Falcons Face Valpo on Fan Appreciation/FMB Night

Tuesday, November 28

Bowling Green, OH

7:00 PM ET

Bowling Green State University

Valparaiso

Tickets

Madisen Parker v Seton Hill - Nov 5 2017

Photo by: Larry Clapper

November 27, 2017 | Women's Basketball

BGSU battles the Crusaders on Tuesday at the Stroh

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

BGSU vs. VALPARAISO
Tuesday, November 28, 2017 • 7:00 p.m.
Stroh Center (4,347) • Bowling Green, Ohio

TELEVISION / VIDEO: ESPN3.com
RADIO / AUDIO: WBGU-FM 88.1 / BGRSO
LIVE STATS: www.BGSUFalcons.com
TWITTER: @BGSUwbb

all available 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, after winning two games and a tournament title in Florida over the holiday weekend, returns home to close out the November schedule. Head coach Jennifer Roos and the Falcons begin a two-game homestand with a Tuesday (Nov. 28) contest vs. Valparaiso University. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.

BGSU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL LINKS
Game Notes (PDF): BGSU | Valparaiso
BGSU Notes from all 2017-18 games (& previous seasons)
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FALCON NEWS: Falcons Top FAU for Tourney Title | BGSU Downs Norfolk State | Roos , Falcons Sign Three | Santoro Named to Preseason All-MAC Team | Veteran Quartet to Captain Falcons
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FAN APPRECIATION NIGHT
Tuesday's game is Fan Appreciation Night at the Stroh Center. Tickets purchased prior to 5:00 p.m. on game day will be just $1, and hot dogs, popcorn and soda will be available for just $1 from 6-8 p.m.

FMB IN THE HOUSE
The entire Falcon Marching Band will be in attendance at Tuesday night's game.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
If you can't make it to the arena on game day, fear not – you can still follow the Falcons via your radio- or computer-like devices.

Tuesday's Valparaiso game will feature video and audio streams, as well as live stats and Twitter updates, all free of charge (other than the cost of purchasing a computer, a phone or other streaming device, or bus fare to go to your local library and watch/listen on a computer there).

All of BGSU's home games and many road contests will have audio broadcasts, courtesy of the Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization (BGRSO). And, all but one of BGSU's home games in 2017-18 will be aired via ESPN3.com, with a live stream for the remaining game (Ferris State; Dec. 18) available through WBGU-TV.

Live stats will also be available for all games, and in-game Twitter updates for every BGSU game can be found at @BGSUwbb.

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. Any and all available links to ticket info. and game coverage will be available there.

SYNONYMS FOR "G.O.A.T." – 1) SANTORO. 2) THAT'S IT. THAT'S THE LIST.
Junior Carly Santoro was named tournament MVP as the Falcons went 2-0 and won the FAU Thanksgiving Tournament title in Boca Raton, Fla. Santoro had a pair of double-doubles, averaging 16.0 points and 14.5 rebounds in BG's two wins.

On Friday (Nov. 24), Santoro had a team-leading 16 points and a game-high 12 rebounds as the Falcons topped Norfolk State. Then, the next day, she again paced the Brown and Orange with 16 points, and had a game-high 17 rebounds – a career best and the highest total by a Falcon in nearly four years – as BG downed host FAU in the tournament title game.

Santoro had identical totals of two assists, two steals and a blocked shot in each win in Boca.

IF THERE WAS A LIST, THOUGH, PUK WOULD BE ON IT
A pair of Falcons earned all-tournament honors in Boca, as senior Haley Puk joined junior Carly Santoro on the all-tourney team. Puk scored 11 points, hitting a game-high three three-point field goals, in the win over Norfolk State.

DOUBLE(-DOUBLE) TROUBLE
Junior Carly Santoro has recorded five double-doubles in six games this season. She posted three-straight double-doubles to begin the year, and had a double-double in each of BGSU's two wins at the FAU Thanksgiving Tournament.

Santoro led the Falcons with five double-doubles a year ago, and – obviously – has matched that total roughly one-fifth of the way through the 2017-18 season.

The last Falcon to have more than five double-doubles in a season was Deborah Hoekstra, who had seven in the 2014-15 campaign.

Interestingly (depending upon your level of interest), the Falcons are 5-0 this season when Santoro records a double-double. BGSU went just 1-4 in such games last season.

START ME UP. IF YOU START ME UP I'LL NEVER STOP.
The Falcons are off to a 5-1 start to the season. The 2017-18 campaign marks the 12th time in program history that BGSU has won five of the first six games.

Four Falcon teams – the 1974-75, 1988-89, 2005-06 and 2007-08 clubs – went 6-0 to start the season, while this year marks the eighth time the Brown and Orange are 5-1 at this juncture. The last team to go 5-1 was the 2010-11 squad.

ROAD WARRIORS IN NOVEMBER
Last season, the Falcons won a total of five games away from home. This season, BGSU has captured four games in hostile (three) or lukewarm (one) venues. The Falcons are currently 4-0 in all games played away from the Stroh Center.
FALCONS ON THE ROAD
Season Road Neutral-Site Total
2016-17 3-10 2-1 5-12
2017-18 3-0 1-0 4-0

LAST TIME OUT: FALCONS DOWN FAU TO CAPTURE TOURNAMENT TITLE
For the second consecutive day, BGSU built a first-half lead, then weathered a third-quarter surge by the opponent. And, for the second-straight afternoon, the Falcons answered the opponent's run with a run of their own. On Saturday (Nov. 25), that run propelled the Orange and Brown to a 66-55 win over the host school and the FAU Thanksgiving Tournament championship.

Junior Carly Santoro had a double-double for the second-straight day and the fifth time in six games this season. Santoro had 16 points and 17 rebounds on Saturday afternoon, and was named the Tournament MVP. Senior Haley Puk joined Santoro on the all-tournament team.

BGSU led by as many as 14 points late in the second quarter, and took an 11-point lead into the intermission. but, FAU cut that lead to just two points by the end of the third quarter, and Sasha Cedeno's bucket tied the score in the opening minute of the fourth period.

But, freshman Madisen Parker responded with a driving and-one layup, and her free throw with 8:53 remaining gave the Brown and Orange a three-point lead. FAU's Ra'Kyra Gabriel hit back-to-back layups, but sophomore Andrea Cecil converted a three-point play of her own with 7:33 on the clock. Cecil's bucket began an 11-0 run for the Falcons, and by the time the hosts scored again, BG had a double-digit lead with just over four minutes remaining.

PUK PRODUCES POINTS
Haley Puk currently ranks second on the Falcons in scoring. And, the senior wing has demonstrated the ability to score a large number of points in a short amount of time.

Puk scored a career-high 26 points in the win at Robert Morris, scoring 11 points in the first quarter alone. Those 11 points came in a span of under five minutes. She scored six more points in the second quarter, setting a new career scoring best in the first half alone.

On Friday (Nov. 24) vs. Norfolk State, Puk scored eight-straight BGSU points in just 90 seconds. She hit a three-pointer and a layup on back-to-back possessions, then knocked down another triple try to stave off the Spartans' run. Her second three-ball gave the Falcons a seven-point lead late in the third quarter, and NSU never got closer than five points thereafter.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
BGSU is off to a 5-1 start to the season. The Falcons picked up wins over Eastern Kentucky, Detroit and Robert Morris, with the latter two victories coming in front of loud School Day crowds on the road. The Brown and Orange suffered a loss to Canisius at the Stroh Center, but bounced back with wins over Norfolk State and FAU to win the latter school's Thanksgiving tournament.

Head coach Jennifer Roos and her staff – which is comprised of assistant coaches Jacey Brooks, Nick Moore and Jessie Ivey, director of operations Monique Rosati and video coordinator Amanda Cutcher – welcomed back a total of nine returning players, including three starters, from a year ago. The list of returnees includes two seniors, three juniors and four second-year Falcons.

Rachel Myers and Haley Puk make up the senior class, while Maddie Cole, Sydney Lambert and Carly Santoro enter their junior year. Sophomores Andrea Cecil, Caterrion Thompson and Jane Uecker also return, as does Clare Glowniak, who is a redshirt freshman in terms of eligibility after missing the bulk of last season due to injury.

The nine returnees are joined by five freshmen, including Terri Battle, Madisen Parker, Angela Perry, Sierra Thompson and Kennedy Williams. The frosh combined for 34 points in the Falcons' exhibition win over Seton Hill.

BGSU's starters in all six games to date have been Cecil, Lambert, Puk, Santoro and Uecker. The two sophomores, Cecil and Uecker, made the first start of their respective collegiate careers in the season opener.

Santoro was named to the Preseason All-MAC Team. She led the Falcons in scoring a year ago, averaging 12.0 points per game. Santoro is the Falcons' top returning rebounder as well, having pulled down 7.4 boards per contest last winter.

This year, through six games, four Falcons are scoring in double digits. Santoro leads the way with 15.0 ppg, and is averaging a double-double, with a team-leading 11.7 rpg. Puk (11.3 ppg), Cecil (10.7) and Lambert (10.7) also are averaging over 10 points per outing, while Uecker (7.2) and Sierra Thompson (6.7) each have scored more than six ppg.

Lambert has a team-best 3.0 assists per game, while Santoro has 2.0 steals per game. Santoro is second on the Falcons with 2.2 apg, while Lambert ranks second on the club in steals (1.8 spg).

Sierra Thompson is shooting a team-high .542 from the floor, while Uecker is shooting .463. That duo, along with Cecil and Lambert, all average between 4.5 and 4.8 rebounds per game.

BGSU has a +4.8 scoring margin, a +3.5 rebounding margin and a +3.3 turnover margin through six games this season.

FIRST-YEAR FALCONS FLOURISH IN FLORIDA
All four of the Falcons' healthy freshmen contributed to the team's two wins at the FAU tourney. Kennedy Williams had four points and three rebounds, the highest totals of her young career, in Friday's win over Norfolk State. All four of her points and two of her three boards came in the fourth quarter as the Falcons maintained a single-digit lead over the Spartans. Williams played 10 minutes, including six in that final period.

Terri Battle scored the first points of her BGSU career in that NSU game, adding a rebound, a steal and the first assist of her collegiate career. The next day, Battle had five boards and two steals in eight minutes of action vs. the host Owls. Battle set career bests in both categories.

Madisen Parker had five points, her highest total this season to date, in the win over FAU. She was 2-for-2 from the floor and 1-of-1 from the line. Parker's three-point play with 8:53 left in the game came immediately after FAU had tied the game, and helped kick-start a BG run that lifted the Falcons to the win.

And, Sierra Thompson had the first double-digit scoring game of her young BG career in the win over FAU. She had 11 points, going a perfect 5-for-5 from the field, and also had seven rebounds and her first blocked shot as a Falcon.

TRY TO MAKE MORE THAN THEY TAKE
A hallmark of BGSU's successful teams over the years has been the ability to get to the free-throw line more often than the opponent. Through six games this season, BGSU has made a total of 90 shots from the stripe, eight more than the foes have attempted. The Falcons have attempted 133 free throws to the opponents' 82.

LAST WEEKEND, WE GAVE YOU THE LEAD / THE VERY NEXT PLAY, YOU GAVE IT AWAY
Both games in Florida saw the Falcons build a halftime lead, but also saw the opponents respond in the third period. Against Norfolk State, BG led by seven early in the third, but the Spartans erased that lead in under three minutes.

The next day, FAU rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to get within two points after 30 minutes, and the Owls tied the score early in the fourth quarter.

But, on both occasions, BG responded immediately. On Friday, Carly Santoro erased a brief one-point deficit with a driving layup, and Haley Puk then scored eight-straight BG points as the Falcons went on an 8-0 run.

Saturday, Madisen Parker's three-point play snapped a tie, and after FAU scored the next four points, an Andrea Cecil three-point play began an 11-0 run for the Falcons. BG led by double digits before the hosts finally scored again.

THREE-MARKABLE
Through the years, BGSU rosters typically have been stocked with players who can score from three-point range. No fewer than 12 different players made at least one three-point field goal two years ago, and all 12 Falcons who saw action last year knocked down at least one trey. This year, a total of nine different players have made one or more long-distance shots.

THREE-LIGHTFUL
Two years ago, the Falcons made at least five three-point field goals in 24 of 28 games, and BG hit at least four triples in all 28 contests. Last year, BGSU connected at least four times in 27 of the 31 games, and this year, the Falcons have made four or more treys in each of the six games.

THREE-GION OF BOOM
In fact, BG has knocked down four or more three-pointers in 93 of the last 98 games, dating to late in the 2013-14 season.

THREE- ... UMMM, SOME OTHER PHRASE THAT STARTS WITH 'THREE'
BGSU will be looking to extend a mucho-impressive streak in the Valparaiso game. The Falcons have hit at least one three-pointer in each of the last 406 games. BG has not been held without a triple in over 12 years – since Feb. 12, 2005, at Akron, when the Falcons won, 61-52, despite going 0-of-13 from long distance.

SCOUTING VALPARAISO
Valparaiso is 2-1 on the season. The Crusaders have sandwiched home wins over IU Kokomo and Grand Canyon around a loss at MAC-member Miami. Dani Franklin has 19.3 points per game to pace three double-digit scorers, and the senior is fourth in school history with 1,294 career points. VU has joined the Missouri Valley Conference for the 2017-18 academic year after a 10-year run in the Horizon League. Last year, Valparaiso finished with a 10-21 overall record and a 4-14 HL mark. Head coach Tracey Dorow welcomed back 10 letterwinners, including four starters, from that team.

THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Valparaiso, 3-1, in the all-time series between the teams. BGSU is 2-0 at home and 1-1 on the road vs. the Crusaders, although the teams have not met in over nine years. BG picked up a 91-79 win at venerable Anderson Arena in January of 1990, then captured a 127-99 victory on the road two years later. That 1992 game saw school records set for points in a game as well as combined points by both teams in a game, and both records still stand. BG opened the 2007-08 season with an 81-56 win over VU at "The House That Roars," but the Crusaders picked up a 69-58 victory over the visiting Falcons the following season (Nov. 19, 2008). The latter result dropped BG to 0-2 on the season, but the Falcons responded by winning the next 25 games en route to a 29-5 overall record.

UP NEXT
Following the Valparaiso game – BG's seventh game in a 19-day span – the Falcons will have over a week off before hosting Xavier. BG will host the Musketeers in a School Day game on Wednesday, Dec. 6, at 11:00 a.m.