A 27-4 record, two wins over Big Ten schools, and the 31st-best RPI ranking in the country were not
enough to earn Bowling Green a spot in the upcoming women’s NCAA basketball tournament.
Instead, the Falcons turn their attention the Women’s National Invitational Tournament.
BG hosts High Point University Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Stroh Center.
"Emotionally, (Monday) night was terrible," said point guard Jillian Halfhill. "… But
it’s a new day and you have to move on. We found out we play at home, so that’s exciting.
"It’s hard. I’m a senior, so I have to go with it," she said of being left out of the NCAA
tournament. "You have to move on. You have to take it as a positive. We’re lucky to even have a
chance to be considered as an at-large bid."
The Falcons last made an NCAA tournament appearance in 2011 when they lost to Georgia Tech in the first
round.
There are 35 teams with a lower RPI than BG’s that got into the NCAA tournament. Southern Mississippi, at
29th, was the only team with a higher RPI to not make the tournament.
"I believe the NCAA selection committee is set up to make objective decisions, yet it never fails
that from year-to-year, there’s a lot of subjectivity involved," said BG head coach Jennifer Roos.

"I don’t know what else we could have done nonconference scheduling-wise," Roos said.
"Everybody that we played in the nonconference did have success as well and finished strong at the
end of the season. … I’m not sure what the right equation is."
BG posted notable early-season wins over Ohio State and Michigan. But an overtime loss at Central
Michigan and a loss to Ball State in the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference tournament proved
costly for the Falcons.
"We knew the loss to Ball State was a killer. Some of us knew going in that our chances went down a
little bit," Halfhill said.
"It’s hard. … We don’t have any bad losses except the Ball State loss, so I don’t know what else
you have to do as a MAC team to show your r?©sum?©," she said.
Even with heavy hearts, BG is still embracing its chance to compete in a postseason tournament.
It is the 10th straight year the Falcons have made a postseason appearance, a MAC record.
"It’s exciting. … We have a chance to make a run, and that’s something to be excited about,"
Halfhill said. "If we can win the WNIT, then, hey, look at it as we’re the 65th-best team in the
nation. You have to take it as a positive."
BG advanced to the Sweet 16 of the WNIT last year before losing to eventual tournament champion Drexel,
50-47.
It will be the fifth time the Falcons have played in the WNIT in the last seven years.
"It is nice to know that we’re still playing. And we’re in front of our home crowd who has given us
all they can all year," Halfhill said. "They are the reason that we were so successful."

High Point and head coach DeUnna Hendrix come as no stranger to Roos. Former BG head coach Curt Miller
and Roos recruited Hendrix, this year’s Big South coach of the year, as a player.
Hendrix led the Panthers to a 22-10 record including a 16-4 record in the Big South, which was good for
the league’s regular-season championship. High Point lost to Winthrop in the Big South Tournament
Championship game.
"We’re really familiar with them, and thanks to all of the video libraries that are accessible
online I downloaded every game late last night and got up early and started watching film this
morning," Roos said of High Point.
"We’ll be prepared. We’ll treat it like any other scout … we already have our scout
prepared."
"You just have to show up tomorrow morning at practice and do what we can," Halfhill said.
"Now it’s all going to depend on let’s all go and try to win the WNIT to show we did deserve to be
(in the NCAA tournament).
"You can’t dwell or else it will be for sure a last game."