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Home > SECWB News & More! > NCAA Tournament > Bowling Green v. Vanderbilt Preview
Bowling Green v. Vanderbilt Preview
by LeAnne Harrington
Posted: March 20th, 2007 @ 3:35am
Having made it to the second round of the NCAAs for the eighth straight year, #8 in the nation Vanderbilt (latest USA Today/ESPN poll) is looking to improve their play and extend their season. They will have to play better than they did against Delaware State on Sunday, a game they played sluggishly for 30 minutes before finally pulling away with a 62-47 win. Vanderbilt has advanced to the Sweet Sixteen 11 times in the last 16 seasons and would like to make it 12, but standing in the way is a very talented Bowling Green team, currently ranked #19 in the nation. Bowling Green, the #7 seed in the Greensboro region, beat Oklahoma State 70-66 in the first round in East Lansing on Sunday. Despite having no players on their roster taller than 6’1", the Bowling Green Falcons manhandled OSU in the paint, outrebounding the Cowgirls 37-31. Vandy, take note.
Bowling Green played Duke very close early in the season, losing 55-46. Since that time, the Falcons have ripped off 22 wins in 23 games on their way to capturing the Mid-America Conference regular season and conference tourney titles. In addition, coach Curt Miller was named MAC Coach of the Year. The hallmark of this Bowling Green team is a balanced attack; they rely on several different outside shooters combined with dribble penetration. The Falcons average 76 points per game while holding their opponents to 56.7 points.
Bowling Green is led by Seniors Liz Honegger (10.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg) and Ali Mann (15.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg, team highs in both categories). Honegger is believed to be the only Division I player to be her program's all-time leader in blocks (183) and 3-point field goals (209). Kate Achter leads the Falcons in assists (149 or 4.8 per game) while Carin Horne is the steals leader (1.9 per game). Megan Thorburn is their leading free-throw shooter (85.7 percent) while Amber Flynn provides the spark off the bench with 9.8 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.
Meanwhile, Vanderbilt is led by Seniors Carla Thomas (16.3 points and 6.4 rebounds, team highs in both categories), Dee Davis (Vandy’s all-time assist leader) and Caroline Williams, who is currently second in the nation in 3-point field goal shooting percentage (50%). Other key Commodores to watch are Christina Wirth, who is on a hot streak from 3-point-land, and Liz Sherwood, who comes off the bench to give added help in the paint.
This game looks to be an excellent second round game, although Bowling Green is 0-2 against Vandy (games played in 1993 and 1994) and 0-11 against SEC opponents. The winner of this game will face #3 seed Arizona State in Greensboro on Saturday in the round of 16.
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