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.

Guest Bloggers: Your 2010-11 Freshmen!

(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!

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)

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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!

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!