The Pittsburgh Steelers won’t be in town Wednesday.
However, the kind of defensive mentality the Steelers showed in Sunday’s NFC title game will be on
display.
At least that’s what Curt Miller, Bowling Green’s women head basketball coach, thinks about the defense
of Toledo. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. in Anderson Arena for the Mid-American Conference matchup of arch-rivals.
BG is 17-2 overall and tied for first in the MAC East at 5-1. UT is 13-6 overall and alone in first in
the MAC West at 5-1.
"They are fantastic defensively and they are very, very physical," Miller said. "They win
a lot of games with their defense. And their physicality, it intimidates people. We can’t be intimidated
… They are just shutting people down. We’re going to have to try to find ways to score."
Of Toledo’s last 13 opponents, 10 have scored fewer than 60 points.
"The players are all good, we know them," said BG senior Jen Uhl. "It’s going to be who
comes to play on the right night; who has a great crowd; who makes big plays at big moments."
Miller said the key is getting to the free-throw line against Toledo.
"If they are going to play physical, up-in-you, you’re go to be able to get to the foul line,"
Miller said. "Free throws attempted at the end of the night will be a big story one way or the
other."
CLOSING IN: BG’s Lauren Prochaska has scored 2,081 career points and needs 42 points to pass Jackie
Motycka (1985-89) as the Falcons’ career scoring leader.
Prochaska is also currently seventh on the all-time MAC scoring list, 11 points away from moving into
sixth place.
Prochaska is averaging 20.1 points per game this season.
ROARS: Billed as "The House That Roars," a big crowd is expected in Anderson Arena for the
BG-Toledo game. Seating capacity is now listed at 3,500 for Anderson Arena, which is in its final season
as Bowling Green’s basketball and volleyball venue.
Before the configuration of Anderson Arena changed, there were seven crowds of 3,000 or more for a
women’s game, including three over 4,000.
"We’re all excited for the game. I hope we have a great crowd like they did last year (5,825 at
Toledo). I think that really helped them, having an incredible fan base," Uhl said. "I love
Anderson and it’s great playing in it … It will be great to play Toledo, hopefully beat Toledo, in
Anderson and (end) on a good note in the arena."
BG’s NCAA tournament game against Florida on March 17, 1993 is the largest women’s home crowd at 4,408.
The NCAA tournament game with Cincinnati on March 15, 1989 drew 4,100 and a regular-season game with
Toledo drew 4,013 on Feb. 19, 1992.
SCOUTING UT: Miller said at noon on Monday he crammed in watching seven game tapes of Toledo since the
Falcons’ 90-62 win over Central Michigan the previous Saturday.
Point-guard Naama Shafir, a 5-foot-7 junior, leads the Rockets, averaging 13.4 points and 5.7 assists per
game.
Melissa Goodall, a 6-2 senior, is averaging 13.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.
Jessica Williams, a 5-8 senior, is averaging 10.4 ppg.
"Shafir and Goodall could play in any league in the country," Miller said. "You put those
two in the SEC … the ACC, the Pac-10, the Big Ten, and they would be starters.
"It’s really fun to test yourself against the best and those two are great, great players,"
Miller continued. "But it’s just not those two. They have a team that defend and works their tails
off and (who are) great role players."
NEXT: Bowling Green plays at Western Michigan Saturday with tipoff at 2 p.m.