BGSU Battles Buffalo in Midweek Matchup at the Stroh

Wednesday, February 13

Bowling Green, OH

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Buffalo

Tickets

Photo by: Scott W. Grau

February 12, 2019 | Women's Basketball

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Falcons face two 2018 NCAA 'Sweet Sixteen' teams in the next three games

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

BGSU vs. BUFFALO
Wednesday, February 13, 2019 • 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 wraps up a brief two-game homestand with a Wednesday (Feb. 13) matchup vs. one of the top teams in the Mid-American Conference. Head coach Robyn Fralick and the Falcons face the University at Buffalo in a 7:00 p.m. tipoff at the Stroh Center.

NEED-TO-KNOW INFORMATION
(These three fascinating facts are provided on a need-to-know basis)
>> Two of the Falcons' next three games, and three of BG's next seven contests, are against teams that advanced to the Round of 16 in last season's NCAA Championships. The 2017-18 Buffalo and Central Michigan clubs joined the 2006-07 Falcons as the only "Sweet Sixteen" teams in MAC history.

>> Senior Sydney Lambert, after missing the first game of her BGSU career, returned on Saturday (Feb. 9) and played all 40 minutes vs. Miami. Lambert had a double-double, with 10 points and a career-high 11 rebounds, and added six assists.

>> Roughly two-thirds of the way through the season, freshman Morgan McMillen has entered the top-10 on the single-season lists for both three-point field goals made and attempted. She is on pace to shatter both school records.

EASTBOUND AND DOWN (LOADED UP AND TRUCKIN')
For the Falcons, last Saturday's game vs. Miami – due to a postponement – marked the beginning of the second half of the MAC schedule.

The Miami matchup was just the Falcons' third game vs. a fellow East Division school. The original schedule called for BGSU to close the regular season with eight consecutive games vs. East Division opponents. But, due to that postponed game, BGSU plays three-straight intra-divisional games before meeting Central Michigan in a game now scheduled for next Wednesday (Feb. 20)

Then, the Brown and Orange will wrap up regular-season play with five more games vs. the East.

BGSU's remaining opponents have a combined MAC record of 54-27. All eight games are against teams with winning overall records, and only one game comes against a club with a MAC record under .500.

DOUBLE(-DOUBLE) TROUBLE
Two Falcons had double-doubles in Saturday's Miami game. Junior Andrea Cecil scored a team-high 24 points, while senior Sydney Lambert had 10, and both players pulled down 11 rebounds.

It marked the first time in over two years that two BG players had a double-double in the same game. Carly Santoro had 18 points and 13 rebounds vs. Eastern Michigan on Jan. 25, 2017, while Ashley Tunstall had 15 points and 11 boards.

MCTHRILLEN: MORGAN'S ON PACE TO SHATTER SEVERAL THREE-POINT MARKS
Freshman Morgan McMillen is ranked among the national leaders in multiple three-point field-goal related categories. And, she has a chance to be ranked atop several school lists by season's end.

McMillen has made 70 long-range shots this year to date, tying her for ninth on that BGSU single-season list. McMillen is just five successful triples away from moving into fifth on that chart, and she is eight made treys shy of second place.

McMillen is 22 three-pointers away from matching the school record of 92, which was set by Lauren Prochaska in 2009-10.

McMillen has attempted 188 long-range shots this season, just 21 shy of the school single-season record of 209. That mark is currently held by Tracy Pontius (2010-11).

SEE THE THREE, BE THE THREE
The Falcons are currently ranked 14th in the nation in three-point field goals made per game, having hit 9.4 per contest.

The Falcons are 24th in the land in total three-pointers made (198) and 28th in triples attempted (571).

BGSU has made at least three triples in each of the last 64 games.

Individually, freshman Morgan McMillen is 10th in the country in three-pointers made per game (3.33), and she is 19th nationally in total three-pointers made (70) and 22nd in long-range shots attempted (188). McMillen has made at least four treys in a game 12 times this year.

Junior Andrea Cecil is 35th in the entire nation in three-point percentage, having made 41.9 percent of her long-range tries.

PARK FROM THE ARC!
Sophomore Madisen Parker has given the Falcons a spark off of the bench this season, particularly in the area of three-point production. Parker has made 28 triples and shot nearly 39 percent from long range this year to date.

The Fort Wayne, Ind., native was a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range on Saturday vs. Miami, marking the second time in MAC play and the third time this season that she was a perfect 3-of-3 from the arc. Parker scored a career-high 13 points vs. the RedHawks.

THE FALCONS: A QUICK OVERVIEW
BGSU enters the Buffalo game with a record of 7-14, and the Falcons are 0-10 in MAC play, having lost six of those conference games by seven points or fewer.

Eight of the 10 MAC games, including each of the first seven, were within three points with under 12 minutes remaining. Seven of those eight contests were three-point games at some point in the fourth quarter, and no fewer than five were one-possession games in the final minute.

Most recently, the Falcons gave Miami a battle, and BG led at the final media timeout of the day, before the RedHawks rallied for an 82-75 win at the Stroh on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 9).

The Falcons are 5-5 at home, 2-8 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 scoring in double digits this season. Junior Andrea Cecil leads the way with 14.8 points per contest, and is second on the team with 5.2 rebounds per game. Cecil has had 19 or more points nine times this year, including an epic 33-point, 10-rebound outing at Eastern Michigan. The junior is shooting 41.9% from three-point land, good for 35th in the country.

Freshman Morgan McMillen is scoring 14.7 ppg, with 309 total points to Cecil's 310. McMillen has scored in double digits in 16 of her first 21 career outings.

McMillen tied the school single-game record with eight triples vs. Marshall (in her second collegiate game). She is ranked 10th in the nation in three-pointers made per game, and has a total of 70 on the year.

Sophomore Angela Perry has 12.0 ppg and is shooting 53.2% from the floor. Perry, who has seen action in 17 games, has nearly tripled her point total for all of last season. She has three 20-point games this year to date.

Senior Sydney Lambert is averaging 11.9 ppg, along with 4.5 rebounds and a team-leading 4.2 assists per game. She is third on the team in boards and three-pointers made (36). Lambert has had two double-doubles in her last three games, vs. Ohio (23p -10r; Jan. 26) and Miami (10p-11r; Feb. 9)

Lambert started every game in her BGSU career prior to missing last Wednesday's (Feb. 6) Northern Illinois contest. The point guard, who now has made 109 starts as a Falcon, did not travel to DeKalb due to injury, but she returned to the lineup and played all 40 minutes vs. MU.

Freshman Kadie Hempfling and sophomore Madisen Parker have 5.3 and 4.9 ppg, respectively. Hempfling averages a BG-best 8.7 rebounds per game, and she has dished out 4.2 assists per game, putting her in a virtual tie for the team lead.

Hempfling has had nine double-digit rebounding totals in her first 21 games, including a 16-rebound contest at EMU. In that game, she had 10 offensive rebounds, becoming only the third Falcon since 1995 to reach that total.

Parker has gone 28-of-72 (38.9%) from three-point range this year, including a perfect 3-for-3 on three occasions this season. She made all three of her long-range attempts en route to a career-high 13 points vs. Miami.

In MAC games only, four Falcons are averaging at least 11 points per game. Cecil leads the team with 13.9 ppg, while Lambert has 12.8 ppg, McMillen 12.1 and Perry 11.2. Senior Maddie Cole has 5.6 ppg in conference contests, and is shooting 55.8% (24-of-43) from the floor in the 10 games. Hempfling has 4.3 ppg and team-best averages of 8.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists.

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.

A total of 10 different Falcons have made at least one start this season. Cecil is the only player to have started all 21 games.

I AM IRON WOMAN
Senior Sydney Lambert checked out of the second Toledo game (Feb. 2) game with 5:50 remaining in the second quarter. It marked the first time she had sat on the bench in nearly a month, since the second period of the Falcons' game at Ball State back on Jan. 9. Lambert had played 239:32 – the equivalent of six-straight games, minus 28 seconds – without coming out of the game.

Lambert, who returned to that UT game just 44 seconds later after checking out, missed the NIU game (Feb. 6) due to injury, but returned to the lineup and played every second vs. Miami on Saturday (Feb. 9). Lambert has played all 40 minutes in no fewer than nine games this season to date. She leads the MAC and is ranked 11th in the nation in minutes played per game (37.41).

LAMBERT'S LEGACY: 1,000-POINT SCORER NOW RESIDES IN BGSU'S TOP 25
Senior Sydney Lambert scored her 1,000th career point on Dec. 30, becoming the 28th player in school history to reach that milestone. Lambert's 1,000th career point came in her 100th career game at BG. She has averaged at least 9.4 points per game in all four seasons, and is averaging 11.9 ppg this season and 10.2 ppg in her BGSU career.

In the game at Toledo, Lambert moved past Stefanie Wenzel (1,099 points from 2000-04) into 22nd place on the BGSU career scoring list. Lambert now has 1,116 career points, and her next target is 21st-place Andrea Nordmann (1,164 points from 1989-93).

A QUICK LOOK AT THE BULLS
Buffalo has a 16-5 overall record, and the Bulls are 8-2 in MAC play after a 75-66 win over Kent State on Saturday. UB has won two-straight games and eight of the last nine contests. The Bulls are 7-2 at home, 7-3 on the road and 2-0 at neutral sites this season to date. Cierra Dillard leads the team – and the MAC – in both points (25.0) and assists (6.0) per game. She is third in the nation in scoring and 13th in assists. Coach Felisha Legette-Jack welcomed back nine letterwinners, including two starters, from a 2017-18 team that went 29-6 overall and 16-2 in the MAC. Last year's club advanced to the championship game of the MAC Tournament, then advanced to the Round of 16 in the NCAA Championships before losing to South Carolina.

THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Buffalo, 25-14, in the all-time series between the teams, but the Bulls have captured the last three meetings. Last year, UB captured both games from the Falcons, with an 88-67 win at the Stroh Center (Feb. 21, 2018) and a 74-38 decision on the final day of the regular season (March 3, 2018). BG's last win over the Bulls was a 64-62 victory on the road two years ago (Feb. 25, 2017). That win snapped a six-game series winning streak for the Bulls. The Falcons had won 20 consecutive games from UB prior to the Bulls' six-game streak. BGSU is 11-6 in home games, 13-8 on the road and 1-0 at neutral sites vs. UB over the years.

DOWN THE ROAD
Following the Buffalo game, the Falcons will head to Northeast Ohio for a Saturday (Feb. 16) matchup with Kent State. That game will begin at 5:00 p.m. at the M.A.C. Center.

Then, BGSU will return to the Stroh to face another 2018 NCAA Tournament 'Sweet Sixteen' team in Central Michigan next Wednesday night (Feb. 20), with tipoff at 7:00 p.m.

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