Falcons Face CMU with a Tourney Title on the Line

BGSU vs. CENTRAL MICHIGAN
Sat., March 13, 2021 • 11:00 a.m.
MAC Tournament Championship
Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse • Cleveland, Ohio

TELEVISION / VIDEO: CBS Sports Network
AUDIO: Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization (BGRSO)
LIVE STATS: GetSomeMACtion.com | TWITTER: @BGSUwbb

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

SETTING THE SCENE – BGSU TAKES ON CHIPPEWAS IN TOURNEY TITLE TILT
• The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, after going seven years without playing a Mid-American Conference Tournament game in Cleveland, now has advanced to the championship game for the first time in a decade. Head coach Robyn Fralick and the Falcons, the tourney's top seed, will meet second-seeded Central Michigan in Saturday's (March 13) title tilt, with tipoff at 11:00 a.m. at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

• BGSU has won 12 of the last 14 games, with the only two losses in that time by one point each. After ending the regular season with a 69-68 overtime loss to Buffalo, the Falcons came to Cleveland and topped Eastern Michigan (63-47, Wednesday) before downing the Bulls by an 80-67 count in Friday morning's semifinal round.

• The Falcons, after going 10-21 overall and 3-15 in the MAC last year, were picked to finish 11th in the 12-team league in '20-21, according to the preseason coaches' poll. BG is now 20-5 overall, and went 14-4 in the MAC to win the regular-season crown.

BG has advanced to the MAC's championship game for the first time since 2011.

MAC CHAMPS! BG CAPTURES 15TH LEAGUE REGULAR-SEASON TITLE

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, BGSU will unfortunately not have any public attendance for women's basketball games in the 2020-21 season. However, there are multiple ways to follow the Falcons this winter...

• TV/VIDEO: All of BGSU's home games, as well as many road contests, will be streamed via ESPN3 or ESPN+.
• RADIO/AUDIO: All BGSU home games and a few road games will have an audio stream thanks to the efforts of the Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization (BGRSO).
• LIVE STATS: Live stats will be available for all BGSU games in 2020-21.
• TWITTER: In-game updates, along with key graphics and information, can be found on the BGSU women's basketball twitter account, @BGSUwbb.

Links to any and all ways to follow the Falcons will be available on the schedule page at BGSUFalcons.com on game day.

THE FALCONS IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT
• BGSU enters Saturday's CMU game with an all-time record of 46-25 in MAC Tournament contests. The Falcons have won 11 league tournament titles, the most of any conference institution, and BG has the second-highest winning percentage (.648) of any team in league tourney games. BGSU's conference tournament win total also places the Falcons second among MAC teams. A complete list of BGSU's game-by-game results in MAC Tournament play can be found in the PDF version of these notes.

FALCONS VS. CMU IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT
• The Falcons and Central Michigan are meeting for the 11th time in MAC Tournament play, and the fifth time in downtown Cleveland. BGSU is 6-4 in tourney meetings with Central, including a 2-0 mark in home games and a 4-4 record at neutral sites.

• The last four of those neutral-site meetings have been at the venue now known as Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The teams met four times in a five-year span from 2009-13, with each team winning twice.

• The only previous meeting in the championship game came in 1987 at Centennial Hall in Toledo. Stephanie Coe hit a foul-line jumper to give the Falcons a 63-62 win and the first MAC Tournament title and NCAA Championships appearance in program history.
Year   Round   Opponent (Site) Result
1986 SF Central Mich. (Rockford, Ill.) L 64-67
1987   CG Central Mich. (Centennial Hall; Toledo, Ohio) W 63-62
1988   SF Central Mich. (Centennial) W 95-60
1991   SF Central Mich. (Cobo Arena; Detroit, Mich.) L 72-84
1998   QF CENTRAL MICH. W 76-65
2004 1st Rd. CENTRAL MICH. W 66-54
2009   QF Central Mich. (Quicken Loans Arena; Cleveland) W 82-65
2011   SF Central Mich. (Quicken Loans) W 80-72
2012   SF Central Mich. (Quicken Loans) L 66-69
2013 3rd Rd. Central Mich. (Quicken Loans) L 48-81

CLEVELAND ROCKS!
• BGSU has had great success at the arena known as Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse over the years, and the Falcons enjoyed an incredible run at the building during a decade-long span from 2004-13.

• Following Friday's 80-67 victory over Buffalo, BGSU now has a 23-7 record in MAC Tournament games at Gund/Quicken Loans/Rocket Mortgage, and the Falcons are 23-8 overall in league tournament contests played in Cleveland over the years (the tourney was held at Public Hall in 2000).

• The Falcons lost their first-ever game at then-Gund Arena, in the 2001 MAC Tournament. BGSU then went 20-3 at 'the Gund'/'the Q' from 2004-11. The Falcons posted two buzzer-beating wins in Cleveland to get to the 2004 title game before succumbing.

• Then, Curt Miller's Falcons won 10-straight games in the building, capturing three consecutive titles from 2005-07 before being upset in double overtime by Ohio in the 2008 semifinals.

• BG won two games to advance to the 2009 title match before falling by four points to Ball State, and the Falcons then captured six consecutive games in the venue en route to the 2010 and '11 championships.

• Then, however, the Falcons won just one of the next four games in the building. BGSU's win over EMU was the Falcons' first MAC Tournament victory – at any site – since the third round of the 2013 tourney (a 55-53 win over WMU at the Q).

BRETT'S BEEN BRILLIANT AT TOURNEY TIME
• Sophomore Elissa Brett has had a stellar MAC Tournament so far, with double-doubles in each of BGSU's first two games in Cleveland. She had 13 points and 10 rebounds in Wednesday's win over Eastern Michigan, then led all players with 20 points and 13 boards on Friday against Buffalo.

• Brett now has four career double-doubles in 53 games as a Falcon. She has recorded three double-doubles in her three MAC Tournament games since arriving at BGSU. Brett's first career double-double was a 14-point, 13-rebound performance in the 2020 MAC Tournament's first round at Western Michigan.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE CHIPPEWAS
• Central Michigan enters Saturday's game with an overall record of 17-8, and the Chippewas went 13-6 in MAC play to finish second in the regular-season standings. Central enters the BGSU game on a four-game winning streak, including an 83-69 win over Northern Illinois in the MAC Tournament quarterfinals and a 100-92 overtime victory vs. Ohio in the semifinal round.

• Micaela Kelly and Molly Davis are averaging 23.7 and 20.8 points per game, respectively, and that duo has combined to make 138 three-point field goals. Maddy Watters has 9.5 ppg and has hit 61 triples, giving the Chippewas three players with over 60 long-range makes.

• The Chippewas were 7-4 at home and 8-4 on the road this season. In the MAC, CMU went 6-4 in Mount Pleasant and 7-2 away from home. Head coach Heather Oesterle welcomed back seven letterwinners, including all five starters, from a 2019-20 club that finished 23-7 overall and 16-2 in the MAC.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead Central Michigan, 48-22, in the all-time series, and BGSU won this year's lone regular-season matchup to snap a six-game series winning streak by the Chippewas. BG captured a 76-67 decision on Feb. 17 at the Stroh Center.

• BGSU is 26-7 in home games, 18-11 on the road and 4-4 in neutral-site contests vs. the Chippewas over the years. Much more series information can be found on page 29 of the PDF version of these notes.

DOWN THE ROAD
• BGSU-CMU winner vs. TBA | NCAA Championships | San Antonio, Texas

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