Welcome to Falcon Fodder, coming to you live from Anderson Arena as we get ready for the BG women's basketball game vs. Detroit on Wednesday, Nov. 24. I'll share thoughts, stats, and anything of interest from the game (newest posts are at the top, so refresh often). Here we go ...
9:48 p.m. -- OK, now I am DEFINITELY about to hit the road. As I'm leaving, Joe Jakubowski from the men's team has just taken the floor. Unless there's a midnight practice we are all unaware of, at least one player is unhappy with the poor shooting. Again, have a GREAT Thanksgiving!
9:38 p.m. -- OK, about to hit the road. There will be a story about the game in tomorrow's paper ... just not sure if it will have quotes or not. Thanks for following the blog tonight. Hope everyone has a GREAT Thanksgiving! Roll along ...
9:35 p.m. -- I asked Lauren Prochaska about how the season-opening loss at Evansville has spurred the Falcons in the last four games -- they have won by an average margin of 32.75 points. "I think the biggest thing was that we felt embarrassed that we played the way we did," she said. "Not only that we lost, but the way that we lost it -- all the things that we did wrong. We had a lot of motivation to get better after that game."
9:20 p.m. -- Why did coach Curt Miller put the starters back into the game late in the second half? "It got a little chippy at the end, and I thought our upperclassmen handled it better than our underclassmen did," Miller said. "Through the years -- and officials know this -- there has not been a more uncomfortable position [for me] as when we have a dominant lead. I feel, through the years, people have taken 'cheap shots' at us. I have told officials that in those games I'm going to be very defensive of our players. I just didn't want any kind of 'dirty' play going on down the stretch."
9:10 p.m. -- Bowling Green beats Detroit 88-63 at THTRs. Lauren Prochaska finished with 26 points and seven rebounds, while Tracy Pontius had 18 points while Jen Uhl added 11 points and eight rebounds. ... Jalesa Jones led UD with 16 points while Yar Shayok added 13. A few words about why the "starters" came back into the game late in just a moment.
8:25 p.m. -- I'll say it before you do ... it may seem hard to complain, but I'll be coach Miller and the rest of the staff are complaining about the defensive struggles.
8:22 p.m. -- UD timeout with 11:32 left in the second half and Bowling Green leading 67-39 ... BG is 7-for-13 from the field in the second half, but Detroit is 7-for-12. Rebounds are 7-4 Falcons, but UD has only one turnover (to two for the Falcons). The defense is something short of spectacular right now, but it's hard to complain when you lead by 28.
8:11 p.m. -- Fast start offensively for both teams at the 15:46 media timeout of the second half (56-33 BG). The Falcons are 3-for-5 from the field in the second half, including 2-for-3 from the 3-point arc; Detroit is 5-for-7 from the field, including 1-for-1 on 3-pointers. Having a 24-point halftime lead obviously softens the blow for the Falcons, although their defense in the second half has not been good so far.
7:49 p.m. -- The Falcons take a 46-22 lead into the halftime break. BG is 15-for-30 from the field, including 4-of-12 on 3-pointers, and are 12-for-13 from the foul line. Detroit is 9-of-25 from the field, including 0-of-1 from behind the arc, and 4-for-4 from the foul line. ... Rebounds are 17-15 BG; turnovers are UD 12, BG 5. ... Lauren Prochaska already has 17 points, while Tracy Pontius has 12. ... Jalesa Jones has 10 points to lead the Titans.
7:33 p.m. -- BG leads 32-18 with 5:30 left in the first half after a basket by Chrissy Steffen. My complaints about the stutter when announcing Steffen obviously haven't been heard. But that ain't gonna keep me from complaining until it is changed.
7:13 p.m. -- BG comes out smokin' on defense: Detroit is 0-for-4 from the field with three turnovers. BG also is outrebounding the Titans 7-2.
7:07 p.m. -- Yes, I jinxed the Falcons ... Hennegan missed the second of two free throws early in the game.
6:59 p.m. -- In case you missed it, I thought I had a pretty good stat in the paper today ... The Falcons' five starters have combined to make 52-of-55 free throws ... it's a little misleading, since Uhl comes into the game having not taken a single free throw. But 94.5 percent shooting is pretty amazing. ... Hey, it's The Rolling Stones with "Start Me Up," so it must be game time!
6:49 p.m. -- Starting lineups, anyone? BG will start Lauren Prochaska, Maggie Hennegan, Tracy Pontius, Chrissy Steffen and Jen Uhl. Detroit's starters are Fambro (first start of year), Jalesa Jones, Lauren Allen, Shayok and Cherridy Thornton.
6:39 p.m. -- A song for the old fogies in the audience ... The Outfield playing, "Your Love" ... quickly pre-empted by "Forward Falcons" as BG comes onto the floor. Less than 20 minutes to tip ... then back to the techno-goofiness. Remember I called myself an "old fogy" first!
6:25 p.m. -- OK, fortified by pizza, here's a few more words about Detroit: The Titans' leading scorer is Demeisha Fambro, who averages 15.8 points per game. It's interesting to note that Fambro does not start for Detroit and averages just 21.5 minutes per game (that's a lot of production!). The other double-digit scorer for UD is Yar Shayok, who averages 10.8 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. Shayok has posted double-doubles in each of her last two games.
6:17 p.m. -- Among those in the house tonight are former Falcon standout Liz Honegger and (I believe) her father. Remember her? It seems to me she was a pretty good player for BG ...
6:05 p.m. -- A few words about Detroit, tonight's opponent for the Falcons ... The Titans are 3-1 this season, with wins over Oakland (58-53), Ball State (78-60) and Western Michigan (66-53). All of those games were at home. Their lone road game was their most-recent contest, where they lost at Michigan State 82-42. ... If you don't remember last year's game, BG led by only nine points with 6:17 left before scoring 15 straight for the win.
6:03 p.m. -- A quick scouting report on Detroit in moments. Before I do that, though, two quick-hitters: first, thanks for following this blog. I appreciate all the support, and all the nice comments as well as good suggestions, I have received regarding this blog. Keep 'em coming! Second, if you have a moment, make sure you vote in the poll in the right-hand nav bar. I'm trying to figure out what things you like best, and what things I should not waste my time putting together. You also can comment (at the bottom of this file) or send an e-mail to jwagner@theblade.com. Looking forward to hearing from you!
6:00 p.m. -- Well, didn't have to fight much traffic, that's for sure ... Hope we have a nice crowd at Anderson on the day before Thanksgiving ... More in a moment!
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