Bowling Green State University Athletics
Saturday, January 18
Mount Pleasant, MI
12:07 PM
Bowling Green State University
at
Central Michigan
MAC Unbeatens Meet in Mount Pleasant Saturday
January 17, 2014 | Women's Basketball
BGSU takes on Central Michigan in McGuirk Arena & on the small screen
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BGSU NOTES & STATISTICS
CMU NOTES & STATISTICS
Saturday's game is part of the MAC's television package, and is scheduled to be aired on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel. Additionally, the game will be picked up by Comcast Michigan, and is also slated to be available on ESPN3, Watch ESPN and ESPN Full Court. In the Toledo area, the BGSU-CMU game will be aired on BCSN 2.
OFF TO A GOOD START
The Falcons are off to a 4-0 start in MAC play for the 12th time in 33 years of MAC basketball. On Saturday afternoon, BGSU will be looking to improve to 5-0 in the league for the ninth time in school history.
MOUNT PLEASANT FIVE-0
One thing's for certain in Saturday's game: the BGSU-CMU winner will be the only remaining team with an undefeated record in MAC play. As mentioned in the opening sentence of these notes, the Falcons and Chippewas have identical 4-0 records in league games. BGSU leads Ohio (3-1 MAC) by a game in the East Division, with each of the other four East teams sporting records of 1-3 or 0-4. In the West, CMU is 4-0, and each of the other five teams has a 2-2 league mark.
A TALE OF TWO GAMES
• In the teams' two meetings last season, Central Michigan outscored BGSU by an average of four points per game. A pair of close games? Ummmm, no.
• CMU entered the regular-season meeting at the Stroh Center with a 7-0 MAC record, but the Falcons shot nearly 67 percent from the field in the second half, breaking open a close game en route to an 84-59 win (Feb. 3, 2013). The 25-point margin marked Central's most lopsided loss to a MAC team in nearly two years – since another game in Bowling Green; a 90-62 Falcon win at venerable Anderson Arena on Jan. 22, 2011.
• It was another story when the Falcons and Chippewas met in a 2014 MAC Tournament third-round game in Cleveland the following month (March 14, 2013). Central forced BGSU into 34 turnovers and rolled to an 81-48 win over the Falcons. The 33-point loss was BG's worst ever in league tournament play.
THREE-MENDOUS
The Falcons have enjoyed success from the three-point line over the last two games. In those games – wins over Akron and Ball State – BGSU averaged 9.5 three-pointers per contest and shot 51.4% from long range. The Brown and Orange went 10-of-18 from long distance vs. the Zips, and BG was 9-of-19 from beyond the arc against the Cardinals.
LAST TIME OUT: FALCONS RACE PAST AKRON, 81-65, TO MOVE TO 3-0
• The Falcons shot 52 percent from the field and 88% from the free-throw line in the second half, rallying from a halftime deficit for a 72-61 win at Ball State Wednesday night (Jan. 15).
• BGSU struggled from the field in the first half, going just 6-of-21 from the floor (28.6%) in the first 20 minutes. But, the Brown and Orange went 12-of-16 from the free-throw line in the opening period, and BG trailed by just three points, 31-28, at the intermission.
• In the second period, however, the Falcons went 12-of-23 (52.2%) from the field, including a 5-of-8 (62.5%) effort from three-point range, and BG made 15-of-17 shots from the stripe (88.2%).
• Sophomore Miriam Justinger scored a career-high 18 points to lead three double-digit scorers for the Falcons. Seniors Alexis Rogers and Jillian Halfhill had 15 and 13 points, respectively, in the win. For the Cardinals, Nathalie Fontaine scored a game-high 20 points, while Brittany Carter had 15.
• The Falcons trailed for nearly all of the first half, and BG was down by five points early in the second period. But, a 9-0 run soon after gave the Brown and Orange the lead for good.
• That 9-0 run included a Halfhill three-pointer and a highlight-reel, 'and-one' jumper from Rogers off of Halfhill's inbounds pass. That three-point play gave BG a 42-35 lead, and the Falcons built the margin to 15 points with 8:07 to go.
• The Cards got within four points, 59-55, in the late going, but BG quickly answered with a Rogers layup, and another Halfhill triple gave the Falcons a seven-point lead with four minutes to go.
• For the game, the Falcons shot 40.9% from the field. Ball State had a slightly better field-goal percentage, at 42.6%, and the Cardinals held a slim 31-29 rebounding advantage. But, BG went 9-of-19 from three-point range on the night, while BSU was just 1-for-14 from the arc. Additionally, the Falcons made 27 free throws in 33 attempts, for a success rate of 81.8%. BSU was 20-of-25 from the line.
TAKE SOME, THEY'RE FREE
• BGSU struggled at the free-throw line early in the season, but the Falcons' fortunes have improved as of late. BG made fewer than 60 percent of its tosses three times in the first five games of the year, and the Falcons were shooting just 64.0% (96 of 150) through the end of November.
• Since that time, however, BGSU has shot better than 80% from the line, having gone 168-of-207 (81.2%) over the last nine games.
• In the last three games, wins over Kent State, Akron and Ball State, the Falcons have made 68 free throws in 80 attempts, good for a success rate of 85.0%. Through four MAC games, BGSU is shooting a league-leading 83.7% (82-of-98) from the line.
QUICK HITS
• BGSU is 14-2 overall and 4-0 in MAC play. The Falcons have won five-straight games and 10 of the last 11, capturing each of those 10 decisions by double-digit margins.
• In fact, 12 of the Falcons' 14 victories this season have come by double figures. BGSU posted a one-point win at Iona (Nov. 9) in the second game of the year, and downed Butler by four points (Nov. 18) just over a week later, but each of the other 10 wins came by at least 11 points.
• The Falcons have posted four wins of 23 points or more, with three of those four coming at home. BGSU is 6-0 at the Stroh Center, having won those six games by an average of 23.0 points per contest.
• In addition to the six home wins, the Falcons have eight victories away from home, with marks of 5-1 on the road and 3-1 in neutral-site contests. BG has road wins over Iona, Butler, Ohio State, Kent State and Ball State, and the Falcons have topped Michigan, Old Dominion and Monmouth in neutral-site action. The team's losses have come to then #18/21-ranked Purdue on the road and to Marist on a neutral court.
• In BGSU's six home games – vs. Niagara, Milwaukee, UMass, Saint Francis, Buffalo and Akron – the Falcons have averaged 81.2 points per game.
• BGSU has had a balanced scoring attack this season. Five Falcons are averaging between 8.3 and 13.0 points per game, and two other players have at least 5.9 ppg to date.
• The Falcons' five starters each have attempted between 112 and 156 shots, meaning that every starter is averaging somewhere between 7.0 and 9.8 field-goal attempts per game.
• BGSU leads the MAC and ranks 15th in the nation in scoring defense, having allowed just 56.1 points per game. The Falcons also lead the MAC in rebounding margin (+8.8), and BG is second among league teams in scoring margin (+13.4) and field-goal percentage defense (37.1%).
• BGSU is 20th in the nation in rebounding margin in the most recent NCAA statistics. Ball State had 31 rebounds to BG's 29 on Wednesday night, marking the first time the Falcons had been out-rebounded in a game since the Butler contest back on Nov. 18.
• The Falcons received eight votes in the USA Today Sports Top 25 coaches poll on Tuesday (Jan. 14), the team's highest total of the season. BG had received six votes in each of the previous two weeks.
BATTLE OF THE BOARDS
• The Falcons have enjoyed more than their fair share of success on the glass over the last year-plus. Since the start of the 2012-13 season, BGSU has won the rebounding battle in 40 of 51 games, including in 14 of the 20 MAC contests. Three of the other games saw the teams tie in that category.
• This year, the Falcons have out-rebounded the foes in 13 of the first 16 games, with double-digit margins in five of those matchups. BG owns a rebounding margin of +8.8 this year to date. BGSU has out-boarded three of the four MAC opponents so far in 2013-14, with a +6.2 rebounding margin in league play.
THREE FOR ALL
BGSU made nine three-point field goals in Wednesday's win over Ball State. The Falcons now have hit at least one three-pointer in each of the last 292 games. BG has not been held without a trey since Feb. 12, 2005, at Akron, when the Falcons downed the Zips, 61-52, despite going 0-of-13 from long distance.
LEAD, FOLLOW OR GET OUT OF THE WAY
• Through the first 16 games this season, there have been seven (Michigan, Niagara, Old Dominion, Monmouth, UMass, Saint Francis and Kent State) contests in which BG never trailed, two more (Ohio State and Akron) in which the Falcons were behind for less than a minute, and a 10th (Milwaukee) that saw BG trail for just over a minute.
• This year to date, BGSU has led for a total of 504:23 – 78.8 percent of the time – and trailed for just 104:56 (16.4%). The Falcons and the opponents have been tied for a total of 30:41.
• BGSU has trailed for a total of just eight minutes and 19 seconds (in 240 minutes of action) in the six home games, and the Falcons have not trailed later than the 12:40 mark of the first half of any game at the Stroh Center this season.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the Central Michigan game with an overall record of 14-2 and a 4-0 MAC ledger. BGSU's non-conference wins included home games vs. Niagara, Milwaukee, Massachusetts and Saint Francis, road games vs. Iona, Butler and Ohio State, and neutral-site matchups against Michigan, Old Dominion and Monmouth. The Falcons' losses came at the hands of Marist (Nov. 22) in the Basketball Hall of Fame Challenge, and at Purdue on the road (Dec. 22).
• BGSU opened MAC play with a 62-50 win over Buffalo at the Stroh Center last weekend (Jan. 4), before downing Kent State, 58-39, in Northeast Ohio on Thursday evening (Jan. 9). Last weekend (Jan. 12), the Brown and Orange topped preseason East Division favorite Akron, 81-65, at the Stroh, and BGSU went to Muncie and picked up a 72-61 win over Ball State Wednesday night (Jan. 15).
• Fifth-year senior Alexis Rogers, fourth-year Falcon Jillian Halfhill and redshirt sophomore Erica Donovan lead a balanced scoring attack. Rogers is averaging 13.0 points per game, with Halfhill scoring 11.6 ppg and Donovan 11.2 ppg this year to date.
• Sophomore Miriam Justinger has 9.2 points per game and junior Deborah Hoekstra 8.3 ppg. Senior Jill Stein and junior Jasmine Matthews have scored 6.7 and 5.9 points per contest, respectively.
• Stein leads the team and ranks fifth in the MAC in rebounding, with 8.9 boards per game, while Rogers has pulled down 8.0 rpg and Donovan 5.8. BGSU has had at least one player with 10 rebounds in 13 of this season's first 16 games.
• Halfhill leads the Falcons with 3.4 assists per outing, with Justinger handing out 2.5 apg to date. Stein is third on the team in that category, with 2.1 helpers per game.
• Rogers is shooting 53.5 percent from the floor, ranking third in the MAC in that category, while Donovan is shooting 46.0% and Hoekstra 45.2%. From long range, Halfhill has made a team-leading 28 three-point field goals, while Hoekstra has hit 22 shots from beyond the arc. Four other Falcons have made between eight and 16 treys apiece.
• Hoekstra leads the entire MAC in three-point field-goal percentage, having gone 22-of-48 (45.8%) from long distance to date.
• Freshmen Abby Siefker and Rachel Konieczki are averaging 1.9 and 1.8 ppg, respectively. Freshman Kennedy Kirkpatrick has seen action in five games off the bench, and classmate Leah Bolton made her BGSU debut in the Monmouth game.
• Halfhill, Justinger, Rogers and Stein each have started all 16 games this season to date, with Donovan starting 15. Donovan started the first 12 games, but Matthews took her place in the lineup for the Buffalo game, as Donovan missed tipoff due to a funeral. Donovan was back in the starting five for the Kent State game, and has started each game since that time.
• Head coach Jennifer Roos and her staff welcomed back seven letterwinners from a year ago, and the program also has added seven newcomers – five to the roster and two to the coaching staff.
• Through 16 games, the Falcons are shooting 41.1 percent from the field, 34.7% from three-point range and 73.9% from the foul line. Opponents are shooting 37.1% from the floor, 29.1% from the arc and 72.0% from the stripe. The Falcons have a scoring margin of +13.4, a rebounding margin of +8.8 and a turnover margin of +2.0 on the year.
• In MAC games, BGSU is shooting 37.7% from the field, 36.3% from three-point land and 83.7% from the line. Opponents have shot 37.2% overall, 28.6% from long range and 66.1% from the stripe in MAC play.
THE CENTRAL MICHIGAN CHIPPEWAS
Central Michigan enters Saturday's game with an overall record of 8-8, and the Chippewas are a perfect 4-0 in MAC play. CMU posted double-digit wins over Toledo, Akron and Buffalo, averaging 91.7 points in those three games, before picking up a 65-60 win over visiting Northern Illinois on Wednesday night (Jan. 15). The Chippewas, who played one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country, were a unanimous choice to win the MAC West Division title, and CMU was picked to win the MAC Tournament as well. Central is 4-0 at home, 3-6 on the road and 1-2 in neutral-site matches. Individually, junior guard Crystal Bradford leads the Chippewas in both scoring and rebounding, with 20.5 points and 11.3 boards per game. She is third in the MAC in scoring, and leads the conference in rebounding. Senior guard Niki DiGuilio has 13.9 points per game and has hit a MAC-best 54 three-point field goals. Junior guard Jessica Green and junior forward Jas'Mine Bracey are averaging 11.7 and 10.3 ppg, respectively. Green leads the Chippewas with 4.1 assists per game, while Bracey is second in the MAC (behind Bradford) with 9.7 rpg. Head coach Sue Guevara welcomed back 10 letterwinners, including three starters, from last year's team. The 2012-13 edition of the Chippewas went 21-12 overall and 12-4 in MAC regular-season play, tying for second in the West Division and going on the win the MAC Tournament championship.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Central Michigan, 46-15, in the all-time series between the teams, but CMU captured the last meeting in a big way. The teams split a pair of lopsided decisions last season, with the Falcons winning an 84-59 decision in the teams' regular-season meeting at the Stroh Center (Feb. 3, 2013). Then, however, Central bounced the Falcons from the MAC Tournament with an 81-48 win in the tourney's third round in Cleveland (March 14, 2013). BG's last trip to Mount Pleasant saw the Falcons come away with a 77-72 overtime decision two years ago (Jan. 28, 2012). BGSU is 24-4 in home games, 18-7 on the road and 4-4 in neutral-site contests vs. the Chippewas over the years. Jennifer Roos is 1-1 against the Chippewas as a head coach, although she also served as interim head coach of the Falcons for that 2012 game in Mount Pleasant.
FALCONS VS. THE MAC
The Falcons continue to own the best record in MAC history. Entering the Central Michigan game, BGSU has an all-time record of 377-152 (.713) in MAC regular-season contests, for the most wins and highest winning pct. 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 (730) and highest overall winning percentage (.652) of any conference school.
DEFENSE!
• During her time as an assistant coach at BGSU, Jennifer Roos served as the team's defensive coordinator. The team enjoyed great success at the defensive end of the floor, and that success continued in her first season as head coach. In 2012-13, Roos and assistant coach Jesse Fleming helped the Falcons set a school record for fewest points allowed per game – 54.3 – breaking the record set the previous year.
• Last year's team also set new school records for fewest points allowed and lowest opponent field-goal percentage allowed in MAC games. In the 16 conference contests, league foes averaged just 51.9 points and shot only 36.1% from the floor.
• Those trends have continued in the 2013-14 season. In the first 16 games, despite playing a difficult schedule, BGSU has allowed 56.1 points per game and permitted the opponents to shoot just 37.1% from the field to date.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Redshirt sophomore Erica Donovan had a double-double, with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, in the win over Akron. The double-double was the Falcons' fifth in as many games. BGSU has a total of 10 double-doubles this season, topping the total (nine) for all of last year. Fifth-year senior Alexis Rogers has four double-doubles this season, while Donovan has three, senior Jill Stein two and senior Jillian Halfhill one.
THE FALCONS ARE ...
• 14-2 this year to date, after posting a 24-11 overall record last season;
• 4-0 in MAC play in 2013-14, after going 11-5 in MAC action in '12-13 (Last year's team finished in second place in the East Division by a game, snapping a streak of eight-straight division titles);
• 296-105 since Jennifer Roos came to BGSU in the summer of 2001;
• 150-46 in MAC games in that time:
• 275-70 over the last 10-plus years, with 2012-13 marking BG's MAC-record 10th-straight season of at least 20 wins;
• a staggering 254-60 in the past nine-plus years, with no fewer than 23 wins in nine-straight seasons and a MAC overall regular-season title in seven of those nine years (2004-10 and again in '12, after winning an East Division crown in '11);
• an eye-popping 231-52 overall, and 115-17 in the MAC regular season, in the last eight-plus years, with at least 24 wins in each of the last eight seasons;
• a splendiferous 203-49 in the last seven-plus years, including a 99-17 league ledger;
• a/an (insert your own adjective here) 172-45 overall, and 84-16 in MAC regular-season games, in the last six-plus seasons, since Monique Rosati came to the BGSU program;
• 146-37 overall and 71-13 in MAC action over the last five-plus winters;
• 117-32, including a 56-12 MAC ledger, in the last four-plus seasons;
• 90-25 overall and 42-10 in the MAC since seniors Jillian Halfhill and Jill Stein ventured to campus;
• 62-20 overall, and 29-7 in MAC action, since senior Alexis Rogers and juniors Deborah Hoekstra and Jasmine Matthews first put on a BGSU uniform;
• 38-13 since senior Katrina Salinas and sophomore Miriam Justinger were added to the Falcons' roster;
• 138-21 in the last 159 games vs. MAC foes (regular-season and tournament);
• A perfect 63-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field since 2001;
• 236-11 when having a better FG percentage than the opposition in that time, including a 108-1 mark in the last five-plus seasons (the lone exception was the Drexel game in the third round of the WNIT last year);
• 225-38 when making more free throws than the opponent in the Roos Assistant-Coach/Associate-Head-Coach/Interim-Head-Coach/Head-Coaching Era;
• 189-23 when outrebounding the opponent in that 12-plus-year span;
• 67-7 in MAC home games in the last nine-plus seasons;
• 55-11 in MAC road games over the last eight-plus years;
• 20-4 in the MAC Tournament in the last nine years, with five titles (2005, '06, '07, '10 and '11), an additional championship-game appearance (2009), and trips to the semis in 2008 and 2012;
• 44-18 overall in the MAC Tournament since it was instituted in 1982;
• 21-6 at Gund/Quicken Loans Arena, the site of the MAC Tournament;
• 50-6 in all non-conference home games since the start of the 2003-04 season;
• 7-16 in 16 national postseason appearances (including a 3-11 record in the NCAA Championships and a 4-5 mark in WNIT trips);
• 6-9 in national postseason action since Roos arrived at BG (including a 2-5 mark in the NCAAs and a 4-4 record in the WNIT); and
• 34-7 in the Stroh Center, with five of the seven losses coming by a combined 11 points.
TRY TO MAKE MORE THAN THEY TAKE
The 2013-14 Falcons appear to be continuing an impressive trend of getting to the foul line much more often than the other team. BGSU has made a total of 264 free throws this season to date. That total is 21 more than the opponents have attempted (243). BGSU has made more tosses than the foes have attempted in three of the last five years. And, the Falcons' total of free throws made has been at least 100 higher than the opponents' FTM total in each of the last eight seasons. The 2002-03 campaign was the last time the opposition made, or attempted, more free throws than BG.
UP NEXT
Following the CMU game, the Falcons will return home for the next two contests. The Brown and Orange will host Eastern Michigan on Thursday night (Jan. 23), before facing Northern Illinois next Sunday afternoon (Jan. 26), in a MAC TV game at the Stroh Center. The month of January ends with a game at Ohio on Thursday, Jan. 30.
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