Bowling Green is looking to send its six seniors out on a high note this week.
The Falcons, 25-4, and the No. 2 seed for the Mid-American Conference tournament, open tournament play in
Wednesday’s quarterfinals against Ohio. Tipoff is at noon in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena.
"The nice thing about going in as the two seed is that the pressure is off," BG head coach Curt
Miller said. "We don’t feel the pressure of being the regular season champ – you’re expected to win
and you must win.
"It’s a little bit of fun to have the pressure shifted to someone else. Toledo with have to deal
that the entire week in Cleveland."
The Falcon seniors have been a part of three regular-season conference championships and three national
post-season berths. However, they have only one MAC tournament title and NCAA appearance.
"As talented as our senior class is, they have lost in the MAC tournament the first two years and
were devastated by that," Miller said. "(Last year), it was nice to win there and win in a
variety of ways.
"There are very few players in this conference who have gone to the NCAA tournament," he
continued. "The ones who have that experience, certainly have a leg up."
Falcon seniors Lauren Prochaska (foot) and Tracy Pontius (knee) are recovering from their injuries.
Prochaska is averaging 18.1 ppg and Pontius is at 11.9 ppg. Sophomore Chrissy Steffen is averaging 10.3
ppg.
"Certainly, the bye helped us get some rest for our bumps and bruises," Miller said.
"We’ve gotten Lauren off of her foot a lot. Tracy is getting as healthy as she’s been."
The Falcons have been idle since playing Buffalo last Wednesday, but Miller said the team had a very
intense practice on Saturday, treating Saturday as a game-day environment.
SCOUTING OHIO: Ohio is 9-21 overall and was the only team to win on the road in the first-round
tournament games, downing Northern Illinois, 72-56.
The Bobcats got ahead early against the Huskies and made their free throws down the stretch to secure the
win. Erin Bailes led OU with 23 points, hitting 5-of-7 3-poiners and 8-of-8 from the free-throw line.
She came into the game averaging 3.2 ppg.
"We watched the game (Ohio-NIU) live as a team," Miller said. "They got to see first-hand
how well Ohio played on the road. We had basically, our own scouting party. It was a good opportunity
for the team."
Miller is concerned about Ohio’s zone, and he’s hoping to get offense from a variety of players.
Tenishia Benson, a 5-9 junior, leads the team, averaging 13.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.
Bowing Green beat Ohio twice during the regular season – 66-54 in Athens and 77-63 in Anderson Arena.
Ohio is the only team to hold a series advantage over the Falcons in MAC tournament meetings. The Bobcats
are 3-2 against BG in league tourney matchups. Ohio has won the last two tournament meetings, including
a 68-66 double overtime decision three years ago in the teams’ lone prior meeting at Quicken Loans
Arena.
NEXT: The Bowling Green-Ohio winner advances to the semifinals on Friday at noon. The BG-Ohio winner will
face the winner of the Buffalo-Central Michigan game.
