pair of rebounds and an assist in 26 minutes of action.

MADDIE MAKES HER MARK
Senior Maddie Cole saw action in just three of the Falcons' first nine games, playing a total of nine minutes, scoring three points and grabbing two rebounds.

Over the last five contests, however, Cole has posted double-figure minutes-played totals in every game. She has played total of 76 minutes (15.2 minutes per game) and has 25 points and 14 rebounds in that time.

Cole is averaging 7.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game over the Falcons' first three MAC matches. She is shooting an eye-popping 83.3 percent from the floor in that time, having gone 10-for-12.

LENDING A HELPING HAND
Last season, the Falcons were close to last in the nation in both assists and assists per game. With a total of 277 assists and an average of 9.2 helpers per game, BGSU was ranked 343rd (out of 349 teams) in the former category and 345th in the latter.

This season, BGSU is 23rd in the country – and first in the MAC – with 17.4 assists per game, having nearly doubled last year's total. The Falcons are second in the league and 61st in the land with a total of 244 assists.

If BGSU averages just over two assists per game over the remainder of the 2018-19 schedule, the Falcons will top last season's assist total.
BGSU AMONG THE NCAA ASSISTS LEADERS
Year Assists (Rank) Assists/Game (Rank)
2017-18 277 (343rd of 349) 9.2 (345th of 349)
2018-19* 244 (61st of 349) 17.4 (23rd of 349)
* as of Monday morning, Jan. 14

SHARING IS CARING
Last season, no Falcon player had more than five assists in a game. This year, through 14 games, BGSU players have had at least five helpers in a game 15 times. Freshman Kadie Hempfling has had six or more assists on six occasions, and senior Sydney Lambert has had five such games.

FAMILIAR FACE ON THE OTHER BENCH
BGSU associate head coach Kim Cameron and NIU assistant coach Maria Kasza certainly are familiar with one another, as they worked together in various capacities at Michigan Tech. Kasza spent three years on the Huskies' women's basketball roster, while Cameron was assistant coach. Kasza played just one season due to injury and transfer rules, but was a part of back-to-back Elite Eight teams. The 2009-10 Huskies went 31-3 and advanced to the final eight during Kasza's lone playing season, with Cameron an assistant coach on that team.

Then, with Cameron as the head coach, Kasza was Tech's assistant coach for five years, and the Huskies went 107-37 during that time. MTU made two NCAA Division II Tournament appearances and posted a GLIAC championship in 2014-15 along with a pair of GLIAC North Division crowns.

TURN THEM OVER AND MAKE THEM PAY
The Falcons did not score more than 17 points off of opponent turnovers in any of the first 11 games of the season. However, in the first three MAC matchups, BGSU has AVERAGED 20.0 points per game off of turnovers, recording the highest two totals of the year in the first two league games.

BG had a season-high total of 27 points off turnovers in the MAC opener vs. Western Michigan, with a 27-11 advantage in that category. Then, last Wednesday (Jan. 9), the Brown and Orange scored 23 points off of Ball State's turnovers.

THE FALCONS: A QUICK OVERVIEW
BGSU enters the NIU game with a record of 7-7, and the Falcons are 0-3 in MAC play, having lost those three games by a total of just 12 points. BG saw a four-game winning streak snapped with a narrow 84-82 loss to Western Michigan in the MAC opener (Jan. 5), and the Falcons fell, 77-70, at Ball State last Wednesday (Jan. 9).

Most recently, BG dropped a 74-71 verdict at Akron on Saturday (Jan. 12), when a last-second, potential game-tying three-point try bounced off the rim.

The Falcons are 5-1 at home, 2-5 on the road and 0-1 in neutral-site contests.

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.

Four Falcons are averaging over 12 points per game. Freshman Morgan McMillen leads the way with 15.2 points per contest, and has scored in double digits in 11 of her first 14 career outings. McMillen tied the school single-game record with eight triples vs. Marshall (in her second collegiate game), and is ranked 13th in the nation in three-pointers made per game (3.36; 47 in 14 games).

Junior Andrea Cecil has 14.9 ppg to date, and is also second on the Falcons in rebounding, with 5.0 boards per game. She has had 19 or more points seven times this season, and is shooting 41.8% from three-point land.

Sophomore Angela Perry has 13.7 ppg and is shooting 61.0% from the floor, good for 16th in the nation. Perry, who has seen action in 11 games, has already more than doubled her point total for all of last season. She had 24 points, including 20 in the second half, vs. Akron, and has three 20-point games this season.

Senior Sydney Lambert is averaging 12.2 ppg and leads the team with 4.5 assists. She has hit 29 treys, good for third on the team, and also has 4.4 boards per outing.

Freshman Kadie Hempfling and sophomore Madisen Parker have 5.9 and 5.6 ppg, respectively. Hempfling has a BG-best 9.4 rebounds per game, and she is also averaging 4.4 assists per game to rank second on the Falcons in that category (61 total assists to Lambert's 63). Hempfling has had eight double-digit rebounding totals in her first 14 games. Parker has gone 21-of-51 (41.2%) from three-point range this year, including a perfect 3-for-3 in each of two Falcon wins and 2-for-2 at Akron.

In MAC games only, Lambert leads the team with 16.3 ppg, while Perry is right behind at 16.0. Cecil had 12.7 ppg, McMillen 8.3 and senior Maddie Cole 7.3. Hempfling has 10.0 rpg and 4.0 apg (second on the team behind Lambert's 4.3 apg) in conference contests

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 MAC play.

LAMBERT'S LEGACY: 1,000-POINT SCORER NOW RESIDES IN BGSU'S TOP 25
Senior Sydney Lambert scored a game-high 18 points, including her 1,000th career point, in the win over Davis & Elkins on Dec. 30. She became the 28th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point milestone. Lambert scored her 1,000th career point in her 100th career game at BG. She has averaged at least 9.4 points per game in all four seasons, and is averaging 12.2 ppg this season and 10.2 ppg in her career.

With a game-high 22 points vs. Western Michigan and 27 more at Ball State and Akron combined, Lambert has moved into 25th place on the BGSU career scoring list. She now has 1,050 career points, and her next target on that list is Megan McGuire (1985-89), who scored 1,062 points in a BG uniform.

LAMBERT'S LEGACY II: START ME UP
Senior Sydney Lambert has started every game since coming to BG, and has made 103 career starts – ranking 10th in program history – entering the NIU game. If she is in the lineup on Wednesday, she would tie Sara Puthoff (104 starts from 1994-98) for ninth on that list.

BG has at least 16 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: SYD-THREE LAMBERT
Senior Sydney Lambert enters the NIU game having made a total of 216 three-point field goals in her career. She has tied BGSU Hall-of-Famer Liz Honegger (216 three-pointers from 2003-07) for third place on that list.

Lambert is averaging just over two treys per game in her career, and if she keeps up that pace, she will pass not only Honegger, but also Tracy Pontius (235 from 2007-11), to finish her career in second place on the BGSU list.

EYASSES (IT'S THE PLURAL OF EYAS) (LOOK IT UP)
A total of seven players have seen action in all 14 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 eight games. That quartet consists of one senior, one junior, one soph and the remaining freshman.

MORE THREE-POINT NOTES? MORE THREE-POINT NOTES.
Through the years, BGSU rosters typically have been stocked with players who can score from three-point range. In 2017-18, for the third-straight season, a total of 12 different Falcons hit at least one three-pointer.

As a team, BG has hit at least four triples in every game this season, and the Falcons have made at least eight treys in 10 contests, including a school record-tying 16 vs. Marshall, 14 vs. Valpo and 13 on three other occasions.

In fact, BG has knocked down four or more three-pointers in 128 of the last 136 games, dating to late in the 2013-14 season.

BGSU will be looking to extend a mucho-impressive streak in the NIU game. The Falcons have hit at least one three-pointer in each of the last 444 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 NIU
Northern Illinois is 9-6 on the season, and the Huskies are 1-2 in MAC play after an 89-66 home loss to Central Michigan on Saturday. Northern has beaten Miami and lost to Kent State in conference action as well. Overall, the Huskies are 7-1 at home, 0-5 on the road and 2-0 at neutral sites. Mikayla Voigt leads the team with 21.1 points per game, and has hit 55 three-pointers. She had a MAC-record 52 points in a win over Western Illinois on Dec. 8. NIU is 13th in the nation in scoring offense, with 81.8 ppg. Head coach Lisa Carlsen welcomed back 10 letterwinners, including four starters, from last year's team that finished 15-15 overall and 7-11 in MAC play.

THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Northern Illinois, 24-15, in the all-time series between the teams, but NIU has won the last two meetings. Last year in DeKalb, the Huskies came away with a 73-68 win (Feb. 10, 2018). Two years ago, in Northern's last visit to the Stroh Center, the Huskies topped the Brown and Orange, 89-76 (Jan. 4, 2017). BG has won 14 of the last 17 meetings with Northern, and BGSU is 14-6 in home games, 9-9 on the road and 1-0 in neutral-site contests vs. Northern through the years.

DOWN THE ROAD
The NIU game begins a five-game stretch in which the Falcons will play four times at home. That includes a contest vs. Toledo on Saturday (Jan. 19), with the latest Battle of I-75 scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. at the Stroh.

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