March 9, 2010

Game Notes - MAC Quarterfinals

CLEVELAND - The RedHawks have advanced to the MAC Quarterfinals for the third consecutive season. Up next for eighth-seeded Miami is a game against top-seeded Bowling Green at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland Wednesday. Game time is scheduled for 4 p.m., but with only two hours set aside for each quarterfinal game, it is likely to get underway between 4:45 and 5 p.m. Tim Bray will be on the air approximately 30 minutes before the actual start of the game on WMOH and www.Miamisportsnetwork.com for the call.

MIAMI’S MAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY: This is Miami’s 28th appearance all-time in the MAC Tournament. The RedHawks have won the championship twice, in 1982 and in 2008. Last season, Miami defeated Eastern Michigan 71-65 in the first round before falling to Ball State, 76-51 in the quarterfinals. This year they won a dramatic first round game, 67-66, against Northern Illinois in Oxford. All-time Miami is 23-21 in tournament games. That includes a 13-8 record under head coach Maria Fantanarosa.

MIAMI VS. BOWLING GREEN IN MAC TOURNAMENT: This will be the third time that Miami and Bowling Green have met in the MAC Tournament. In the 2004 semifinals, the RedHawks dropped a heartbreaking75-74 decision in the semifinals. The Falcons hit a shot at the buzzer to steal the victory. In 2005, Bowling Green defeated Miami, 84-68, in the quarterfinal round.

OSBORN ACCOMPLISHMENTS: In the first round victory over Northern Illinois on Saturday, freshman Courtney Osborn scored 10 points to give her 503 on the season. She is only the fifth player in school history to reach the 500-point mark in a season. She also now ranks fifth in single-season three-point field goals made with 71. On Tuesday she was named MAC Freshman of the Year.

ABOUT BOWLING GREEN: Having earned a first round bye, the Falcons have not played since last Tuesday’s regular season finale against the RedHawks. Bowling Green finished the season 24-6 and won the MAC Regular Season crown with a 14-2 record. The Falcons are led by defending MAC Player of the year junior Lauren Prochaska. She averages 17.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Another strong player is junior point guard Tracy Pontius. She averages 12.1 points and 3.1 assists per game. Bowling Green has outscored opponents by an average of 13.9 points in MAC play.

SERIES HISTORY: Bowling Green leads the all-time series with Miami 38-25. The Falcons won both meeting between the teams this season. On Jan. 19 in Bowling Green, the RedHawks fell, 85-65. Maggie Boyer led Miami with 18 points. In their last meeting in Oxford eight days ago on Mar. 2, Bowling Green came away with a 63-58 victory. Courtney Osborn led the RedHawks with 23 points, while Kirsten Olowinski recorded a double-double with 12 points and 17 rebounds.

UP NEXT FOR THE REDHAWKS: Miami will need to win Wednesday’s game to extend its season further. The winner of the RedHawks vs. Falcons matchup advances to a semifinal matchup against the winner of Akron vs. Eastern Michigan on Friday at 2:30 p.m at Quicken Loans Arena.

MAC AWARDS: The Mid-American Conference announced Tuesday its annual postseason awards. Courtney Osborn was voted Freshman of the Year by the MAC coaches and SIDs. She also was named to the All-MAC Third Team, the only freshman to receive a place on one of the All-Conference teams. Osborn and fellow freshman Kirsten Olowinski were named to the All-MAC Freshman Team. It is only the second time in school history that the RedHawks have placed two members on that team. The previous time came in 1992 when Lisa Hayden and Monica Niemann earned All-Freshman honors. A

FRESHMAN LEADS THE WAY: Freshman guard Courtney Osborn (Fishers, Ind.) has had an impressive start to her collegiate career. The MAC Freshman of the Year, she has been the team’s leading scorer in 17 of the team’s 30 contests so far, while averaging an impressive 16.8 points per game. The 503 points she has scored so far ranks fifth on the Miami single-season scoring list. She is also adapting to her role as the starting point guard, averaging 4.1 assists per game. That included a career-high eight assists in the Jan. 30 game at Central Michigan. In her most impressive game so far, she recorded the 19th 30-point effort in school history when she went for 30 against Buffalo (Jan. 6). That performance featured 11-for-17 shooting, including 5-for-8 from the three-point line. Osborn has been no stranger to big-time performances. After scoring 16 in her career debut against Bucknell (Nov. 14), she followed it up with 22 points against Arizona (Nov. 15) the next night. Osborn continued with two more big games at the Pitt Thanksgiving Tournament Nov. 27-28. Against Marshall, she put in 20 points and had a career-high seven assists. The next night in the overtime loss to Appalachian State, she set a new career-high with 25 points. With those performances, she was named MAC East Division Player of the Week on Nov. 30. Osborn followed that up with 22 more points in games against both Kentucky (Dec. 1) and Butler (Dec. 5), a then career-high of 26 against Wright State (Dec. 9) and 20 points against Cal State Bakersfield (Dec. 22). Before doing it in the next game, she nearly reached 30 when she went for 29 points against Miami (Jan. 3). She also reached the 20-point mark when she scored 21 points each against Toledo (Jan. 23), Northern Illinois (Jan. 27) and Buffalo (Feb. 20). In the last regular season game, Osborn led the RedHawks with 23 points against Bowling Green (Mar. 2) That gives her 13 20-plus point performances in her first 30 career games. She already ranks in the top 10 in Miami history for 20-plus point games. In both the Iona Tip-Off Classic and the Pitt Thanksgiving Tournament, she has been named a member of the All-Tournament Team. Osborn also leads the team with 74 steals.

BROWN’S SENIOR LEADERSHIP: Senior forward Ashleigh Brown (Delaware, Ohio) was voted a co-captain (along with sophomore forward Erin Wisner) by her teammates and has been a leader both on and off the court. She is having her best season since coming to Miami four years ago. She is fourth on the team in scoring at 76 points per game and is tied for the team lead in rebounds at 6.0 caroms per game. In a recent game against Buffalo (Feb. 20) she tied her season-high with 17 points and nearly made it a double-double pulling in nine rebounds. She previously had hit 17 points against Marshall (Nov. 27) and Ohio (Jan. 13). Brown recorded her first career double-double in the season opener against Bucknell (Nov. 14) when she scored 10 points and brought in a career-high 15 rebounds. She earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team at the Iona Tip-Off Tournament for that performance. Her second double-double of the year came against Eastern Illinois (Dec. 30), when she recorded 14 points and 10 rebounds. She followed it up with another 10 rebounds against Miami (Jan. 3). Other strong games included scoring 14 against Wake Forest (Nov. 21), 17 against Marshall (Nov. 27), 12 with four steals against Cal State Bakersfield (Dec. 22) and nine points and eight rebounds against Bowling Green (Mar. 2). Brown ranks second on the team with 53 steals, and led the RedHawks with four big steals in the first round win against Northern Illinois (Mar. 6).

BOYER COMING ON: Sophomore Maggie Boyer (Lebanon, Ind.) has had a big breakthrough over the second half of the season. Against Central Michigan (Jan. 30) she went for a career-high 29 points, and hit seven three-pointers. She then followed that up with 23 points and five more three-pointers in the RedHawks 69-54 win over Ball State (Feb. 3). Boyer has been a big factor in the RedHawks’ improved play as of late. She set a then career-high with 20 points against Eastern Illinois (Dec. 30). When facing Bowling Green (Jan. 19), she led Miami with 18 points after coming off the bench for the first time this season. Another strong game came against Eastern Michigan (Feb. 10) when she scored 15 points on 5-for-10 shooting (including (4-for-7 from three-point range). In the first round of the MAC Tournament against Northern Illinois (Mar. 6), she led Miami with 18 points, including four three pointers. Currently Boyer is the RedHawks’ second leading scorer, averaging 10.6 points per game. She has scored in double-figures in eight of Miami’s last 11 games and 16 times overall this season. In the record setting game against Northern Illinois (Jan. 27), Boyer became a distributor, recording a career-high nine assists. She is second on the team with 3.1 assists per game, and third with 46 steals.

HENCKE’S TRANSITION: Sophomore Rachael Hencke (Grafton, Wisc.) spent most of last season playing the four position, commonly known as power forward. Late in the season, head coach Maria Fantanarosa realized she might be more effective playing in the three position, which is a guard position in her offense. The change was startling as Hencke played as strong as anyone on the team to finish the 2008-09 season. She has made the permanent switch to guard in 2009-10, and currently ranks third on the team with an average of 9.6 points per game. Her season-high came against Northern Illinois (Jan. 27), when she scored 24 points (also a career-high) and literally was perfect. She was 10-for-10 from the field including 2-for-2 from three-point range. She was also 2-for-2 from the free throw line. Her previous season-high came against Eastern Illinois (Dec. 30), when she recorded 20 points. Against Eastern Michigan (Feb. 10), Hencke hit the 20-point mark for the third time this season on 6-for-11 shooting. She just missed reaching it again when she put in 19 against Kent State (Feb. 13). Other big games included scoring 16 points against Bucknell (Nov. 14) and against Bowling Green (Jan. 19), while she put in 15 points against Appalachian State (Nov. 28) and Dayton (Dec. 12). Hencke has become a significant factor in the rebounding game. Against Ohio (Jan. 13), she pulled down a season-high nine boards. She followed that up with eight rebounds against Akron (Jan. 16) and six in the game against Bowling Green. She ranks third on the team with 4.0 caroms per game. Hencke has missed the past two games with an injury.

OLOWINSKI BREAKS OUT: Another freshman that is beginning to show promise for Miami is forward Kirsten Olowinski (Erie, Pa.). After bringing in eight rebounds against Ball State (Feb. 3), the coaching staff decided to move her into the starting lineup against Western Michigan (Feb. 6). She has since rewarded their decision with several great performances. She started by recording a double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds against the Broncos.. It was her second double-double of the season, as she had previously had a double-double on Dec. 12 against Dayton when she scored 13 points and brought in 10 boards. In her next game she had her second consecutive double-double against Eastern Michigan, putting in 13 points and a career-high 18 rebounds. The 18 rebounds were the most for any RedHawk player this season. She followed that up with two solid defensive efforts against Kent State (Feb. 13), bringing in seven rebounds to go with two blocks and four steals, and Buffalo (Feb. 20), bringing in eight rebounds to go with one block and four more steals. Against Ohio (Feb. 23) she had 13 points and five rebounds. In her last game against Bowling Green (Mar. 2) she had her fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and17 rebounds. Olowinski had another great performance in the MAC First Round game against Northern Illinois (Mar. 6). She scored 17 points on 8-for-13 shooting while bringing in seven rebounds. She is fifth on the team in scoring with 7.4 points per game and is tied for the team lead in rebounding with 6.0 caroms per game.

FANTANAROSA HITS 100: With the win over Ohio on Wednesday Jan. 13, head coach Maria Fantanarosa improved her Mid-American Conference record to 100-79 (.559). That made her the first women’s basketball coach in school history to reach 100 MAC victories. Coach Fantanarosa is already the school’s winningest basketball coach in both overall and MAC victories. Her overall record at Miami is 186-168.

NATIONAL RANKINGS: The NCAA released its latest national statistical release on Mar. 8 As a team, the RedHawks rank 11TH in the nation in free throw percentage at 76.4 percent. They rank 25th with an average of 10.7 steals per game and 42nd in blocked shots with average of 4.6 per game.

Individually Courtney Osborn is prominent in the national rankings. She ranks 75th in points per game with an average of 16.8, 62nd in steals per game with an average of 2.5, 62nd in three-point field goals per game with an average of 2.4, 106th in three-point field goal percentage at .343 and 107th in assists per game at 4.1. Rachael Hencke ranks 86th in free throw percentage at .811, while Kirsten Olowinski ranks 108th in blocks with an average of 1.4 per game.

PLUS-MINUS RATING: As statistics keeping has gotten more advanced over the years, one of the new ways of analyzing a player’s performance is their plus-minus rating. The plus-minus rating measures how many points are scored while they are on the court, as well as how many are given up. It is not a perfect way of analyzing performance, as it does not take into account any opponent factors (i.e., were the starters or the bench in for the opposition, it might be easier to for a player to score when the other team’s best player is sitting on the bench). It does give a very general look as to how effective a team is in both scoring and defense when that particular player is on the floor, as well as which lineup combinations are best at scoring and which hold the opposition down.

While playing such a difficult early season schedule hurt the team’s plus-minus, the numbers have improved in MAC play, as the RedHawks have pulled out seven victories (including the MAC Tournament win). The current leaders in MAC-only plus-minus are Courtney Osborn and Kirsten Olowinski. With Osborn, Miami has scored 926 points while she is on the floor while it has given up 900 points, giving her a plus-minus rating of +26. With Olowinski on the floor, Miami has scored 656 points while giving up 630, which is also a plus-minus rating of +26. Two lineup combinations have been the most effective this year for Miami. One features Courtney Osborn, Maggie Boyer and Rachael Hencke as the guards, along with Erin Wisner and Ashleigh Brown as the forwards. That lineup has been on the floor for 59 minutes and 12 seconds during conference play. It has scored 99 points, while giving up only 82. That gives it a plus-minus rating of +17. The other features Osborn, Boyer and Courtney Reed as the guards with Brown and Kirsten Olowinski as the forwards. In 53 minutes and eight seconds of action it has scored 96 points and given up 83, which gives it a plus-minus rating of +13.

CHALLENGING SCHEDULE: Miami concluded a difficult early-season schedule to help it prepare for the rigors of MAC play. The RedHawks took on four BCS opponents, falling to Arizona out of the PAC-10, 91-67, on Nov. 15 and Wake Forest out of the ACC, 78-62, on Nov. 21. Miami could have potentially taken on #20 Pittsburgh out of the BIG EAST in the finale of the Pitt Thanksgiving Tournament Nov. 28, but missed out when it lost to Marshall in the opening round 83-76. The RedHawks then fell to Kentucky out of the SEC, 107-53, on Dec. 1. There was a brief break where Miami has taken on some mid-major programs, but even that was a challenge as 20th-ranked Dayton came to town on Dec. 12. The RedHawks fought valiantly in that game, but fell 84-75. Before beginning conference play, the RedHawks concluded the non-conference season with a 75-61 defeat to Miami (Fla.) on Jan. 3.