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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Delaware
Falcons Answer Delaware's Run, Storm Back for 70-59 Win
December 29, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2006
Final Stats | Quotes | AP Recap
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team watched the University of Delaware make a big run bridging halftime, then stormed back with a run of their own in the second half. It all added up to a come-from-behind win, 70-59, Friday night (Dec. 29) in non-conference action at Anderson Arena.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 9-2 on the season, while the Fightin' Blue Hens drop to 10-2 and see a nine-game winning streak come to an end. BGSU is ranked 21st in the nation in the USA Today/ESPN Top-25 poll and 25th in the Associated Press poll, while UD is receiving votes in each poll.
The Falcons shot 65.2 percent from the floor in the second half, making 15-of-23 field-goal tries. After missing their first four shot attempts of the half, the Brown and Orange then made 12 of their next 14, including nine consecutive shots over a six-minute span. That 9-for-9 run included four three-point attempts.
For the game, BGSU shot 56.8% from the floor and went 9-for-23 (39.1%) from three-point range. The Falcons held UD to a 33.3% success rate from the field in the second half, as the visitors shot 40.7% on the night.
Falcon senior Liz Honegger led all players with 24 points, while classmate Ali Mann scored 18 and dished out a career-high six assists. Another senior, Amber Flynn, had 12 points on perfect 5-for-5 shooting off the bench. Junior Kate Achter matched her career best with a game-high 10 assists on the night.
For the Hens, Chrissy Fisher and Tyresa Smith each had double-doubles. Fisher led the team in both scoring and rebounding, with 19 points and 12 boards, while Smith had 16 points and 11 caroms. Smith also added a game-best four steals while playing all 40 minutes.
The Falcons missed their first shot attempt of the game, but then made the next three. That flurry included triples by Honegger and senior Megan Thorburn -- seniors scored all but four of BGSU's 70 points -- and gave the home team an 8-4 advantage. Two Fisher free throws and a Smith jumper brought the Hens back for an 8-8 tie at the first media timeout.
After two Honegger charity tosses, senior Carin Horne's bullet pass found Achter under the hoop for a layup and a 12-8 lead. When Mann spotted Honegger for a left-side trey, the Falcons had a 15-10 advantage and Honegger had a quick 10 points.
When Flynn grabbed another Mann pass and hit a layup, the home team led by seven, and the visitors burned a timeout. That timeout worked wonders for the Hens, who scored the next six points, capped by a Kristina Gineitis offensive rebound and layup, and it was the Falcons who were forced to take time at the 9:41 mark.
After the teams traded baskets, however, the Brown and Orange would go on a 7-0 run. Some nice passing led to a Flynn layup from Achter's pass, a UD foul and a three-point play around the 7:58 media timeout. Then, Achter found a wide-open Horne under the basket for a 24-18 lead, and Honegger hit a back-door layup at the 6:25 mark -- again, off an Achter feed. That hoop, however, would be the Falcons' last field goal for quite some time.
Mann split a pair of free throws to give the hosts a 27-20 lead with 3:49 left before the intermission, but the Falcons would not score again in the opening half. UD ended the half on a 9-0 run, capped by Fisher's three-ball in the final seconds, to take a 29-27 lead into the lockerroom.
BGSU could not stop the run in the opening minute of the second half. Smith hit a free throw at the 18:23 mark for the first points of the half by either team, and a Smith layup extended the lead to 32-27 by the first media timeout. The Falcons had four turnovers in a span of less than two minutes during that time.
Farrah Ferguson connected on a pair of free throws out of that media break, capping a 14-0 UD run and giving the visitors a 34-27 lead.
Finally, Achter was able to draw a foul and get to the free-throw stripe, hitting two tosses at the 14:50 mark. That snapped a scoreless streak of 8:59 for the Brown and Orange.
Fisher responded with a three-pointer at the other end, giving the Hens an eight-point lead, 37-29. But, after BG had some trouble inbounding the ball at the offensive end, Achter and Mann combined to save a somewhat shaky possession. Achter, stumbling to the ground under the hoop, was able to kick the ball out to Mann at the left wing, and the senior hit a triple to snap a streak of 12:15 without a field goal for the Brown and Orange.
Fisher quickly responded with another triple, giving the Hens a 40-32 lead. But, the Falcons had had a taste of shooting success, and they wanted more.
BG continued to feed Mann, who freed herself with a shot fake before hitting a long two-pointer, than spotted up for a three-pointer from Honegger. Suddenly, Mann had eight points in under two minutes, the BGSU deficit was 40-37 and the Hens wanted a timeout with 12:39 left.
The Falcons missed their next two shots, before beginning the streak of nine-straight makes. Honegger saw a shot attempt get blocked, but grabbed the rebound, laid the ball in and drew Courtney Irving's fourth foul of the night. Honegger's ensuing free throw tied the game with 11:12 remaining.
The run was 8-0, but the Falcons were just getting started. Achter drove the lane, and the junior hit Thorburn for a short right-side jumper and a 42-40 lead. Then, Mann's pass to Flynn resulted in a layup midway through the half. Honegger's triple off another Achter assist on the fastbreak capped a 15-0 run, giving BG a 47-40 lead and resulting in a timeout by the visitors.
Fisher scored to stop the run and end a 4:49 scoreless drought for the Hens, but BG answered with another Flynn layup, and a Mann three-pointer gave the Falcons a double-digit lead, 52-42, with under eight minutes remaining.
The home team just couldn't miss, as Horne hit a three-pointer with a defender in her face, then knocked down a pull-up jumper. Another Honegger three-pointer capped a 31-6 run that gave the Falcons a 60-43 lead with 5:50 left in the contest.
The Hens scored six-straight points to pull within 11, and a Smith three-point play cut the margin to 10, 64-54, with 2:44 on the clock. But, Mann converted a free throw, then put a dagger into the visitors' comeback hopes by hitting a left-side jumper and drawing a foul with 1:27 remaining. The free-throw try caromed out, but the Falcons had a 13-point lead and wound up with an 11-point victory.
Mann hit three three-pointers to match her career best for the second time in three games. She was 3-for-4 from beyond the arc, including a perfect 3-of-3 in the second half. Honegger led all players with four successful triples on the night.
Honegger also paced the Falcons in rebounding, with six, while Achter had five. The Hens held a 31-25 advantage in that category.
BGSU seniors scored all but four of the Falcons' points, as Horne scored seven and Thorburn five. Achter was the lone non-senior to find the scoresheet.
For the Fightin' Blue Hens, Melissa Czorniewy had five points and a team-leading five assists, and Kyle DeHaven had six points off the bench. Gineitis and Courtney Irving each were 2-for-2 from the floor en route to four points.
The Falcons have little time to enjoy Friday's win, as Robert Morris comes to town for a Sunday (Dec. 31) matinee. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Anderson.
NOTES
* The Falcons' win evened the all-time series with Delaware at 1-1 ... UD was one of just three teams to defeat the Falcons last year, with a 48-44 win in the Hawk Classic in Philadelphia (Dec. 28, 2005).
* After scoring a total of 44 points in last year's game against the Fightin' Blue Hens, the Falcons scored 43 points in the second half alone on Friday.
* BGSU has now won 22 consecutive games at Anderson Arena, the second-longest active homecourt winning streak in the nation ... LSU has the longest streak, with 38-straight home wins.
* BGSU has won 43 of the last 49 games.
* Senior Amber Flynn was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field ... on the season, Flynn is now shooting a stellar 66.2 percent from the floor, having gone 43-for-65 ... Flynn's 12-point effort vs. Delaware was her sixth double-digit scoring game of the year.
* Senior Ali Mann has scored in double figures in all 11 games this season, and in 18-straight games dating to last February ... Mann has scored at least 10 points in 81 of her 104 games as a Falcon.
* Junior Kate Achter took only two shots on the night, and scored four points ... that was enough, however, for her to move up two spots on the BGSU career scoring list ... Achter now has 782 career points, and is tied for 30th in school history.
* BGSU's 56.8% field-goal rate vs. UD marked the fifth time the Falcons have shot at least 50% from the field this season, topping the total for all of last year ... the 2005-06 BG team shot 50% or better on four occasions ... in the Curt Miller Era, the Falcons are now a perfect 19-0 in such games.
* BGSU has nine non-conference wins this season, tying the school record.
* The Falcons are now 3-0 on assistant coach Kevin Eckert's birthday (Dec. 29) since Eckert came to BGSU ... BG had a 2003 win at Eastern Kentucky and a neutral-site victory over Iona last year ... the latter game came in the consolation contest of the Hawk Classic, a day after BG's loss to UD.
