Falcons Open Two-Game Homestand vs. Western Kentucky

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team returns to the Stroh Center for a two-game homestand ... the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller host Western Kentucky University in Tuesday (Nov. 29) action, with tipoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

AUDIO - Curt Miller's Monday (Nov. 28) press conference
GAME NOTES - Bowling Green   |   Western Kentucky

QUICK HITS
• The Falcons are looking to extend a modest two-game winning streak ... after starting the season with losses to Dayton and Purdue, BGSU downed Evansville by a 71-54 final at BGSU's brand-new Stroh Center ... then, the Brown and Orange rallied from a 15-point deficit to record a 57-49 road win over Detroit on Tuesday (Nov. 22).

• Falcon junior Chrissy Steffen, who averaged 9.5 points in the first two games of the year, had 16 points to lead BG in the win over Evansville ... then, she scored a career-high 23 points in the Falcons' victory at Detroit ... Steffen, after going 0-for-8 from three-point land in the first three games, was 4-of-7 from long distance at UDM.

• A number of stats pop out when glancing at that BGSU-Detroit boxscore ... the Falcons won despite being outrebounded by 25 ... UDM had 56 boards to BG's 31 ... but, the Falcons turned the ball over only five times in the game.

• BGSU had not had a single-digit turnover total since March of 2010 ... the Falcons turned the ball over nine times in a MAC Tournament win over Miami at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland (March 10, 2010).

• The Falcons had not been outrebounded by 25 – in a win or a loss – since Curt Miller's third game as head coach ... Colorado outboarded BG by 32 (58-36) in a 96-44 win in Boulder, just one day shy of a decade prior to the UDM game (Nov. 23, 2001).

• BGSU trailed, 26-11, in the first half before coming back to win in the Motor City ... the last time the Falcons rallied for a victory from as many as 15 points down was nearly five years ago ... BG defeated Toledo, 73-62, after trailing by 15 in a Feb. 4, 2007, game.

• With her 23-point total against the Titans, Steffen went over the 500-point mark for her career ... four games into her junior season, she has a total of 501 points ... after scoring 101 points as a freshman, Steffen has scored exactly 400 points over 37 games since the start of last season (10.8 ppg in that time).

• Head coach Curt Miller and his staff returned nine letterwinners – but just one starter – from last year's 28-5 team ... Steffen, the lone returning starter, was chosen to the Preseason All-MAC Team.

• Not only is Steffen the lone returning starter, she was the only player on the BGSU roster to have started even one collegiate game prior to the 2011-12 season opener at Dayton ... that group included Halfhill, Havel, Rogers and Slagle ... the quartet has joined Steffen in the starting lineup for each of the four games to date.

WAYS TO FOLLOW BGSU-WKU
The best way to follow BGSU women's basketball, of course, is to be at the Stroh Center on Tuesday night when the Falcons host WKU ... but, fans who can't make it to the game can follow the Falcons all year long in a variety of ways ...
• RADIO/AUDIO STREAM: The game – like every game on the 2011-12 schedule – can be heard on the radio at WBGU-FM 88.1, and the audio stream will be available, free of charge, at BGSUFalcons.com.
• TELEVISION: Six of the Falcons' home games – including the WKU contest – are scheduled to be televised in the Toledo area on BCSN ... two additional games at the Stroh Center, along with one road contest, will be aired as the MAC Game of the Week by SportsTime Ohio ... the televised games can be found in the schedule on page 1 of these notes.
• VIDEO STREAMING: All home games will be available via live video stream, through B2/America One, for a small fee ... fans can watch the action on their computers by visiting BGSUFalcons.com and clicking on the America One logo on the right-hand side of the page ... a number of the Falcons' road games also will have live video, at the jurisdiction of the host school, and the link(s) will be available at BGSUFalcons.com ... the video production for home games is courtesy of the campus television station, WBGU-TV.
• LIVE STATS: Links are also available at BGSUFalcons.com for live stats for all home games (and all road games in which the host team provides live stats [which should be all road games]).
The links to the audio, video and stats can be found at BGSUFalcons.com, in the 'schedule' section on the home page, or by accessing the women's basketball schedule and choosing the WKU game.

WE'RE NOT SAYING IT'LL HAPPEN AGAIN, BUT ...
The Falcons enter the Western Kentucky game with a record of 2-2 on the young season ... BGSU lost the first two games of the season before beating Evansville and Detroit before breaking for Thanksgiving ... prior to 2011-12, BG's last 0-2 start came three years ago, as the Falcons lost by double digits on the road against both Temple and Valparaiso to begin the 2008-09 season ... then, however, the Brown and Orange responded with a school-record 25-game win streak ... after the Valpo game on Nov. 19, 2008, the Falcons did not lose again until March 4, 2009 ... that '08-09 BG team wound up with a 29-5 record.

HOME IS WHERE THE GAMES ARE
The Falcons will spend a great deal of time getting familiar with their new home, the Stroh Center, prior to Christmas ... the Purdue game (Nov. 17) began a stretch in which the Falcons play four out of five games at home, with Detroit the only road game during that stretch ... starting with that Purdue game, six of BGSU's next eight contests are at the Stroh ... and, of the Falcons' final 10 games before the Christmas holiday, seven are at home.

BGSU AT THE STROH
The Falcons enter the Western Kentucky game with a record of 1-1 in games played at the Stroh Center ... the first-ever regular-season game in the state-of-the-art facility was a narrow, 54-53 loss to nationally-ranked Purdue on Nov. 17 ... the Boilermakers scored with 13.5 seconds left, and a last-second three-point try by BG bounced off the iron ... then, the Falcons bounced back for a 71-54 win over Evansville three days later (Nov. 20).

THIEVERY CORPORATION
The BGSU defense posted double-digit steal totals in each of the first three games this year, after doing so seven times during all of last season ... BG never had more than 12 steals in a game in 2010-11, but the Falcon 'D' had 12 against Dayton, 14 vs. Purdue and 15 vs. Evansville ... the total in the Purdue game (and the total in the UE game as well) was the Falcons' highest since BG recorded 16 thefts in the 2009-10 season opener vs. Chicago State (Nov. 13, 2009) ... the Falcons had eight steals in the win at Detroit.

STEALERS WHEEL
Last season, the BGSU defense averaged 7.3 steals per game ... this year, through three games, the Falcons have averaged 12.3 thefts per contest.

ANOTHER GREAT NOTE ABOUT STEALS (WITHOUT A CATCHY TITLE)
BGSU had as many as 12 steals in a game exactly once in 33 games last season – the win over Arkansas - Little Rock (Nov. 26, 2010) ... this year to date, the Falcons have had at least 12 steals exactly three times in four games.

THAT'S SOME SERIOUS IMPROVEMENT!
In the season opener at Dayton, the Falcons turned the ball over 24 times ... that number has dropped significantly in each game since then, however ... BG had 18 turnovers vs. Purdue, 12 vs. Evansville and only five against Detroit.

LEADERS SHOW LEADERSHIP
The Falcons' tri-captains showed impressive on-court leadership in the win at Detroit ... junior Chrissy Steffen scored 16 of her career-high 23 points in the second half as BG rallied for the come-from-behind victory ... senior Jessica Slagle had nine points, with seven of those points coming in the first four minutes of the second period during the Falcons' comeback ... and, redshirt junior Danielle Havel's four points came on two key baskets late in the game ... she hit a long two-pointer to tie the game, 49-49, with 1:46 to go ... then, Havel converted a layup to give the Falcons a four-point lead with only 36.3 seconds left.

MAD FALCON SUPPORT
A total of 756 women's basketball season tickets have been sold for 2011-12 ... that total represents a new program record, topping the previous mark of 629 season tickets sold in 2010-11, for the final year in Anderson Arena.

THE WORD 'TICKETS' HAS 71% CONSONANTS
The Falcons had an average home attendance of 1,844 last season ... that average is believed to be a program record ... it is indeed a women's basketball season attendance record for the non-doubleheader era (the MAC played women's/men's doubleheaders for much of the 1980s and early '90s) ... and, the Falcons had over 1,900 fans in attendance at the home opener vs. Purdue ... BG is averaging nearly 1,600 per game this year to date.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the Western Kentucky game with a record of 2-2 on the young season ... BGSU lost a 69-38 decision at Dayton in the opener on Nov. 11, but the Brown and Orange opened the Stroh Center Era by very nearly knocking off nationally-ranked Purdue (Nov. 17) ... the #16/20 Boilermakers escaped with a 54-53 win ... the Falcons then got into the win column with a 71-54 home win over Evansville (Nov. 20), and BG hit the road and came away with a 57-49 victory at Detroit on Tuesday (Nov. 22).

• Junior Chrissy Steffen leads the Falcons in scoring with 14.5 points per game, and she also has 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 2.0 steals per contest to date ... Steffen is fourth on the team in rebounding, and is second in steals and third in assists.

• Senior Jessica Slagle is second on the Falcons, with 8.3 ppg, and she has 4.8 rpg to rank third on the team in that category ... sophomore Jillian Halfhill has 7.3 ppg and leads the team with 2.0 assists per outing.

• Redshirt junior Danielle Havel, Steffen's high-school teammate, has 7.0 ppg and 6.3 rpg, ranking second on the team in the latter category ... Havel leads the Falcons with 1.0 blocked shots per game, and also paces the Brown and Orange with 3.8 steals per contest.

• Redshirt sophomore Alexis Rogers and freshman Jasmine Matthews each have 5.0 ppg ... Rogers, in her first playing season at BGSU, also has a team-leading 6.5 rpg ... Matthews is tied with Steffen for the team lead in three-point field goals made ... sophomore Noelle Yoder has 3.5 ppg in just 7.8 minutes per contest ... Halfhill, Havel, Rogers, Slagle and Steffen each have started the first four games for head coach Curt Miller.

• BGSU returned nine letterwinners, but only one starter, from last year's team that won 28 games, captured the MAC East Division and conference tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Championships ... BGSU finished the season with an overall mark of 28-5.

• Last year's edition of the Falcons went 13-3 in MAC play, then posted three more wins in the MAC Tournament to earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships for the second-straight season and the fifth time in seven years ... BG went 14-1 at home (in the last season at venerable Anderson Arena), 10-3 on the road and 4-1 in neutral-site games.

• The Falcons lost the services of six seniors – Chelsea Albert, Maggie Hennegan, Tracy Pontius, Lauren Prochaska, Jen Uhl and Kelly Zuercher – from a year ago ... the five fourth-year players were part of 110 wins, the third highest total in school and MAC history ... that group combined for nearly 5,500 points, 2,400 rebounds and 1,000 assists during their time in the Brown and Orange.

• Miller's starting lineup remained unchanged during all of last season ... four-fifths of that lineup, however, were part of the departed senior class ... at Dayton, the lineup featured four players who were making their first collegiate start.

• Miller and his staff have just one senior, Slagle, on the active roster this year ... Steffen and Havel, both natives of Carmel, Ind., join Slagle as tri-captains.

• In addition to Slagle, there is one other fourth-year Falcon ... Maribeth Giese, however, has been medically disqualified, bringing an end to her playing career ... Giese will remain with the team in a support-staff role.

• The roster includes four juniors: Steffen, Havel, Simone Eli and Allison Papenfuss ... Miller's four sophomores include Halfhill, Yoder and Jill Stein ... additionally, Rogers suits up this season after sitting out last year per NCAA transfer regulations ... Rogers, who transferred from Duke University, retains three seasons of eligibility.

• The freshman class includes Deborah Hoekstra (East Lansing, Mich.), Kaila Hulls (Bloomington, Ind.), Matthews (Matteson, Ill.), Shanique Ogle (Lorain, Ohio) and Logan Pastor (Uniontown, Ohio) ... Hulls suffered an injury in preseason practice, however, and likely will miss the entire season ... Ogle was slowed by injury in the early going, but Hoekstra, Matthews and Pastor each have seen action in all four games to date ... Ogle made her BGSU debut at Detroit.

• All 12 active players scored at least two points in the team's exhibition-game win over Findlay on Nov. 1 ... in addition to Giese and Hulls, Eli was not in uniform for that game due to injury ... Eli rejoined the active roster for practices on Nov. 16, but has yet to suit up for a game.

• BGSU led the nation in free-throw percentage last season, and the Falcons were also among the top-20 schools in three-point field goals per game (sixth), W-L percentage (11th), scoring margin (16th), fewest turnovers per game (20th) and three-point FG defense (20th) in 2010-11.

• Through four games, the Falcons are shooting only .315 from the field, .257 from beyond the three-point line and .675 from the free-throw line ... the BG defense has limited opponents to .360 from the floor and .264 from beyond the arc, and foes have shot .712 from the stripe ... BG has averaged 14.8 turnovers per game, and the Falcons have forced the opposition into 20.8 turnovers per contest ... BGSU has averaged 12.3 steals per game so far.

THE FALCONS ARE/WERE ...
• 2-2 on the young season; after finishing with a 28-5 record the previous year;
• 13-3 in MAC play in 2010-11, having won a seventh-straight division title;
• 236-87 since Curt Miller took the BGSU helm in May of 2001;
• 121-39 in MAC games in that time:
• 227-68 overall in the nine-plus years since Miller's assistant coaches have all been in place (associate head coach Jennifer Roos and assistant coach Brandi Poole have been on Miller's staff since his first year; assistant Kevin Eckert joined the staff one year later);
• 215-52 over the last eight-plus years, with 2010-11 marking BG's eighth-straight season of at least 20 wins;
• a staggering 194-42 in the past seven-plus years, with no fewer than 23 wins in seven-straight seasons and a MAC overall regular-season title each year from 2004-10 (also, an East Division crown in 2011);
• an eye-popping 171-34 overall, and 86-10 in the MAC regular season, in the last six-plus years, with at least 26 wins in each of those six years;
• a/an (insert your own adjective here) 143-31 in the last five-plus years, including a 70-10 conference ledger;
• 112-27 overall, and 55-9 in MAC regular-season games, in the last four-plus years;
• 86-19 overall and 42-6 in MAC action since seniors Jessica Slagle and Maribeth Giese ventured to Northwest Ohio;
• 57-14, including a 27-5 MAC ledger, in the BGSU playing careers of juniors Simone Eli, Allison Papenfuss and Chrissy Steffen;
• 30-7 overall since redshirt junior Danielle Havel and sophomores Jillian Halfhill, Jill Stein and Noelle Yoder first suited up for the Falcons;
• 107-12 in the last 119 games vs. MAC foes (regular-season and tournament);
• A perfect 54-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field in the Miller Era;
• 191-10 when having a better FG pct. than the opposition in Miller's tenure, including a 63-0 mark in the last three-plus seasons;
• 181-31 when making more free throws during Miller's first 10-plus years;
• 139-13 when outrebounding the opponent in the Miller Era;
• 51-5 in MAC home games in the last seven seasons;
• 42-6 in MAC road games over the last six years;
• 18-2 in the MAC Tournament in the last seven years, with five titles (2005, '06, '07, '10 and '11), an additional championship-game appearance (2009), and a trip to the semis in 2008;
• 42-16 overall in the MAC Tournament since it was instituted in 1982;
• 31-11 in MAC Tournament contests played at a neutral site;
• 20-4 at Gund/Quicken Loans Arena, the site of the MAC Tournament;
• 21-5 in MAC Tournament games in the Miller Era;
• 20-3 at "The Gund"/"The Q" under Miller;
• 36-4 in all non-conference home games since the start of the 2003-04 season;
• 5-14 in 14 national postseason appearances (including a 3-11 record in the NCAA Championships and a 2-3 mark in WNIT trips);
• 4-7 in national postseason action under Miller (including a 2-5 mark in the NCAAs and a 2-2 record in the WNIT); and
• 1-1 in the Stroh Center, with the loss coming by one-point to a top-20 opponent.

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
The Falcons won a total of 12 games during the non-league portion of the schedule last winter ... the 2010-11 BGSU club broke the school – as well as the Mid-American Conference – record for non-league wins in a season ... the Falcons had never posted a double-digit non-conference win total prior to 2006-07, but BG now has done so in each of the last five seasons.

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS II
The Falcons, as mentioned, have posted a double-digit win total in non-conference play in five consecutive seasons, a MAC record ... in fact, no other MAC team has had more than two such years, consecutive or non-consecutive, in league history ... the complete list ...
10-WIN NON-CONFERENCE SEASONS, MAC TEAMS
No. - School   Years (Wins)
5 - BGSU   2006-07 (11) // 2007-08 (11) // 2008-09 (11) // 2009-10 (10) //    2010-11 (12)
2 - Eastern Michigan   2004-05 (10) // 2009-10 (10)
1 - Kent State   2008-09 (11)
1 - Toledo   2009-10 (10)

A QUICK LOOK AT WESTERN KENTUCKY
Western Kentucky will enter Tuesday's game with a record of 1-5 ... the Lady Toppers have been busy over the Thanksgiving holiday, as the BGSU game will mark the team's fifth in a 10-day span ... most recently, the team split two games at the UAB Thanksgiving Classic, with a 58-57 win over Samford Friday (Nov. 25) and a 58-36 loss to host UAB on Saturday (Nov. 26) ... senior forward LaTeira Owens leads the team in both scoring and rebounding ... she is averaging a double-double, with 12.5 points and 10.2 boards per game ... freshman guard Danay Fothergill is averaging 9.5 ppg off the bench, while no fewer than five players are averaging between 5.2 and 6.0 ppg ... Owens and senior forward Teranie Thomas (3.7 ppg) are the only players to have started all six games for head coach Mary Taylor Cowles ... a total of eight letterwinners, including three starters, returned from last year's team that finished 15-17 overall and 9-7 in Sun Belt Conference play ... the school's athletics web site is www.wkusports.com.

THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Western Kentucky, 1-0, in the all-time series between the teams ... the only prior meeting came last season, in Bowling Green, Ky. ... the Falcons ventured south and came away with a 72-68 win (Dec. 9, 2010) ... Tracy Pontius had a game-high 24 points in that win, while Lauren Prochaska scored 18 and Jen Uhl made several key plays down the stretch ... Prochaska's final free throw of the night, which came with 13.1 seconds left, was her 67th consecutive make, setting a new NCAA Division-I mark ... LaTeira Owens had 18 points to lead the home team ... Curt Miller has a record of 1-0 vs. the Lady Toppers in his head-coaching career.

BGSU TO HOST NCAA FIRST AND SECOND ROUNDS
BGSU's Stroh Center has been selected as one of 16 sites for the first and second rounds of the 2012 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship ... the venue will be the site of games on Sunday, March 18, and Tuesday, March 20, 2012 ... the 2011-12 season is the first year of operation for the Stroh Center, the new home for Falcon men's and women's basketball and volleyball ... Anderson Arena served as the site for NCAA first-round games in 1989, 1993 and 1994.

STEFFEN NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-MAC TEAM
Junior Chrissy Steffen was named to the Preseason All-MAC Team, earning that honor for the first time in her career ... Steffen, the lone returning starter from a year ago, averaged 10.4 points per game last season ... she finished third on the Falcons in scoring, assists (2.0 apg) and three-point field goals made (55) ... in MAC games only, Steffen was second on the team in both scoring (11.4 ppg) and three-pointers made.

LAST TIME OUT
Junior Chrissy Steffen scored 16 of her career-high 23 points in the second half, helping the Falcons battle back from a double-digit deficit for a 57-49 victory at Detroit Tuesday (Nov. 22) ... BGSU scored the final 10 points of the game, holding UDM scoreless for the last 3:23 ... Steffen made four three-point field goals in the game, and was 3-of-4 from beyond the arc in the second half ... sophomore Jillian Halfhill joined Steffen in double figures in the scoring column, with a career-high 12 points in the win ... the Falcons, severely outrebounded (56-31) in the game, trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half before cutting that deficit to nine points, 28-19, at the break ... senior Jessica Slagle, who did not attempt a shot in the first half, scored nine points in the second period, with seven coming in the first four minutes as BG began a comeback ... two UDM players, Shareta Brown and Yar Shayok, combined to match BG's rebounding total ... Brown, who entered the game averaging a double-double, solidified those averages with 16 points and an otherworldly 18 rebounds on the night ... BGSU offset the disparity on the boards by taking care of the ball ... the Falcons had only five turnovers on the night ... trailing by that 28-19 halftime score, BGSU battled back in the second period, beginning with an 8-2 run in the first two-and-a-half minutes to get within three points ... the Brown and Orange took the lead, 37-35, on back-to-back three-pointers by Steffen, the second coming with 13:31 left in the game ... the Titans scored seven points in a row to regain the lead, 49-47, with 3:23 remaining, but the Falcon defense would hold UDM scoreless the rest of the way ... the Falcons tied the score with 1:46 remaining on a long jumper by redshirt junior Danielle Havel ... BG forced a UDM miss, and Slagle grabbed the rebound, was fouled and hit two free throws with 1:20 left ... the Falcons got another stop, and Havel hit a layup for a four-point lead with 36.3 seconds remaining ... BG forced another miss and a turnover, and Halfhill went 4-of-4 from the stripe to close the scoring.

SUCCESS STARTS AT THE TOP
Head coach Curt Miller begins his second decade at the helm of the Falcons, having accomplished a great many things during his first 10 years ... entering the 2011-12 season, Miller is ranked 16th among all NCAA Division-I winningest active coaches (min. five years as a D-I head coach), with a winning percentage of .734 ... Miller is one of just two Mid-American Conference coaches listed among the top 50 (Kent State's Bob Lindsay, 47th, .637) ... Miller is ranked 17th on the list of winningest all-time Division-I coaches (min. 10 years as a D-I head coach).

AND THEN THERE WERE TWO: STABILITY BREEDS SUCCESS
A big reason for Bowling Green's women's basketball success has been the stability at the top ... the coaching staff – head coach Curt Miller, associate head coach Jennifer Roos, and assistant coaches Brandi Poole and Kevin Eckert – has been intact for 10 years ... Miller is in his 11th season at the helm of the Falcons ... Roos and Poole were on board during his initial season of 2001-02, with Eckert joining the staff in time for the 2002-03 campaign ... Bowling Green is one of just two NCAA Division-I women's basketball programs in the entire nation in which all four full-time coaches (head coach and three assistants) are in at least their 10th consecutive year at the school ... the list ...
LONGEST-TENURED NCAA DIVISION-I PROGRAMS
(All four coaches are in at least their 10th year with the school)
MONTANA – (Head Coach Robin Selvig – 34th season • Asst. Coach Annette Rocheleau – 31st season • Asst. Coach Shannon Schweyen – 20th season • Asst. Coach Trish Duce – 18th season)
BOWLING GREEN – (Head Coach Curt Miller – 11th season • Associate H.C. Jennifer Roos – 11th season • Asst. Coach Brandi Poole – 11th season • Asst. Coach Kevin Eckert – 10th season)

NUMBER TWO ON THIS LIST, BUT NUMBER ONE IN OUR HEARTS
Falcon basketball fans have known for years that the BG coaching staff is one of the best around ... now, there is written confirmation in the form of a random list on the internet ... BGSU associate head coach Jennifer Roos was ranked second on the list of 'Top 25 Mid-Major Women's College Basketball Assistants' on the CollegeInsider.com web site ... the list, compiled by Jason Belzer, weighed several factors including a coach's longevity with a program, overall program success, recruiting and his/her reputation amongst peers.

UP NEXT
The Falcons will host Butler on Saturday, in a 2:00 p.m. start at the Stroh Center.

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