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Feb. 14, 2003
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REDHAWKS CONTINUE MAC WEST ROAD STAND AT BOWLING GREEN: After picking up an important league win Thursday night at Northern Illinois, Miami University's women's basketball team continues a two-game roadstand versus the Mid-American Conference West Division when it clashes with Bowling Green Saturday.
In the 50th meeting of one of the MAC's most enduring women's basketball rivalries, the RedHawks (11-10; 6-4 MAC) meet a Falcon squad that has posted a solid 10-11 overall record and 3-7 mark. A sound defensive team, BGSU ranks among the top five in the MAC in scoring defense (5th-65.9), field goal percentage defense (4th-404) and 3-point field goal percentage defense (3rd-.325). The match-up also pits two of the league's top four teams both offensively and defensively from beyond the 3-point arc.
Coached by second-year mentor Curt Miller, the Falcons have already improved upon a nine-win season a year ago and have posted a solid 5-3 mark in the friendly confines of Anderson Arena. Fifth-year senior and preseason all-MAC selection Francine Miller leads the way for BGSU, averaging team highs of 14.0 points and 6.0 rebounds a game. Also averaging in double digits is fellow senior Kim Griech, who is netting 10.1 ppg. Juniors Lindsay Austin and Stefanie Wenzel round out the Falcons' primary scoring threats, averaging 9.8 and 9.2 ppg, respectively.
Bowling Green, which is 3-1 at home versus the MAC this season, upset arch-rival Toledo, 66-62, in its last home appearance. Most recently, the Falcons fell at Buffalo, 72-60, on Feb. 12.
SERIES HISTORY: Saturday marks the 50th meeting between the Falcons and RedHawks, with BGSU maintaining a 28-21 series advantage. Miami has been closing that gap as of late, winning three of the last four meetings between the rivals but has won just one of its last three contests at Anderson Arena and trails 15-8 all-time on the Falcons' home court. In the teams' last meeting at BGSU, Miami picked up a 72-59 victory for head coach Maria Fantanarosa's first coaching win in Bowling Green. Last season, Miami held off the Falcons, 72-61, in Oxford.
THE LAST MEETING-Miami 72, Bowling Green 61 (Feb. 9, 2002): Miami poured it on early and held off a late Bowling Green charge with timely 3-point shooting. After falling behind, 11-8, out of the gates, the RedHawks took off on a 25-5 run and led 42-27 at the half. Miami continued to push its advantage early in second half and led by as many as 20 by the 16-minute mark. After a three-minute scoreless span for both teams, BGSU began to rally, shaving the margin to 13 by the five-minute mark and closing to within five with three minutes to play. Miami ended the threat with back-to-back 3-pointers from Heather Cusick and Colleen Day and never looked back.
ROADHAWKS: The road is becoming an increasingly friendly place for Miami, which actually has a better winning percentage on the road than at home. After a win at Michigan State during its opening weekend, the Red and White dropped five of its next six road games, including its worst losses of the season at TCU and Western Michigan. More recently, however, Miami has reeled off wins in four of its last five road games, including a three-game streak. Miami, which plays 16 of its 27 games this season on the road, owns a 6-6 road record. Last season, Miami assembled an 8-7 record on the road-its first winning road mark since 1995-96.
A TALE OF TWO DIVISIONS: Entering her fifth MAC season, Maria Fantanarosa is working to build upon a 43-30 (.589) league record. Miami has risen to the occasion in divisional play over the past four years, posting a 33-11 (.750) record. Overall, Miami has turned away 21 of its last 23 MAC East opponents during the regular season, including a nine-game winning streak that ended last Saturday versus Kent State.
Despite their success versus the East, Fantanarosa's RedHawks have not fared as well when heading West. Miami has gone just 10-20 (.333) versus MAC West opponents over the past five seasons and has lost 12 of 15 MAC West road games. Miami's win at Northern Illinois Thursday marked just its second victory versus the MAC West this season and its first on the road.
LOOKING BACK-Miami 70, Northern Illinois 64: Playing in one of the MAC's most difficult venues, Miami stared adversity in the face and overcame it for a key league defeat of Northern Illinois. Miami had led by as much as 24-5 after a fast start, but a furious rally brought the Huskies back to within four points by the half. Miami managed to protect a thin lead for almost the entire second half, but NIU finally assumed its first lead of the game at 60-59 with less than two minutes to play. The RedHawks responded with a Beth Roederer layup and one of three second-half Colleen Day 3-pointers and iced six straight free throws down the stretch to clinch the win and end a two-game losing streak. Heather Cusick and Day each tallied 17 to lead the Red and White.
CUSICK BREAKS MIAMI SCORING RECORD: Entering Thursday's contest at Northern Illinois, Miami senior Heather Cusick needed just four points to surpass Monica Niemann (1991-95) as Miami's all-time scoring leader. Cusick, who scored the first four points of the game, broke the record at 18:07 in the first half, draining one of her trademark fallaway jumpshots with a hand in her face. Of 15 career categories tracked by the Miami Athletic Media Relations office, the senior now holds seven of the records and ranks among the Top 10 in three more. Cusick's most visible Miami records include career and season points, career and season assists and career and season 3-pointers.
MORE MILESTONES ON THE HORIZON: Not to be outdone, Miami juniors Colleen Day and Kim Lancaster have their sights set on some important career milestones of their own. Lancaster enters Saturday's contest needing just eight points to become the 14th player in RedHawk history to amass 1,000 career points. The junior likely will become just the fourth Miami player to reach the 1,000-point plateau prior to her senior season. Day, meanwhile, is closing on 500 career rebounds. She needs just 11 boards to become the 14th Miami player to reach the milestone.
NEXT UP: Miami returns home Wednesday to face Central Michigan and tip off a regular-season ending stretch in which it plays four of its final five games at home. The Chippewas, who will be Miami's last regular-season foe from the MAC's West Division, have not won in Oxford since the 1991-92 campaign, falling in their last eight Millett Hall appearances. The RedHawks travel to Kent State Sunday afternoon for a Fox Sports Ohio game that tips off at 2 p.m. Miami, which currently trails the Golden Flashes by a game-and-a-half in the MAC East, will be looking for its first win in Kent since 1992-93 while also trying to avenge a one-point loss suffered on Feb. 8.
A ROUGH STRETCH: Miami enters Saturday's game fresh off a rugged three-game stretch in which it played all three of the 2002 MAC Semifinalists. Miami's tour began on Feb. 3 at Ball State, which won the MAC West a year ago and is battling for the lead this season. Last Saturday, the RedHawks fell to defending MAC East titleholder Kent State, which leads the East once again. Miami claimed its only win of the difficult stretch Thursday by knocking off Northern Illinois on the Huskies' home court. Of the RedHawks' final six opponents, following the three-game stretch, none has a record of above .500.
FOLLOWING THROUGH: Under head coach Maria Fantanarosa, Miami has made a point of finishing strong. Over the four seasons leading up to this year, the RedHawks have posted an impressive 24-13(.649) record in the months of February and March. Though Miami is 1-2 to start this February, recent trends indicate that it will only get stronger. The RedHawks won seven straight before bowing out of the MAC Tournament last season, five straight before succumbing in the MAC semifinals in 2000-01 and three consecutive before losing in the MAC Quarterfinals in 1999-2000. Last season, Miami was 6-1 in February.
A FINE LINE: The difference between winning and losing has been a fine line indeed for Miami's 2002-03 women's basketball team. Through 20 games this season, 10 of Miami's games have been decided by five points or less and 13 have been decided by less than seven points, with all 13 coming down to the final minute. The RedHawks have forged a 6-7 record in games decided by less than seven points. Miami also has been working its share of overtime, posting a 2-2 record in games that have taken an extra period. Miami's four overtime games this season are a program single-season record. To fully understand just how fine the line has been, with a break or two in the closing minutes of those seven losses, the RedHawks could be 18-3 instead of 11-10.
OFFENSE WINS: When the offense is working, everything is working for Miami. Aside from a overtime losses at Kentucky and Ball State, Miami is 10-1 this season when scoring at least 70 points and 8-1 when outshooting the opposition from the field. On the flip side, Miami is 1-7 when scoring less than 70 points and 3-9 when being outshot from the field. The RedHawks are averaging 77.8 ppg and shooting 45 percent from the floor in its 11 wins. Excluding overtime losses to Ball State and Kentucky, in which it tallied 94 and 102 points, respectively, Miami is averaging just 60.5 points and shooting 36 percent from the floor in its remaining eight losses.
POLISHING THE GLASS: Another important theme in RedHawk wins has been rebounding. Miami, which is averaging 38.8 rebounds per game, ranks third in the MAC in rebounding and sixth in rebounding margin (-0.1. The RedHawks are especially strong on the offensive glass, grabbing 14.5 offensive boards a contest and ranking second in the league. Miami, which is getting nearly 20 percent of its offense from second-chance points, owns a 8-2 record when outrebounding the opposition and just a 3-8 mark when being tied or outrebounded.
LONG-RANGE DIVAS: With a deep arsenal of long-range threats on its roster, Miami has not been shy about launching 3-point field goals. Through 21 games, Miami has fired up a MAC-leading 412 treys (19.6) with six players burying at least 11 long-range attempts. Miami's current roster includes four of the top 13 career 3-point shooters in Miami history, including Heather Cusick (1st-219), Melanie Kozlowski (7th-100), Beth Roederer (8th-69) and Colleen Day (12th-45). Miami is 6-4 this season when attempting at least 20 treys and ranks third in the MAC, averaging 6.6 treys per game. The Red and White is coming off a season-low nine attempts at Northern Illinois.
AS THE BALL TURNS: Miami's turnover statistics have had plenty of twists and turns this season. After committing just 93 turnovers or a respectable 15.5 turnovers per game through their first six outings, the RedHawks totaled a whopping 117 miscues or 23.4 per game through their next five contests. Miami has gotten off to a solid start in MAC play, averaging 14.1 turnovers per outing through 10 games and ranking second in the league with a +5.2 turnover margin. Through 21 games, Miami maintains a +2.9 overall turnover margin, which ranks third in the MAC. The RedHawks, who are forcing a league-leading 19.6 turnovers per game are scoring an average of 20.3 ppg off opponent miscues. Miami has won only once this season when committing more turnovers than its opponent.
CUSICK AND THE MAC GREATS: Along with etching her name all over the Miami career record books, Heather Cusick also is starting to place her name throughout the Mid-American Conference record book. The senior's 1,622 career points rank 19th in MAC history, while her 219 3-point field goals and 553 assists rank fifth and 11th, respectively. Miami's point guard also has reached the MAC's Top 11 for career steals with 278. Cusick could become the first player in MAC history to amass 1,500 points, 500 assists, 400 rebounds, 300 steals and 200 3-point field goals. She's only the second MAC Player, joining former Toledo standout Kelly Savage (1985-89), to reach both 500 career assists and 200 career 3-point field goals. The senior is just one steal and six assists from reaching the MAC's Top 10 in the respective categories.
STEADY AS THEY COME: When opposing coaches are scouting Miami, they do not have to wonder whether or not point guard Heather Cusick will be on the floor. Cusick, who has played in all 108 games of her collegiate career has started 105 consecutive contests. Opposing teams also can expect Cusick to show up on the stat sheet, where she has scored in double figures in 80 percent (87-of-108) of her career games and notched 31 outings of 20 points or more. Cusick also has dished an assist in 78 straight games and has only been held scoreless once in 108 contests. The senior has made a steal in 88 of the last 89 contests-a 78-game streak ended at TCU on Jan. 3.
A DAY ON THE GLASS: Over the past two seasons, junior forward Colleen Day has transformed herself into one of the most aggressive rebounders in the conference. Day's 6.7 rebounds per game currently lead the RedHawks and rank 10th in the MAC. The junior is even more impressive on the offensive glass, where she is clearing 2.75 offensive boards per game and ranks fifth in the league. With 489 career rebounds to date, Day has already cracked Miami's Top 15 all-time rebounders and is just 11 rebounds short of becoming the 14th RedHawk to amass 500 career boards. Day has three double-digit rebounding outings this season, including a career-best 14 boards in Miami's Dec. 28 win at Butler.
COMEBACK KIM: After a slow start, Miami's Kim Lancaster has stepped up her offense, reaching double digits in 10 of the past 14 games and closing to within eight points of Miami's 1,000-point club. Lancaster already ranks among Miami's career top three in terms of field goal percentage and is shooting an impressive 55 percent from the floor this season to rank second in the MAC. Over the past 14 games, Lancaster has averaged 10.4 ppg to rank second on the team.
CLUTCH PERFORMER: Miami senior Beth Roederer has demonstrated the poise of a true veteran during a recent string of tight games. In Miami's dramatic comeback defeat of Eastern Michigan, Roederer drained a backbreaking 24-foot 3-pointer in overtime to lift Miami to the win. The senior followed up with another clutch overtime trey at Ball State, but the five-point cushion it provided was not enough. Most recently Roederer hit a critical layup at Northern Illinois that put Miami in front 61-60 with less than two minutes to play. She later iced to free throws to put the game out of reach.
JUST KOZ': After coming off the bench in 17 of Miami's first 18 games, junior Melanie Kozlowski has broken into Miami's starting lineup over the past three games. One of Miami's most dangerous 3-point threats, Kozlowski is one of just seven RedHawks to drain 100 3-point field goals in her career. The junior is averaging a steady 7.6 points per game and is second on the team with 29 3-point field goals.
POINTING THE WAY: Sophomore Nicki Motto, who transferred to Miami from Indiana last year, has been providing Miami with valuable minutes at the point, where Heather Cusick had averaged more than 34 minutes per game over the previous three seasons. Motto, who's playing 13.5 minutes per game, has averaged 3.9 points, 1.6 assists and 1.2 3-point field goals per outing. She enjoyed a career day versus Wright State on Dec. 7 when she tallied 14 points, seven assists and four 3-pointers.
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