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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Robert Morris
Falcons Race Past Robert Morris, 92-81, to End 2006 on a Successful Note
December 31, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 31, 2006
Final Stats |
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - Five players scored in double digits as the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team closed the 2006 calendar year with a 92-81 win over Robert Morris University Sunday afternoon (Dec. 31). The non-conference contest was held at BGSU's Anderson Arena.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 10-2 on the season, while the visiting Colonials drop to 7-4.
Junior Kate Achter led a balanced BGSU attack with 18 points, and was joined in double digits by four seniors. Carin Horne and Ali Mann had 17 and 16 points, respectively, while Amber Flynn scored 12 off the bench. Liz Honegger rounded out BG's double-figure scorers with 11 points.
RMU also ended up with five players in double digits, led by Chinata Nesbit's 25.
All 11 healthy players saw at least seven minutes of action for the Brown and Orange. Ten of those players found the scoresheet, while nine had at least one assist on the afternoon.
The Falcons led by as many as 28 points on several occasions in the second half. BG held advantages of 68-40 and 73-45 before RMU outscored the home team's reserves by a 36-19 count over the final nine minutes of the afternoon.
BG held advantages of 34-18 in points in the paint and 25-10 in points off turnovers. The Falcons forced 18 turnovers by RMU, and BGSU had just 10 themselves despite near-constant defensive pressure by the Colonials.
Achter scored the Falcons' first seven points of the game, beginning with a steal at midcourt and a layup. Then, the junior hit a foul-line jumper and an 'and-one' driving layup for a 7-3 Falcon lead three minutes into the game. That lead was extended to 10-3 when Horne hit a long three-point field goal, and RMU coach Sal Buscaglia took a timeout.
Out of the timeout, Nesbit responded with a long 3, but Honegger took a pass from Mann and hit a turnaround jumper. Nesbit hit layups on back-to-back RMU possessions, sandwiched around two Achter free throws, and the home team's lead was 14-10.
But, Mann's sweet shot fake in the lane got her defender in the air, and the BG tri-captain went right around her for an easy layup. Then, sophomore Lindsey Goldsberry drove left and threaded the needle with a bounce pass to a cutting Flynn for another layup and an 18-10 advantage.
The Falcons continued the offensive success, as Honegger sandwiched a pair of treys around another Flynn layup. The latter 3 came after a missed three-point attempt at the shot-clock buzzer, but Flynn tracked down the offensive rebound and kicked the ball out to Honegger for a triple and a 28-15 lead at the 8:01 mark.
 Tara Breske drives to the hoop against RMU's Chinata Nesbit  |
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Horne and Mann hit three-pointers of their own, with Mann's shot giving the Falcons a 41-23 lead. The Brown and Orange led by as many as 20 points in the final minute of the half before a late layup by Sugeiry Monsac cut the advantage to 18, 47-29, at the intermission.
A technical foul on the Colonials' bench in the opening minute of the second half resulted in two more free throws by Horne. Less than a minute later, the senior stole the ball and fired a pass to Achter for a breakaway layup and a 53-30 Falcon lead.
Out of the 15:42 media timeout, Mann made a nice move to elude her defender, and classmate Megan Thorburn found her with a pass for a layup and a 25-point advantage, 59-34. A Horne jumper extended that margin to 27 less than 30 seconds later.
Honegger, working against a double team with her back to the basket in the lane, flipped a pass to Achter for a short jumper off the glass at the 12:40 mark, and Horne picked up another steal and a layup that resulted in a three-point play, and BG had the aforementioned 68-40 lead.
Freshman Sarah Clapper's three-pointer gave the Brown and Orange a 73-45 margin with 9:39 on the clock, and the first-year Falcon hit another triple -- a straightaway 'free fries' three-pointer from several steps beyond the arc -- for an 87-64 lead with 2:43 left, and 'The House That Roars' was really roaring.
Clapper's classmates, Laura Bugher and Tara Breske, each hit layups. Breske had an assist on Bugher's shot with 6:06 remaining.
In addition to her 17 points, Horne had eight rebounds to lead the Falcons. BGSU held a 35-33 advantage in that department, and the Falcons held RMU -- averaging nearly 18 offensive rebounds per game entering Sunday's play -- to just two offensive boards in the first half and nine for the game.
Achter added six rebounds and Flynn five for the hosts. Mann had a team-leading five assists, while Achter dished out four.
For the visitors, Nesbit had a double-double, with a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with her 25 points. Monsac and Psyche Butler very nearly had double-doubles as well, as Butler had 17 points and nine rebounds, and Monsac scored 11 points and pulled down nine errant shots.
Jenna Burkett had 11 points off the bench, while Natasha Summerville scored 10 points to round out the game's total of 10 double-figure scorers.
The Falcons shot 53.5 percent in the opening half to build their lead, and finished with a 47.5% field-goal rate. RMU shot 51.7% in the second half -- including 9-of-15 from three-point land -- en route to a 48.1% FG pct. on the afternoon. The Colonials finished with 11 treys to the Falcons' nine.
BGSU enjoyed a fair amount of success at the free-throw line, finishing with a season-high 25 charity tosses in 30 attempts (83.3%). Horne led the way with a perfect 7-for-7 effort from the stripe, while Achter was 8-of-9. RMU was 18-of-25 from the line.
Next up for BGSU is the Mid-American Conference opener Wednesday night (Jan. 3, 2007) at Akron. The Falcons are the defending back-to-back MAC regular-season and tournament champions, and have won 25 consecutive games vs. league foes.
THE FINAL NOTES OF 2006
* BGSU now has won 23 consecutive games at Anderson Arena, the second-longest active homecourt winning streak in the nation ... LSU is at the top of that list with 38-straight home victories.
* Senior Liz Honegger, already the BGSU career leader in both blocked shots and three-point field goals made, moved to the top of another list on Sunday ... Honegger is now the school's career record holder in three-pointers attempted ... she had six triple tries vs. RMU to increase her career total to 495 attempts ... Kim Griech (491) held the old record ... Honegger now has made 181 3s in her Falcon tenure.
* BGSU has set a new school record for non-conference wins in a season, as Sunday's victory was the Falcons' 10th of the year ... this year's club is just the third to win as many as nine non-league games since the MAC went to a double round-robin schedule in the 1982-83 season ... the 1991-92 team set the old mark with a 9-2 non-league ledger, and last year's BG club matched that 9-2 slate in pre-MAC play.
