Bowling Green State University Athletics
Thursday, January 9
Kent, OH
7:00 PM
Bowling Green State University
at
Kent State
BGSU Ventures to NE Ohio to Face KSU Thursday
January 08, 2014 | Women's Basketball
Falcons open road portion of MAC schedule
BGSU NOTES & STATS - PDF
OFF TO A GOOD START
The Falcons enter the Kent State game with a record of 1-0 in MAC play, having downed Buffalo, 62-50, on Saturday (Jan. 4). BGSU is now 26-7 in MAC openers through the years, and the Falcons have won 10 consecutive conference openers. On Thursday, BGSU will be looking to improve to 2-0 in the MAC for the 20th time in school history.
ROGERS NAMED MAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• Fifth-year senior Alexis Rogers was named MAC Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday afternoon (Jan. 6). She earned the honor for the second time this season and the seventh time in her BGSU career.
• BGSU has picked up a MAC Player-of-the-Week honor in each of the last three weeks, and on four total occasions this season. Rogers earned the honor two weeks ago (Dec. 23), with redshirt sophomore Erica Donovan being named MAC P-O-W last Monday (Dec. 30). BG's list of honorees this season also includes senior Jillian Halfhill, who was named league player of the week on Nov. 25.
• In addition to earning MAC Player-of-the-Week accolades on Monday, Rogers also was named the conference P-O-W by both the College Sports Madness and the Hustle Belt web sites.
• Rogers, a native of West Chester, Ohio (Lakota West H.S.), had a double-double as the Falcons opened the MAC schedule with a 62-50 win over Buffalo Saturday afternoon (Jan. 4) at the Stroh Center. Rogers had a game-high 22 points and a game- and career-high 17 rebounds in the victory, amassing those lofty totals in just 29 minutes.
LAST TIME OUT: ROGERS, FALCONS OPEN MAC PLAY WITH 62-50 WIN
• Senior Alexis Rogers had 22 points and 17 rebounds as the Falcons opened MAC play on a successful note, downing Buffalo, 62-50, at the Stroh Center Saturday afternoon (Jan. 4).
• The Falcons shot just 33.9 percent from the field on the day, but BG held UB to only a 32.8% success rate. BGSU enjoyed a 51-35 rebounding advantage, with 19 offensive boards in the win.
• Sophomore Miriam Justinger joined Rogers in double digits with 11 points on the day. All 11 of those points came in the opening half as the Falcons overcame an early UB advantage.
• Senior Jill Stein had a well-rounded game for the Brown and Orange, with nine points, 13 rebounds and game-high totals of five assists and three blocked shots.
• Rogers' rebound total was the highest by a BGSU player in nearly five years. In fact, no Falcon has had more than 17 boards in a game since 1996.
• For Buffalo, Margeaux Gupilan had 15 points, while Joanna Smith added 10. Mackenzie Loesing added eight points, but played only five minutes before suffering an injury and missing the rest of the contest.
• Loesing and the Bulls got off to a hot start, scoring the game's first seven points and forcing BGSU to use a timeout just two minutes into the contest. After the Bulls took a 12-4 lead, though, the Falcons scored the next eight points as part of larger runs of 15-2 and 23-5.
• The Bulls remained within striking distance, and got as close as five points with 7:29 remaining, but redshirt sophomore Erica Donovan found Rogers for a back-door layup, then hit a three-pointer to give the Brown and Orange a 51-41 lead with 6:31 left.
ROGERS AND REBOUNDING
• As mentioned, Alexis Rogers had a total of 17 rebounds on Saturday, the highest by a BGSU player in nearly five years. Lauren Prochaska had 17 boards (along with 22 points) in the Falcons' 72-69 win over Syracuse in a WNIT game at Anderson Arena on March 22, 2009.
• One other BG player has pulled down 17 rebounds in a game within the last decade (Liz Honegger, 17 at Northern Illinois on Jan. 10, 2004), but no Falcon has had more than 17 boards since the 1995-96 campaign. Charlotta Jones pulled down 22 rebounds against Miami on Jan. 31, 1996, at Anderson Arena.
• Prior to Saturday's game, Rogers' previous rebounding high was 16, in a contest at Ohio on Feb. 22, 2012.
A FEW MORE NOTES FROM THE BUFFALO GAME
• Senior Alexis Rogers (10) and sophomore Miriam Justinger (9) combined to score BGSU's first 19 points vs. UB. No other Falcon scored until a free throw with 10:38 left in the first half, and no other BG player made a field goal until the 8:09 mark.
• Junior Jasmine Matthews made her first start of the season, after BGSU's lineup had been the same – Justinger, Rogers, seniors Jillian Halfhill and Jill Stein and redshirt sophomore Erica Donovan – in each of the first 12 games of the year.
• Donovan missed the start of the game due to a funeral. She arrived at the Stroh Center late in the first half, and was in BG's lineup at the start of the second half.
• Freshman Abby Siefker sang the National Anthem prior to Saturday's game..
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 38 of 48 games, including in 12 of the 17 MAC contests. Three of the other games saw the teams tie in that category. This year, the Falcons have out-rebounded the foes in 11 of the first 13 games, with double-digit margins in five of those matchups. BG owns a rebounding margin of +10.1 this year to date.
QUICK HITS
• BGSU is 11-2 overall and 1-0 in MAC play. The Falcons have won seven of the last eight games, winning each of those seven by at least 12 points.
• In fact, nine of the Falcons' 11 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 nine wins came by at least 11 points.
• The Falcons have posted four wins of 23 points or more, including three in five home games this year to date. BGSU has won those five games at the Stroh Center by an average of 24.4 points per contest.
• In addition to the five home wins, the Falcons have three road victories and three neutral-site triumphs this season. BG a perfect 5-0 at the Stroh Center, and the Falcons are 3-1 both on the road and in neutral-site contests. BG has road wins over Iona, Butler and Ohio State, and the Falcons have topped Michigan, Old Dominion and Monmouth in neutral-site action. In addition to the road setback at Purdue, the Falcons' other loss came to Marist on a neutral court.
• In BGSU's five home games, vs. Niagara, Milwaukee, UMass, Saint Francis and Buffalo, the Falcons have averaged 81.2 points per game. BG has shot better than 50% from the floor in five of the 10 halves of basketball at the Stroh this season to date.
• BGSU has had a balanced scoring attack this season. Five Falcons are averaging between 8.8 and 13.2 points per game, and two other players have at least 5.8 ppg to date.
• The Falcons' five starters each have attempted between 88 and 127 shots, meaning that every starter is averaging no fewer than 6.7, but no more than 9.7, field-goal attempts per game.
• BGSU leads the MAC and ranks 20th in the nation in scoring defense, having allowed just 56.3 points per game. The Falcons also lead the MAC in rebounding margin (+9.8), and BG is second among league teams in scoring margin (+13.0).
• The Falcons are second in the MAC in field-goal pct. defense (36.8%), and BG is fourth in three-point FG pct. (33.7%). Stated another way, BGSU has had nearly as much success at making shots from beyond the arc as the opponents have had from anywhere on the court.
• BGSU is 20th in the nation in rebounding margin. The Falcons had rebounding advantages of 53-36 (Saint Francis) and 51-35 (Buffalo) in the last two games.
• For the second-straight week, the Falcons received six votes in the USA Today Sports Top 25 women's basketball coaches poll. BGSU had received seven votes in each of three-straight weeks in December, before getting two votes two weeks ago, after a loss at nationally-ranked Purdue.
LEAD, FOLLOW OR GET OUT OF THE WAY
• Through the first 13 games of the season, there have been six (Michigan, Niagara, Old Dominion, Monmouth, UMass and Saint Francis) contests in which BG never trailed, a seventh (Ohio State) in which the Falcons were behind for only 46 seconds, and an eighth (Milwaukee) that saw BG trail for just over a minute.
• This year to date, BGSU has led for a total of 411:18 – 79.1 percent of the time – and trailed for just 86:19 (16.6%). The Falcons and the opponents have been tied for a total of 22:23.
• BGSU has trailed for a total of just seven minutes and 29 seconds (in 200 minutes of action) in the first five 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.
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 as the 2013-14 season has gotten underway. In the first 13 games, despite playing a difficult schedule, BGSU has allowed 56.3 points per game and permitted the opponents to shoot just 36.7% from the field to date.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Fifth-year senior Alexis Rogers had a double-double, exploding for 22 points and a career-high 17 rebounds, in the Buffalo game. The double-double was her fourth of the season and the 19th of her career. The Falcons now have a total of eight double-doubles this season, after recording nine during all of last year. In addition to the four by Rogers this winter, redshirt sophomore Erica Donovan has had two double-doubles and seniors Jillian Halfhill and Jill Stein one apiece.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the Kent State game with an overall record of 11-2 and a 1-0 MAC ledger. BGSU's wins include home games vs. Niagara, Milwaukee, Massachusetts, Saint Francis and Buffalo, 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 on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 4).
• Fifth-year senior Alexis Rogers, redshirt sophomore Erica Donovan and fourth-year Falcon Jillian Halfhill each have scored between 140 and 172 points this season. Rogers is averaging 13.2 points per game, with Donovan scoring 12.0 ppg and Halfhill 10.8 ppg this year to date.
• Sophomore Miriam Justinger and junior Deborah Hoekstra have averaged 9.2 and 8.8 points per game, respectively, while junior Jasmine Matthews and senior Jill Stein each have 5.8 points per contest.
• Stein leads the team and ranks second in the MAC in rebounding, with 9.3 boards per game, while Rogers has pulled down 8.4 rpg and Donovan 6.1. Rogers and Stein combined for 30 total rebounds in the win over UB. Halfhill leads the Falcons with 3.4 assists per outing, with Justinger handing out 2.7 apg to date. Stein is third on the team in that category, with 2.3 helpers per game.
• Rogers is shooting 55.4 percent from the floor – she leads the entire MAC in that category – while Hoekstra is shooting 50.0% and Donovan 47.1%. From long range, Halfhill has a team-leading 20 three-point field goals, while Hoekstra has hit 18 shots from beyond the arc. Four other Falcons have made between seven and 14 treys apiece.
• Hoekstra leads the entire MAC in three-point field-goal percentage, having gone 18-of-39 (46.2%) from long distance to date.
• Freshmen Rachel Konieczki and Abby Siefker are averaging 2.0 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 13 games this season to date. 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.
• 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 13 games, the Falcons are shooting 41.4 percent from the field, 33.5% from three-point range and 70.8% from the foul line. Opponents are shooting 36.7% from the floor, 29.7% from the arc and 72.4% from the stripe. The Falcons have a scoring margin of +13.0, a rebounding margin of +10.1 and a turnover margin of +1.2 on the year.
THE KENT STATE GOLDEN FLASHES
Kent State enters Thursday's game with an overall record of 3-9, and the Golden Flashes are 0-1 in MAC play. KSU dropped the conference opener, 88-70, to visiting Eastern Michigan on Saturday (Jan. 4), and the Flashes are looking to snap a four-game losing streak. Kent State's roster features seven newcomers, plus an eighth player who sat out last season at the school as a transfer. The Flashes are 2-5 at home, 0-4 on the road and 1-0 in neutral-site matches this season to date. The team's wins have come against Eastern Kentucky, Stephen F. Austin and Niagara. Individually, junior forward Montia Johnson leads the Flashes in scoring, with 10.8 points per game, and she ranks second on the team in rebounding, with 7.1 rebounds per contest. Freshman guard Larissa Lurken has 8.4 ppg and has made a team-leading 13 three-point field goals this winter, while junior center CiCi Shannon has 7.8 ppg and leads the Flashes in both rebounding (7.2 rpg) and blocked shots (2.8 bpg). Senior guards Amber Dunlap and Ashley Evans have 7.6 and 7.1 ppg, respectively. Head coach Danielle O'Banion welcomed back five letterwinners, including two starters, from last year's team. The 2012-13 edition of the Golden Flashes went 3-27 overall and 1-15 in MAC regular-season play.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead Kent State, 50-28, in the all-time series between the teams, and
BGSU has won the last six meetings and 19 of the last 20 matchups. BG captured three games from the Golden Flashes in the 2012-13 season, with a 69-33 triumph at the Stroh Center (Jan. 10, 2013) and a 51-43 victory in Kent (March 6, 2013) during the regular season. Just three days after the latter game, the teams met again in the first round of the MAC Tournament, and the Brown and Orange advanced with a 76-35 win at the Stroh (March 9, 2013). The Flashes' last win in the series was a 44-43 decision in Kent three years ago (Jan. 15, 2011). The Falcons are 24-10 in home games, 19-16 in road contests and 7-2 in neutral-site meetings with Kent/Kent State over the years. Overall, the Flashes had won 12-straight matchups, and 17-of-18 contests, before BGSU captured the next 13 meetings prior to KSU's win in January of '11. Jennifer Roos is 3-0 against the Golden Flashes as a head coach.
FALCONS VS. THE MAC
The Falcons continue to own the best record in MAC history. Entering the KSU game, BGSU has an all-time record of 374-152 (.711) 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 (727) and highest overall winning percentage (.651) of any conference school.
THE FALCONS ARE ...
• 11-2 this year to date, after posting a 24-11 overall record last season;
• 1-0 in MAC play in 2013-14, after going 11-5 in MAC play 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);
• 293-105 since Jennifer Roos came to BGSU in the summer of 2001;
• 147-46 in MAC games in that time:
• 272-70 over the last 10-plus years, with 2012-13 marking BG's MAC-record 10th-straight season of at least 20 wins;
• a staggering 251-60 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 228-52 overall, and 112-17 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 200-49 in the last seven-plus years, including a 96-17 league ledger;
• a/an (insert your own adjective here) 169-45 overall, and 81-16 in MAC regular-season games, in the last six-plus seasons, since Monique Rosati came to the BGSU program;
• 143-37 overall and 68-13 in MAC action over the last five-plus winters;
• 114-32, including a 53-12 MAC ledger, in the last four-plus seasons;
• 87-25 overall and 39-10 in the MAC since seniors Jillian Halfhill and Jill Stein ventured to campus;
• 59-20 overall, and 26-7 in MAC action, since senior Alexis Rogers and juniors Deborah Hoekstra and Jasmine Matthews first put on a BGSU uniform;
• 35-13 since senior Katrina Salinas and sophomore Miriam Justinger were added to the Falcons' roster;
• 135-21 in the last 156 games vs. MAC foes (regular-season and tournament);
• A perfect 63-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field since 2001;
• 234-11 when having a better FG percentage than the opposition in that time, including a 106-1 mark in the last five-plus seasons (the lone exception was the Drexel game in the third round of the WNIT last year);
• 222-38 when making more free throws than the opponent in the Roos Assistant-Coach/Associate-Head-Coach/Interim-Head-Coach/Head-Coaching Era;
• 187-23 when outrebounding the opponent in that 12-plus-year span;
• 66-7 in MAC home games in the last nine-plus seasons;
• 53-11 in MAC road games over the last eight 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
• 33-7 in the Stroh Center, with five of the seven losses coming by a combined 11 points.
THEN AND NOW
• Junior Deborah Hoekstra scored a total of 83 points, making 23 total field goals including 13 three-pointers, over her first two seasons. This year to date, Hoekstra has 114 points, having hit 37 total shots including 18 from beyond the arc.
• Hoekstra has scored in double figures six times this year, after doing so on two occasions over her first two years.
• Redshirt sophomore Erica Donovan has hit double figures eight times this year. She reached double digits six times during her entire first season, at North Carolina State two years ago.
• Sophomore Miriam Justinger has scored in double digits six times this season, after doing so four times during her freshman campaign.
• Senior Jill Stein entered the season with a career total of 45 assists, and averaged 0.5 assists per game over her first three years. This year, Stein is averaging 2.3 apg, good for third on the team. She has had at least three helpers on six occasions, and has had a career-high five assists twice in the last four games (vs. Massachusetts and Buffalo).
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 196 free throws this season to date. That total is nearly as many as the opponents have attempted (199). 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 Kent State game, the Falcons will return home to face MAC East Division preseason favorite Akron on Sunday (Jan. 12). Tipoff for that game, the first half of a doubleheader at the Stroh Center, is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Then, the Brown and Orange will return to the road to take on Ball State (Jan. 15) and Central Michigan (Jan. 18) in a pair of MAC TV games, before hosting Eastern Michigan (Jan. 23) and Northern Illinois (Jan. 26).
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