After a rough start to the season, the Falcons return home for their first game in the Stroh.
Head coach Curt Miller said he and the team are excited, and interested in what the crowd and atmosphere will be.
“It’s not often where you have the opportunity to open a brand new arena,” Miller said. “We’ve talked about it with the team, that they will look back decades from now and be able to tell their families that they played the first women’s basketball game in the new Stroh Center.”
Following their defeat at Dayton in their season opener, BG will take on No. 16 Purdue University for the team’s home opener on the Bill Frack Court.
“We have some kinks to work out on the offensive end, but more than anything, the thing that you realize is that players have not been put in position to have adversity before,” Miller said. “We’ve only had one player in our program ever start a college game until the other night at Dayton. We only had one player on our team that averaged over three points a game, for a season, so we have a lot of unproven players that just lack game experience.”
When you have adversity, players don’t live or die with good plays and bad plays, according to Miller – something that is characteristic of a young team.
BG is 4-29 against nationally ranked teams – 2-3 at home – in Anderson Arena, and 3-10 with Miller.
The Falcons’ challenge, according to Miller, is to find how the team is successful. They are looking to gain momentum.
This is game two of 13 in the Falcons non-conference play.
Purdue went 12-12 last year and pulled a big 30-point win, 75-45, over IUPUI in their season opener.
The Falcons are looking to rebound from their loss – their largest point margin of defeat in seven years, and lowest point total in nine.
Miller and his staff continue to go hard on the team, but they don’t want to break their spirits, he said.
“We’ve got to get away from thinking wins and losses are the only thing that define us,” Miller said. “We’ve got to try to get better each and every day – that’s where this program is right now – truly look at our exhibition and non-conference schedule as 12-13 test runs before conference play gets around, and if we can keep it that way … I think you’re going to see a much better team in January than you do right now.”
The team has won 46 of its last 48 home games. Overall, in Anderson, they were 333-116 – 74.1 percent.
Prior to the game, there will be a ring ceremony and a banner unveiling to honor the 2010-11 team for winning Mid-American Conference East Division and MAC Tournament titles.
“It’s a once in a lifetime, and very, very few people have this opportunity so were going to enjoy it, and live in the moment and try to have fun, as much as we can,” Miller said.
