Falcons Travel to Athens as Final Week of Regular Season Begins

Wednesday, March 2

Athens, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Ohio

Tickets

Huddle celebration v Toledo - Ruben Kappler photo

Photo by: Ruben Kappler, BGSU Marketing & Communications

February 29, 2016 | Women's Basketball

BGSU faces defending MAC champion Ohio Wednesday night

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, after posting a 20-point win at the Stroh Center, now hits the road for the final two games of the regular season, beginning Wednesday (March 2). The Falcons of head coach Jennifer Roos head to Athens to face Mid-American Conference-leading Ohio University, with tipoff set for 7:00 p.m. at the Convocation Center.

LINKS
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THE FALCONS AND THE MAC TOURNAMENT
• With just two games left in the regular season, the Falcons currently sit ninth in the overall MAC standings. The top-four teams in the final standings will earn first-round byes, with the fifth- through eighth-seeded teams hosting seeds nine through 12 in the opening round on Monday, March 7.

• If the regular season ended today, BGSU would travel to Western New York to face Buffalo in the first round. UB is eighth in the overall standings.

• BGSU currently trails both Buffalo and Western Michigan by a game, but the Falcons would lose tiebreakers with both the Bulls and the Broncos. Both teams swept the Brown and Orange during the regular season.

• So, to earn a first-round home game for the MAC Tournament, the Falcons need to win both of this week's games, and BG needs either UB or WMU to lose twice. BGSU plays two road games this week, heading to Ohio and Akron. WMU hosts Eastern Michigan Wednesday before playing at Northern Illinois on Saturday. The Bulls are at UA Wednesday, and UB hosts Kent State this weekend.

• BGSU can finish no lower than ninth. The Falcons are two games ahead of 10th-seeded NIU with two games to play, and BG holds that tiebreaker after a win in DeKalb in the teams' lone matchup this season.

MAC OVERALL STANDINGS & REMAINING SCHEDULE
Team (Overall) MAC   Remaining Games (Wed., Sat.)
1. Ohio (22-5)   14-2 v BGSU, @Miami
2. Central Mich. (19-8)  13-3   @Toledo, v EMU
3. Ball State (19-8) 11-5   v NIU, @Toledo
4. Toledo (16-11) 11-5   v CMU, v Ball State

5. Akron (15-12) 9-7   v Buffalo, v BGSU
6. Eastern Mich. (18-9)   9-7   @WMU, @CMU
7. Western Mich. (15-13)  7-9   v EMU, @NIU
8. Buffalo (15-12) 7-9   @Akron, v Kent State

9.  Bowling Green (10-15)  6-10   @Ohio, @Akron
10. Northern Ill. (11-16)  4-12   @Ball State, v WMU
11. Miami (9-18) 3-13   @Kent State, v Ohio
12. Kent State (5-21) 2-14   v Miami, @Buffalo

JUSTINGER REACHES 1,000-POINT MARK IN DRAMATIC FASHION
With 1:24 remaining in the fourth quarter of Saturday's (Feb. 27) win over Miami, senior Miriam Justinger hit a three-point field goal from the top of the arc, giving her exactly 1,000 points for her BGSU career. Justinger, a native of nearby Sylvania, became the 27th player in program history to reach the milestone. Currently, she is tied with Lindsay Austin for 26th on the BG scoring list. Austin had exactly 1,000 points from 2000-04. Cary McGehee (1,027 points from 1980-84) is 25th on that school career list.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
If you can't make it to Athens for Wednesday night's game, fear not – you can still follow the Falcons via your radio- or computer-like devices. The BGSU-Ohio game, like all of BG's games, will be broadcast by WBGU-FM 88.1, the flagship home of Falcon women's basketball, and will be available over the air or on the web. Additionally, a free live video stream of the game will be available via OhioBobcats.com. Live stats will be available as well, and in-game updates can be found at @BGSUwbb on your twitter machine. To follow the Falcons, simply log on to BGSUFalcons.com and click the 'calendar' link on the day of the game, or navigate your way to the women's basketball page.

TITLE TOWN(S)
Wednesday's game in Athens features a pair of programs that have combined to win nine of the last 11 MAC regular-season titles. BG had the MAC's best overall record eight times in a 10-year span, winning the West Division in 2005, then winning the East in each of the next seven years (2006-12), with the best overall record in every year but '11. The Falcons finished second in the East in '13, but went 17-1 two years ago to win another outright regular-season crown. Ohio captured the MAC championship last year, and the Bobcats need one more win to clinch at least a tie for this year's overall regular-season crown.

LAST TIME OUT: SENIOR DAY A SUCCESS AT THE STROH
• Senior Miriam Justinger reached the 1,000-point mark for her career, hitting a three-point field goal from the top of the arc with just over a minute remaining to put an exclamation point on the Falcons' 76-56 win over Miami on Saturday (Feb. 27) at the Stroh Center.

• On Senior Day at the Stroh, five Falcons – including both of the team's seniors – scored in double digits. Justinger had 12 points, and now has exactly 1,000 points in her collegiate career. Fellow senior Lauren Tibbs and freshman Sydney Lambert each had 13 points and seven rebounds to tie for game honors in both categories.

• Sophomore Haley Puk (11) and freshman Carly Santoro (10) also hit double figures in the scoring column for the Falcons (10-15, 6-10 MAC), who shot over 64 percent in the first quarter to build an early lead.

• The Brown and Orange led by a 21-7 score after 10 minutes, and BGSU shot 56.7% from the floor in the first half to take a 41-21 lead into the intermission. The Falcons ended the opening quarter on an 11-0 run, holding MU without a point over the final 4:59. The hosts ended the second quarter by holding the 'Hawks without a field goal for the last 4:43 and without a point over the last 3:26.

• Morgan Horvath had 13 points to pace three double-figure scorers for Miami (9-18, 3-13 MAC). Leah Purvis added 12 and Kendall McCoy 10 for the visitors.

• The Falcons never trailed, and the game was tied only once. Puk opened the scoring, and after Purvis responded with a layup, sophomore Rachel Myers converted a driving layup with 7:31 left in the opening quarter to give the Falcons the lead for good.

• After trailing by 20 at the half, Miami got as close as 16 points early in the third quarter, but a Puk three-ball began a 9-0 run that also included four-straight points by Justinger. Late in the quarter, Santoro scored five consecutive points to extend the Falcons' lead to a game-high 28, at 59-31.

• In the fourth quarter, the lead stayed between 18 and 24 points, and the only real drama was if Justinger would reach the 1,000-point plateau in what was quite possibly the final home game of her stellar BGSU career. She made a pair of free throws with 3:24 remaining to put her within three points of the milestone. Then, with 1:24 to go, she fired a high, arcing three-point shot that found nothing but net, and the Stroh Center crowd exploded.

• The RedHawks shot just 37.5% (12-of-32) over the first three quarters before making 7-of-10 shots in the fourth. MU shot 45.2% for the game, to the Falcons' 47.5%.

• BGSU went 11-of-28 from three-point range, with Lambert and Puk hitting three long-range shots apiece and Santoro two.

THANKS, SENIORS
BGSU's two seniors, Miriam Justinger and Lauren Tibbs, were recognized prior to Saturday's Miami game, and both players then went out and scored in double digits in their final home regular-season game. The Falcons have won 14 of the 15 'Senior Day/Night' games since Jennifer Roos came to Northwest Ohio, and BG is 19-2 in the last 21 such contests.

TIBBS FOR TWO (OR THREE)
As her senior season begins to wind down, Lauren Tibbs has taken her game up a notch. She has led the Falcons in scoring – and rebounding, for that matter – in each of the last five games. Tibbs has averaged 18.4 points per game and has shot 63.5 percent (40-for-63) during that time, including a 6-for-10 (60.0%) performance from three-point range. Tibbs, a 6-foot-4 center, made six-straight shots from beyond the arc at one point during that five-game stretch.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• Bowling Green enters Wednesday's game with an overall record of 10-15, and the Falcons are 6-10 in MAC play. BGSU closed the home portion of the regular-season schedule with a 76-56 victory over Miami on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 27).

• The Falcons had snapped a five-game losing streak with a 65-55 win on the road against Kent State (Feb. 20), but the Falcons fell just short last Wednesday (Feb. 24) at Buffalo, losing by a 55-52 count.

• After winning three-straight games in late January, the Falcons dropped the first 'Battle of I-75' of the season, falling to Toledo by a 75-61 count to end the month (Jan. 30). BGSU then gave MAC West Division-leading Central Michigan a scare, before the Chippewas got a buzzer-beating bucket for a 76-75 win in Mount Pleasant (Feb. 6). BG returned home and fell to Western Michigan, UB and UT before heading to Kent and picking up a 10-point victory.

• The Falcons' three-game winning streak in January included a 67-63 triumph over Eastern Michigan, picked to win the MAC's West Division in the preseason coaches poll, on Jan. 27. The EMU game came on the heels of wins over Northern Illinois on the road (58-43; Jan. 20) and KSU at home (71-49; Jan. 23).

• BG opened conference action with a 64-58 win at Miami (Jan. 2), but the Brown and Orange then suffered a road loss to WMU before falling at home to defending MAC champion Ohio, Akron and Ball State.

• BGSU is 6-7 at home, 3-7 on the road and 1-1 in neutral-site games this season. The Falcons went 3-6 at the Stroh in MAC play, and BG is 3-4 on the road in league action after going 0-10 against conference opponents away from Bowling Green last year (0-9 in the regular season, 0-1 in the MAC Tournament).

• BG began the season with a pair of double-digit wins at the Stroh, then left Northwest Ohio and played three games that were decided by a total of 10 points. After beating Illinois State and Bradley to begin the season, the Falcons also posted non-conference wins over Jacksonville and Evansville.

• A pair of BGSU newcomers have posted double-digit scoring averages to date. Fifth-year senior Lauren Tibbs has 12.8 points per game, while freshman Sydney Lambert is scoring 10.1 ppg. Tibbs, in her first season at BGSU after transferring from Marquette, also leads the Falcons with 7.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocked shots per contest. The reigning MAC Player of the Week is averaging 18.4 ppg and shooting nearly 64 percent from the field over the last five games.

• On the year, Tibbs is shooting 57.7 percent from the field to lead the team – and tie for first in the MAC – in that category. Entering Wednesday's action, both Tibbs and Central Michigan's Tinara Moore have made 142 buckets in 246 attempts.

• Lambert leads the Falcons in minutes played (31.0) and steals (1.2 spg). She is second in assists, with 2.2 helpers per game, and paces the team in three-point field goals made, with 55. Lambert leads the entire MAC in three-point percentage, having made 44.0% of her long-distance attempts to rank among the national leaders as well.

• Senior Miriam Justinger and sophomore Rachel Myers have 8.8 and 7.7 ppg, respectively. Justinger has 2.2 apg to lead the team (she has 56 assists to Lambert's 54), and Justinger has 28 steals to Lambert's 29. Justinger has made 30 long-distance shots and pulled down 4.0 rpg, ranking third on the Falcons on both lists. Justinger is shooting 34.5% from three-point land.

• Myers has hit 47 three-pointers this winter to date, including seven triples – just one shy of the school record – at Central. She ranks sixth in the MAC with a three-point field-goal percentage of 37.0%.

• Freshman Carly Santoro and junior Ashley Tunstall have 4.3 and 4.1 ppg, respectively, while redshirt sophomore Kennedy Kirkpatrick has 3.7 ppg. Tunstall is second on the team in rebounds per game (4.1 rpg) while Kirkpatrick is third in assists (1.4 apg). Tunstall has missed the last four-plus games due to injury.

• Sophomore Haley Puk has 3.5 ppg, while juniors Abby Siefker and Rachel Konieczki are averaging 1.6 and 1.4 ppg, respectively. Puk has averaged 2.6 assists per game – tied with Lambert for the team lead – over the last seven contests, including a career-high five in the win at Kent State. Puk has started the last four games. Siefker is second on the team in blocked shots.

• Seven players – Justinger, Kirkpatrick, Lambert, Myers, Santoro, Siefker and Tibbs – each have seen action in all 25 games, while Konieczki and Puk both have played in 23 and Tunstall 19. Sophomore Sarah Baer and freshman Maddie Cole have come off the bench in 14 and 11 games, respectively.

• Cole had a career-high seven points at Kent State, going a perfect 3-for-3 from the field, and now is averaging 1.2 ppg this season. Baer has 1.1 ppg, and Baer and Cole are shooting 60.0% and 55.6% from the floor, respectively.

• Justinger, Lambert, Myers and Tibbs each have started all 25 games for the Brown and Orange this season, while Tunstall has started 11 and Puk and Siefker four apiece.

• The Falcons are shooting 39.8% from the field, 34.1% from three-point land (good for fourth in the MAC) and 68.6% from the free-throw line. The opponents are shooting 39.7% from the floor, 32.7% from the arc and 68.9% from the stripe.

• BGSU is second in the MAC with 7.8 three-pointers made per game.

• In MAC games only, Tibbs is averaging 13.9 points and 6.9 rebounds and is shooting 56.8% from the floor, while Lambert has 10.8 ppg and has hit a team-leading 40 triples. Justinger and Myers have 8.8 and 8.6 ppg, respectively.

• Lambert (45.5%) and Myers (38.6%) rank first and eighth, respectively, in three-point field-goal percentage in MAC games. Tibbs is shooting an impressive 42.9% from long distance, having gone 12-of-28 in MAC games, but does not have enough triples made to qualify for the MAC rankings. The Falcons are second in the MAC in both long-range accuracy (35.1%) and treys per game (8.3) in league contests.

• Head coach Jennifer Roos and the Falcons returned a total of eight letterwinners, all of whom had started at least five games in their BGSU careers entering the season. The returnees were joined by five newcomers, including a pair of transfers (Tibbs and Tunstall) who were eligible to play immediately.

• A total of 10 players on the current roster now have started five or more games in their BGSU careers to date.

• The 2014-15 Falcons went 9-21 overall after four players on the 12-woman preseason roster suffered season- or career-ending injuries, and a fifth missed the bulk of the conference schedule due to injury as well. The returning players entered the season with a combined total of 203 starts in the Brown and Orange.

AMONG THE LEADERS
• Freshman Sydney Lambert leads the MAC and is ranked eighth in the entire nation in three-point field goal percentage. Lambert has hit 55 triples in 125 tries, for a success rate of 44.0 percent.

• Senior Lauren Tibbs is shooting 57.7% from the field this season to date. She is tied for first in the MAC, and ranks 14th in the nation, in that category.

• As a team, BGSU is ranked 24th in the nation in three-point field goals made (7.8 per game).

A LOOK AT OHIO
Ohio has an overall record of 22-5, and the Bobcats will enter Wednesday's game with a MAC ledger of 14-2. Ohio has clinched the East Division title, and Ohio needs just one more win to clinch no worse than a tie for the best overall mark in the conference. The 'Cats saw a five-game winning streak snapped on Saturday (Feb. 27) with a 70-58 home loss to Buffalo, the team's first setback at the Convocation Center this season. Both the Ohio's conference losses have come against UB, with the first one breaking a 12-game losing streak. The Bobcats are 10-1 at home, 8-4 on the road and 4-0 in neutral-site games this season to date. In MAC games, Ohio is 7-1 at home and 7-1 at hostile venues. Individually, senior guard Kiyanna Black is averaging a team-high 18.3 points per game. Black has set a MAC record with 103 three-point field goals made, and she leads the nation with 3.8 triples made per game. Junior guard Quiera Lampkins has 14.1 ppg and paces the team with 3.7 assists and 2.5 steals per game. Senior forward Lexie Baldwin and junior guard Yamonie Jenkins have 9.9 and 7.3 ppg, respectively. Baldwin has 6.1 rpg and has hit 51 three-pointers. Junior forward Jasmine Weatherspoon has 5.7 ppg and a team-leading 6.5 rpg, and has blocked a total of 50 shots. In MAC play, the Bobcats lead the league in scoring offense, scoring defense, scoring margin (obviously), turnover margin, assist/turnover ratio and three-pointers made. Four of the team's starters – Black (three-pointers), Lampkins (steals), Jenkins (assist/turnover ratio) and Weatherspoon (blocks) – lead the entire league in at least one category in conference contests. Head coach Bob Boldon led the Bobcats to a 27-5 overall record, a 16-2 league mark and MAC regular-season and tournament titles a year ago. Boldon and his staff welcomed back 10 letterwinners, including three starters, from that club.

THE BGSU-OHIO SERIES
The Falcons lead Ohio, 55-24, in the all-time series between the teams, but the Bobcats have won each of the last three meetings after BG had taken the previous four games. The 2014-15 matchups saw Ohio win by scores of 71-46 at the Stroh Center (Feb. 11, 2015) and 67-47 in Athens (Feb. 28, 2015). The Bobcats picked up a 72-57 win at the Stroh in this season's initial meeting (Jan. 9, 2016). BGSU's last win over the 'Cats came on 'Senior Day' two years ago, a 63-39 victory (March 2, 2014). The Falcons' last win in Athens was a 78-62 decision earlier that season (Jan. 30, 2014), when the Brown and Orange ended the game on a 27-4 run. BG is 31-7 in home games (3-2 in the Stroh Center), 21-15 in road contests and 3-2 in neutral-site games vs. the Bobcats over the years. Jennifer Roos is 4-3 against Ohio as a collegiate head coach..

FALCONS VS. THE MAC
The Falcons continue to own the best record in MAC history. Entering Wednesday's Ohio game, BGSU has an all-time record of 398-179 (.690) in MAC regular-season contests, 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, obviously, with a winning series record against every other school. BG also has the most overall victories and highest overall winning pct. of any conference institution.

THREE-MARKABLE
Freshman Maddie Cole stepped out to the left corner and hit a three-point field goal in the win at Kent State (Feb. 20). It was the first triple of her career. No fewer than 12 different players have made at least one three-pointer for the Falcons this season.

THREE-MENDOUS
• The Falcons have hit 10 or more three-point field goals on seven occasions this season, including five times in MAC play. BG exploded for 15 three-pointers in the first win over Kent State (Jan. 23), going 15-for-29 from long range and tying the Stroh Center record for treys made.

• BGSU hit 11 triples in 23 tries (47.8%) en route to a win over MAC West Division favorite Eastern Michigan at the Stroh four days later (Jan. 27), and the Falcons went 16-of-27 at Central Michigan (Feb. 6), tying the school record for three-pointers made in a game. BG's success rate of 59.3% from beyond the arc was the program's best in nearly six years.

THREE-LIGHTFUL
The Falcons have made at least five three-point field goals in 22 of this season's 25 games to date, and BG has hit at least four triples in all 25 contests.

THREE-GION OF BOOM
In fact, BG has hit four or more treys in 57 of the last 58 games, dating to late in the 2013-14 season. The lone exception during that stretch was last year's MAC Tournament first-round game, when BG made three treys at Western Michigan.

THREE- ... UMMM, SOME OTHER PHRASE THAT STARTS WITH 'THREE'
BGSU will be looking to extend an impressive streak in the Ohio game. The Falcons have hit at least one three-pointer in each of the last 366 games. BG has not been held without a triple in over 10 years – since Feb. 12, 2005, at Akron, when the Falcons won, 61-52, despite going 0-of-13 from long distance.

UP NEXT
Following the Ohio game, the Falcons will end the regular-season schedule on Saturday (March 5), taking on Akron in Northeast Ohio. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at UA's James A. Rhodes Arena. Then, the BGSU will play a MAC Tournament first-round game on Monday (March 7) with the opponent and site to be determined.

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