Battle of I-75 is Renewed on Saturday at Noon

Saturday, January 19

Bowling Green, OH

12:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Toledo

Tickets

January 18, 2019 | Women's Basketball

BGSU Game Notes Schedule Changes for Saturday Toledo Game Notes BGSU-Toledo Rosters & Statistics Watch on ESPN3 Listen via BGRSO Live Stats Get Tickets!

Rockets come to the the Stroh Center for first of two BG-UT meetings in a 15-day span

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

BGSU vs. TOLEDO
Saturday, January 19, 2018 • 12:00 p.m.
Stroh Center • Bowling Green, Ohio

TELEVISION / VIDEO: ESPN3.com
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 renews the Battle of I-75 this weekend. Head coach Robyn Fralick and the Falcons host the University of Toledo on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 19), with tipoff scheduled for 12:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.

NOTE: The 12:00 p.m. start time is different than the original time listed on many publications and web sites. Tipoff was moved up two hours due to Saturday's weather forecast.

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. Keep reading for more info. re: these fascinating facts)
>> Although Saturday marks the first BGSU-UT game since Robyn Fralick became the Falcons' head coach, it is not her first time on a bench for the Battle of I-75.

>> Freshman Morgan McMillen scored 20 points in Wednesday's game vs. Northern Illinois. BGSU has had a player score at least 20 points in a game 15 times this season, after doing so 10 times during all of last year.

>> Senior Sydney Lambert has moved into sole possession of third place on the BGSU career list for three-point field goals made.

NOT HER FIRST RODEO
Saturday's game marks the first meeting between the Falcons and Rockets with Robyn Fralick on the BGSU bench. However, it is not Fralick's first rodeo, as far as the Battle of I-75 is concerned.

Way back in 2007-08, when North Canton legend Brian DeBenedictis was still an SID, Fralick (then Robyn Flewelling) was an assistant coach on head coach Mark Ehlen's staff at UT. The Falcons and Rockets met one time that season, with BG picking up a 71-41 win on Groundhog Day (Feb. 2, 2008) at Savage Arena.

20-20 VISION
Freshman Morgan McMillen scored a game-high 20 points in the Falcons' loss to NIU on Wednesday night at the Stroh. It marked the 15th time this season that a BG player has scored 20 or more points in a game. Falcon players had a total of 10 such games during all of last season.

For McMillen, Wednesday was the fifth time she has reached the 20-point mark in a game this season, tying her with junior Andrea Cecil for the team lead. Sophomore Angela Perry has had three such games this season, while senior Sydney Lambert has had two.

A year ago, no BG player had more than three 20-point games.

I AM IRON WOMAN
Senior Sydney Lambert played all 40 minutes on Wednesday night vs. Northern Illinois. And, she also played every second of BGSU's previous game, on Saturday (Jan. 12) at Akron.

In fact, Lambert has played all 40 minutes in no fewer than five games this season to date. She leads the Mid-American Conference and is ranked 15th in the nation in minutes played per game (37.06).

HOW MUCH CAN YOU BENCH?
The Falcons got 48 points from players off the bench on Saturday (Jan. 12) at Akron. That total was 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.

And, the Falcons followed that up with a 33-9 advantage in bench scoring on Wednesday night vs. Northern Illinois. Both the UA and NIU contests saw a BG player come off of the bench to score at least 20 points.

BGSU's bench has outscored the opposition's in nine of this season's 15 games, including each of the last five contests.

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 28th in the country – and first in the MAC – with 17.1 assists per game, having nearly doubled last year's total. The Falcons are second in the league and 57th in the land with a total of 256 assists.

To put those last two paragraphs into perspective: If BGSU averages just over one assist 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* 256 (57th of 349) 17.1 (28th of 349)
* as of Thursday morning, Jan. 17

SHARING IS CARING
Last season, no Falcon player had more than five assists in a game. This year, through 15 games, BGSU players have had at least five helpers in a game 16 times. Freshman Kadie Hempfling has had six or more assists on six occasions, and senior Sydney Lambert has had five such games.

THE FALCONS: A QUICK OVERVIEW
BGSU enters the Toledo game with a record of 7-8, and the Falcons are 0-4 in MAC play, having lost the first three of those 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 at the Stroh Center, and the Falcons have also fallen to Northern Illinois at home and Ball State and Akron on the road.

Most recently, BG dropped a 66-52 decision to NIU on Wednesday night.

BGSU was a perfect 4-0 in the month of December, marking the Falcons' second winning streak of three or more games this season. After falling in the season opener at Michigan State, BG bounced back with wins over Marshall, Robert Morris and Loyola Chicago, 88-74, at the Stroh. The Falcons dropped the next three games before putting together the aforementioned four-game win streak.

The Falcons are 5-2 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 11 points per game. Freshman Morgan McMillen leads the way with 15.5 points per contest, and has scored in double digits in 12 of her first 15 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 (3.40; 51 in 15 games).

Junior Andrea Cecil has 14.1 ppg to date, and is also second on the Falcons in rebounding, with 4.8 boards per game. She has had 19 or more points seven times this season, and is shooting 40.2% from three-point land.

Sophomore Angela Perry has 13.3 ppg and is shooting 61.3% from the floor, good for 15th in the nation. Perry, who has seen action in 12 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.

Perry had a career-high nine rebounds at UA, then matched that total vs. NIU.

Senior Sydney Lambert is averaging 11.6 ppg and leads the team with 4.3 assists. She has hit 30 treys, good for third on the team, and also has 4.2 boards per outing.

Freshman Kadie Hempfling and sophomore Madisen Parker have 5.7 and 5.4 ppg, respectively. Hempfling has a BG-best 9.3 rebounds per game, and she is also averaging 4.1 assists per game to rank second on the Falcons in that category (62 total assists to Lambert's 66). Hempfling has had eight double-digit rebounding totals in her first 15 games. Parker has gone 22-of-54 (40.7%) from three-point range this year, including a perfect 3-for-3 in each of two Falcon wins and 2-for-2 at Akron last weekend.

In MAC games only, Perry leads the team with 14.0 ppg, while Lambert is right behind at 13.0. McMillen has 11.3 ppg, Cecil 10.0 and senior Maddie Cole 6.5. Hempfling has 9.5 rpg and 3.3 apg (second on the team behind Lambert's 3.8 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.

FALCONS VS. THE MAC
The Falcons continue to own the best record in MAC history. Entering the Toledo tussle, BGSU has an all-time record of 405-214 (.654) in MAC regular-season games, 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 record against every other school. BG also has the most overall victories and highest overall winning pct. of any league institution.

EYASSES (IT'S THE PLURAL OF EYAS) (LOOK IT UP)
A total of seven players have seen action in all 15 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.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE ROCKETS
Toledo is 10-5 on the season, and the Rockets are 2-2 in MAC play after an 80-57 win at Western Michigan on Wednesday night. UT beat Ball State to open the league schedule, then lost to Miami and Kent State before drubbing WMU. Overall, the Rockets are 5-2 at home and 5-3 on the road. Kaayla McIntyre has 15.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game to lead the team in both categories, while Mariella Santucci has 10.7 ppg and a team-leading 4.4 assists per outing. Three other Rockets have at least 7.2 ppg. Head coach Tricia Cullop welcomed back nine letterwinners, including four starters, from last year's team that finished 18-15 overall and 8-10 in MAC play.

THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Toledo, 42-34, in the all-time series between the teams, but the Rockets have won the last five matchups, including a 77-67 at the Stroh Center in last season's lone meeting (Jan. 27, 2018). UT has won nine of the last 11 games after BGSU had captured the previous 12 series meetings. BG is 20-12 in home games, 14-19 on the road and 8-3 in neutral-site meet-and-greets with Toledo over the years.

DOWN THE ROAD
Following the Toledo tilt, BGSU plays the lone road tilt in a five-game span, heading to Eastern Michigan to take on the Eagles on Wednesday night (Jan. 23).

Then, the Brown and Orange will end the month of January with home games vs. two of the MAC's top teams, facing Ohio (Jan. 26) and Central Michigan (Jan. 30).

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