The athletic department has announced the big-name opponents who will face the Falcon volleyball and men's and women's basketball teams in the first games at the Stroh Center.

The netters will kick things off on Sept. 9, 2011 when they host Michigan State. The men's basketball squad will host their season opener on Nov. 12 against Howard, where former University president Sidney Ribeau is now in charge. Finally, the women's basketball team will begin their Stroh era against Purdue on Nov. 17.

"We are excited about opening the Stroh Center and the unique first-game opportunities for our teams and fans," athletic director Greg Christopher said in a press release. "These three games will be special and set the stage for the new home of Falcon basketball and volleyball. Two of the opponents are high-profile Big Ten teams and the Howard game is a connection to former Bowling Green President Dr. Sidney Ribeau and the important role he played in getting the Stroh Center started."

While BG won the regular season title and MAC Tournament this past season, they also performed well in the classroom as five players were named to the Academic All-MAC team. 

From bgsufalcons.com

Bowling Green women's basketball player Lauren Prochaska has earned honorable-mention on the State Farm Coaches' All-America Team for 2009-10, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association and State Farm announced Saturday afternoon.

The junior out of Plain City, Ohio, becomes the third Falcon in the last four years to earn honorable mention to the State Farm Coaches' All-America Team. Former BG women's basketball players Kate Achter and Ali Mann also grabbed honorable mention in 2007-08 and 2006-07, respectively.

Prochaska was the only player from the Mid-American Conference on the 40-player list, 10 making the All-America Team and the remaining 30 players earning honorable-mention.

Prochaska had another successful season for the Falcons. She led BG in scoring (17.9 ppg) and rebounding (5.7 rpg) en route to being named the MAC Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.

She was also named Most Valuable Player of the MAC Tournament after averaging 20.3 points and 5.7 rebounds in the MAC Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland as the Falcons defeated Miami, Akron and Toledo to win the championship.

Against Michigan State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Prochaska had a game-high 19 points.

The BG News has learned that women's basketball coach Curt Miller has been offered and will accept the head coaching job at UCONN.

Sources said Miller will begin his duties after the NCAA Tournament when Geno Auriemma will retire from coaching after 25 years of manning the Huskies bench.

Neither Miller or athletic director Greg Christopher have been reached for comment about these developments.

It is also believed that junior Lauren Prochaska will attempt to transfer to UCONN in order to finish her career under Miller.

Auriemma has won six national titles with the Huskies and is the odds-on favorite to win his seventh this season. Sources indicate that Auriemma is leaving on good terms and believes Miller will fill in admirably.

The Falcon women's basketball team was overmatched during a 72-62 loss to Michigan State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Lauren Prochaska (pictured) and Tara Breske both got into early foul trouble because of the mismatch in size between the Falcon and Spartan players, but the game was still tied at 36 at halftime.

But, MSU came out strong in the second half, outscoring BG 36-26, while outrebounding them 23-14. Eleven of those 23 boards came on the offensive glass, resulting in nine second-chance points.

The Falcons were led in scoring by Prochaska, who had a game-high 19 points. Tracy Pontius added 15 points on five 3-pointers. MSU was led by Aisha Jefferson, who had 17 points.

Much more on this game will be available in Monday's edition of The BG News and at www.bgviews.com.

We apologize for any inconvenience. The Internet in Freedom Hall is not working at full strength, and we have not been able to update this live chat. You can still get game updates at www.twitter.com/bgnewssports and at our Facebook fan page (BG News Sports).

The BG News sports department is live in Louisville, Ky., for the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The No. 12 seed Falcon women's basketball team will face fifth-seeded Michigan State Saturday at 12:11 p.m.

It took us about five hours with stops to make it down to Louisville from Bowling Green. On the way, we encountered plenty of interesting sites.

1) A monstrous Jesus statue outside of Cincinnati
2) A water tower in Kentucky stating "Providence Y'All"
3) A fetus painted on the side of a barn

These almost rival the Dirt Cheap convenience stores and the purple cow statue from the Missouri football trip, but I still give the edge to Mizzou.

On a more serious note, we will be running a live chat from Saturday's game and will be providing post game coverage on this blog.

CLEVELAND -- After 364 days redemption had finally come.

On March 13, 2009 BG fell to an underdog Ball State 55-51, failing to win the Mid-American Conference title and missing the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season.

During that loss to Ball State, Lauren Prochaska and Tara Breske failed to live up to their expectations and didn't deliver the effort that had led the Falcons to a dominant regular season.
 
"The player of the year in the conference lost her confidence," BG coach Curt Miller said after the loss. "Our center and captain lost her confidence."

All that lost confidence was erased from memory as Prochaska launched the ball into the air with one second remaining on Saturday, and once it landed on the floor of Quickens Loan Arena the new MAC Tournament MVP was already swarmed by her teammates.

Redemption had come in the form of a 62-53 victory, and it couldn't have been sweeter.

SHOOTER: BG's Tara Breske shoots over two Toledo defenders during the Mid-American
Conference championship game at Quicken Loans Arena on Saturday. (Enoch Wu)

CLEVELAND -- Senior center Tara Breske wanted nothing more from this season than to play in the NCAA Tournament.

Her wish was granted on Saturday when the Falcons beat Toledo 62-53 to win the Mid-American Conference championship and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, writing the best possible ending to her MAC career.

"I don't think I could [write a better ending] actually," Breske said. "We came out here, did what we needed to do and came away with a championship."

Breske scored six points and grabbed nine rebounds in BG's win, but a stretch of play as the first half came to a close defined her role on the team as a leader.

With 1:34 left in the first half, Breske made a jumper that gave the Falcons their first go-ahead score of the game. Even though she failed to convert on the 3-point play, that basket brought the Falcon bench and fans to their feet.

BG coach Curt Miller waves to fans and his team after cutting down the second net in Quicken
Loans Arena after winning the MAC championship by beating Toledo 62-53. (Enoch Wu)
Postgame audio from coach Curt Miller, Tournament MVP Lauren Prochaska and senior Tara Breske: MAC_Championship_Falcons_Postgame.wav
 
CLEVELAND -- The BG women's basketball team is going dancing.

The Falcons have punched their ticket to the Big Dance, receiving the automatic bid to this year's NCAA Tournament after defeating arch-rival Toledo 62-53 for the Mid-American Conference championship Saturday afternoon at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

"We can't express how excited we are," BG coach Curt Miller said. "What an unbelievable feeling. It's just a great finish to MAC play for us this year."

The Falcons were led by Lauren Prochaska, who had a game-high 29 points and grabbed seven rebounds en route to being named player of the game and tournament MVP.

BG started the game sluggish and the Rockets were clicking on all cylinders, jumping out to a 22-12 advantage at the 8:19 mark. The Falcons would dominate down the stretch of the first half, however, going on a 17-2 run to take a 29-24 lead into the break.

Prochaska scored 12 first-half points, essentially setting the tone for an offense that struggled early on.

"We were down big early and I think nerves got to us," Prochaska said. "We were a little impatient and weren't running our offenses, [but] as we settled down we were able to execute our plays better and get the shots that we wanted to get."