MACwood Squares is our summer reading series on the best athletes in Mid-American Conference sports history. This week features Bowling Green. Looking for your MAC school? Consult our schedule for other teams and please submit your nominees as well.
We're running a little short on time over here, but rest assured women's basketball WILL be included, and, jeez, how can I not put more than one in the set of nine?
So I don't rehash that which has been written about the all-time greats, I'll just put this link here and add some thoughts on a few of the players:
Kate Achter — In that 2006 season, the most impressive facet of her game was that the backup point guard left the team midseason, and she picked up the slack. Oftentimes she would play all but a few minutes, or in the case of tournament games, the whole damn thing. And she was such a tiny person, too. Not sure where she found the energy.
Liz Honegger — "The Catapult." First of all, only in women's basketball is your center 5'11". Secondly, she was a dynamite three-point shooter, and her shooting form would basically start with the ball back and to the side of her head, and it'd launch to the rim like, well ... a catapult. It was one of my favorite shooting techniques, and it's probably undertaught at the high school level.
Ali Mann — At some point I'm going to do "best MAC sports moments," and for my money Mann had the shot. In the second-round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament, she trained a dagger three-pointer against Vanderbilt to essentially ice the game and a trip to the Sweet 16. She was more than that shot, however; she was the leader of that team. Everybody had their role. Hers was to bring it all together, like The Dude's rug.
Jackie Motycka — Not only is she still the second-highest scorer in school history, but she had probably the best '80s hair in school history.
Lauren Prochaska — The most recent person on the list still counts. Since the drafting of that BGSU release, she did surpass Motycka in career points. She's just a pure shooter that would be able to score 15 points a night with any basketball team — professional, college — in the world.
No poll, but I'd like to hear your takes on some of these talented women.
Who are your nominees for Bowling Green's MACwood Squares? Comment below, tweet us at @HustleBelt or submit a FanPost making your case. The final nine will be revealed Friday.