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

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!

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!

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!

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.