Bowling Green Women's Hoops

Conference and National Respect

2011-11-07T14:14:00.000-05:00

The 2011-12 BGSU Women's Basketball Team opens their season this Friday, November 11th, at Dayton

We never have, nor ever will, put much stock into pre-season polls. It’s difficult for us to figure out what our young team will be like tomorrow, let alone how they’ll do for an entire season! But though pre-season polls mean nothing in regards to how a team will perform in the long season ahead, it sometimes carries a message as to how others perceive your program. That’s why, though we graduated six seniors, four of whom were starters, who combined for over 6,000 points and 2,500 rebounds, we were shocked as two pre-season polls – the MAC Pre-Season Poll and the National Mid-Major Top 25 Poll had us so highly ranked!

In the MAC poll, conducted by the coaches and media representatives of all twelve MAC schools, we were picked to win the East Division. Only going to reinforce further the idea that we have a bulls-eye on our back, it is also a great sign of respect from the rest of the coaches and personnel around the conference. For your peers to vote your program to the top when it returns just 30% of our scoring and 40% of our rebounding, it says a lot about how much they respect not so much our team but our entire program, and though we will be young, our expectations will not change.

Even more surprising was the recent National Mid-Major Top 25 Pre-Season Poll that was recently released, and had us ranked at #6 in the nation! The panel, made up of 30 coaches from 23 Mid-Major Conferences across the nation, truly honored us with such a great sign of respect, ranking us so highly despite the fact that we are basically an entire new team this year.

For us to be ranked so highly after graduating those six seniors (and all their points and rebounds!) does give us a touch of pride. It is an honor knowing our program is so well-respected by our coaching peers not only in our conference but nationally as well. The only expectations higher than those of the voters is our own! It will take a lot of patience and growing pains to meet the expectations we have for ourselves, but we wouldn’t want it any other way!

In High Demand

2011-10-11T15:41:00.000-04:00

Coach Miller is known nationally not only for his ability to teach his players the game, but in assisting fellow coaches as well!

One of the more flattering aspects of being a head coach at the Division I level is that when your peers and colleagues truly respect what you’ve accomplished, you can be asked to speak at coaching clinics. Thus, it’s not a big surprise, but flattering nonetheless, that Coach Miller is asked multiple times a year to speak at clinics all over the country.

Though it is extremely difficult to honor such requests with all the time demands running your own Division I program brings, Coach Miller recently did find time this past Friday to speak at the University of Indianapolis Coaches Clinic. The clinic’s speakers included among others Matt Painter, Purdue University’s Men’s Head Coach, Rob Senderoff, Kent State’s new Men’s Head Coach, and Sharon Versyp, Purdue’s Women’s Head Coach. Speaking in front of over 100 Indiana High School Boys and Girls coaches, Coach Miller demonstrated some of our secondary breaks and early offenses. Judging by the numerous requests he’s been getting from coaches who attended the clinic asking for more information, and/or to come watch practice and meet with him, it’s a reasonable assumption to think that his topic was well received.

And for fans who worry that Coach Versyp was taking very detailed notes in order to help prepare for our November 17^th game in the first official women’s basketball game in the Stroh Center, Coach Miller wanted everyone to know that he was very informative, but that he didn’t share ALL our secrets!

Though travelling and speaking at various clinics adds more responsibility and time constraints on an already stressful schedule, Coach Miller will continue to go out and speak nationally about our program - both an honor to him personally, and a tremendous way to represent our program and Bowling Green State University.

Coach Miller will continue to go out and speak nationally about our program - both an honor to him personally, and a tremendous way to represent our program and Bowling Green State University.

Community Service at the Black Swamp Arts Festival

2011-09-15T14:17:00.000-04:00

Maribeth Giese, Alexis Rogers and Deborah Hoekstra assist with tying shirts.

Shanique Ogle helps kids dye their shirts.

One of our youngest super-fans, Alex Popovich, shows off his newly dyed shirt!

We have a lot of pride in our program – proud of our seven straight championships, proud of our nationally-ranked team GPA, proud of our new home at the Stroh Center – but another area that we take great pride in is our community service.

This past weekend our team participated in the annual Black Swamp Arts Festival, a nationally-renowned three-day affair that draws thousands of people from all over the country to Bowling Green. So on Sunday, as most college students slept in, our entire team was up and at it, volunteering to help at the Tie-Dye tent at the festival.

Throughout the morning and well into the afternoon, the team worked through rain and shine, bringing smile after smile to the faces of the hundreds of kids and parents that stopped by to create a shirt. It was a true team effort, as our team had specific responsibilities, including checking kids in, tying shirts up with rubber bands, assisting the kids as they dyed their shirts, and even bagging them up when done. For some of the freshmen it was their first community service event with the team, and quite an eye-opener. Freshman Shanique Ogle said “I was shocked how many people came to the tent just to say hi to us, and how many autographs we signed! I knew the community loved their BG Women’s Basketball, but I didn’t realize how much!” The veterans, too, enjoyed themselves. Junior Co-Captain Chrissy Steffen went on to say, “I’ve volunteered for the Black Swamp every year, and each time I have more and more fun. I’m looking forward to it next year already!”

Judging by the smiles on the kids’ faces, we’re pretty sure the community is looking forward to having us back too!

My First Week as a Falcon

2011-08-30T13:49:00.003-04:00

Freshman Logan Pastor, shown above from a high school game last year, was kind enough to share with us how her first week as a BG freshmen went - her blog is below.

On Friday, August 19, 2011, I arrived at BGSU and, with the help of my coaches, family, and teammates, moved into the brand new freshmen dorm, Centennial Hall. After spending the summer in Offenhauer with my roommate Kaila and fellow freshmen Jasmine, Shanique, and Deborah, I didn’t think it could get much better in dorm-life. But wow was I wrong! Centennial Hall is phenomenal. The best part (besides my teammates of course!) might be having our own personal bathroom…(except we have to clean it). Computer labs, flat screens tv’s, free laundry, the community kitchen – there are still things we haven’t discovered yet. The new dorm is simply incredible!

So following a fun opening weekend of hanging out with my teammates, and eating at the brand new dining facilities, I was ready to celebrate my birthday on Monday in style! Unfortunately, that meant it was time for the dreaded Gauntlet. We awoke early on Monday morning (yes, it was my birthday) and made our way to the track, where our coaches watched and supported us as we attacked the Gauntlet, a rugged fitness test we had trained for all summer. I will save you the gory details, but it’s definitely not the most fun way to spend a birthday. However, it was awesome seeing the team support one another the way we did, and it really showed me what being a part of this program is all about. The championships are great, but it is bond we share as friends and teammates that make this place so special.

The rest of the week almost seems a blur, with classes, weights, conditioning, and our first-ever individual workout on Friday. Rather than simply resting up over the weekend, we helped with visits from two really groovy recruits, and also interacted with the community at the Falcon Sports Kickoff on Saturday night. It was great meeting so many people who love and support BGSU Women’s Basketball!

The Gauntlet may not be the most ideal way of spending my birthday, but after my first week of college, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Jill Stein's Blog about her Trip to Guatemala

2011-08-11T16:55:00.003-04:00

Jill and her friend Wilson, one of the many new friends she made on her trip to Guatemala.

Recently sophomore Jill Stein returned from her 10 day trip to Guatemala, and was kind enough to blog about her experience for us!

People often hear about third-world countries and the devastation that is taking place, but because we are blessed enough to live in a place where we can go to the sink and get a glass full of clean, cold water or flush our toilet paper down after we’re done (sick, I know!), we often don’t take the time to think of the millions or even trillions of people around the world that don’t (and will probably never) experience these simple things. The past two weeks I have had the opportunity to go on a mission trip in Guatemala through an organization called ‘Champions in Action’. The mission of this organization is to connect “the disadvantaged youth of Guatemala to mentors through premier sports camps”. This means that for a week a group of 100 boys, ages 12-18, came to a premier soccer camp about two and a half hours outside the capital city.

During this time, myself, along with 30 other Americans from the Bowling Green area had the opportunity to teach these boys the fundamentals of the game they love so much. (Just as a side note, I once heard a story that two gangs of boys that were fighting, stopped the fight for a two-hour period just to play soccer. Unfortunately, after the game they continued fighting. But this gives you an idea as to how much these boys love their futbol!) Our typical day while at the camp looked something like this:

-Wake up at 6:15 for a warm-up at 6:30

-Warm-up 6:30-7:30

-Short group time 7:30-8

-Breakfast 8-9

-Devotional time 9-9:45

-Morning session/stations 9:45-12:30

- Swim time 12:30-1:30

- Lunch 1:30 -2:30

- Afternoon session/games 2:30-5:30

- Showers 5:30-6:30

-Dinner 6:30-8

-Down time 8-8:30

-Chapel service 8:30-10:30

-Lights out 10:30

So as you can see, we were working with a very tight schedule.

As important as the soccer was to the boys, our true mission there was to show them love and serve them like they have never experienced before. Most of these boys were from different ‘red zones’ throughout the city. A red zone is an especially dangerous area normally ran by gangs and drug lords. Unfortunately, most of these boys have lost their fathers to gang violence or prison and their mothers to drug addiction. Therefore, these boys have found a false sense of love from a gang leader or drug lord since they don’t receive any love from their families at home. This is another area in my life that I came home especially thankful for. Family is definitely something that many people take for granted (I know I have before), but after seeing 12 year old boys on the streets without a mother or father, you look at your life much differently. We are truly blessed.

So our main job throughout the week was to break down the walls of anger and rejection that the boys have built up their entire lives because they had no other way to cope with their situation. Instead, we replaced that anger and rejection with love, hope, and joy. When the boys would ask, “Why are you here? Why do you love us like this?” We would always reply, “We are just showing you the love the God has shown us” (1 John 4:19). For the first couple days it was hard for the boys to comprehend that they have always had and will always have a heavenly Father that will never leave them like their earthly fathers may have.

There was an extreme shift in all 100 of the boys from the time they arrived at camp on Sunday until the time we left on Friday. It warms my hearth to think of the glow in their eyes when I had to say goodbye knowing that they now know that gangs and drugs are not the only way to live. There is a much better way of life and they can achieve that with Christ by their side (Phil 4:13).

The past two weeks has been one of the best times of my life by far. I not only got to love on boys that needed it more than I could have imagined, but I also grew a lot myself. The Lord showed me all the ways I am truly blessed and that I don’t need all the material things in the world today to be happy. I’ve learned it is much more rewarding to share my God-given gifts, like love and joy, with others than to buy the next generation iPhone for my own personal enjoyment.

So I hope this little excerpt of my trip (I could write another 10 pages!) is encouraging and makes you think about all the blessings in your life you experience every day without even thinking about. I also challenge you to think of the ways you can show love to others around you. It doesn’t mean that you have to go to Guatemala on a mission trip or anything. You can show love to someone by just opening the door for them as you walk into the store or picking up papers that someone has dropped all over the floor. Little things like this may make someone’s day, and you might not even know it. I promise it will change your perspective on things, just as it has changed mine. God Bless!!!! J

Love,

Jill Stein

What BGSU Basketball is All About!

2011-08-04T10:33:00.004-04:00

Junior Simone Eli passes to a teammate during the 2010-11 Championship season. Simone, a walk-on her first two years, has earned a scholarship for her remaining two years because of her hard work and dedication to the program.

The following is a story that recently appeared in the Port Clinton News Herald about junior Simone Eli. Written by Matthew Horn, it is a fantastic article not only about Simone, but about what our program is all about, and the biggest factor in our success - team chemistry, and having a team of players and coaches that care for each other. Hope you enjoy the story - I know our staff sure did!

Genoa grad plays role on MAC championship team

Eli awarded scholarship as junior

Simone Eli had one field goal and two free throws for five points in 23 minutes over 13 games as a sophomore wing for Bowling Green State University's women's basketball team last season.

But Falcons coach Curt Miller considers Eli to be a very important piece to a puzzle that includes Mid-American Conference titles and NCAA Tournament appearances each of the last two years.

So what will Eli have as a junior? A scholarship.

"Simone is a feel-good story for our program," Miller said. "It's about her, but also our program. A player who scored one basket from the field last year earned a full-ride athletic scholarship. That tells you that sometimes the good guys are rewarded.

"She has earned a scholarship for a perennial champ because of her character and what she means to the team. That could never be reflected in stats. She understands she won't be a superstar in our program but she holds a valuable place."

Eli, a Genoa graduate, has relished her role simulating the opposition's top shooter in practices.

"She can help us stretch the floor and make 3s," Miller said. "She has a unique ability that many in Division 1 basketball don't -- she can make 3s when closely guarded. She has a quick release she can get off while contested.

"She creates driving lanes. That's more important than any stat. She brings the intangibles you need in a winning program."

Eli, who passed on full scholarship Division II opportunities to be part of the Falcons, takes pride in her role but is not satisfied with her playing time.

"I've accepted that and cherished that role," she said. "Twenty minutes or 20 seconds -- it's been my championship as well as everybody else's on the team. An opportunity has been presented for this season and I plan on earning more playing time.

"I knew when I chose to come to BG I wasn't going to be placed on scholarship till I was a junior and that it wouldn't be given to me. I'll work hard every day in practice and off the court. There is an opportunity for everybody on the team."

The Falcons have only one senior on the roster for the next season.

"We have five young freshmen," Miller said. "There are nine players on the roster in their freshman or sophomore season so it's important to show leadership and help the younger kids understand the championship culture we've created at Bowling Green."

Eli has developed into a bit of a fan favorite, a phenomenon common for some role players in successful programs. The fan base got a kick out of Eli burying a three-pointer for the Falcons' final points at Anderson Arena.

Miller, however, playfully won't let Eli forget she failed to get back on defense in her elation and also gave up the final basket.

Eli was second-team all-Ohio, Northwest District co-player of the year and Suburban Lakes League player of the year as she averaged 20.6 points, 4.6 assists and 2.8 steals as a senior for the Comets. She was part of two SLL championship teams, scored 1,000-plus points and established a program record with 176 threes in her career.

"Coming out of high school and having the success I had, it grounds you," she said. "It's been a humbling experience, but I haven't just sat back and waited. I had a great opportunity to watch Lauren Prochaska play and learn that position where she dominated for four years."

Eli, who plans to become a sports broadcaster, is in line to graduate a year early and pursue a master's in media communications. Her work ethic extends off the court as she's currently an intern at FOX Toledo and will be sports director for BG-24, the television station at BGSU, next semester.

Eli is liked and respected by teammates.

"Championship programs are built in the locker room," Miller said. "We've had the best team chemistry and cohesiveness of any team in the MAC. We work very hard to bring in high-character kids."

The Falcons have a familial bond as a team that even includes the community.

"It's my best friends," Eli said. "I couldn't ask for a better coaching staff. My teammates mean the world to me. We support each other in success and failure. Luckily, there aren't too many failures to talk about.

"(Winning is) the cherry on top of the cake."

Eli has experienced what she considers to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity advancing to the NCAA Tournament twice. She hopes to become a more integral part of the Falcons' formula the next two seasons.

"I'm honored to play for such a great program and community," she said. "There's been nothing as rewarding than to wear a Bowling Green jersey. My dad (Art) played baseball in the early 80s. To follow in his footsteps and make my family proud ... they've supported me all the way, and it's meant the world to me to represent Genoa.

"We expect to be successful and win the MAC."

Email Matthew Horn at mhorn@gannett.com.

Number 11 in the Nation!

2011-07-18T14:46:00.003-04:00

Few things get Coach Miller as excited as his team being nationally ranked for their academic success!

Recently I talked about how proud we were of our academic accomplishments, and we can add one more to the list – while the staff and I were on the road recruiting, the WBCA came out with the Top 25 GPA’s in Women’s Basketball, and for the 3^rd consecutive year, we were in the Top 25! This year, with our team GPA of 3.433 we came in ranked #11 nationally – an honor that I am so, so proud of! These young women epitomize the best of what it means to be a “student-athlete”. They not only balance workouts, practice, games, and road trips with their education, but they excel at it! What a way to cap off a tremendous year for our program – a 7^th straight championship, another trip to the NCAA Tournament, and a GPA ranked 11^th in the nation – doesn’t get much better than that!

I would be remiss, too, if I didn’t give a shout out to our Director of Academic Services, Ashley Baker, and Kerry Jones, who works directly with our team. Thank you for all your help!

Below is the final list of the Top 25 GPA’s in Women’s Basketball:

The 2011 WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll for NCAA Division I is as follows:

	Institution	2010-11 Head Coach	Team GPA
1	South Dakota State University	Aaron Johnston	3.666
2	Bucknell University	Kathy Fedorjaka	3.632
3	DePaul University	Douglas Bruno	3.582
4	Creighton University	Jim Flanery	3.527
5	Utah Valley University	Cathy Nixon	3.524
6	Indiana State University	Teri Moren	3.518
7	University of Hartford	Jennifer Rizzoti	3.456
8	University of New Mexico	Yvonne Sanchez	3.454
9	University of Dayton	James Jabir	3.445
10	Canisius College	Terrence Zeh	3.441
11	Bowling Green State University	Curt Miller	3.433
12	Montana State University-Bozeman	Tricia Binford	3.419
13	University of Montana	Robin Selvig	3.411
14	University of Akron	Jodi Kest	3.405
15	University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee	Sandy Botham	3.402
16	Oakland University	Beckie Francis	3.399
17	Youngstown State University	Robert Boldon	3.395
18	University of South Dakota	Ryun Williams	3.390
19	University of Wisconsin, Green Bay	Matthew Bollant	3.378
20	University of Maryland, Baltimore County	Phil Stern	3.374
21	Lipscomb University	Frank Bennett	3.373
T22	University of North Dakota	Gene Roebuck	3.358
T22	University of Northern Colorado	Jaime White	3.358
24	University of Evansville	Oties Epps	3.340
25	University of Denver	Erik Johnson	3.335

Champions on the Court AND in the Classroom!

2011-06-08T15:42:00.002-04:00

Head Coach Curt Miller celebrating graduation with seniors Kelly Zuercher and Chelsea (Albert) Groenewegen

As a program, we take tremendous pride in our accomplishments on the court. With a seven year run that included seven division titles, seven MAC Championships, seven post-season appearances, and a host of other honors and milestones, who wouldn’t?

However, we take just as much pride, if not more, in the accomplishment of our young women in the classroom. And that is why, when the spring semester grades came out recently, if you had seen our staff, you might have thought we just won another MAC Tournament! You’ve heard a lot about the basketball accomplishments, but how about some of our academic accomplishments this season:
· 10 members of the team have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher
· 15 members of the team have a cumulative GPA above a 3.16
· 3 members of the team have a cumulative GPA of 4.0
· 9 players earned a 4.0 GPA in the Spring and Fall semesters
· Maribeth Giese was a finalist for Junior Scholar Athlete of the Year
· Maggie Hennegan was named to the Capital One Academic All-District 4 Team
· 9 members of the team were Academic All-MAC Honorees, more than any other team in the MAC.
· Finished the 2011-12 Season with a Team Cumulative GPA of 3.43, which should put us in the Top 25 for the third consecutive year.

Aristotle said “Excellence is not an act, but a habit.” We are very fortunate to have in our program a group of women who strive for excellence, regardless of their endeavor. It shows on the court, and even more importantly, it shows in the classroom!

THANK YOU!!!

2011-03-21T17:32:00.003-04:00

Nothing beats our fans! At home, on the road, at the MAC Tournament or at the NCAA's - you are the best!

I wanted to take this opportunity to give a heartfelt thank you to our fans for helping to make this season such a special one. It was an unbelievable run – a 7th divisional championship, a 7th straight MAC Championship with the MAC Tournament Championship, an overall record of 28-5, and the graduation of six amazing seniors. But none of this would have been as special as it was if it weren’t for you, our fans. Your support is so fantastic, I can’t put into words just how much it means to our team and our program. There is a reason we’ve won 46 of our last 48 games here at home, and why coaches like Quentin Hillsman from Syracuse said “it was an honor to play in such a great college basketball atmosphere” or why Notre Dame’s Muffet McGraw said our “crowd is amazing”. YOU make this place special as much as any player ever has, and YOU make this place a difficult place for opponents to be successful! But not only that, you travel as well as ANY fans in the country, and it motivates our kids more than anything when they see more orange in the stands than the colors of the other team, and we’re on the road!

Just prior to tip-off against Central Michigan in the MAC Tournament Semi-Finals, CMU Head Coach Sue Guevara approached me on our bench and pointed to the sea of orange and said “Your fans are fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. I just had to come down here and tell you that. They’re amazing. I could only hope that someday we have a following like you do.” I don’t think I could’ve said it better myself.

Thank you, so very, very, very much, for the love and support you’ve shown our team this year. Next year when we open the Stroh Center we’ll be opening it with five freshmen, and we’ll continue to need your support more than ever. It may be a new building, but it will STILL be the House that Roars, thanks to you!

Gratefully Yours,

Curt Miller

Head Coach

BGSU Women's Basketball

A Senior Night to Remember

2011-03-03T12:04:00.003-05:00

Seniors Chelsea Albert, Lauren Prochaska, Kelly Zuercher, Tracy Pontius, Jen Uhl and Maggie Hennegan celebrated Senior Night and the final game in Anderson Arena with a 92-68 win over Buffalo.

Senior Night is always a special evening - for our team, our families and friends, our fans, and, of course, the seniors. This past Senior Night was one even more special than most, as we "Closed the Doors on the House that Roars", playing in Anderson Arena for the very last time. Our seniors combined for 70 points, and led us to an outstanding 92-68 win over Buffalo. Prior to the game, each senior was honored with flowers and gifts, and announced to the packed house, with a brief bio describing their four years here. In case you weren't able to make it to the game, below is the exact player introduction script from the evening, written by our Sports Information Director Mike Cihon. Thanks to the Seniors, the team, our friends and family, and especially our fans, for a perfect evening. Next stop - Cleveland on Wednesday, noon tipoff for our MAC Tournament Quarterfinal game!

BGSU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SENIOR SCRIPT
MARCH 2, 2011, VS. BUFFALO

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, AT THIS TIME PLEASE DIRECT YOUR ATTENTION TO CENTER COURT, AND JOIN BGSU HEAD COACH CURT MILLER, HIS STAFF, B-G-S-U DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS GREG CHRISTOPHER AND ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS LESLEY IRVINE FOR A SPECIAL CEREMONY. IN KEEPING WITH FALCON TRADITION, WE WOULD LIKE TO RECOGNIZE THE SENIORS IN THE PROGRAM BEFORE THEIR FINAL REGULAR-SEASON HOME GAME. THE MEMBERS OF THIS SENIOR CLASS HAVE HELPED THE FALCONS TO INCREDIBLE HEIGHTS DURING THEIR TIME HERE AT B-G-S-U.

FIRST, WE WOULD LIKE TO RECOGNIZE THE TWO TEAM MANAGERS IN THEIR SENIOR YEAR WITH THE PROGRAM. KYLE JEFFERSON IS COMPLETING HIS THIRD SEASON WITH THE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL PROGRAM. KYLE, A NATIVE OF BEREA (BURR-EE’-UH), OHIO, IS A SPORT MANAGEMENT MAJOR WITH A MINOR IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY. HE IS ACCOMPANIED BY HIS PARENTS, KEITH AND RENITA JEFFERSON. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, KYLE JEFFERSON!

CHRIS SIMLER IS WRAPPING UP HIS FOURTH YEAR AS A MANAGER WITH THE FALCONS. A NATIVE OF BOWLING GREEN, C-MONEY IS AN ADOLESCENT YOUNG ADULT MATH EDUCATION MAJOR, AND IS ACCOMPANIED BY HIS PARENTS, JAY AND RACHEL SIMLER. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, CHRIS SIMLER!

NOW, ON TO THE PLAYERS. THIS GROUP HAS HELPED THE FALCONS TO A TOTAL OF ONE HUNDRED AND SIX VICTORIES IN THEIR CAREERS, HEADING INTO TONIGHT’S GAME.

OUR FIRST SENIOR IS CHELSEA ALBERT. CHELSEA, A NATIVE OF BRIGHTON, MICHIGAN, HAS PLAYED IN ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY CAREER GAMES HEADING INTO TONIGHT. SHE IS SHOOTING NEARLY 45 PERCENT FROM THE FIELD DURING HER CAREER, AND HAS A FIELD-GOAL PERCENTAGE THAT IS CLOSER TO 55 PERCENT THIS SEASON. SHE HAS AVERAGED 2.3 POINTS AND NEARLY TWO REBOUNDS PER GAME THIS YEAR, INCLUDING A NINE-POINT GAME IN THE WIN OVER OAKLAND AND A SEVEN-POINT, SIX-REBOUND GAME AS B-G-S-U DOWNED CENTRAL MICHIGAN RIGHT HERE AT ANDERSON ARENA. CHELSEA’S CONTRIBUTIONS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN MERE NUMBERS, HOWEVER, AS SHE HAS BEEN A TREMENDOUS TEAMMATE, BOTH ON AND OFF THE COURT, OVER THE LAST FOUR YEARS. A TOURISM/EVENT PLANNING MAJOR, CHELSEA HAS A CUMULATIVE GRADE-POINT AVERAGE OF 3.44 THROUGH HER FIRST THREE-AND-A-HALF YEARS. SHE IS ACCOMPANIED BY HER PARENTS, BILL AND KELLY ALBERT. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, CHELSEA ALBERT!

OUR NEXT SENIOR TODAY IS MAGGIE HENNEGAN. MAGGIE, A CINCINNATI NATIVE, CAME TO B-G-S-U AFTER STARRING AT SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY FOR TWO SEASONS. SHE SAT OUT THE SEASON TWO YEARS AGO, THEN JOINED HER NEW TEAMMATES ON THE COURT, PLAYING IN ALL 34 GAMES AS LAST SEASON’S B-G TEAM WON MAC REGULAR-SEASON AND TOURNAMENT TITLES. SHE AVERAGED NEARLY FIVE POINTS AND FIVE REBOUNDS A YEAR AGO. THIS SEASON, MAGGIE HAS AVERAGED ALMOST NINE POINTS PER GAME, AND HAS SCORED 10 POINTS PER CONTEST IN MAC PLAY. SHE HAS STARTED EVERY GAME THIS SEASON. SHE LEADS THE TEAM AND RANKS FOURTH IN THE MAC IN FIELD-GOAL PERCENTAGE, AND HAS SCORED IN DOUBLE DIGITS 10 TIMES, INCLUDING SEVEN TIMES IN MAC GAMES. MAGGIE EARNED ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT SECOND-TEAM HONORS A YEAR AGO, AND WAS VOTED TO THE CAPITAL ONE ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT FIRST TEAM THIS SEASON. PERHAPS THE BEST TESTAMENT TO HER CHARACTER AND VALUE IS THIS FACT. MAGGIE WAS VOTED A TEAM CAPTAIN PRIOR TO LAST SEASON, MEANING THAT HER TEAMMATES DEEMED HER WORTHY OF BEING A CAPTAIN BEFORE SHE EVER PLAYED IN A GAME HERE AT B-G-S-U. SHE HAS SCORED A TOTAL OF 941 POINTS IN HER COLLEGIATE CAREER. A HEALTH CARE ADMINISTRATION MAJOR WITH A MINOR IN BUSINESS AS AN UNDERGRAD, SHE GRADUATED LAST AUGUST WITH A PERFECT 4.00 GPA, AND IS CURRENTLY IN THE M-B-A PROGRAM HERE AT B-G-S-U. SHE IS JOINED ON THE COURT TONIGHT BY HER PARENTS, RICK AND GRETCHEN HENNEGAN. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MAGGIE HENNEGAN!

OUR NEXT SENIOR IS TRACY PONTIUS. A NATIVE OF MORTON, ILLINOIS, TRACY CAME OFF THE BENCH DURING HER FRESHMAN YEAR, AVERAGING NEARLY THREE POINTS PER GAME. IN HER SOPHOMORE YEAR, SHE SEIZED THE STARTING POINT-GUARD POSITION AND GAVE THE FALCON OFFENSE ANOTHER DIMENSION. ALL TRACY DID IN HER FIRST SEASON WAS AVERAGE NEARLY 15 POINTS AND OVER FOUR ASSISTS PER GAME, EARNING ALL-MAC FIRST-TEAM HONORS AND BEING AN HONORABLE-MENTION SELECTION TO THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ALL-AMERICA TEAM. SHE HAS SCORED IN DOUBLE DIGITS IN EACH OF THE LAST THREE YEARS, HAS LED THE FALCONS IN ASSISTS IN EACH OF THOSE YEARS AND HAS SCORED OVER THIRTEEN HUNDRED CAREER POINTS. TRACY CURRENTLY RANKS SEVENTH IN SCHOOL HISTORY WITH OVER THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY CAREER ASSISTS, AND SHE IS THIRD IN B-G-S-U HISTORY IN THREE-POINT FIELD GOALS MADE. TRACY HAS MADE 64 THREE-POINTERS, MANY FROM N-B-A DISTANCE, THIS SEASON, AFTER MAKING AT LEAST SEVENTY IN EACH OF THE LAST TWO YEARS. AN ALL-MAC SELECTION LAST SEASON FOR THE SECOND CONSECUTIVE SEASON, SHE WAS NAMED TO THE TEAM’S LEADERSHIP COUNCIL THIS YEAR. A TOURISM/EVENT PLANNING MAJOR, SHE IS ACCOMPANIED BY HER PARENTS, CRAIG AND DENISE PONTIUS. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, TRACY PONTIUS!

OUR NEXT SENIOR IS LAUREN PROCHASKA. LISTING ALL OF LAUREN’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS COULD TAKE ALL NIGHT, BUT SUFFICE IT TO SAY THAT SHE IS QUITE POSSIBLY THE MOST DECORATED PLAYER IN B-G-S-U WOMEN’S BASKETBALL HISTORY. LAST MONTH, LAUREN BECAME THE SCHOOL’S ALL-TIME SCORING LEADER, AND SHE ALSO HOLDS THE B-G-S-U RECORDS FOR GAMES STARTED, THREE-POINT FIELD GOALS MADE, FREE THROWS MADE AND FREE-THROW PERCENTAGE. SHE IS ONLY THE SECOND PLAYER IN MAC HISTORY TO MAKE OVER 300 THREE-POINT FIELD GOALS, AND IS FOURTH AMONG ALL CONFERENCE PLAYERS IN SCORING, JUST OVER 20 POINTS SHY OF THIRD PLACE. SHE LED THE NATION IN FREE-THROW PERCENTAGE AS A SOPHOMORE, AND RANKS THIRD IN THE COUNTRY IN THAT CATEGORY THIS SEASON. LAUREN MADE 70 CONSECUTIVE FREE THROWS, AN NCAA DIVISION-ONE RECORD, EARLIER THIS SEASON, AND WAS FEATURED IN SPORTS ILLUSTRATED FOR HER ACCOMPLISHMENT. SHE IS ON PACE TO FINISH AMONG THE TOP-FIVE PLAYERS IN NCAA HISTORY IN FREE-THROW PERCENTAGE. LAUREN IS THE ONLY PLAYER IN SCHOOL HISTORY TO SCORE MORE THAN 500 POINTS IN EACH OF HER FOUR SEASONS. SHE HAS BEEN NAMED THE MAC PLAYER OF THE YEAR IN EACH OF THE LAST TWO SEASONS, AND WAS ALSO THE MAC TOURNAMENT M-V-P AS THE FALCONS WON THREE GAMES IN CLEVELAND TO CAPTURE THE CONFERENCE TOURNEY TITLE LAST SPRING. IN THE CLASSROOM, SHE IS A SPORT MANAGEMENT MAJOR WITH A CUMULATIVE G-P-A OF 3.23. SHE IS JOINED ON THE COURT BY HER PARENTS, DAVID AND SUSAN PROCHASKA. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, LAUREN PROCHASKA!

OUR NEXT SENIOR IS JEN UHL. A PRODUCT OF WADSWORTH, OHIO, JEN WAS ONE OF THE TOP SIXTH MEN IN THE LEAGUE AS A FRESHMAN, BEFORE JUMPING INTO THE STARTING LINEUP FOR THE FINAL HALF OF HER SOPHOMORE SEASON. SHE AVERAGED NEARLY SEVEN POINTS AND SIX REBOUNDS IN HER STARTS THAT YEAR. LAST YEAR, JEN JUMPED INTO THE STARTING LINEUP AS THE TEAM WON A THIRD STRAIGHT MAC REGULAR SEASON TITLE, THEN CAPTURED THE MAC TOURNAMENT CROWN AND ADVANCED TO THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS. SHE AVERAGED SEVEN POINTS AND FIVE AND A HALF REBOUNDS PER GAME, AND WAS A CO-RECIPIENT OF THE TEAM’S SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AWARD. THIS WINTER, SHE HAS STARTED EVERY GAME, AND IS FOURTH ON THE TEAM IN SCORING AND SECOND IN REBOUNDING. JEN IS AVERAGING OVER SEVEN REBOUNDS PER GAME IN MAC CONTESTS, LEADING THE TEAM. JEN HAS AVERAGED OVER 11 POINTS AND EIGHT REBOUNDS OVER THE LAST EIGHT GAMES, AND HAS PULLED DOWN 12 REBOUNDS IN THREE OF THOSE EIGHT GAMES. SHE HAS HAD FOUR DOUBLE DOUBLES THIS SEASON AND 10 IN HER B-G-S-U CAREER, AND HAS SCORED NEARLY 900 POINTS DURING HER COLLEGIATE CAREER. AN ADOLESCENT/YOUNG ADULT/SECONDARY EDUCATION MAJOR AT B-G-S-U, JEN HAS A CUMULATIVE G-P-A OF 3.61. SHE IS JOINED ON THE COURT BY HER PARENTS, STEVE AND MARY UHL. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, JEN UHL!

OUR FINAL SENIOR TODAY IS KELLY ZUERCHER. KELLY HAS PROVIDED A SPARK AND A PHYSICAL PRESENCE FOR THE FALCONS DURING HER FIRST THREE-PLUS SEASONS. A NATIVE OF ORRVILLE, OHIO, SHE PLAYED IN A TOTAL OF 38 GAMES OVER HER FIRST TWO YEARS, AND WAS THE TEAM’S MOST IMPROVED PLAYER LAST SEASON, BLOSSOMING INTO ONE OF THE TOP POSTS OFF OF THE BENCH AS THE SEASON ENTERED CRUNCH TIME. SHE SHOT NEARLY 45 PERCENT FROM THE FIELD AND AVERAGED TWO-AND-A-HALF POINTS PER GAME, AND GAVE THE FALCONS DOUBLE-DIGIT MINUTES OFF THE BENCH IN EIGHT OF THE FINAL NINE GAMES OF THE SEASON, INCLUDING TWO OF THE MAC TOURNAMENT WINS AND THE FALCONS’ NCAA TOURNAMENT GAME VS. MICHIGAN STATE. SHE HAD A CAREER-HIGH TEN POINTS IN A WIN OVER EASTERN MICHIGAN RIGHT HERE AT ANDERSON ARENA. SHE HAS PLAYED IN NEARLY NINETY GAMES AT B-G-S-U, AND WAS NAMED A MEMBER OF THE TEAM’S LEADERSHIP COUNCIL FOR THE 2010-11 SEASON. AN APPAREL MERCHANDISING AND PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT MAJOR, SHE HAS A CUMULATIVE G-P-A OF 3.55. SHE IS ACCOMPANIED TONIGHT BY HER PARENTS, DARRELL AND MARY LOU ZUERCHER. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, KELLY ZUERCHER!
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE INDIVIDUAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THESE SIX INDIVIDUALS HAVE BEEN IMPRESSIVE, BUT MORE IMPRESSIVE IS THE LIST OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS ACHIEVED BY THE TEAM DURING THEIR TIME HERE. THE FIVE FOURTH-YEAR SENIORS HAVE BEEN A PART OF ONE HUNDRED AND SIX VICTORIES, AN AVERAGE OF OVER 26 WINS PER SEASON, HEADING INTO TONIGHT’S GAME. THEY HAVE HELPED THE FALCONS TO A RECORD OF 54-9 IN MAC GAMES, AND HELPED THE BROWN AND ORANGE TO MAC REGULAR-SEASON TITLES AND NATIONAL POSTSEASON APPEARANCES IN EACH OF THEIR FIRST THREE SEASONS. THIS SEASON, THEY HAVE LED THE FALCONS TO A MAC EAST DIVISION TITLE, THE TEAM’S SEVENTH-STRAIGHT DIVISIONAL CROWN. AND, THEY HAVE SUCCEEDED IN THE CLASSROOM AS WELL AS ON THE COURT. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, ONE MORE ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR YOUR 2010-2011 B-G-S-U WOMEN’S BASKETBALL SENIOR CLASS!

Congratulations to an Outstanding Senior Class!

2011-02-28T17:36:00.004-05:00

Seniors Tracy Pontius, Lauren Prochaska, Maggie Hennegan, Chelsea Albert, Jen Uhl and Kelly Zuercher will be playing their last game - and the last women's basketball game ever - in Anderson Arena on Wednesday, March 2nd

On February 1st, with a hard-fought 67-64 win on the road at Northern Illinois, our 2011 Senior Class of Chelsea Albert, Maggie Hennegan, Tracy Pontius, Lauren Prochaska, Jen Uhl, and Kelly Zuercher, achieved their 100th career victory. They became just the 6th class in BGSU History to achieve this milestone, and the 5th straight recruiting class of the current staff to do so.

Heading into what should be a very special, very historical evening, this senior class will be going for their 107th win. This Senior Night will not only be special because it is a chance to honor such an outstanding group of ladies in their last home game ever, but it is the last game ever to be played by the women’s basketball team in Anderson Arena. We will be saying goodbye to six unbelievable young women, and to over 60 years of incredible basketball history and tradition in one of the best places to play in the country.

Please come out this Wednesday, March 2nd, and say goodbye to the 2011 Senior Class of Chelsea Albert, Maggie Hennegan, Tracy Pontius, Lauren Prochaska, Jen Uhl, and Kelly Zuercher, and help us Close the Doors on the House that Roars for the last time!

20 Win Seasons

2011-02-24T09:50:00.002-05:00

On February 12th, when we won a hard fought game at Eastern Michigan (with the help of an amazing show of support from our fans who made the short trek to Ypsilanti, outnumbering their fans 3 to 1!), it pushed our record to 20-4 overall – a MAC Record 8th CONSECUTIVE 20 WIN SEASON! BG, with our storied history and rich tradition, has more 20 win seasons than any other program in the MAC!

Currently, with our overall record now standing at 23-4, we have won at least 21 games in each of the last 8 seasons – and an astounding 23 wins or more in each of the last 7 seasons!
And even more impressive, over the last eight seasons, we have averaged 26 wins per year! After going 21-35 in the rebuilding phase of the program in his first two years, Coach Miller has gone 208-49 (.809 winning percentage) since then!

Twenty wins has long been a benchmark for successful programs - a goal that all teams hope to achieve come seasons’ end. Most players are lucky to achieve this mark once in their careers. Most coaches can count their total amount of 20 win seasons on one hand. Achieving a MAC record 8th straight 20-win season is a testament to not only Head Coach Curt Miller and staff, it is the legacy of a fantastic group of young women, and the unbelievable love and support of the BG Community and our fans!

Please come out this Saturday and see if we can add to that win total, as we take on Kent State for the East Division Championship! 12pm at Anderson Arena – hope to see you there!

Simply One of the Best!

2011-02-23T09:49:00.003-05:00

From Left to Right, Jackie (Motycka) Mossing, Lauren Prochaska, and Head Coach Curt Miller, honor Lauren after breaking Jacki's 22 year old BGSU career scoring record.

This past Valentine’s Day The Atlanta Tipoff Club announced the 2010-11 finalists for the Naismith Trophy, the most prestigious individual award in women’s college basketball, awarded to its best player. Only 30 individuals of the thousands of women’s basketball players across the country have made this list, and it is with great pride and pleasure to know that BGSU Senior Lauren Prochaska has been named a finalist! Even more impressive, she one of just six players on the list named from a mid-major university. This is an incredible honor, and we are so very happy and proud of Lauren!

But not totally surprised. Let’s face it – Lauren Prochaska is one of those special players that comes along once every few decades – if you’re lucky. We, as a team and program, as well as the BGSU community and our fans, have been blessed to have Lauren as a part of our Falcon Family. On February 5, 2011, on Alumni Day, against Ball State, Lauren had a typical performance, with 21 points (on just 14 shots), with 9 rebounds (4 offensive), and led us to a big win against Ball State. But no points were bigger than the two she got mid-way through the second half, when Lauren posted up a smaller guard from Ball State and made a lay-up, giving her the ALL-TIME scoring record in BGSU history! As if it were fate, not only was this Alumni Day, but it was the presentation of the All-Anderson Team, honoring 13 of the best women’s basketball players in BG history, including Lauren. Not only that, but Jackie (Motycka) Mossing, who had held the BGSU scoring record for 22 years, was there to present Lauren with the game ball after the victory, as she too was named to the All-Andereson team. It was truly a special evening, for a very special group of women, all part of a very special basketball program.

Three regular season games, and whatever we can do in the MAC Tournament, and hopefully a post-season tournament– that’s all that remains in Lauren’s career as a BGSU Falcon. Of the three remaining regular season games, two are home games – Saturday, February 26th vs Kent State (MAC TV Game of the Week, and the East Division Championship on the line!), and Wednesday, March 2nd vs Buffalo (Senior Night). Few chances remain to see one of the greatest players in the storied history of BGSU Women’s Basketball. Don’t miss your chance to see Lauren and the Falcons press on in their effort to win an unprecedented 7th divisional championship!

Editor’s Note: The evening this blog was to be posted (2/23/11), Lauren yet again showed us just how special she is, hitting a game-winning 3 pointer at Akron to push our record to 11-3 in the MAC, 23-4 overall, and in a showdown for the East Division Championship this Saturday (2/26/11) vs Kent State!

A Special Message from Coach Miller

2011-02-14T15:21:00.002-05:00

There may be no busier time of the year as a staff than the home stretch of the season and tournament time, but I had to take a moment to send out a huge THANK YOU to all of the fans who made the trip up to Ypsilanti on Saturday to help us to an extremely important road win! Our crowd was INCREDIBLE! A sea of orange that stretched from our bench all the way to just behind the Eastern Michigan bench, filling the entire lower bowl! An unbelievable crowd, rewarded with an unbelievable effort from senior Lauren Prochaska. Her 37 points (2nd highest in BG history!) and 12 rebounds were only part of the story, as she was just as incredible at the defensive end, shutting down one of the best players in the league in Cassie Schrock (3 pts on 1/12 shooting, and she averages over 18 points a game!).

Our players respond to our fans and feed off their energy, and there is no doubt in my mind we never would have pulled out that tough road win if it weren’t for the amazing crowd support we had behind us! This was in no small part due to the efforts of several people, but I want to give a special thanks to friend and supporter Dennis Vereb, who was the brainchild behind the efforts to get a big crowd to support us in Ypsilanti. Thank you, Dennis, for such a successful endeavor, and assist in creating a crowd that carried us to a huge win!

With the home stretch upon us, we need YOUR support in the stands more than ever! There are just 5 regular season games left to see not only one of the greatest individual players in BGSU history, but one of the best senior classes to come through the program! Our remaining schedule:

- HOME vs Ohio on Wednesday, February 16th
- Away at Miami on Saturday, February 19th
- Away at Akron on Tuesday, February 22nd
- HOME vs Kent on Saturday, February 26th
- HOME vs Buffalo on Wednesday, March 2nd

Thanks again to all the fans that came out to support us at EMU, and to Dennis for making it happen! And, PLEASE, come on out and support us as we make a run at an unprecedented 7th straight divisional championship!

Roll Along,
Head Coach Curt Miller

An Example of Why We Have the BEST Fans in Women's Basketball!

2011-02-11T10:26:00.002-05:00

This could be the seen in Ypsilanti tomorrow at 2pm!

Justin Zenz, our Ticket Manager here at BG, sent an e-mail to us informing us that, as of yesterday, we had SOLD OUT the 150 pre-sale tickets we were given for the Eastern Michigan game at Ypsilanti! Combine this with walk-ups and the families of the players and coaches, and we will have more fans at the EMU game than a lot of MAC teams have for their home games! Just another example of why we have the BEST Fans in Women’s Basketball!

Do not fret if you haven’t gotten your ticket for the game in Ypsilanti! EMU has graciously offered that, if you go to the game and wear BG gear or even simply tell them you are supporting BG, they will give you the group rate discount of $3 a ticket! Or, if you would like to go for FREE, simply wear a RED shirt! EMU, in an effort to pack the house against us, has dubbed this game “Go Red for Green”, and, in a show of support for the American Heart Association, anyone wearing red will get into the game free! Just make sure that you’re wearing your ORANGE underneath!!

A big thanks to the 150+ who have already got their tickets and will be there to support us in a HUGE game! And please, if you haven’t already gotten your ticket, remember that you can simply wear your orange and go to the game for $3, or wear some red – with your orange underneath – and go for free! Our team THRIVES playing in front of our fans, and so the more we have that make the short trip to Ypsilanti, the better our chances of beating an outstanding EMU team that we are currently tied for 2nd with! Hope to see you tomorrow at 2pm in Ypsilanti!!

We Need Your Help!!

2011-02-07T10:48:00.003-05:00

The support at Anderson Arena is second to none! We need YOUR help to bring this same atmosphere on the road to Ypsilanti this Saturday!

This coming Saturday (2/12/11), BGSU Women’s Basketball will be heading less than an hour north to Ypsilanti, MI, for a HUGE battle at Eastern Michigan - and we are asking for the Falcon Faithful to make the short trip and help us earn a big road win. There are many, many reasons to make the trip - here are just a few:

- It’s the shortest road trip of the season. (68 miles!)
- The BGSU Ticket Office has purchased tickets at a reduced group rate price, so tickets through our ticket office will cost just $3.
- Both BG and EMU are 7-3 in MAC play – so this game has tremendous implications for seeding for the MAC Tournament.
- We are currently tied with Kent State for the East Division title, making every game vital to our chance at winning an unprecedented 7th straight divisional title!
- Our men are playing at Central Michigan, so we’re the closest basketball game BG will have this Saturday.
- The six seniors, including Lauren Prochaska, who in the last game became the all-time leading scorer in BGSU History, have just 6 regular season games left – it’s another chance to see one of the best classes in BG History! (Just became the 6th class in history to win 100 games!)

But the most important reason to take this short trip to EMU and support the Falcons? NOTHING motivates this team more than our fans! Simply put, we have the BEST women’s basketball fans in the MAC – as good as any in the country! It’s what makes it so difficult for opponents to play at Anderson Arena, and why we have one of the best home records in the country over the last few years! With such an important road game being so close to BG, help bring that home atmosphere up to Ypsilanti! There is no doubt our players thrive playing for our fans, and so the more we can have in Ypsilanti to support us, the better our chances! And early weather reports say it's going to be a great day! (Unless you're an EMU fan!)

To summarize:
Who: BGSU at Eastern Michigan
Where: Ypsilanti, MI (68 miles north of BG)
When: 2pm this Saturday, February 12th
Cost: Tickets can be purchased through the BGSU Ticket Office for $3 (877-BGSU Ticket)

Please come out and help us beat the Eagles in this HUGE road game!

2010 Non-conference One to Remember!

2011-01-03T09:42:00.003-05:00

Seniors Chelsea Albert, Lauren Prochaska, Kelly Zuercher, Tracy Pontius, Jen Uhl and Maggie Hennegan helped lead us to the best start in BG and MAC History!

With a 73-64 road win at Butler in the historical Hinkle Fieldhouse, we ended the non-conference portion of our 2010-11 schedule, and what a memorable one! With a record of 12-1, we set the record for the best start in BGSU (and MAC) Women’s Basketball history!

Sometimes you have to take one step back to take two steps forward, and, in this case, 12 steps forward. After a disappointing opening road loss at Evansville to start the season, we have rolled off 12 straight wins, setting not only the BGSU record for the most non-conference wins in a season, but the MAC record as well! Some of the highlights of this tremendous streak:

- Defeated Missouri Valley power Creighton by 26 points.

- Defeated a very talented Oakland squad by 34. Oakland has taken Penn State to Overtime, and beaten Illinois and Clemson as well.

- Beat a Detroit squad that was 2-0 with two double-digit victories against MAC schools by 25. Detroit recently beat Michigan in Ann Arbor by almost 20 points.

- Won the Seattle tournament, including a hard-fought 9 point win over Arkansas Little Rock, an NCAA Tournament team and picked to win their half of the Sun Belt.

- Defeated #23 Vanderbilt at home in front of a fantastic crowd by double-digits.

- Swept a 2 game, 4 day road trip down south, including a tough win at Western Kentucky, picked to win their half of the Sun Belt.

- Set the record by defeating a talented Butler team, at the infamous Hinkle Fieldhouse. Butler, yet another team that made the post-season last year, came into the game undefeated at home this year, and had only lost at home 6 times over the last 3 seasons.

In addition to these highlights, there were several other notable achievements within this outstanding run:

- With the 12-1 record, we had our 9th straight winning non-league record, the only MAC school to have ever achieved this.

- It was the 5th consecutive season BG has won at least 10 non-league games.

- Senior Lauren Prochaska set the NCAA National Record for Most Consecutive Free Throws Made with 70 in a row.

- Senior Tracy Pontius scored her 1000th point with her first basket on the season, and moved into the Top 20 in all-time scoring at BG.

- With a 7-0 home record, we have now run our regular-season home winning streak to 36 consecutive games.

- Overall we’ve now won 20 in a row at Anderson Arena, one of the 10 longest current streaks in the nation.

- In the most recent NCAA Statistical update, we are #1 in the country in free throw percentage.
- We are 6th in the nation in fewest turnovers per game.

We are very, very proud of the team and a historical non-conference run, but as Coach Miller told the team after the Butler game:

“Enjoy what you’ve done – you’ve made history, and no one can ever take that away from you. But remember, MAC play is really all that matters, and tomorrow when we wake up, non-conference is over, and all 12 teams in the MAC are 0-0.”

MAC play opens Wednesday, January 5th, as we travel to Athens, Ohio, to take on the Bobcats. Our first home MAC game is that following Saturday, January 8th, against rival Miami. Come on out and show your support for the team as we make a run at an unprecedented 7th straight MAC Championship!

Meet the Newest Falcon: Alexis Rogers

2010-11-01T09:52:00.003-04:00

Newest Falcon Alexis Rogers, transfer from Duke, shows off her cutting edge sense of fashion at a recent practice.

Since I know EVERYONE has been waiting for me to write my blog for a couple weeks, be prepared to learn all about me: Alexis Rogers. Let’s see my name is Alexis but everyone calls me Lex, except for Christopher ( Chrissy Steffen) she calls me Lexi. The most important things to me in life is my family, music, basketball, and of course DISNEY movies. Right now I’d have to say my favorite artist is Neyo, but Jason Derulo is moving up on the list everyday. I like ALL kinds of music, you can ask the girls on the team my music selection has shocked a handful of them. My music selection varies from oldies, r&b, rap, country, to Disney. I really like things that you can sing to, although my singing skills aren’t that great! Other than listening to music I also like to play it: I’ve played the piano since I was 8, but I had to give up taking lessons because it began to interfere with basketball practice. I’ve thought about minoring in music, but that’s still being contemplated. I have decided to major in Early Childhood Education. I love kids, and at heart I am still a four year old. I figure with this major I can relive my childhood, watch Disney movies, and get paid for it (Just kidding!). I think education is really important and if children can learn to enjoy it from an early age it makes the 16 year process easier, and I think I can make education fun.

I have four really influential people in my life. First there is my mom, she is my best friend. She is the most amazing woman I have ever met, and I doubt she will ever be beaten in that category. She knows what she wants in life and she isn’t afraid to purse her goals. Her name is Youlanda, I am sure you will hear her at games screaming for the next four years. The second pair are my grandparents. They have been so great to me and without their advice and strength I may not have made it through last year. The third person is my older brother, Antwaun. I would truly call him my idol and my hero. I seek his approval for a lot of things. We are ten years apart, and he was a student athlete so he helps me with so many things because he has been where I am right now. He played in the NFL for a year, and he has proven to me that there is indeed a life after sports. The fourth person is my little cousin Zion. Although he is only 3 he makes me want to be a better person. I want him to look up to me and say that I have positively influenced his life. My day automatically gets better when he calls me and tells me he misses me. He is young, but he makes me a better person and I love him dearly for that, and when he gets old enough to understand I will tell him.

I started my college career at Duke as everyone probably already knows. It wasn’t the best fit for me, fortunately Bowling Green gave me a second chance. I’ve been here for three months now, and I have loved every day of it. During the transferring process I really wanted a down-to-earth coaching staff that knew more about their players than just their stats. I think here I have gotten everything I expected to get out of college. Although the coaches are great and have been very patient with my lack of memory of over half of the plays (lol), I love the players even more. Coming from a team of only 11 individuals who did their own thing its really exciting for me to be part of such a large team that actually enjoys hanging out together. Having to sit out this year means I’m going to have to encourage my teammates from the bench, and that has been something I have struggled with, but I honestly think this group of girls makes you want to cheer from the bench. Overall I love Bowling Green ( despite the fact that I get blown over by the strong gusts of wind) and its been an amazing experience for me, and I am so glad I decided to come here.

National Recognition: #5 Ranking in Inaugural Mid-Major Top 25 Poll!

2010-10-28T15:53:00.003-04:00

Seniors Chelsea Albert, Lauren Prochaska, Kelly Zuercher, Tracy Pontius, Jen Uhl, and Maggie Hennegan look to lead BG to a 7th Consecutive MAC Championship

CollegeInsider.com, having established a men’s Mid-Major Top 25 poll over a decade ago, has now created the Women’s Mid-Major Top 25, and in the inaugural poll, in yet another example of the national notoriety the BGSU Women’s Basketball program is gaining, BG was ranked #5 in the nation!

The Men’s Poll, now entering its 12th year, has become a standard measuring stick for programs outside of the proverbial power conferences. This past season the top four teams in the final regular season Men’s Mid-Major Top 25 poll all advanced to the Sweet 16.

The women’s Mid-Major Top 25 will be composed of teams from the following conferences: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Great West, Horizon, Independents, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt and West Coast.

The 31 member voting panel consists of head coaches from these conferences. The poll will be released every Tuesday throughout the 2010-11 season.
In a previous blog BGSU Head Coach Curt Miller discussed the challenging schedule awaiting the Falcons this season, and the release of the inaugural Mid-Major Top 25 poll confirms this, with no less than 5 of BG’s opponents this year being ranked in the Top 25! In addition to those 5, there are 3 other schools (Kent State, Eastern Michigan, and Oakland). Below is the poll:

1. Gonzaga
2. Green Bay
3. James Madison
4. Arkansas Little Rock (BG opponent)
5. BOWLING GREEN
6. Princeton
7. Marist
8. Liberty
9. Middle Tennessee
10. Hartford
11. Old Dominion
12. Lehigh
13. Illinois State
14. Florida Gulf Coast
15. South Dakota State
16. Toledo (BG opponent)
17. Chattanooga
18. Vermont
19. Oral Roberts
20. Creighton (BG opponent)
21. Western Kentucky (BG opponent)
22. Butler (BG opponent)
23. Gardner-Webb
24. Delaware
25. St. Mary’s

National Recognition: A Visit from a World Champion!

2010-10-21T08:34:00.003-04:00

Two of the best in the business!

World Champion Seattle Storm Head Coach Brian Agler with Coach Curt Miller

What better sign of the national attention and respect Coach Miller has brought to himself and the BGSU Women’s Basketball program than a visit by Brian Agler, the Head Coach of the WNBA’s World Champion Seattle Storm, less than 3 weeks after winning the championship!

This “meeting of the minds” started back in April, when Coach Agler asked Coach Miller to meet with him and his staff to talk about our ball screening offense. Agler was so happy with the offense and what Seattle was doing with it that he, in turn, invited Coach Miller and staff out to watch Seattle play the Indiana Fever in Indianapolis early in the Fall. The staff went to Seattle’s shootaround that day, and were guests of the Storm at the game. So it was only natural that Coach Agler was in Northwest Ohio to view the Falcons’ practice and trade coaching secrets with BGSU head coach Curt Miller.

“It was an honor to have Coach Agler visit our practice,” said Coach Miller. “I always look forward to spending time with him, talking X’s and O’s and coaching strategy. Seattle has one of the finest pick-and-roll games in the WNBA, with Lauren Jackson and Sue Bird. They are the best of the best, and I am excited to have the chance to pick his brain about the pick-and-roll offense.“

Additionally, it was great of Coach Agler to take a few moments and talk to the team after practice. Any time you get a chance to talk with someone who has reached the pinnacle of his profession, it is truly an honor. I look forward to hearing his critique of our team.”

Agler, a graduate of Wittenberg University, has coached collegiately at UMKC and Kansas State, among other schools, and also has guided several teams at the professional level. He led the Columbus Quest to American Basketball League titles in both 1997 and 1998, and had an 82-22 record there. He also was the first coach of the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx.

“Last year, I asked Curt to spend some time with me and my staff,” said Agler, who had a .648 winning percentage as a collegiate head coach. “We are always looking to try to get better. Our league is so competitive that, if you are not always striving to get better, you can fall behind quickly.

“Curt was very hospitable, making time to speak with us at the Final Four. With players like Lauren and Sue on our team, we wanted to incorporate more pick and roll. We did adapt it and we did improve offensively, and things worked out for us this season. I am back here (meeting with Miller) so that I can keep getting better on a daily basis.”

A pre-season national ranking of #17, Lauren Prochaska listed as one of 30 players to watch for the Wooden Award, and a visit from the World Champion Head Coach of the Seattle Storm to learn more about our offense. For a program at the “Mid-Major” level, BGSU Women’s Basketball continues to garner NATIONAL respect!

National Recognition: Lauren Prochaska Named to Wooden Watch List!

2010-10-12T13:36:00.004-04:00

Senior Lauren Prochaska looks to win her 4th MAC title in 4 years this season.

In another example of the national recognition Bowling Green Women’s Basketball is garnering is the announcement that Senior Lauren Prochaska was named to the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 30 list. The list is comprised of 30 women’s basketball players who, based on last year’s individual performance and team records, are the early frontrunners for college basketball’s most prestigious individual award.

Prochaska, entering her senior season with the Falcons, already is third in BGSU history in scoring, with 1,699 career points through her first three years. The Mid-American Conference Player of the Year in each of the last two seasons, she is the only MAC player to make the Wooden Award top-30 list.A native of Plain City, Ohio (Jonathan Alder H.S.), Prochaska is the school's career record-holder with 241 three-point field goals made. She averaged 17.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game last season, leading the team in both categories as the Falcons won the MAC regular-season and tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Championships.

About the John R. Wooden Award

Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball. It is bestowed upon the nation’s best player at an institution of higher education who has proven to his or her university that he or she is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a minimum cumulative 2.0 GPA. Previous winners include such notables as Larry Bird (’79), Michael Jordan (’84), Tim Duncan (’97), Candace Parker (’07 and ’08) and Maya Moore of Connecticut (’09). Ohio State’s Evan Turner and Connecticut’s Tina Charles won the Award in 2010.Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed close to a million dollars to universities’ general scholarship fund in the names of the All American recipients. The Award has also sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps in the Award’s name. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament, which brings together Special Olympic athletes and the All Americans, takes place at The Los Angeles Athletic Club on the Friday prior to the John R. Wooden Award Ceremony.Follow the candidates and get the latest news throughout the season by logging on to http://www.woodenaward.com/.

2010-11 John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 30 List, Women

Name Height Class Position University Conference

Danielle Adams 6-1 Sr F/C Texas A&M Big 12

Kachine Alexander 5-9 Sr G Iowa Big 10

Angie Bjorklund 6-0 Sr G/F Tennessee SEC

Jessica Breland 6-3 Sr F North Carolina ACC

Elena Delle Donne 6-5 So G/F Delaware CAA

Skylar Diggins 5-9 So G Notre Dame Big East

Jasmine Dixon 6-0 Jr F UCLA PAC 10

Victoria Dunlap 6-1 Sr F Kentucky SEC

Dawn Evans 5-7 Sr G James Madison CAA

Brittney Griner 6-8 So C Baylor Big 12

Amber Harris 6-5 Sr F Xavier Atlantic 10

Tiffany Hayes 5-10 Jr G Connecticut Big East

Shenise Johnson 5-11 Jr G Miami ACC

Jantel Lavender 6-4 Sr C Ohio State Big 10

Italee Lucas 5-8 Sr G North Carolina ACC

Maya Moore 6-0 Sr F Connecticut Big East

Deirdre Naughton 5-10 Sr G DePaul Big East

Nnemkadi Ogwumike 6-2 Jr F Stanford PAC 10

Kayla Pederson 6-4 Jr F Stanford PAC 10

Ta'Shia Phillips 6-6 Sr C Xavier Atlantic 10

Samantha Prahalis 5-7 Jr G Ohio State Big 10

Lauren Prochaska 5-11 Sr G/F Bowling Green Mid-American

Chastity Reed 6-1 Sr F Arkansas Little Rock Sun Belt

Danielle Robinson 5-9 Sr G Oklahoma Big 12

Sugar Rodgers 5-11 So G Georgetown Big East

Shekinna Stricklen 6-2 Sr G/F Tennessee SEC

National Recognition: #17 Pre-Season Ranking!

2010-10-11T16:18:00.003-04:00

Senior Point Guard Tracy Pontius will be relied on heavily to lead the Falcons in '10-11.

In the history of sport, NEVER has a victory been earned by a pre-season national ranking. However, for a program like ours, from a mid-major conference, it is a huge sign of respect to earn such an accolade. Hence our excitement when Athlon Sports College Basketball 2010-11 Preview hit the stands in September listing Bowling Green as the #17 team in the nation!

As happy about the national attention Coach Miller is, he understands that it is a ranking, and nothing more:

“It’s an honor to be included in the pre-season national rankings, but they are a direct reflection of past success”, says Head Coach Curt Miller. “This team will have to go out and prepare as hard as we have in the past in order to overachieve, which is our ultimate goal.”

Come meet these #17 ranked Falcons up close and personal on Thursday, October 21st at the Tip-Off Dinner! For information / reservations please contact Doreen Bateson at 419-372-9236.

Guest Bloggers: Your 2010-11 Freshmen!

2010-09-08T11:50:00.004-04:00

(The three freshmen, from left to right: Jillian Halfhill, Jill Stein, and Noelle Yoder)

The 2010-11 freshmen class consists of three outstanding young ladies, talented on the court, yes, but even better people off! But rather than have us tell you about them, we asked them to do a little homework assignment over the Labor Day Weekend, and all three wrote a little about what they did this summer, and how they’re adjusting to their freshmen year.

Jill Stein
Hey! My name is Jill Stein and I am one of the three freshmen on our team this year. I’m from Clyde, Ohio and attended Tiffin Columbian High School. I’m here to talk about my summer experience here at Bowling Green.
I had an AMAZING summer!!! It was filled with sweat, laughter, tears, a few bruises, and has brought me to some of the best friends I could’ve ever asked for. I moved in along with Noelle and Jillian at the end of June when we began two three-credit hour classes and had our first workouts with the team. Without any hesitation, I was welcomed with open arms and felt like I had been a member of the team for years. That’s the difference between our team and other basketball programs. Other places you have petty conflicts that can tear a team apart, but here everyone in our program genuinely cares about everyone else.
I am so glad I chose to come for the six weeks during the summer for many reasons. Taking classes in the summer allowed me to become comfortable with campus without the entire student body around to make things really chaotic. It also gave me a feel for what to expect from college professors and allowed an easy transition from high school to college. Also, the summer workouts prepared me for the infamous Gauntlet and our preseason workouts. Above all, however, the summer was a time for my relationships with my teammates to grow. I have now known these girls for about three months and feel as though some of them know more about me then most of my childhood friends.
Some of my best memories this summer include our team scavenger hunt where we drove all around campus and Bowling Green to find/do different things on the list Jess and Chelsea made for everyone. Another fun memory was going to Cedar Point for a day with some of the girls. We also were able to complete almost everything on our summer checklist of random things to do. The last big team bonding thing we did was a camping trip at the end of the summer. We went down to Ft. Loramie State Park and stayed for a weekend of fun. We went out on jet skis, laid out on the beach, and just hung out around the fire.
Overall, this has been one of the best summers of my life and I cannot wait to see what the next four years bring!

Noelle Yoder
Hello! My name is Noelle Yoder. I am one of the three new faces to the Bowling Green Women's basketball team. I am from Millersburg, Ohio, where I attended Berlin-Hiland High School.
I arrived on campus along with Jill and Jillian at the end of June for the second semester of summer classes. We took two three-credit hour classes and began workouts with the team. Upon arrival to Bowling Green I was welcomed by the coaching staff and players. From the moment I stepped on campus I knew that i was going to love it. I immediately felt like part of the falcon family. The coaching staff helped me get situated into my dorm, where my father spent hours trying to figure out how to loft a bed. Thank you Dad!
Looking back I am really glad that I spent the summer here at Bowling Green. Being here those six weeks helped me familiarize myself with the campus and get a little taste of the college life before all of the students arrived. The summer classes I took helped me learn the expectations of college professors and how classes differ from high school. Also, the summer workouts helped me prepare myself for the Gauntlet and preseason training. Our workouts consisted of different lifting and conditioning exercises five days a week and we would played pick up in the evenings.
This past summer was one of the best summers of my life. The relationships that I developed with my teammates and the memories we shared together I will never forget. Some of my favorite memories from this summer were the camping trip to Fort Loramie State Park, Jess and Chelsea's scavenger hunt, Jen's birthday, going to the Quarry and Enclave, and Kelly's urgent phone call to Kevin. (Part of the scavenger hunt was you had to scare a coach. Kevin has yet to recover from the phone call Kelly made to him!) The best part of the summer was the way we pushed each other through difficult workouts and were always there for one another. My teammates taught me not only what it takes to be BGSU women's basketball player on the court, but also how to love each other like sisters. I haven’t been at Bowling Green very long, but i have developed friendships with my teammates that will last forever!

Jillian Halfhill
My name is Jillian Halfhill and I am one of three new freshman on the Bowling Green State University basketball team. I came to Bowling Green from Canfield, Ohio. The three of us showed up for summer school in late June, excited and not knowing what to expect. I admit it – I was nervous! But coming in the summer was better than I could have imagined! Being able to hang out and bond with the team before the fall semester started was just awesome. I didn’t know it was possible to form such a strong bond with a group of people in such a short amount of time! If anyone asks me what the best thing about BG is, I can say without hesitation – my teammates! They are the best! (The coaching staff is pretty cool too!)

In taking two classes (A’s in both!) I got to experience a little bit of what the fall semester would be like, when I would be taking a full course load. Being able to do this made it a lot easier for me to make the change from high school to college. Being here this summer was a great bonding and learning experience before the actual school year started, and I can’t imagine not being here during the summer ever again!

With a team scavenger hunt, camping trip, cookouts, a trip to Cedar Point and all the other things we did as a team, I felt like I packed a whole summer’s worth of fun into just 6 weeks – who’d have thought summer school could be so much fun?! I’m already looking forward to it again next year!

2010-09-01T16:55:00.004-04:00

WBGU-PBS Chronicles the History of BGSU Women's Basketball
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio
8/31/2010 3:29:12 PM

Center Photo: BGSU women's basketball coaches (from left) Fran Voll, Sue Hager, Pat Peterson, Nora Liu and Curt Miller

Photo on Right: BGSU President Dr. Carol Cartwright presents current team member and reigning two-time MAC Player of the Year Lauren Prochaska with a copy of the DVD.

Women’s basketball at Bowling Green State University has come a long way since its earliest beginnings in 1918, when two literary societies began playing against each other.

From the driving force of Dorothy Luedtke, the program’s founder, to the University’s most successful head coach Curt Miller, BGSU women’s basketball fans can experience the program’s proud history, thanks to a recently completed WBGU-PBS documentary “BGSU Women’s Basketball: A Legacy of Excellence.”

The hour and 42-minute program covers the early years of women’s basketball, prior to its founding as an intercollegiate sport in 1962, and includes highlights from each of the nine head coaches’ tenure. Interviews with coaches and players, archival photographs and video highlights are featured.

“This documentary truly was a three-year labor of love,” says producer/writer and BGSU alumnus Larry Weiss. “My wife, Fran, and I have enjoyed supporting this outstanding basketball program over the years and developing close relationships with the players and coaches.”

Upon his retirement from BGSU in 2007, Weiss, the former associate vice president for university relations and governmental affairs, asked then President Sidney Ribeau about projects he might work on part-time for the University. Ribeau asked him to co-chair BGSU’s Centennial Anniversary Commission and pull together the history of women’s basketball at the University.

Former BGSU head coach Sue Hager joined the effort and the two collaborated as producer/writers, along with Associate Producer/Writer/Editor Tom Zapiecki and Associate Producer/Editor Tony Howard, with the full support of President Carol Cartwright.

Through October, copies of the DVD may be purchased from WBGU-TV for $30 (includes shipping and handling), with $10 of that amount going directly to support the BGSU’s women’s basketball program. To purchase the DVD, contact Cari Tuttle at WBGU-PBS at 419-372-7024 or place an online order on the station’s secure website, http://wbgu.org/shop.

(Release and photos courtesy BGSU Marketing & Communications)

---------

History can become a fleeting memory.

Things can be forgotten, participants can pass on and records and archives can be lost or destroyed.

With that in mind, former Bowling Green State University president Dr. Sidney Ribeau decided over three years ago to preserve the history of women’s basketball at BGSU.

To that end, Larry Weiss and Dr. Sue Hager became the co-chairs of a project to chronicle women’s basketball at Bowling Green from its beginnings in the early 1960s to the current team under head coach Curt Miller.

Weiss, Hager and the staff of WBGU-TV conducted interviews with seven of the nine coaches who have led the Bowling Green program and 27 former and current players, including current seniors Lauren Prochaska and Tracy Pontius.

A total of 34 hours of interviews were taped with the coaches and players traveling to Bowling Green at their own expense. Those interviews were cut down to three hours and seven minutes and then to the current length of one hour and 42 minutes.

A preview of the documentary - “BGSU Women’s Basketball: A Legacy of Excellence” - was held Thursday (Aug. 26) at University House, hosted by current BGSU president Dr. Carol Cartwright. Five of the coaches were present along with approximately 20 players.

Hager was the third head coach for the women’s basketball team and was also an athletic administrator at Bowling Green.

“It was absolutely a labor of love ... I’m excited because it’s an actual living history of what we’ve done,” Hager said about the documentary. “It was just a matter of walking down memory lane ... This is the only way we can recoup this history and we still have a lot of people active and able to do it.

“Many of the conversations were different than I remembered, but I said let them go. That’s what they remembered and that’s the history.

Hager said she played 3-on-3 basketball while in college. She later coached with a rover before the current 5-on-5 game was introduced for the women.

“We were very lost (going to 5-on-5). I will have to credit Warren Scholler (a former men’s basketball coach at BGSU). I called him up and said I need some help, I don’t know how to do this,” Hager said. “He came and worked with us in practice and drew up plays. Bob Conibear (another former BGSU men’s basketball coach) also helped out.”

Weiss held several positions at BGSU before his retirement in 2007. In addition to his work on the video, Weiss is currently a co-chair of the BGSU’s Centennial Anniversary Commission.

“I thought I knew a lot because I had followed it for years, I learned so much more from the people who came back and shared what it was like when they were doing it,” Weiss said about the project.

Among those interviewed were Dorothy Luedtke, credited as being the founder of the Falcons’ women’s basketball team. She has since passed away, but the documentary was dedicated to her.

“They took it from a thing where they were playing intramurals on campus, She (Luedtke) had some very talented players and they encouraged her to take it to the next level and become an intercollegiate sport,” Weiss said. “That’s how it got started and we go through the whole evolution of what’s happened since them.”

“I am so proud that we were able to get it started,” Hager said about women’s basketball. “No matter what coach we had, every coach emphasized the philosophy of the university that No. 1 you’re a student and no one sacrificed the academic side to get the other.”

There is also a special section in the documentary on BG’s NCAA Sweet 16 team in 2007, Weiss said.

Bobbi Little, who played for the Falcons in the 1970s, isn’t surprised that process of putting together the documentary was a success.

“Bowling Green alumni, Bowling Green players, they always stick together. It’s such a family,” Little said.

Through October, copies of the DVD may be purchased from WBGU-TV for $30 (includes shipping and handling), with $10 of that amount going directly to support the BGSU’s women’s basketball program. To purchase the DVD, contact Cari Tuttle at WBGU-PBS at (419) 372-7024 or place an online order on the station’s secure website, http://wbgu.org/shop.

(Story courtesy Sentinel-Tribune)

The Sweet 16 in at #6!

2010-08-23T15:10:00.005-04:00

Sweet 16 at #6
With the beginning of classes Monday, August 23, 2010, the 2010-11 school year here at BG got underway. Every year here is a special one for various reasons, but this year perhaps more than most, as BGSU celebrates its Centennial Anniversary. BG will be using the entire year to honor the last 100, with tons of activities and celebrations throughout the school year in the works.
In regards to women’s basketball, we’ll have a number of activities to honor our own personal history, including a night honoring the All-Anderson Team, and a soon-to-be released television program about the history of women’s basketball here at Bowling Green, aptly titled “BGSU Women’s Basketball – A Legacy of Excellence.”
So along those lines, BG’s own Sentinel-Tribune staff recently put together a list of the Top 20 Sports Moments in BG History. Reading through, there were some AMAZING accomplishments by BG athletes and their respective programs, including national championships in hockey, football, as well as having multiple Olympic Champions. With all the athletic success over the century, and despite the fact that the time span of women’s basketball being a varsity sport at BG is a fairly short one, we were very, very proud to have our Run to the Sweet 16 listed as the 6th best moment in BGSU Sports history! That 2006-07 squad went 15-1 in conference, ran the tables at the MAC Tournament, beat Oklahoma State in the NCAA 1st round, and followed by an upset of Top 10 and #2 seed Vanderbilt to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history. A quick turnaround and Arizona State proved to be a little too much for the Falcons, and we finished the year at 31-4. This team may have achieved the #6 Best Moment in BGSU Sports History, but this team will always be remembered as one of the greatest ever!

Putting the 'Student' in Student-Athlete

2010-08-20T15:27:00.002-04:00

Putting the ‘Student’ in Student-Athlete
As proud as we are of our program’s success on the basketball court (I promise you, collecting championship rings NEVER gets old!), we are even MORE proud of what our players have accomplished in the classroom! Here are just a few of our academic highlights from the past year – not as fun to look at as our basketball highlight film (thank you Julie Baker!), but equally impressive:
- A 3.5 team GPA for the year - #6 IN THE NATION
- 6 players with a perfect 4.0 in the Fall of ‘09
- 3 players with a perfect 4.0 in the Spring of ‘10
- 14 players posted a Spring semester GPA of 3.2 or higher
- 14 players have a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher
- Maggie Hennegan and Laura Bugher were named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Team
- Laura Bugher was a finalist for the Senior Scholar Athlete of the Year
- Maggie Hennegan was a finalist for the Junior Scholar Athlete of the Year
- Of the 13 members of the MAC All-Academic Team, BGSU had FIVE team members; no other team had more than one
- This summer, our players posted 19 A’s out of 24 classes taken

This academic success of the student-athlete is not limited to only our program, however. Earlier this week the MAC announced that BGSU earned the 2009-10 MAC Institutional Academic Achievement Award. This annual award is presented to the MAC member who’s student-athletes have earned the highest GPA. With a GPA of 3.107 among our student-athletes, we edged the school up north for this tremendous honor, making it even that much more special!
The academic accolades don’t stop there, as on the heels of winning the MAC Institutional Academic Achievement Award for ALL our student-athletes, our female athletes continued to garner honors as it was announced that BGSU won the 2009-10 Mid-American Conference Faculty Athletic Representatives Academic Achievement Award! This award is designed to recognize the conference institution with the overall highest grade point average of student-athletes based on gender. Though this award is only three years old, our female student-athletes have won it twice!
A huge congratulations to ALL of our student-athletes for the tremendous year of success in the classroom! We are very, very proud that our athletes know they are students first!

2010-11 Non-Conference Schedule

2010-08-19T14:03:00.001-04:00

Non-Conference Schedule Announced!
One of the most overlooked aspects of a successful program is how important and vital scheduling is. Not only is it extremely important, but very, very difficult – especially for a successful mid-major. No one wants to play you, and when you’ve won 30 straight regular season games at home, absolutely NO ONE wants to play you at your place! That is what makes the 2010-11 non-conference schedule even more special – we’ll be saying farewell to Anderson Arena with more home games in the non-conference than we’ve had in almost 30 years! Of the 13 non-conference games we’ll play in 2010-11, 7 will be at home! As Coach Miller, the architect of the schedule, says:
“I’m very excited about playing seven non-conference home games in the final season at Anderson Arena. We feel we have put together a very challenging schedule to prepare us for the grueling Mid-American Conference schedule.”
In dissecting this year’s non-conference schedule, it will be more than challenging. Six of the 13 teams on the non-conference slate advanced to national post-season play last year; eight of these 13 won at least 17 games last year, and five of these opponents won 21 or more in 2009-10.
The best coaches understand that scheduling is a vital aspect to a program’s success, and hence it’s no surprise that Coach Miller does a fantastic job scheduling games that fit the needs and goals of our team every year. As he says about the November portion of the schedule:
“We have a very heavy November schedule. We have a veteran team, with six seniors, and they will have to be ready to go right out of the gate.”
That November schedule:
November 12th - At Evansville (Missouri Valley Champions 2 of last 3 years)
November 15th – Vs Creighton (21-11, WNIT 2nd Round last year)
November 17th – Vs Youngstown St (former Akron Asst. Bob Bolden 1st yr as head coach)
November 20th – Vs Oakland (17 wins last season)
November 24th – Vs Detroit (17 wins last season)
November 26th – vs Arkansas Little Rock at Seattle Tournament (27-7 last year, advanced to NCAA 2nd round, and returns entire roster).
November 27th – vs Seattle / Montana State (Montana St winners of 18 games last year, with Seattle being the tournament host)

The UALR game will be one of the most challenging of the season, as Coach Miller says:
“The Arkansas Little Rock game is a great matchup. UALR has gotten some early accolades from various websites, and they are being recognized as one of the top mid-major teams in the country. They return almost their entire starting lineup, including a Wade Trophy watch-list player in Chastity Reed.”

December may have fewer games, but the competition is no less formidable, with three home games and three road games during the month:

December Schedule:

December 1st – Vs Vanderbilt (SEC and national power won 20+ games for the 11th straight year, and has been to the NCAA Tournament 11 straight years.)
December 4th – Vs Cal-State Fullerton (won 15 games and graduated just 2 seniors)
December 9th – at Western Kentucky (WNIT, 21-11 last year, with 11-4 home record)
December 11th – at Austin Peay (NCAA Tournament team)
December 21st – Vs Canisius (perennial MAAC power)
December 29th – at Butler (23-10, WNIT, and a 12-2 home record last year)

Vanderbilt may be the ‘big name’ on this season’s schedule, but it is the quality mid-major opponents that make this year’s non-conference schedule so challenging. As Coach Miller goes on to say:

“Our schedule is filled with some of the best mid-major programs in the country. I am pleased to be able to play a lot of games against teams that will have a great chance of winning their respective conferences.”

Our program hopes two things will come of this schedule – 1) that it will prepare us for a run at a 7th straight Mid-American Conference Regular Season Championship and a run to a MAC Tournament title, and 2) that it will get YOU as excited as we are and get you to come out and support us in Anderson Arena’s final year!

Come help us Close the Doors on the House that Roars!

Save the Date!

2010-06-30T10:46:00.002-04:00

Sunday, September 19, 2010 will be the date for the Women's Basketball Annual Golf Outing. This is your chance to interact with head coach Curt Miller, his coaching staff, and the women's basketball student-athletes. The Falcons are looking to win their seventh straight MAC Championship in the upcoming season, so come out to help support the program while enjoying a round of golf! All of the proceeds go directly to the Women's Basketball Program, and registration information will be sent out in August.

Summer Camps

2010-06-16T13:20:00.001-04:00

The Falcons coaching staff has been having a busy summer! Sunday, after weeks of meticulous planning and preparation, the first of two team camps the Falcons are hosting ran successfully. Teams began trickling in around 8:30a.m., with the first games starting at 9:00a.m. The Falcon players were also present at the camp, running score boards, passing out t-shirts, and helping out with any other tasks the coaches needed them for. Falcon coaches and players got a chance to see some of the top schools in the region compete, with some great games coming down to the buzzer. The final game of the day wrapped up around 9:00p.m. in Perry Field House, where most of the competitions were held. The second camp will be held on Sunday, June 27th. The coaches are finalizing game schedules for this camp, as well as working out all the other details to be ready for another great day of basketball.

Falcons Successful Both On and Off Court

2010-06-02T13:01:00.001-04:00

With a 27-7 overall record, Mid-American Conference regular-season and tournament titles and a trip to the NCAA Championships, it is obvious that the Bowling Green State University women’s basketball team had another successful year on the court in 2009-10. And, the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller have been equally successful in the classroom again this season.

The BGSU women’s basketball student-athletes had a combined grade-point average of 3.50 during the 2009-10 academic year. In the fall semester, no fewer than six student-athletes posted a perfect 4.00 GPA. Fifteen team members had a GPA of at least 3.00 in the fall, with 14 of those 15 earning a GPA of 3.25 or higher.

In the just-completed spring semester, 15 players again had at least a 3.00 GPA, with 12 earning a GPA of 3.20 or better. Three Falcon student-athletes posted a perfect 4.00 GPA in the spring semester.

Through the spring semester, 15 student-athletes have a cumulative GPA of 3.16 or higher for their BGSU academic careers.

Of course, the Falcons have had academic accomplishments all year long. Last month, the Falcons saw a league-high five student-athletes named to the 13-player Academic All-MAC Team. Seniors Tara Breske, Laura Bugher and Tamika Nurse, redshirt junior Maggie Hennegan and junior Lauren Prochaska all were voted to the team, as BGSU was the only school with more than one player selected.

Two of those five Falcons, Bugher and Hennegan, were named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Team, earning second-team honors. The BGSU duo were the only two MAC student-athletes named to any of the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District teams.

Additionally, the women’s basketball team earned numerous honors when the BGSU Department of Athletics held its annual Athletics Honors Night in April. Bugher was one of three female finalists for the Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award, while Hennegan made the list of the final three Junior S-A-O-Y Award candidates.

As a team, the women’s basketball Falcons picked up a pair of awards, earning both the female team Highest GPA award and the Most Improved Award.

The Falcons’ four seniors – Breske, Bugher, Nurse and Sarah Clapper – capped off successful undergraduate careers, both on the court and in the classroom. Breske, an exercise science major at BGSU, is planning to attend chiropractic school. Bugher, an early childhood education major, is finishing her student-teaching requirements.

Clapper, a human movement sport leisure study major as an undergrad, has been accepted into graduate school at BGSU, and will be a graduate assistant in the BGSU Department of Athletics in the fall. Nurse, a broadcast journalism major, plans to pursue a broadcasting-related career.

Last summer, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced that BGSU was ranked fifth in the entire country on the 2008-09 Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll. This year’s team has a strong chance to be on the WBCA’s list as well. The WBCA announcement is expected to come in July.

On the court, as mentioned, the 2009-10 Falcons won the MAC’s regular-season title for the sixth consecutive season, and BGSU captured the MAC Tournament crown for the fourth time in the last six years. The Brown and Orange advanced to national postseason play for the sixth-straight March, earning the league’s automatic berth to the 2010 NCAA Championships.

2010 Banquet...Lots to Celebrate!

2010-05-12T12:45:00.002-04:00

Nine different players picked up awards as the Bowling Green State University women’s basketball team celebrated another successful season Saturday night (May 1). The BGSU Women’s Basketball Awards Banquet was held at Olscamp Hall on the BGSU campus. Junior Lauren Prochaska was named the team’s Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, in a vote of team members, while senior Tara Breske was voted the Power Player of the Year for the third-straight season. Junior Tracy Pontius picked up the Playmaker of the Year Award, while classmate Kelly Zuercher was named the team’s Most Improved Player. Senior Laura Bugher was selected as the Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive season, sharing the award with junior Jen Uhl this year. Senior Tamika Nurse was the Impact Player of the Year, while senior Sarah Clapper earned the Fran and Marty Voll Senior Achievement Award. Junior Maggie Hennegan was the winner of the Falcon Award, given to the person or persons who embody qualities such as dedication, commitment, effort and being the ultimate team player. Prochaska was named the Mid-American Conference’s Player of the Year for a second consecutive season, averaging 17.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in 2009-10. She scored a school-record 609 points on the year, and also set a BGSU single-season record with 92 three-point field goals made, the second-highest total in MAC history. Prochaska, who was also the MAC Tournament MVP in 2010, has scored 1,699 points during her first three years at BGSU, ranking third in school history. Breske, a team tri-captain in 2009-10, ended her career with 916 points, 561 rebounds and 104 blocked shots, ranking third in BGSU history in the latter category. She averaged 8.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, shooting .470 from the field and leading the Falcons in both steals (1.6 spg) and blocks (1.1 bpg). Breske was named to the Academic All-MAC Team for the second-straight year, and also was named to the MAC’s All-Tournament Team. Pontius, an All-MAC Second-Team selection, started all 34 games for the Falcons in 2009-10. She finished second on the team in scoring, with 11.7 points per game, and assists, with 3.0 per contest. Pontius shot .390 from three-point range, going 70-of-179 from long distance. That total placed her second on the team and sixth on the BGSU single-season list. After just two seasons as a starter, Pontius has a career total of 998 points. Zuercher set career bests in nearly every category in ’09-10, and in most cases surpassed her totals from her first two seasons combined. She played in 30 games off the bench, averaging 2.5 points and 1.3 rebounds per game. Zuercher averaged 3.4 points and 1.7 rebounds per game in MAC contests, including a career-high 10 points vs. Eastern Michigan. After playing 10 or more minutes in just three games over her first two years, Zuercher posted double-digit minutes-played totals in 14 games as a junior, including in seven of the final eight contests of the year. Bugher played in 23 games off the bench, averaging 1.1 points and 1.3 rebounds on the year. She made 11 of her 17 shot attempts (.647) on the season. Bugher was one of just two MAC players named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Team, earning second-team honors, and also was selected to the Academic All-MAC Team. Bugher, named the Falcon Club Female Junior Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2008-09, has a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade point average as an early childhood education major with an intervention specialist minor. Uhl played in all 34 games in her junior season, starting each of the last 31. She averaged 7.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, ranking second on the team in boards. Uhl shot .497 from the field and hit 23 three-point field goals on the year. She was fifth on the team in scoring and first in rebounding in MAC games, with 7.6 ppg and 6.1 rpg. Uhl scored a season-high 20 points, going 8-of-11 from the field, in a win at Buffalo, and had a team-leading three double-doubles on the season. Nurse averaged 10.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game in her lone playing season at BGSU. She started all 34 games for the Brown and Orange, and led the team in assists while ranking third in scoring. Nurse went 43-of-112 from three-point land, and was third on the team in both three-pointers made and three-point field-goal percentage (.384). She led the Falcons in free throws attempted and shot .773 from the line (133-of-172). Nurse finished third in the MAC in assist/turnover ratio (1.40). Clapper, a team tri-captain in her senior season, played in 31 games off the bench, the highest total of her career. She averaged 1.9 points in 6.5 minutes per game. Clapper shot .368 from three-point land, going 14-for-38. She scored a season-high nine points at Buffalo, including back-to-back triples midway through the second half. Clapper also made the final shot attempt of her career, hitting a three-pointer in the final minute of the Falcons’ NCAA Tournament game vs. Michigan State. For her career, Clapper played in 91 games, shooting nearly 33 percent from three-point land. Hennegan played in all 34 games in her first playing season at BGSU, making eight starts. Voted a captain by her teammates before ever playing in a game at BG, she averaged 4.5 points and 4.3 rebound per game, ranking sixth on the team in the former category and fourth in the latter. Hennegan averaged 4.7 ppg and a team-leading 7.0 rpg in the Falcons’ three MAC Tournament wins, and joined Bugher as the only two MAC players named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Team. Hennegan, like Bugher, earned second-team honors. After the welcome by Master of Ceremonies Larry Weiss and the invocation by junior Chelsea Albert on Saturday evening, the crowd of several hundred banquet-goers was treated to dinner and a spectacular season video, with the latter coming courtesy of Julie Baker of BGSU Instructional Media. The team’s four seniors – Breske, Bugher, Clapper and Nurse – all had the opportunity to speak, sharing their thoughts and memories on their four years at BGSU (two years at BGSU, in Nurse’s case). Additionally, the Falcon first-year letterwinners – Hennegan, Nurse and freshmen Simone Eli, Allison Papenfuss, Chrissy Steffen and Jessie Tamerlano – were presented with their jackets. Head Coach Curt Miller also recapped the 2009-10 season and looked ahead to the 2010-11 campaign. And, the coach announced that Hennegan and Prochaska will be the team’s captains for ’10-11. The duo earned that distinction in a vote of their teammates. Hennegan will be a captain for the second-straight year. Miller also announced the formation of a team Leadership Council, a group of five players that will be involved in many of the decisions, policies, etc., regarding the program. That group will include Hennegan, Prochaska, Pontius, Zuercher and Jessica Slagle. The 2009-10 Falcons, of course, won the outright MAC regular-season championship for the sixth consecutive season, posting an overall record of 27-7 and a MAC mark of 14-2. BGSU also won the MAC Tournament for the fourth time in six seasons, advancing to the NCAA Championships. It marked BG’s sixth-straight season with a national postseason appearance. The team’s three fourth-year seniors were part of 113 wins during their time at BGSU, the second-highest win total in a four-year span school and MAC history. The Falcons went 113-24 during that time, with two NCAA Championships appearances and two trips to the Postseason WNIT. BGSU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL AWARDS * Player of the Year: Lauren Prochaska (Sponsored by Dan & June Long/Long’s Cleaners) * Falcon Award: Maggie Hennegan (Sponsored by Joan Slebos) * Power Player of the Year: Tara Breske (Sponsored by George & Susan Long) * Playmaker of the Year: Tracy Pontius (Sponsored by Ron Thompson) * Impact Player of the Year: Tamika Nurse (Sponsored by Bill Lloyd) * Most Improved Player: Kelly Zuercher (Sponsored by Larry & Fran Weiss) * Scholar-Athletes of the Year: Laura Bugher & Jen Uhl (Sponsored by Steve & Rhonda Melchi) * Fran & Marty Voll Senior Achievement Award: Sarah Clapper

Listen to Coach Miller...

2010-04-20T16:44:00.008-04:00

Coach Miller recently say down with BGSU Take5 for a podcast discussing the Falcons and looking back on their incredible season. Copy and paste the link below into your browser to listen to the podcast.

www.blogs.bgsu.edu/bgsutakefive

End of the Season Banquet

2010-03-26T14:33:00.002-04:00

The Annual Women's Basketball banquet has been set for Saturday, May 1st. The social will begin at 6:00 pm with the dinner and program to begin at 6:30 pm. The banquet will be held in Olscamp Hall, next door to Anderson Arena.

Please make your reservation soon, as the event will fill up fast. Please call the women's basketball office to make your reservation at 419.372.2255

For pricing and more information, please go to: http://www.bgsufalcons.com/news/2010/3/25/WBB_0325103740.aspx

MAC Awards

2010-03-23T15:15:00.005-04:00

Lauren Prochaska
MAC Player of the Year
MAC Tournament MVP
1st Team All MAC Selection

Tracy Pontius
2nd Team All MAC Selection

Tara Breske
MAC All Tournament Team

Congratulations to Lauren, Tara, and Tracy for being recognized by the Mid-American Conference for their achievements this season!!

Congrats to Lauren!!

2010-03-17T13:01:00.002-04:00

Prochaska Named Regional Finalist for State Farm Coaches All-America Team
Falcon junior earns honor for second-straight season

ATLANTA, Ga. (BGSU Athletic Communications) -- Bowling Green State University junior Lauren Prochaska is one of 52 regional finalists for the 2010 State Farm Coaches' All-America Basketball Team for NCAA Division I. Prochaska earns the honor for the second consecutive season.

The announcement of the All-Region nominees was made by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), in cooperation with State Farm, on Tuesday (March 16).

Prochaska is the fourth BGSU player in as many years to earn the honor. Ali Mann was a regional finalist in 2007, while Kate Achter was recognized two years ago.

The State Farm Coaches' All-American Team selection committee will review the 52 candidates and cut the list to 40 finalists on Tuesday, March 23. The 40 finalists will all be in the running for selection to the 10-member State Farm Coaches' All-America Team.

Prochaska, a native of Plain City, Ohio, has had yet another stellar season for the Falcons. She leads the team in scoring and rebounding, with 17.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Prochaska was named the Mid-American Conference’s Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, and also was named the MAC Tournament MVP over the weekend.

Prochaska averaged 20.3 ppg and 5.7 rpg in the league tournament, as the Falcons defeated Miami, Akron and Toledo to win the championship. She scored a season-high 29 points in the championship-game win over UT.

Just a junior, Prochaska already ranks third on the BGSU career scoring list. She has 590 points this season and 1,680 points in 101 career games. Prochaska is averaging 16.6 points per game, the second-highest average in BGSU annals, in her storied Falcon career.

Prochaska has made a school-record 89 three-point field goals this season to date, and also holds the BG career record, with a total of 238 threes in the Brown and Orange. She leads the MAC in three-point field-goal percentage (.449) and total three-pointers made, and ranks second in the conference in scoring, free-throw pct. (.895) and three-pointers made per game (2.70).

Prochaska has paced BG in scoring 18 times this year, and was named the MAC Player of the Week on four occasions.

The 2009-10 Falcons of head coach Curt Miller won the MAC’s regular-season and tournament titles. BGSU, 27-6 overall (14-2 MAC), will face Michigan State in the first round of the NCAA Championships this Saturday (March 20) in Louisville, Ky. The game will be televised on ESPN2 and also broadcast on WBGU-FM 88.1 and BGSUFalcons.com

2010 MAC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS!!

2010-03-15T14:34:00.003-04:00

This weekend the Falcons defeated Miami in the Quarterfinals, Akron in the Semi Finals, and Toledo in the Championship game to win the 10th MAC Tournament Championship in BGSU history! Please check out www.bgsufalcons.com for a whole photo gallery of the game and celebration. And yes...one of the pictures is of Coach Miller dancing!! :) Below is also some video footage from the post game celebration! Enjoy and Congratulations on going to the Big Dance!!!

#200

2010-03-08T12:52:00.004-05:00

Above: Coach Miller being presented his #200 Game Ball by Athletic Director Greg Christopher

Congratulations to Coach Miller and his coaching staff...Again!! With the win over Akron on Saturday, February 20th, Coach Miller reached the 200th win of his coaching career!

BGSU's win gives Curt Miller a record of 200-79 in his ninth year since assuming the Falcon helm ... Miller becomes the fastest coach to 200 wins in MAC women's basketball history ... only Kent State's Bob Lindsay (389 wins after Saturday's victory at Ohio) and former Toledo head coach Mark Ehlen (240 wins) have reached the 200-win plateau ... Miller got there in his 279th career game, while it took Ehlen 292 games and Lindsay 308 to reach the milestone.

20 WINS...AGAIN!!

2010-02-15T17:03:00.005-05:00

Congratulations to Coach Miller and the 2009-2010 Falcons! They have won 20 games in each of the last consecutive SEVEN seasons!

BGSU, as mentioned, has won 20 games for the seventh consecutive season ... that ties the MAC record held by Kent State ... the Golden Flashes put together seven-straight 20-win seasons from 1995-96 to 2001-02.

The Falcons have won 20 games in a season for the 15th time in school history, most of any MAC institution ... Toledo also has won 20 games this year, the Rockets' 14th such season ... KSU has posted 20 or more wins on 11 occasions.

The win gives the Falcons a 12-0 record at venerable Anderson Arena this year to date ... BGSU has won 29 consecutive regular-season games at "The House That Roars" ... the last regular-season home loss for the Falcons came to Western Michigan, 79-73, on Jan. 30, 2008.

Overall, BGSU has won 31 of the last 32 games at Anderson Arena ... 26 of those 31 wins have come by double digits ... the lone loss during that span came to Indiana in the third round of last year's Postseason WNIT.

The victory was the 199th for the Falcons since Curt Miller assumed the helm ... Miller has a 199-79 overall record in his ninth year at BGSU ... if the Falcons win one of their next 13 games, Miller will become the fastest coach to 200 overall wins in MAC history ... only two other MAC women's basketball coaches have reached 200 victories ... former Toledo coach Mark Ehlen reached 200 wins in his 292nd game at the Rocket helm, while KSU's Bob Lindsay reached the milestone in his 308th game.

Congratulations Maggie and Laura!!

2010-02-04T13:52:00.004-05:00

Junior Maggie Hennegan
Senior Laura Bugher

Bowling Green State University women's basketball student-athletes Laura Bugher and Maggie Hennegan have been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 4 Team, it was announced Thursday (Feb. 4). Both were named to the second team.

ESPN The Magazine Acad. All-District 4 Team - PDF

The District 4 team is made up of student-athletes from Division I schools in the states of Alabama, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. To be nominated, student-athletes must be at least a sophomore, a starter or important reserve, and must carry a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 or higher.

Bugher, a senior, and Hennegan, a redshirt junior, each maintain a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade point average. Bugher is an early childhood education major, while Hennegan is a health care administration major with a minor in business at BGSU.

Bugher and Hennegan were the only two Mid-American Conference student-athletes named to any of the eight ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District teams on Thursday. Bugher is in her fourth season at BGSU, having helped the Falcons to a 104-22 overall record and a 51-6 MAC ledger since her arrival on campus. Hennegan is in her second year at BG, having sat out last season after transferring from Saint Louis University.

Bugher, a native of Greenwood, Ind. (Lutheran H.S.), has played in 17 of BGSU’s 23 games off the bench, including seven of the team’s nine MAC games. She has averaged 1.1 points and 1.3 rebounds per game, and has shot 70 percent from the field, going 7-of-10.

Hennegan, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio (St. Ursula), has played in all 23 games, starting the first eight of the season, and is averaging 5.0 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. She is sixth on the team in scoring and third in rebounding. Hennegan, who also ranks fourth in assists, is shooting 47.6% from the floor, placing her second on the Falcons in that category. Her two double-digit scoring games include a 10-point outing in BG’s most recent game, Tuesday’s (Feb. 2) 85-67 win over Northern Illinois.

A pair of Middle Tennessee State players, Brandi Brown and Alysha Clark, were named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 4 First Team. They were joined by Jenna Bartsokas of Lipscomb, Angie Bjorklund of Tennessee and Eastern Kentucky’s Colette Cole. The second team was comprised of Bugher, Hennegan, Dayton’s Kristin Daugherty, Murray State’s Rachael Isom and Oakland’s Melissa Jeltema.

The Falcons of head coach Curt Miller are 18-5 overall and 8-1 in MAC play, heading into a Saturday (Feb. 6) game at Ball State. The game, the MAC TV Game of the Week, is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. and will be televised by Fox Sports Net (FSN Ohio and FSN Indiana).

Congrats to Laura and Maggie! We are very proud of their hard work on and off of the court.

Tradition Never Graduates

2010-02-01T08:46:00.002-05:00

We want to say Thank You to all the alumnae who were able to attend our annual Alumnae Day celebration on Saturday, January 23rd. It was a very special day! In front of a loud crowd of 2,800 people, the current Falcons beat the Eagles of Eastern Michigan and the former great Falcons were recognized at halftime. Following the game, we held a reception in their honor so that the current team could meet who came before them and know how special it is to wear a Bowling Green jersey.

This year marked the 5 year anniversary of the 2005 MAC Championship. We also celebrated the 20(ish) year anniversary of the 1988, 1989, and 1990 MAC Championship teams. It was great to have so many former great Falcons come back and share their stories and memories. We look forward to continuing the tradition!

Go Falcons!!

100 MAC Wins!!

2010-01-27T10:30:00.003-05:00

Congratulations to Coach Miller and his Coaching Staff!!!

The Falcon's 83-71 win over Eastern Michigan on Saturday was the 100th MAC victory in Coach Miller's career. Coach Miller now has a career record of 100-34 in conference games. Coach Miller, who holds the school records for overall and MAC wins, became just the seventh coach in MAC history--and second fastest--to amass 100 league victories!! Congrats on an amazing conference run!

"It's a credit to players and my assistant coaches, who have helped bring these great players to the program," said Miller, regarding his triple-digit MAC win total covering nine seasons. "It's not just my 100th win. It's my staff's 100th win, because they've been here the whole time with me. Not very many staffs can say that, and that's been a huge part of our success."

Coach Reached 100 wins in...

Mark Ehlen (Toledo) 123rd career game

CURT MILLER 134th

Fran Voll (BGSU) 143rd

Bob Lindsay (Kent) 150th

Donita Davenport (CMU) 164th

Ron Stewart (WMU) 173rd

Maria Fantanarosa (Miami) 179th

Go Falcons!!!

Seniors Mark 4th Consecutive Recruiting Class to Reach 100 Victories!

2010-01-21T13:52:00.003-05:00

2009 Senior Lindsey Goldsberry
2008 Seniors Kate Achter and Whitney Taylor

2007 Seniors Megan Thorburn, Ali Mann, Amber Flynn, Liz Honegger, Carin Horne, Julie Gompers

2010 Seniors Laura Bugher, Tamika Nurse, Tara Breske, Sarah Clapper

Saturday's (Jan. 16) 89-61 win at Kent State enabled BGSU's three fourth-year seniors, Tara Breske, Laura Bugher and Sarah Clapper, to reach a career milestone ... the Falcons have posted a 100-21 record since the trio joined the program ... the group is the fifth in school history, and the fourth in a row, to be a part of 100 career wins at BGSU ... the 2006-07 senior class that kick-started the Falcons' current run of success – Amber Flynn, Julie Gompers, Liz Honegger, Carin Horne, Ali Mann and Megan Thorburn – had a total of 103 wins ... Kate Achter and Whitney Taylor finished their playing careers in '07-08, posting a total of 108 victories ... and, last year's one-woman senior class, Lindsey Goldsberry, finished her career with a total of 114 wins, the most by any player (male or female) in MAC basketball history.

100-WIN CLASSES AT BGSU
Wins Class of ... 4th-Year Seniors

114 2009 Lindsey Goldsberry
108 2008 Kate Achter, Whitney Taylor
103 2007 A. Flynn, J. Gompers, L. Honegger, C. Horne, A. Mann, M. Thorburn
100 2010 Tara Breske, Laura Bugher, Sarah Clapper
100 1990 Angie Bonner, Tecca Thompson

Five and O

2010-01-21T10:22:00.005-05:00

Chrissy Steffen growling at Buffalo's Courtney Brown
Lauren Prochaska

Tracy Pontius stealing the ball from Miami's Courtney Osborn

For the fourth time in five years, we have gone undefeated in the MAC through the first round robin swing of East division games. Here is a brief recap of the start of MAC play:

BG vs. Akron: 74-62

Lauren Prochaska led the team with 27 points, while Jen Uhl had 8 rebounds.

http://www.bgsufalcons.com/news/2010/1/6/WBB_0106105120.aspx?path=wbball

BG at Ohio: 77-42

Tracy Pontius had 18 points in the victory, while Jen Uhl and Maggie Hennegan had 5 rebounds a piece.

http://www.bgsufalcons.com/news/2010/1/9/WBB_0109105743.aspx?path=wbball

BG vs. Buffalo: 78-60

Tracy Pontius had 16 points, with Tara Breske and Allison Papenfuss added 8 rebounds each.

http://www.bgsufalcons.com/news/2010/1/13/WBB_0113102823.aspx?path=wbball

BG at Kent State: 89-61

In a dominating offensive output, Lauren Prochaska led all scorers with 24 points. Tamika Nurse added a career high 7 rebounds. (Good job, Tamika!)

http://www.bgsufalcons.com/news/2010/1/16/WBB_0116101136.aspx?path=wbball

BG vs. Miami: 85-65

Tracy Pontius played a great game offensively and defensively to lead the Falcons with 27 points. Lauren Prochaska led the team with 5 rebounds.

http://www.bgsufalcons.com/news/2010/1/19/WBB_0119101703.aspx?path=wbball

Through the first five MAC games, the Falcons are averaging 80 points a game with a margin of victory of 23. This Saturday begins a six-game stretch of West Division games which will prove to be a tough test! We hope you can all make it to Anderson Arena on Saturday at 2:00 pm as the Falcons host the Eagles of Eastern Michigan. They are currently tied for first place in the West.

Roll Along Falcons!

Congratulations Coach Miller (and coaching staff!)

2010-01-07T09:06:00.003-05:00

Kevin Eckert, Jennifer Roos, Curt Miller, Monique Rosati, Brandi Poole
Coach Miller has won 5 consecutive MAC Titles

Head Coach Curt Miller

Congratulations to Coach Miller and his coaching staff!! With last night's MAC opening win over Akron, Coach Miller and his staff won their 190th game. Coach Miller became the winningest coach in Falcon history two seasons ago, but this win moved him past former BGSU and Central Michigan coach Fram Voll into third place on the Mid-American Conference wins list!

Coach Miller now trails only Bob Lindsay (Kent State) and Mark Ehlen (former Toledo coach) on the conference chart.

"Fran Voll was such an amzing coach and I know what he meant not only to BGSU Women's Basketball, but to MAC basketball. It's such an honor to be mentioned amongst some of the elite coaches in the MAC."

Falcon Holiday Update

2010-01-05T13:58:00.003-05:00

Chrissy, Jen, and D at the annual team Christmas party
Yes, that is Kevin in his favorite gift...a Steelers snuggie.

Team making sundaes

Team at Thanksgiving Dinner

Hello Falcon Fans!

Sorry we haven't blogged recently...the season started and we were all consumed with practices, games, recruiting, scouting...oh, and traveling to NINE road games in November and December!! We have completed non-conference with a 10-4 record, including a huge win over #14 ranked Vanderbilt on their home floor! We also met one of our major goals which is to be undefeated at Anderson in the non-conference.

We enter MAC play this week with a home game versus Akron on Wednesday, then we travel down to Athens to play Ohio U on Saturday. This is what we have been working towards and know that our tough road schedule has us prepared to defend our fifth MAC title.

Here's an update on what the Falcons have been up to besides games:

1. The Falcons had a great Thanksgiving meal together. We all stuffed ourselves before running it all off in an evening practice. Although we couldn't be with our own families, anyone in the basketball world knows that Thanksgiving is a great day to spend with your basketball "family."

2. The team has also been busy in the classroom. The Falcons finished the semester strong...14 of our players had over a 3.25 for the fall semester. Congrats to everyone!

3. After wrapping up non-conference, the team had their annual Christmas party! We have all had a "Secret Santa" since the beginning of December. There have been some interesting surprise gifts left for everyone, but all was revealed on Sunday night as we all exchanged gifts. Coach Miller received his annual supply of de-icer, while Tracy went home with a great set of Tupperware! The gift games get competitive, as you may suspect! We ended the night with a huge steak dinner and sundae bar!

The team has one more week before classes begin. They are enjoying their free time on campus and having nothing to concentrate on besides basketball. They have many team meals together and shopping excursions. :)

I hope everyone can make it out on Wednesday night as we open the MAC season against a very tough Akron team. The Race for Seis begins this week!!

We hope everyone had a safe and happy Holiday season!!

Go Falcons!!

BGSU Women's Basketball

Rings and a Banner and a Win!!

2009-11-16T10:15:00.003-05:00

On Friday, November 13th, the BGSU Women's Basketball Team opened the 2009-2010 by honoring the 2008-2009 Five Time MAC Champions. The team received their rings and unveiled their 2009 WNIT banner. The Falcons advanced to the third round of the WNIT last season, after winning their 5th straight MAC Regular Season Championship. In attendance was the winningest player (men's and women's) in MAC history, Lindsey Goldsberry, to receive her ring and unveil the banner. She was the lone senior on last year's championship team.

After the ceremony, the Falcons won the first round of the Preseason WNIT tournament by defeating Chicago State 76-41. Below is the video of the ring and banner ceremony, as well as a link to the story of the game, with post game interviews with Coach Miller and Tamika Nurse.

http://www.bgsufalcons.com/news/2009/11/10/WBB_1110093731.aspx

Roll Along!!

First Glimpse of the 2009-10 Falcons

2009-11-05T10:21:00.003-05:00

Maggie Hennegan had a double-double in her debut in a Falcon uniform

We defeated Findlay last night in our first exhibition game 80-50. It was great to finally put on uniforms and play against someone besides ourselves and our men's practice squad. There were some bright spots throughout the night, but we still have a lot to work on before our first official game in the Preseason WNIT on Friday, November 13th.

Here's all the details and audio from the post game press conference, courtesy of the most amazing SID in the country, Mike Cihon.

http://www.bgsufalcons.com/news/2009/11/4/WBB_1104090141.aspx

Also, thanks to the over 1,100 fans that came out to Anderson Arena last night to support us and welcome all of our newcomers to the House that Roars!

Let the games begin!!

Can't Make it to Anderson this season??

2009-10-30T10:41:00.002-04:00

There are many ways to keep up with the Falcons this season, even if you can't make it to Anderson Arena! Now keep in mind, it would be better to witness Coach Miller's foot stomping in person, but here are three options to help you see your favorite women's basketball team in action if you can't be here!

1. All home games will be broadcast on BCSN and show locally.

2. The Falcons will be featured twice this season on Fox Sports. The first time will be on Saturday, February 6th when we travel to Ball State. The MAC Championship re-match will be aired at 2:30 pm EST. The next game will be our Senior Night on Saturday, February 27th at Noon EST vs. Kent State.

http://www.bgsufalcons.com/news/2009/10/29/WBB_1029095956.aspx

3. Finally, this year you can view all home games streamed LIVE online! B2 networks will be streaming all of our home games and some of our road games, if our opponent is also a member. Go to the following website for more information:

http://www.b2livetv.com/partner_members.asp?id=283

Whether you are snowed in or live outside of the area, you can still follow the Falcons on their race for their 6th consecutive MAC Championship!!

Countdown to tip off in the Preseason WNIT: 15 days!!

Roll Along!!

It's Been a Busy Month for the Falcons...

2009-10-28T10:05:00.008-04:00

October is a great month! The Women's Basketball team and coaching staff have been busy this month preparing for another great season. They have been on the road recruiting, talking at coaching clinics, hosting visits, attending dinners, preparing for the start of practice, and some pumpkin carving with the team to end the month!

Here are a few of the highlights:

1. Coach Roos had her contract extended to match Coach Miller's! This is an amazing honor and a credit to our athletic department for "thinking outside the box." Congrats Jennifer!!

Here's the link to the story: http://www.bgsufalcons.com/news/2009/10/13/WBB_1013090915.aspx

2. Coach Miller recently spoke at the District 8 High School Coaches Clinic at the University of Northwestern Ohio in Lima. He is asked regularly to speak about our High Ballscreen Offense. Over 70 high school girl's and boy's high school coaches were in attendance. And of course, his trusty assistants were also on hand to film, take pictures, and assist with his on court demonstrations. He is a good boss, however, as he did treat us to dinner afterwards! ;)

3. To celebrate the start of practice, the team enjoyed a family meal last week at SamB's. After a tough two hour practice, the team was treated to a great dinner at the favorite local restaurant. Chicken, pasta, salmon, and steak were all on the menu and our team had no trouble cleaning their plates!

4. Also last week, the men's and women's basketball teams held the Annual Tip Off Dinner. There were over 150 people in attendance to get introduced to the 2009-2010 teams, have a great meal and listen to Coach Miller and Coach Orr discuss the upcoming seasons. The event was hosted by two fantastic former Falcons: Women's basketball alum Kate Achter and Men's basketball alum Anthony Stacey. I do believe the theme of the night was the adjustment from high school to college basketball and how much the freshmen seem to be getting yelled at these days!! :) The sophomores in the room were the happiest group, as the attention is now off of them!

5. This past weekend the coaching staff was able to celebrate a momentous occasion. A great former Falcon, Sara Putoff, was inducted into the Hall of Fame. It is an incredible honor and we are so proud to have been able to share the day with her. She had two full tables of family and former teammates there to celebrate with her. Although we never had the opportunity to coach Sara, she remains one of our friends and biggest supporters. We do still wish she had some eligibility left because we would certainly find a new uniform for her!! Congrats Sara!!

Coach Miller and Sara Puthoff with her Hall of Fame Picture

Coach Miller and alumnae Fran Miller, Michelle Terry, Jackie Adlington, Sara Puthoff, Bridget Andrews, Jaymee Wappes, Angie Farmer

6. The team also had their annual pumpkin carving contest this weekend at Coach Roos's house. We had a sundae bar for dessert and then they all got to work on their pumpkins. The creativity was flowing as they prepared for their presentations. The lights were turned out and in groups of 4 they presented their pumpkins for the coaches to judge! All of them were great and we were very impressed. Enjoy the entertaining pictures below of the winning pumpkins.

The winning team preparing for pumpkin carving domination

Scary. Only certain members of the team were allowed to touch the knives...

Pumpkin guts

The Winning Pumpkin: "The Swine Flu featuring Lauren Prochaska"...courtesy of Tamika Nurse, Tracy Pontius, Kelly Zuercher, and Sarah Clapper (there were some added effects coming out of the pumpkin's mouth that were not photograped due to the graphic nature of the flu.) :)

"Rolling for a Sixth Championship"...courtesy of Maggie Hennegan, Chrissy Steffen, and Jen Uhl

"Disco Dancing Ball featuring Coach Miller the running man headed for the Big Dance"...Courtesy of Laura Bugher, Simone Eli, Tara Breske, and Chelsea Albert"Kicking Butt this season"...courtesy of Jess Slagle, Danielle Havel and Jessie Tamerlano

7. Lastly, Lauren Prochaska and Tracy Pontius were both recently named to the Full Court Press Pre-Season Mid-Major Top 25 list. It's a great honor for both of our juniors as they prepare to lead our team on the "Race for Seis", or the run for our sixth MAC Championship!!

Here is the link to the story: http://www.bgsufalcons.com/news/2009/10/26/WBB_1026090245.aspx

Whew! I know that was alot but, like I said, it's been a busy month for the Falcons!! Our exhibition game is one week from today, so make sure you get out to Anderson Arena next Wednesday! The home opener will be on Friday, November 13th versus Chicago State in the Preseason WNIT tournament. Prior to the game, we will be revealing our Fifth Championship banner and presenting the team with their rings!

Roll Along!!

Meet the Newcomers Part 5: Simone Eli

2009-10-26T14:11:00.002-04:00

Team Scavenger Hunt

Strong Woman Competition

Simone Eli

HELLO!! I’m Simone Eli from GENOA, Ohio...yes a local. I am the oldest of five children. My brothers are Nolan (17) and Connor (13). I also have two sisters, Athena(11) and Sophie(7). My parents are Art and Rebecca Eli and they both attended BGSU. My father played baseball for the Falcons as well. I graduated from Genoa High School, and am currently changing my major from Education to Journalism to hopefully Sports Broadcast someday.

Our first official practice was Friday, and right off the bat the transition from high school basketball to college basketball began. We started learning right from the get-go . . .many offensive plays as well as defensive formations. Going from nearly an all zone defense on my high school team to an ALL MAN college defense has been the biggest challenge of not only my basketball career, but probably life. =] We are greatly pushed every second of practice not only by our coaches, but by our teammates as well. We are a family, so always remembering that no matter what, we’re going to pick each other back up. One major difference between high school and college ball is the “togetherness” and the “enthusiasm” of everyone during practice. There is, almost all the time, a very positive atmosphere, and just brings everyone closer, and performing even better.

Since the summer started, and the fall has begun, I have made 16 best friends, whom I love to see every day. Among them, the other “freshies”, Danielle and I have become very close. From our Wednesday night Cougar Town episodes to our Sunday night Desperate Housewives, our random trips to Dairy Queen and our 3 am fire alarms sending us outside for 40 minutes in front of Kreischer . . . I have developed not only memories, but friendships that will last a LIFETIME!

Go Falcons!
Simone Eli =]

Meet the Newcomers Part 4: Jessie Tammerlano

2009-10-23T11:44:00.003-04:00

Me and Chrissy

At a football game

Jessie Tammerlano

Hello, my name is Jessie Tamerlano and I am from North Royalton, Ohio. I have three sisters. My older sisters are Katie and Jackie, who is a junior on the soccer team here at Bowling Green. I also have a little sister Amanda who is a junior at North Royalton High School. My parents are Nick and Kathy Tamerlano. I went to North Royalton High School where I played four years of varsity basketball and soccer. My sophomore year, my sister Jackie and I made it to the state semis for soccer.

We had our first official practice last Friday the sixteenth, and it was an eye opener for my college career. I have never been through a three hour practice at one time. I just have to make sure my ADD does not set in. (just kidding) So far they have been going well, but very challenging. The upperclassmen really help us with the new plays and where to be on defense. Communication really makes a big difference in practice; it builds up everyone’s momentum and really gets people going.

From the start of the summer it was obvious that the team really got along. We were welcomed and became part of the family right away. It is a lot of fun being a part of this team, whether it’s eating in the café with the other freshmen or going out to team activities. The first thing we ever did, as a team, was a team scavenger hunt organized by Jess Slagle. All of us freshmen thought that we were going be have to do some type of initiation to get into BKB (our team "sorority"), but luckily it was nothing like that. It was a fun time that allowed us to get to know our upperclassmen teammates better and their way of letting us know that we were now a part of something very special. We already have so many great memories, such as the team golf outing, the lunch with the coaches (killing them in cornhole with Danielle Havel), and the new Sunday night routine of watching Desperate Housewives together. Since I have gotten here, I have watched the first three seasons so I am all caught up with Chrissy and Danielle (we like to pretend as if we are part of the show). The coaches sometimes make fun of our silliness off the court, but we know on the court we are able to take each other seriously.

I look forward to my first season as a Falcon!!

Roll Along!

Jessie Tamerlano

Meet the Newcomers Part 3: Allison Papenfuss

2009-10-21T12:00:00.003-04:00

Nice try...get back in the weight room...

Tamika and Allison

Allison Papenfuss

Greetings Falcon Fans!

I am one of five newcomers on the team this year. I’m from nearby Whitehouse, Ohio and graduated from Anthony Wayne High School. After playing Bowling Green High School every year in my high school career it’s interesting to be attending the university just down the road. But, at the same time I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. Even after so many weeks, the team is just amazing and you become so close to them and the coaching staff. It really is like a family.

With practice just starting it is definitely an adjustment. At first it was great to have some time to adjust with just classes and workouts, because at every turn we are reminded that this isn’t high school anymore. We are required to work harder in the weight room, in the classroom and on the court. The upperclassmen have set the bar pretty high for us! As the starting date for practice rolled around, nerves really started to come up; but when the date finally arrived, I was so happy to finally be playing again. This was the end of a long journey for me, as sadly, I was forced to sit out almost all of my senior year with a stress fracture in my leg, so to be playing pain free was very exciting for me.

Little did I know, the happiness of starting practice would die quickly when the first half hour of practice was more intense than the 2 hour practices I went through in high school. However, the team really comes together and the upperclassmen really look out for us. They make sure we understand everything, although we may annoy them with dumb questions sometimes, they never show it and are so patient with us.

There’s still a lot more practices to go before we are ready to play, and as much as I dread it, I’m so happy playing basketball and am so excited for the journey that we are on.

Roll Along,
Allison Papenfuss

Meet the Newcomers Part 2: Chrissy Steffen

2009-10-20T17:29:00.003-04:00

Allison, Chrissy, Jessie
Chrissy and Jen

Chrissy Steffen

Hi my name is Chrissy Steffen, and I am the youngest of four children. I have three older brothers: John, Tim, and Mark. The past year I became an Aunt. I have a niece, Hailey, and a nephew, Michael. My parents are John and Patty. I also have a cat named Marley (he is now on Facebook). I attended Carmel High School in Indiana, and our team won the 4A state championship my junior year.

Our first official practice started on Friday, and it is definitely a different experience than a high school practice. They have been going well so far, and I’ve already learned so many new things (especially on the defensive end). I have never had to talk this much, but I really think it makes a huge difference in practice, and it helps get us through the sometimes long 3 hours. As Coach Miller would say, “A quiet court is a losing court,” but it’s never quiet with Coach Roos and her loud clap. :) The upper classmen really help all the “newcomers/freshmen” through practice, and teach us so many different things. I am excited to start basketball season!

There have already been so many good memories since I first started here at BGSU. We’ve had the strongwoman contest, the golf outing, an “over the hill” party, and just memories we get spending time with our teammates. There is a definite bond watching our weekly TV shows like Desperate Housewives (Kevin’s favorite show), Cougar Town (thanks to Coach Miller), Grey’s Anatomy, and Private Practice. We all even have an alias for the Desperate Housewives characters, hence the nicknames Susan and Bree for Danielle and me. I love BGSU so far, and the college atmosphere here, especially my 10x14 box of a dorm room. Life isn’t too bad here, even with classes and practices. My teammates make it all worth it, and are always there for support and leadership. The weight room isn’t half bad either, plus I have these monstrous guns now that Kevin can’t even match up to. This is definitely the place for me, and I can’t wait to experience what the next four years brings.

Go Falcons!!

Chrissy "Screen Magnet" Steffen

Meet the Newcomers Part 1: Danielle Havel

2009-10-19T12:17:00.003-04:00

Tracy, D, and Lo
D and Chrissy...teammates again!

Danielle Havel

Hey, I’m Danielle Havel and a transfer student from Depaul University. My hometown is Carmel, Indiana. My parents are John and Melissa Havel; I have an older brother Eric who goes to Purdue University, and a twin sister Sarah who plays Volleyball at College of Charleston. A fun fact is that Chrissy Steffen and I played High School Basketball together where we won the 4A State Championship my senior year at Carmel High School.

Because I am a transfer student, I am not considered anything. It is always freshmen, sophomores, and Danielle. I classify myself as a freshman though, probably because I live in the dorm with all of them (it’s awesome by the way). We started official practice Friday of last week, and they are going fantastic. Even though practice goes for 3 hours, the team still manages to have fun while working. The practices here are much different then the ones I was used to at DePaul, but the philosophy is still the same: to work hard and win games.

The team is always so fun to be around, we all get along, and it helps make practice go that much faster. I have enjoyed events such as the golf outing, newbie’s lunch with the coaches and celebrating Tamika’s 22nd (over the hill) birthday. The lunch with the coaches was especially fun because Jessie Tamerlano and I destroyed all 4 coaches in cornhole that day.** Overall, I spend most of my time with the freshmen, where we all have different personalities but that is what makes us such a good fit. We do stupid things like create a facebook page for Chrissy’s cat Marley, and have famous team quotes such as: “Got it!!” or “What is going on?!” My transition from DePaul to Bowling Green has been well worth it, and the best decision for me. Whether it is the fun coaching staff, the college town of Bowling Green, or my teammates, there is never a dull moment in BG and I cannot wait for games to start!! (where I will be cheering on the sidelines!!)

Dhavel

**Just to clarify...What Danielle meant to say was that "Kevin and Brandi DOMINATED me and Jessie in cornhole that day and then took a victory lap around the yard."

How Many Candles are on that Cake???

2009-10-07T10:47:00.003-04:00

Happy Birthday to Coach Miller!! Good thing he's in good shape...that's a lot of candles to blow out!! The staff took him out to lunch for his birthday, then he enjoyed a nice dinner out with his family. In between, the team attacked him with silly string. :) You look great for 29 Coach!!

Video Clips from Costa Rica!

2009-10-06T11:36:00.002-04:00

It's about time! Some of the videos have finally been uploaded in between visits, recruiting, and workouts. Here is a glimpse of some of the fun from the team's foreign tour to Costa Rica in August. Enjoy!!

Coach Miller to Coach the Falcons Through 2015!!

2009-10-01T15:46:00.003-04:00

The Staff at Practice in Costa Rica...can't believe we've been together 8 years!

Coach Miller has the game plan for 09-10: Pura Vida!!

Bowling Green State University women’s basketball coach and National Coach of the Year finalist Curt Miller has received a two-year contract extension, BGSU Assistant Vice President/Director of Athletics Greg Christopher has announced. Miller’s contract now runs through June 30, 2015.

"What Curt, his staff and teams have accomplished is remarkable," said Christopher. "First they built a program, and now it has been sustained at a championship level. How Curt and his staff manage every aspect of their team is top-notch. We look forward to Curt being a part of BGSU for years to come."

Miller has built a perennial power in his eight years on campus. He has guided the Falcons to a 179-73 record in that time. After a 9-19 record in his first season (2001-02) and a 12-16 mark in his second, Miller and the Falcons are 158-38 overall (80.6%) and 83-13 (86.5%) in Mid-American Conference regular-season play over the last six seasons.

"I am grateful to Greg Christopher and the entire University administration for their commitment and support of our women's basketball program," said Miller. "I am excited about our future and look forward to sharing my extension news with recruits and their families.

"I would also like to thank my extremely talented assistant coaches for their hard work and dedication to our program. Their ability to attract high-level basketball players with incredible character has been the secret to our championship success. Finally, I would like to thank our former and current players for believing in our vision and helping establish the culture of championship success at BGSU."

Miller has been named MAC Coach of the Year an unprecedented five years running, having earned that honor every year since 2005. No other coach had won the honor more than two years in a row. He has guided BGSU to an average of over 27 wins per year over the last five seasons.In March of 2009, Miller was named the Russell Athletic/WBCA Region 4 Coach of the Year for the third time in the last four seasons, making him one of eight finalists for National Coach of the Year in each of those three years.

The Falcons have posted six consecutive seasons of over 20 wins, and have made five consecutive trips to national postseason play. BGSU won both the MAC’s regular-season and tournament titles in three-straight years, capped by a 2006-07 season which saw the Falcons go 31-4 and become the first women’s team in MAC history to advance to the NCAA’s "Sweet Sixteen." The Falcons downed Oklahoma State and Vanderbilt in the national tournament to advance to the round of 16.

The Falcons have won the MAC regular-season title in each of the last five years, and have advanced to the Postseason WNIT two consecutive seasons. BGSU’s 26-8 mark in the 2007-08 season included a first-round win in the postseason tourney.Last season, the Falcons went 29-5, posting the second-highest win total in MAC women’s basketball history (behind only the ’06-07 BGSU team). The 2008-09 Falcons received a first-round bye in the Postseason WNIT and defeated Syracuse in the second round before falling to Indiana.Over the last five years, the Falcons have a record of 72-8 (90.0%) in MAC regular-season play, including a 59-5 (92.2%) mark over the last four seasons. That includes a perfect 16-0 league record in 2005-06 and 15-1 marks in both ’06-07 and ’08-09.

Miller was named to the WBCA’s Board of Directors in June of 2009, and is also actively involved in several other committees. He is the chair of the Russell Athletic/WBCA National Coach of the Year Committee, and is also a member of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Rules Committee and the WBCA Legislative Sub-Committee.In July of 2009, Miller was named one of the top Mid-Major head coaches in NCAA Division I by the National Women’s Basketball Insider website.

After just eight years, Miller is already the fourth-winningest women’s basketball coach in MAC history. In MAC games only, he is tied for seventh in conference history with 94 regular-season wins against league foes.

The Falcons begin the 2009-10 season by participating in the Preseason WNIT. BGSU will host Chicago State in first-round action on November 13.

Fore!!!! BGSU's Annual Golf Outing Held on Sunday

2009-09-22T09:00:00.004-04:00

Team at the Hot Dog shed
Maggie, Jess, Coach Miller, Kate, and Maribeth...Beat the Pro Hole

Kate Achter and her homemade cornhole boards

Young Alumnae Team: Coach Miller, Ali Mann, Kate Achter, Casey McDowell, Liz Honegger, Pete Winovich

Everyone Loves the Golf Outing!!

The BGSU Women's Basketball Team held their annual golf outing on Sunday, September 20th. We had over 110 golfers participate and the weather was fantastic! The players worked the course all day, collecting money on the contest holes, cooking hot dogs, running drinks, and having a great time. Former All American Kate Achter not only raised money for the program on the Beat the Pro hole, but she also donated hand-made corn hole boards that were auctioned off at the evening social. Coach Miller and Coach Roos showed off their golfing skills in the afternoon at the Beat the Pro hole. We had the largest number of women's basketball alumnae that we have ever had come home to BG and participate in the outing.

This is a huge day for our program...it's the day that some of our biggest fans, friends, and boosters come together to raise money and celebrate the beginning of a new season. At the evening social, over 120 people gathered to eat and meet the new 2009-2010 team. Coach Miller announced the winning teams and all the raffle winners. Thank you to all the sponsors and donors that made this a great day for our program!! Go Falcons!!

The Dream Becomes Reality: BGSU Breaks Ground on New Arena

2009-09-09T09:01:00.006-04:00

Team at the groundbreaking ceremony
Staff in front of the backhoe

Sarah leading the athletes in a rendition of Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba

Kerm Stroh entering the event through the student-athletes

On September 3rd before the football game, BG officially broke ground on their brand new arena. The Women's Basketball Team and Coaching Staff would like to say a huge thank you to Kerm Stroh and his family for the lead donation. It was a great day of celebration! The event started with Kerm Stroh entering the tent through a tunnel of student-athletes. Our very own senior, Sarah Clapper, helped to MC the event. The crowd of over 200 people heard from our AD Greg Christopher, the President Carol Cartwright, and Men's Basketball player Joe Jacubowski. Kerm then addressed and thanked the crowd before climbing up on the backhoe to begin the digging!! It will be exciting to watch the progress of the Stroh Center over the next year and a half!

Lauren Prochaska Named One of Country's Top Juniors

2009-09-08T14:07:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to Lauren!! She was named one of the Top Returning Juniors in the country.

http://www.peachstatehoops.com/?p=joppremaccess&sp=featurestories&story=KAM090409

Go Falcons!!

66 days til the season tips off!!

BG v. Chicago State

1st Round Pre-Season WNIT

7:00 pm Anderson Arena

Costa Rica Recap:In the Words of the Team and Coaching Staff

2009-09-03T14:31:00.005-04:00

BG vs. University of Costa Rica

Team before Zip Lining

Pura Vida!!!

Team on the lava flow of Arenal Volcano

FAMILY

Tara with her first child receiving Crocs

Staff after first practice in Costa Rica

Team after zip lining

Coach Miller and Tracy--bonding before zip lining!

Team at Crocs Cares event

CHELSEA ALBERT
I don't even know where to begin - the trip to Costa Rica was amazing and went way above and beyond any expectations I had prior to the trip. This team is so fortunate and blessed to have such an awesome coaching staff that spoiled us in every way possible over the last 10 days. It was definitely a special time for team bonding that I think the whole team really enjoyed!!

One of the best parts of the trip for me was the day that we got to pass out crocs to the children from Costa Rica. Getting the opportunity to sit there and pray with the children and give the them a smile was so rewarding! I loved that! It definitely made me take a step back and realize how privileged I am with even the simple things in life. It was such an awesome feeling to see the children's faces light up!

It’s hard to pick a favorite between the whitewater rafting, canopy excursions and the hot springs because I have never done any of them before and they each had their own different element of excitement.
1. whitewater rafting - came close to death on la cucaracha but breathtaking views and super fun instructors;
2. canopy - the thrill of stepping off the platforms was one of the coolest rushes, yet it was so peaceful flying through the trees and rivers;
3. hot springs - they literally were unreal and it had to be the most relaxing thing I have done in a long time!

Now that I'm still on cloud nine from the vacation it’s definitely going to be hard to adjust back to real life!

TARA BRESKE

Hola Ticos! Costa Rica is definitely a trip I will never forget, for numerous reasons. I enjoyed all the excursions and have special memories from each and every one of them. The last zip-line was absolutely amazing as was the entire experience. The first kid that came to my station to receive Crocs was one of the most touching experiences I've ever had up to this point. That was definitely a humbling experience.The whitewater rafting was such a thrill from the bus ride in the mountains, to walking/running down a rocky mountain in the pouring rain, to falling out in the rapids and being sucked under, to dominating a level 4 rapid. The hot springs were absolutely gorgeous, and pictures or words cannot do it justice. There were many more excursions and adventures along the way, such as tarantulas and bus rides, that I will never forget. Thanks to everyone who made this all possible and such a good experience for each and every one of us. And, according to Maggie ... we're cultured!

LAURA BUGHER
The trip was fantastic! Everything from the excursions to experiencing the culture was something I will never forget. I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to spend so much time in such a beautiful place with this group! It exceeded my expectations!

SARAH CLAPPERIt's hard for me to narrow it down and name any one thing that I enjoyed most about our trip to Costa Rica. Everything from the zip-lining to the Crocs to watching Chels get pounded by rocks during the white rapids of "La Cucaracha" all register up there as my top moments. It was even kinda refreshing to turn the cell phones off for a whole week and not have to worry about what text I was getting and carrying my phone around. It was an amazing experience and one that I will cherish for a lifetime -- so many fun people and so many memories!

ASSISTANT COACH KEVIN ECKERT
No matter how beautiful the scenery, no matter how fun the activity, the trip wouldn’t have been half of what it was if it weren’t for the people – both those that I traveled with, and those that we met. Even though the coolest person of all was Fred.

MARIBETH GIESE
The foreign tour was the trip of a lifetime! Being in Costa Rica for eight days was such an amazing experience. The team was able to bond together through whitewater rafting, zip-lining through the rainforest, and hiking up a volcano. While the spiders and bugs won't be missed, we will all remember the foreign tour for the rest of our lives.

MAGGIE HENNEGAN
The memories our team made together in Costa Rica will last a lifetime. The crazy experience of whitewater rafting, watching Coach Kevin and Mr. Clapper do the traditional dance, giving Crocs to kids, and zip-lining are just a few adventures we will never forget. Pura Vida!

HEAD COACH CURT MILLER
We began fund raising many years ago to plan a trip of a lifetime for our players. Mission accomplished! The trip was truly amazing and we will all be left with lifelong memories of our diverse experiences. My hope for the team during the trip was to bond together and become even closer as a family than we were when we left. It is safe to say through our adventure-filled tour that our family bond is closer than ever.
The four side trips -- whitewater rafting, zip-lining through the rainforest, hiking a volcano and going to the beach -- were unbelievable adventures, but the best part of the trip was watching our players interact with the children of Costa Rica. The players were fantastic with the Costa Rican children during the kids clinic, and the Crocs Cares (shoe giveaway) program. The smiles on their faces will be etched in my mind forever.
Lastly, I just want to say once again that I have the greatest coaching staff in the country, and I am proud to call them all my best friends.
Pura Vida.

TAMIKA NURSE

Lauren and I would like to say that we really appreciated the quality time we spent together rocking in front of the fireplace in our luxurious hut!Costa Rica was absolutely amazing. It's rare that your first playing experience at a University takes place near a tropical rainforest. It's something I'll never forget.

TRACY PONTIUS
Hola! Costa Rica was unbelievable. It was definitely one of the best trips I have ever taken. Costa Rica was beautiful and all the activities we did were so much fun. My favorite part was the whitewater rafting, and zip-lining was also a good time! It was a wonderful trip and I would definitely go back!

ASSISTANT COACH BRANDI POOLE

I don't even know how to begin to describe our trip to Costa Rica. I knew when we scheduled the foreign tour that it would be fun and a great opportunity for our team. What I didn't realize was that the actual trip would be completely above and beyond my expectations.I was really proud of our team for coming together during these nine days. In different ways, each and every one of us stepped outside of our comfort zone ... whether that be the rafting, the zip-lining, the language barrier, the bugs or the food. We all experienced new things and a whole new culture that made us all have a new appreciation for our lives here in the U.S. We truly are a family, and I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to travel with them. I try every day to find better ways to live my life, and it's easy when you work with such a fantastic group of fun people.

I think outside of fun activities, our team also got a chance to see what happens when you truly touch people's lives. The Crocs shoes event that we participated in with the IUPUI men's team and the Bethune-Cookman men's team was a day that I don't think any of us will soon forget.

As for the basketball, that was my first experience with any sort of international basketball, and I loved it! Even though the competition wasn't that strong, I loved watching our team compete and have fun playing with each other. We conducted a clinic for kids in the small town of San Ramon. I don't speak a bit of Spanish, but it's amazing what a few key phrases (muy bien = good job, dame cinco = give me five!) can do for a child. Their smiles were priceless.

I want to give a big thank you first to all the special supporters of our program that made this trip possible. Secondly, I want to give a big thanks to Coach Miller for making our dream of a foreign tour a reality. I don't think any of us will ever forget it! Pura Vida!!

ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH JENNIFER ROOS
I have been out of the country before with other teams, but this trip was very special because of this particular group. Not only was it a cultural experience of a lifetime for our team, but it was also a great experience to see our team grow even closer together. We were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to work with lots of Costa Rican children in two communities, San Jose and San Ramon. Basketball allowed us to communicate with children who could not speak English. I don’t know if we will ever fully realize the impact that those kids had on us or how much we impacted them, but all of us will have forged lifelong memories.

JEN UHL
Our trip was definitely a trip of a lifetime. The country was beautiful, the people were very nice, I loved all of our activities, and I really loved spending so much quality time with my team.

KELLY ZUERCHER
This was an amazing trip for so many reasons! We were able to experience once-in-a-lifetime opportunities and we experienced them as a team … as a family. The whitewater rafting, ziplining, and trek through the jungle to the volcano all were just absolutely incredible! We watched teammates and coaches as they faced their fears and helped them through near-death – or so we thought – experiences (Chels, Tara, Tracy, haha).

Throughout the trip we all played different roles. We were Basketball Players when we were on the court. Teammates when we were cheering on the sideline. Encouragers when we were on zip-lining platforms. Rescuers in level 1 rapids (ha).

The roles were endless through out this trip and thats what makes it one of the most memorable trips I've ever been on. I am just so thankful that we were given this opportunity to experience another culture and the fact that we were able to do it as a team was the best part. We were already close as teammates when we went down to Costa Rica, but I feel like we definitely came back as a family, as sisters.

2009-2010 Schedule Announced

2009-08-27T11:18:00.002-04:00

2009-2010 Tri-Captains: Maggie Hennegan, Sarah Clapper, and Tara Breske

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team will play at least six games against teams that advanced to national postseason play last March. Falcon head coach Curt Miller recently announced the 2009-10 schedule for the five-time defending Mid-American Conference champions.

“I am excited about our 2009-10 schedule,” said Miller. “This is arguably the toughest non-conference schedule we have had during our coaching staff’s tenure at BGSU.

“Our scheduling philosophy is simple: play a challenging non-league schedule that will help prepare our team for the grind of Mid-American Conference play. With this year’s list of non-league opponents, we feel we have done just that.”

BGSU will play at least 10 games against teams that posted 18 or more wins a year ago, including at least six games vs. schools that won 20 or more games. Two of BG’s opponents advanced to the NCAA Championships in 2008-09, while four other Falcon foes – like BG – were invited to the WNIT in March.

After advancing to the third round of last season’s Postseason WNIT, Miller’s Falcons will begin the 2009-10 season in the Preseason WNIT. The Falcons are guaranteed at least three games in the 16-team tournament, beginning with a first-round game vs. Chicago State at venerable Anderson Arena.

The winner of the BGSU-CSU game will face the Eastern Illinois-Ohio State winner in the second round, at a site to be determined on the following Sunday or Monday (Nov. 15-16). The Buckeyes, like the Falcons, posted 29 wins a year ago, while EIU picked up a total of 24 victories last season.

Under the Preseason WNIT format, participating teams are guaranteed at least three games. The tourney involves 16 teams from 16 different conferences that were included by invitation only.

The BGSU-CSU loser will be regrouped into a ‘Consolation Bracket quad,’ which will be a four-team pool, and will play two games at a site to be determined.

“We are honored to be able to participate in the prestigious Preseason WNIT, joining some of the elite programs in the country,” said Miller. “We are truly excited to play at least 13 games in front of our outstanding fan base at Anderson Arena. And, our schedule also includes numerous road trips where we will play teams that have enjoyed great tradition and success.”

Following the Preseason WNIT, the Falcons will head north to face Oakland University on Tuesday, Nov. 24. The Golden Grizzlies won 26 games, a school record for the Division-I Era, and advanced to the WNIT. The BGSU-OU matchup features schools that went a combined 55-12 a year ago.

The Falcons then return home for a pair of games, facing UNC-Greensboro on the day after Thanksgiving (Nov. 27) before opening December against Saint Francis (Pa.). Both games are return matches from a season ago, when the Brown and Orange faced both clubs during a week-long sojourn over Thanksgiving break. The Red Flash and Spartans were the second and fourth victims, respectively, in BGSU’s school-record 25-game winning streak.

Following the SFU game, the Falcons will head to Nashville for a tough test against Vanderbilt (Dec. 4). That game is a rematch of one of the biggest wins in BGSU history, a victory over the Commodores in the second round of the 2007 NCAA Championships in East Lansing, Mich. That win sent the Brown and Orange on to the ‘Sweet 16’ for the first time in program history.

The Vanderbilt game is the first of five-straight road contests, including trips to Detroit (Dec. 9), Saint Bonaventure (Dec. 12), Canisius (Dec. 19) and Youngstown State (Dec. 21). Both of the New York foes had stellar seasons a year ago, setting school records for wins. The Bonnies won 23 games and advanced to the quarterfinal round of the WNIT, while the Golden Griffins had 24 victories, a school record for their Division-I Era, and were one win away from playing at BGSU in March. Canisius lost to Syracuse in the first round of the WNIT, with the Orange advancing to face the Falcons.

The Canisius and YSU games are part of a stretch that sees the Falcons play three times in a five-day span. Last-minute Christmas shopping will have to be put on hold as BGSU hosts Appalachian State on Dec. 23, marking the first-ever meeting between the two programs. The Mountaineers are one of two first-time opponents on the 2009-10 schedule (Canisius is the other).

Following the holidays, the Falcons head East for another tough test, taking on Hartford (Dec. 30) in a rematch of a narrow BGSU win at Anderson last season. The Hawks went on to win 20 games against a grueling schedule, advancing to the WNIT.

BGSU closes the non-conference slate and opens the 2010 calendar year with a Jan. 2 vs. SIU Edwardsville, another return date from a 2008-09 game.

In league action, the Falcons, winners of the last five MAC regular-season titles, will play two games against each of the five other East Division schools, while facing each of the six West Division teams once apiece.

The East Division consists of Akron, Buffalo, Kent State, Miami and Ohio, in addition to the Brown and Orange. The Falcons will open the league slate with five games vs. East Division opponents, before playing six contests vs. West Division foes and concluding the regular-season schedule with five more games against the East.

Miller and the Falcons will begin their title defense with a home game vs. UA on Jan. 6, before heading to Athens to face Ohio three days later. The first swing through the East Division also sees the Falcons sandwich home dates vs. Buffalo (Jan. 13) and Miami (Jan. 19) around a trip to Kent State (Jan. 16).

The Miami matchup begins a three-game homestand for the Falcons, who will begin cross-divisional play by welcoming Eastern Michigan (Jan. 23) and Western Michigan (Jan. 27) to “The House That Roars.”

The annual battle of Northwest Ohio takes place in Savage Arena on Jan. 30, as the Falcons make the short trip north to take on Toledo.

February begins with a home date against Northern Illinois on Groundhog Day (Feb. 2), before the Falcons close the regular season with five of their last seven games on the road. BGSU will face Ball State in Muncie on Feb. 6, in a rematch of last year’s Kraft MAC Tournament championship game. The Cardinals pulled out a 55-51 victory at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland to capture the tourney title.

A trip to Central Michigan (Feb. 10) closes out the six-game stretch against the West Division, and the Falcons then return home to face Ohio (Feb. 13). The second round-robin swing through the East includes three road games, at Akron (Feb. 20), Buffalo (Feb. 24) and Miami (March 2). BGSU will host Kent State on Feb. 27, when the Falcons’ senior class – Tara Breske, Laura Bugher, Sarah Clapper and Tamika Nurse – will be honored in pregame ‘Senior Day’ ceremonies.

Following the close of the regular season, the top-eight teams in the final standings will convene in Cleveland for the 2010 MAC Tournament. This is a change from recent years, when all teams made the conference tourney.

The Falcons are coming off a 29-5 season, in which Miller and Company went 15-1 in the MAC en route to that fifth-straight regular-season crown. BGSU returns 10 letterwinners from that team, plus a pair of NCAA Division-I transfers (Nurse and Maggie Hennegan) who sat out last year. Miller and his staff – associate head coach Jennifer Roos, assistants Brandi Poole and Kevin Eckert and director of basketball operations Monique Rosati – also welcome four talented freshmen to the Falcon fold.

The fun begins with a home exhibition game vs. Findlay on Nov. 4 at "The House That Roars."

The complete 2009-10 schedule follows. For the most up-to-date schedule throughout the season, click the schedule link on the women's basketball page, or consult the Calendar of Events here at BGSUFalcons.com.

Move In Weekend!

2009-08-26T17:16:00.004-04:00

Coach Miller on Move In Weekend

It's an annual tradition for the Women's Basketball Coaching Staff and other campus groups to help with Move In Weekend. We get the opportunity to move in not only our new women's basketball team members, but also other new students. Don't let the pictures deceive you. Coach Miller did carry a couple of items to the fourth floor of Kriescher, but he remains a very good delegator/director! It's a day that we look forward to every fall. There is great excitement on campus for the new school year and we love meeting all the new Falcons!!

The other great part of move in weekend is having our entire team together again. We had our annual opening team meeting on Sunday night so that we could begin our preseason workouts this week. They had their first track test...the dreaded mile run...early on Tuesday morning. Everyone worked hard over the summer and posted great times. We were very happy with the effort. We can't wait to get back on the court!

Roll Along!!

Pura Vida!!

2009-08-15T23:57:00.005-04:00

Hola from beautiful Costa Rica! Sorry for the delay in posts, but it has been a busy few days for the Falcons!

Day 1: We arrived in Costa Rica after an early morning flight. Upon arrival, we were met our our Sports Tours guide Emily and our local guide Melody. They have been with us everyday and teaching us all about the culture of Costa Rica. After a quick lunch we had our first practice at Liceo, a boys high school in downtown San Jose. For dinner, we went to a local restaurant where we had dinner and watched the Costa Rica vs. Honduras soccer game. It's basically the equivalent to the Super Bowl in America...it's a big rivalry and the whole country shuts down for the game!

Day 2: The morning was relaxing with some pool time. The mornings are beautiful here. Mid morning, Melody picked us up for our tour of downtown San Jose. We learned alot about the cost of living here and the culture of the city. We saw the President's house (he is currently quarentined due to the swine flu!). It is a basic house that he has lived in his whole life. Security consisted of a camera, one man by the front gate, and two cops reading the paper in a car across the street! Not exactly the White House! We also saw a beautiful Catholic church in the city and their famous theater. We then had some time to shop in the market before heading to our pre game meal. We headed back to Liceo to play...it was an amazing experience. The gym is the oldest and first gym for basketball in the country. International rules are a little different but everyone adjusted and played well.

Day 3: Today was fantastic! We took the bus towards the Caribean side of the country for our white water rafting excursion on the Pacurae River. It started with a breakfast Costa Rican style (ie. rice and beans) at the base camp. Then we took a bus with our guide Danny till the bus could go no further. After a 15 min hike straight downhill...in the middle of nowhere...in the pouring rain...we made it to our rafts in the river. The scenery was amazing. There were waterfalls everywhere and neon blue butterflies and toucans in the trees. We all learned the commands for paddling, stopping, turning, and the most important command "Get Down" from our guides and then we were on our way. When Tara and Tracy fell out of the boat on the first set of Class 1 rapids, we knew we were in for a long day!! However, after their rescue they rallied and made it through the Class 4 and 5 rapids. It was a great day of team work and adventure. Only one coach fell into the river (Kevin), but I promised not to tell anyone. :)

We made it home then headed to a traditional Costa Rican dinner. The restaurant was on the side of a mountain overlooking the city. It was a beautiful view. After dinner, traditionaly Costa Rican dancers performed and even brought some members of the team onto the dance floor to show off their skills!

Day 4: Today we took a trip over to Jaco Beach. It was a day to relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Pacific coast. The water was warm and we all enjoyed swimming and laying in the sun for awhile. We then had a great lunch on the beach, did some shopping, and more swimming. It's only been 4 days and we have already done and seen so much!! We have much more to experience! Everyone is having a great time! For more details and more pictures, the super amazing Mike Cihon is blogging daily on the main webpage at : www.bgsufalcons.com

Enjoy! Now off to bed...two games tomorrow!!

Go Falcons!!

Coach Poole :)

Falcon Update

2009-08-07T17:31:00.004-04:00

Team with Strength Coaching Staff
Team Flash Dance (the winners!) and the Gator!

Seniors...lookin tough

Juniors

Freshies...Members of Team Replacements and Team Indians

Hello Falcon Fans!

Sorry for the delay in blogs, but the coaching staff has had a busy month, while the players were here working hard in the weight room and classroom.

After 20 days on the road, hundreds of games, 5,000 miles, 25 cities, 2 bouts of pink eye, very little sleep and/or exercise, and one fender bender, we have all made it back to our own beds happily! However, we came home only to jump right into practice for the foreign tour!!

Practices have been great!! The upperclassmen are definitely working hard, hustling, making shots, communicating, and most importantly, having enthusiasm for each other! It has been fantastic to be back on the court with the team, even though Anderson gets a bit warm in August (we are used to seeing the snow drifts outside the doors and not having them open!! Can't wait for the new Stroh Center!!)

Also, last night the entire team had their annual summer's end Strong Woman competition. One of the players will blog in more detail later, but basically they are divided into 3 teams. The teams must have a theme and come ready to compete!! They compete in six different events designed by Coach Hillman, including bench press, stadium stairs, and pushing a tractor across the football field! Stay posted for a video coming soon of this quite entertaining, though tough event! I will say that surprisingly Team Flashdance dominated the Strong Woman competition and gets bragging rights for the next year! (They had 3 seniors so I think they had a little advantage!!)

Our countdown stands at 4 days for our Costa Rica departure!! We will be pulling out of Anderson Arena at 3:30 am (yes, am!) for the Detroit airport on Wednesday morning. Stay tuned for updates from San Jose...our first destination!

Roll Along!!

Coach Poole

Happy Birthday

2009-07-17T13:55:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday Coach Roos!!! Glad you get to be home and not on the road to celebrate!

SAVE THE DATE!

2009-07-08T22:25:00.002-04:00

Hello Falcon Fans!

Great news! We have officially set the date for our annual Golf Outing. It will be held on Sunday, September 20th. We are glad to have it on a weekend so as to avoid work conflicts this year. It will be held at the Bowling Green Country Club and we will hold a morning and an afternoon session. It will be a great day to spend on the course with the coaching staff and meet the newest members of the 2009-2010 Women's Basketball Team. Please mark your calendars. Registration information will be sent in early August.

Roll Along!
Coach Miller

Summer Scavenger Hunt

2009-07-06T17:08:00.003-04:00

A couple months ago I decided that our team needed some sort of creative team activity. More than a few ideas crossed my mind, some more ambitious than others, but finally I came upon the idea to do a team scavenger hunt. With continued contemplation over these past few months, I finally planned out exactly how I wanted to do it. I split up the whole team into three smaller teams, with each team being headed by one of the captains (Clapper, Tara and Maggie) and rounded out by at least one freshman with everyone else filling in the gaps. Once teams were split up, I gave them a little packet of papers which laid out both the rules to the game and the lists of tasks they could complete. Each task was worth a certain amount of points and many of which contained bonuses and the ability to do it more than one time.

Beforehand, I’ll be honest, I was a little nervous about how it was going to play out, but it turned out to be a blast. Everyone was so much more competitive than I thought they were going to be! Since I made up the scavenger hunt, I didn’t think it was fair to be on a certain team, so every half hour I moved to another team. Seeing everyone set out strategies and then eventually seeing them complete their tasks was an absolute joy. I might have actually had more fun than they did!

After the scavenger hunt, we all reconvened at the house where a bunch of the girls live and had lunch – tacos! J After lunch, Clapper even set up a little arts and crafts activity for us. We all got to decorate wooden letters – the letters being the first letter of our names. Eventually they’re all going into the locker room. After it was all said and done, I think the whole day turned out to be a huge success. Not only did everyone have some fun, but we grew a little closer in the process too. The championship locker room has already begun!

Enjoy the video!! http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/video/video.php?v=106509180685

--Jess Slagle

On the Road Again...Just Can't Wait to Get on the Road Again...

2009-07-06T11:15:00.002-04:00

Hey Falcon Fans!

It’s finally July and that means Recruiting, Recruiting, Recruiting!! It is the lifeline of our program and luckily I am surrounded by a staff that loves to recruit! For the next 10 days, my staff and I will be criss-crossing the country watching some great basketball. We then come home for 6 days, then head back out for another 10 days to end the month of July.

I hope you are all enjoying your summer. Stay tuned for upcoming details on our annual Golf Outing!!

Roll Along!
Coach Miller

The Freshies First Week in BG

2009-07-03T13:16:00.003-04:00

From L-R: Jessie Tammerlano, Chrissy Steffen, Simone Eli, Allison Papenfus

It was a hot, summer, June morning when Jess, Allison, Chrissy and I arrived on campus just prior to Freshman Orientation. After meeting with the coaching staff, the four of us, parents included, headed over to begin what we found out to be a 12 hour day of BGSU. As orientation strolled along, we continued to find some ridiculously dumb things, quite funny, while we tried to entertain each other through such a long day and process. While sitting in the “Housing” Meeting . . . Jess, Chrissy, Allison, and I received a text message from Coach Eckert. It consisted of. . “Hey fresh meat, your new shoes are in your locker, as well as BG T-shirts, and shorts. Remember no complaining about sizes, Coach Miller cannot stand when girls complain.” So, as the four of us sit in the back of the meeting, which was filled with no less than 400 people, we decided, well, hey. . Why not go try on our new stuff. . I will admit it was I who influenced all three to do so. So, we ducked our heads and hurried out of the meeting, hoping to go unnoticed by the mass of people. . However, we soon found it was not the mass of people we need to be worried about. We rushed into the coaches’ office wanting to get the password to our new locker room, but as anxious as we were, it wasn’t before long when we found out it probably wasn’t a good idea to skip out on an O-Reg meeting. So while the four of us are begging to be told the password, Coach Poole pops her head into the door and says. . “Shouldn’t you four be in the housing meeting?” Of course our reaction was to blame it on Coach Eckert because, well, it was his fault. So after checking out our new gear, we returned to the meeting, with optimism of not being reprimanded for leaving. We eventually found that Coach Miller had posted on Twitter. . “The freshmen are on campus and have been the first group to skip an O-Reg meeting, seems like this group is going to be a handful.” As comical as that may come across, the four of us were still VERY worried.

Anyway, after a very interesting first day. . . “move-in” day rolled around, and we were all PUMPED to get things started. As stressful as it was, move-in was great, as well. Chrissy and I share a dorm room, with Allison and Jess right across the hall. Right off the bat, we met lots of new people on Main Street and got a taste of the college life for the first time. Saturday afternoon we met with the team, for some “BKB” bonding. Slagle had made us a scavenger hunt that was equipped with things like: finding someone to let us take a picture of his feet, ordering McDonalds in a British accent, doing a 1 minute dance, and other things of that crazy nature. With Jess and I’s team winning, the four of us quickly discovered that the girls on the team are probably made up of some of the FUNNIEST people anyone could meet. But the fun was over for now, as we were welcomed Monday morning, at 6:30 AM, to weight lifting. The four of us could hardly open our eyes to make our way over to Sebo, but we did so. We soon met Adam, who really tested how thick our skin was, the moment we walked in. Aside from the immediate pain of the warm-up, alone . . . we finished workout day 1, with the certainty in knowing that it was going to be a great next 4 years. We have now been on campus for a week, going to class, weight lifting, playing pickup, as well as enjoying the new friendships we’ve all made. Overall, so far, Jess, Allison, Chrissy and I have had the times of our lives getting to know BG and its people in the short time we’ve been here. We look forward to representing Bowling Green Women’s Basketball program in the tradition they’ve built over the past years, on and off the court.

-Simone Eli

Happy Birthday!

2009-06-30T15:09:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday to Tracy and Mo!!! Hope you both have a great day!

Love,

Your Coaching Staff :)

Burgers, Brats...and Balloons

2009-06-24T15:01:00.004-04:00

The team gathered at Coach Miller's house for a fun evening on the deck. There was lots and lots of good food and fun! The team played hillbilly golf and cornhole...with much trash talking. Coach Miller won in a landslide over Tracy and Lo...but as the video shows, they got their revenge!! Enjoy!!

New York

2009-06-22T17:22:00.002-04:00

I am back in the office after my whirlwind trip to New Jersey/New York to visit two of my college roommates and their families. It was a great trip because I got to spend some quality time with them and their children, ranging in ages from 9 weeks old to 7 years old. All of us (even the husbands) went to school at Davidson College, and we have been friends ever since. My first stop was Newark, New Jersey, not really on the tip of a lot of people's tongue as a vacation destination! I actually stayed in Chatham, New Jersey and that town truly represents the meaning of the Garden State. I got to meet the youngest addition to the family, John born on March 16. (Yes, John 3:16 for all of you sports savvy fans out there). You don't realize how small that really is until you hold him. I spent a lot of quality time with him and told him every story that I knew about his parents from college! (Some may call it embarrassing but I consider that a necessary educational tool for the youngster) Since Mom had just given birth via c-section, I was given a to do list that she could not do because of the baby. The first thing on the list was plant the garden. Yes, I said it, I was in charge of planting the garden on my vacation! As it turned out, it was no easy task considering the garden had weeds as tall as her 4 year old and had several large cinder blocks in it, which were buried by the weeds. It took about 3 hours, but we (Kathleen-her 4 year old was my assistant) planted 8 tomato plants and 13 basil plants. Kathleen's role was to keep me hydrated, but I had to quickly reassign her after she brought me 2 cups of hot water to drink. I must admit that she has got a good sense of humor already! After the to do list was complete, I was able to see 2 end of the school year choral concerts for her other children and those were quite entertaining as you could imagine.

Then I was off to Scarsdale, New York to visit my other college roommate and her family. She and her husband have 4 kids and are in the middle of a family move to Rye, New York so things were a little hectic to say the least. I was immediately immersed in responsibilities such as watching lacrosse practice, after-school pickups and helping out at the new house. (I removed 9 strands of Christmas lights from the front yard!) I immediately went into coach mode at the lacrosse practice, even yelling out instructions at one point. I honestly couldn't help myself, and we even stayed afterwards to practice! (Gotta start good practice habits even at age 7) One of my favorite things was getting to read to them at night before they went to bed. By the end of the week, they all knew how to cheer for BGSU and do the Falcon handshake. Even though all of them will be going to Davidson when they grow up, they were properly brainwashed with BGSU cheers!

It wasn't your typical vacation, but it was a fun trip that I would do again in a heartbeat! My friends have become great parents!
Now off to get ready for July recruiting.
Roll Along,
Jennifer Roos

WBCA Board of Directors

2009-06-18T14:58:00.003-04:00

Hello Falcon Fans!

Exciting news. I have recently been named to the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Board of Directors. The announcement was made by the WBCA on Wednesday (June 17).

I am excited about my appointment to the board by WBCA CEO Beth Bass and WBCA President Geno Auriemma. I am joining an elite group of coaches that will keep working hard to build the game of women’s basketball.

I was appointed, along with San Diego State head coach Beth Burns, to the board to fill the positions of Northern Illinois coach Carol Owens and Arizona State coach Charli Turner-Thorne, after they were named to the WBCA’s Executive Committee. Turner-Thorne has been named the new Vice President as she follows in the footsteps of Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma, who will take the reins as WBCA President in August. Owens has been named to the Secretary position, taking over for Bonnie Henrickson (Kansas).

Over the past couple of years, I have also been actively involved in several other committees. I am currently the chair of the Russell Athletic/WBCA National Coach of the Year Committee. I am also a member of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Rules Committee and the WBCA Legislative Sub-Committee

Bugher's Athletes in Action Adventure

2009-06-17T15:22:00.003-04:00

Greetings Falcon Fans!

I hope everyone is having a great summer so far. Mine has been pretty busy, but definitely fun. A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend the Athletes in Action Ultimate Training Camp, which took place at Colorado State University. I wanted to take the time to share some of the experience with you. I apologize if this seems long – but it was such an amazing experience I wouldn’t know what to leave out! It was definitely a great opportunity and I am so glad I went. I would recommend it to any college athlete that has the chance to go.

Back in April, a former AAU teammate of mine asked if I wanted to go with her out to this camp, and before I knew it, I was fundraising and part of the group! I did not know what to expect – all I heard was this camp was for college athletes, it focused on how to incorporate God in your sport, and it was “really intense.” It ended up being one of the best experiences of my life. I went out to Colorado with a group of about 12 people from Miami (OH) since that is where my friend attends and participates in Athletes in Action on their campus. We drove a solid 20 hours, staying the overnight at a friend of the group’s house in Kansas. We were either sleeping, playing Catch Phrase, Apples to Apples, or watching a couple of the guys karaoke to the Backstreet Boys the entire way.

The camp started on May 23rd and lasted a week. There were athletes from all over the country – including Maya Moore, who was an intern. The very first night we dove into the first of the five principles taught throughout the week. It was called “Audience of One,” and we talked about potential idols and how to compete for God, turning sport into worship. Monday, the topic was “Inside Game,” where we talked about what motivates us and how our identity in Christ frees us to compete with a new motivation – a “thank you” response. On Tuesday we talked about “Holy Sweat” and learned a variety of resources for spiritual training such as solitude, prayer, the Bible, and being a part of a community. The next principle, “Hurtin’ for Certain,” was about how God uses pain and trials to deepen character. The last principle was “Victory Beyond Competition” in which we learned about the importance making an impact with the talents that God has given you. Monday through Thursday, after the seminar, we went outside to practice what we learned by playing volleyball. It was pretty tough to apply the principles and still be competitive, but we all realized it would be even harder to do on our campuses. It was still fun though, and one day, my team won the trophy that the team with the winning record got to keep until the next day’s matches!

Sunday through Wednesday were pretty relaxed. We had the seminar, played volleyball, and had evening discussion groups after worship with Chazz, a very energetic and talented musician. One afternoon, I went hiking with the Miami group for 4 hours. It was gorgeous! I am pretty sure we got lost though because we had to cut straight down one of the mountains until we found a path… Anyway, we also went to a Colorado Rockies game one night and bowling another, and had a women’s luncheon one afternoon. So I began wondering, “When is the intense part going to come?” And then there was the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. on Thursday… The idea of the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. (Scriptural Principles plus Exhaustion equals Confidence In Almighty Lord) is to engage you in competition for so long that you cannot rely on your athletic ability any longer to get you through – you have to rely on God and the support of your teammates. It was a very powerful experience. We were drafted onto teams – my team was the T.H.U.G.s (Totally Humble Under God) and just for the record, we won first place. From about 1:00 pm Thursday until 1:00 pm Friday, we competed in ultimate frisbee, tug of war, a push up relay, basketball, swimming, a test over the principles, a campus wide obstacle course (in which we had to run to stations all carrying a board amongst our team with a tire looped around the middle), sprint relays, and the climax – “Golgotha.” (more on that in just a bit) Everyone started hitting their wall around 10:00 p.m. when we were playing basketball. Many people looked like they were ready to collapse and there were huddles for prayer before each game. People had been cramping up all day and it just got worse in the pool. I don’t think I will ever forget how each team fearlessly came together in prayer on such a frequent basis, or lay hands on a teammate who was cramping or hurting. Everyone went to bed after the test – around 1:30 am. The last place team started their obstacle course at 4:30 a.m., while the first place team (that would be ours J) started at 6 am. I had never been so excited to sleep until 5:30 am in my life! Before we completed the last event, Golgotha (which did not count in the points of the competition), we drove up one of the foothills that overlooked a lake and listened to the most dramatic reading of the crucifixion I have ever heard. I don’t think there was one dry eye in the crowd. After that, one person at a time from each team ran a half mile down the hill carrying a wood 2x4 and carried it back up on their shoulders, like a cross. Going up, if you looked down at your shadow, it was like seeing Jesus on the cross – a reminder of our importance in His eyes. It was so powerful to watch everyone, even the big tough football players, cross the finish line and fall into their friends’ arms crying – whether it was from the feelings of accomplishment, gratitude, or pure brokenness and surrender. That night we had a bonfire where many people accepted Jesus as their personal Savior – we heard about them the next and final night, when we were given the opportunity to share our testimony if we wanted.

We left the camp that night/morning – around 2:30 a.m. to drive back home – and drove straight through. I had such a great time and met many amazing people. I think what made it so memorable was all the small group situations we got put into – the volleyball team, S.P.E.C.I.A.L. team, and small groups for discussion. I am keeping in touch with many of the people and plan to do so in the future. Neither this lengthy blog nor the pictures can do justice as to how awesome the Ultimate Training Camp was.

Thanks for letting me share with you and I look forward to seeing you soon!Enjoy your summer!

Laura Bugher