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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Indiana
Roll Along You BG Warriors: Falcons Dismantle Indiana, 82-47
December 06, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 6, 2006
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team outscored visiting Indiana University by a 26-7 margin over the last nine minutes of the first half, building a large halftime lead on the way to a 35-point victory over Indiana University, 82-47, Wednesday night (Dec. 6). The non-conference game was played before a large and raucous crowd at Anderson Arena.
With the victory, the Falcons improve to 6-1 on the season, and BGSU has won five consecutive games. The Brown and Orange increased the second-longest home winning streak in the country to 21 games. The Hoosiers drop to 7-2 on the year.
Senior Liz Honegger, one of two Indiana natives on the BGSU roster, scored 17 points, all in the first half. Honegger went 4-of-5 from three-point land during the opening half, including three treys in the final two-and-a-half minutes. She scored BG's final nine points to send the Falcons to the lockerroom with a 43-19 lead.
Senior Ali Mann had 14 points, while junior Kate Achter had 10 points to round out BG's trio of double-digit scorers.
For the visitors, Nikki Smith and Shanice Billington each had nine points to lead the way. All nine of Billington's points came in the game's final seven minutes.. Sarah McKay had seven points, while Whitney Thomas had six points and a game-high 13 rebounds for the Hoosiers.
The game was tied twice in the early going, as BGSU struggled to find its shooting touch, while IU struggled to hold on to the ball. The visitors had seven turnovers in the first eight minutes of the game, while BGSU went 1-of-6 from the floor to begin the night.
The Falcons' one successful field goal during that time came on BG's opening possession. After an Achter steal on the first possession of the night, a Honegger offensive rebound led to senior Carin Horne's making the extra pass. That pass found classmate Megan Thorburn open for a right-side three-pointer.
The second tie of the night, 5-5, came after a Thomas layup with nearly five minutes gone. From there, however, it was all BG. The Falcons held the Hoosiers without a field goal for a span of 5:12, putting together a 12-2 run during that time.
The run began out of the first media timeout of the game. Achter drove the lane, drew a foul and converted the second free throw to give the Falcons a lead they would never relinquish. Then, Achter again drove the lane and spotted Honegger underneath the hoop for an open layup. A Horne drive and one-handed bank shot in traffic gave the Falcons a 10-5 lead.
Nikki Smith, a native of nearby Sylvania, Ohio, hit a pair of charity tosses, but Mann knocked down a jumper, then hit a trey off a pass from Horne. When senior Amber Flynn hit a layup despite an IU double team, the Falcons' lead was 17-7.
Nikki Smith stopped the Hoosier shooting drought with a three-pointer after a near-turnover, and another quick hoop cut the Falcons' edge to 17-12 with nine minutes left before intermission. But, the visitors would get no closer.
On the ensuing possession, Honegger was fouled while attempting a 3-pointer, and the senior knocked down all three free-throw tries, sparking a 12-0 BG run over a 5:01 span. Junior Whitney Taylor, just after checking into the game, took a charge for a foul on Leah Enterline -- IU's 11th turnover in the first 11-plus minutes.
BGSU's final seven baskets of the half all came from beyond the arc, as the Falcons were 7-of-8 from three-point land in the final 7:31 before intermission. Thorburn began the onslaught with a trifecta off of a Honegger pass, and sophomore Jasmine McCall found Flynn for a straightaway 3 just 37 seconds later.
With the shot clock winding down, McCall hit a trey to cap the 12-0 run and give BG a 29-12 lead. Jamie Braun knocked down a jumper in the lane to stop that run, but Mann, double-teamed in the post, whipped a pass to Honegger for a left-elbow 3 at the 3:27 mark. Another Honegger triple less than a minute later gave the hosts a 37-15 lead. But, the Lafayette, Ind., native wasn't finished.
Achter's pass found Honegger for yet another 3-ball with 1:37 left in the half, and Honegger hit a step-back three in the final minute of the half to give the Brown and Orange a 43-19 lead.
The Falcons allowed IU to make only five field goals in the opening half. In fact, the Hoosiers had only 18 shots in that 20-minute period, due in large part to 14 turnovers during that time. BGSU took nearly twice as many shots in the first half, going 14-of-34 (41.2 percent). A whopping nine of BGSU's makes were from three-point land, as the hosts were 9-for-19 (47.4%), and had only five turnovers in the half.
Thomas opened the second-half scoring for the visitors, and another Thomas layup made BG's margin 22 points with two minutes gone. But, a Mann jumper began a 7-0 run, and the senior then drove against three IU defenders and banked a shot off the glass and in while drawing a foul. The three-point play gave BG a 50-23 lead.
Horne converted a jumper before Braun's triple ended that BG run. But, the Falcons promptly scored the next six points to increase the lead to 32. An Achter jumper gave BG a 54-26 lead, and a technical on the IU bench resulted in a pair of Achter free throws for a 30-point advantage with 13:29 left. Then, Mann's defensive rebound and long outlet pass found Taylor for a breakaway layup.
The lead stayed around 30 points over the next eight minutes, before another 12-0 BG run put the Falcons ahead by 40, 82-42, with just under a minute to play. The first four points came at the line, as sophomore Lindsey Goldsberry and McCall each converted both ends of their respective opportunities. Then, freshman Laura Bugher -- BG's other Indiana native -- found classmate Tara Breske for a layup, and Breske would then hit two shots from the stripe.
When freshman Sarah Clapper and McCall hit jumpers just 17 seconds apart, the BG lead was 40 points. IU scored five points in the final 33 seconds to provide the final margin.
McCall had nine points off the bench, while Flynn and Horne scored eight points apiece. In all, 11 of the 12 active Falcons found the scoresheet. In addition to her point total, Flynn took two IU charges on the night.
Three different Falcons -- Honegger, Horne and Mann -- had six rebounds apiece, as the hosts held a 45-36 advantage in that category.
The Falcons shot 41.7% for the game, while holding the Hoosiers to just a 16-for-54 night (29.6%).
Achter, Horne and Mann had three assists apiece, and Horne and Mann each had two steals. BG forced 21 IU turnovers while committing just 11 of their own. The Falcons held a 28-7 advantage in points off turnovers and a 19-4 margin in second-chance points.
BGSU went to the free-throw line more than twice as often as the visitors. The Falcons were 23-of-29 from the stripe, while IU was 9-of-14.
The Falcons' lineup consisted of the team's three freshmen and two sophs for the final three-and-a-half minutes.
BGSU will head to New York for a Saturday (Dec. 9) game at St. Bonaventure. Tipoff for that game is 4:45 p.m.
NOTES
* Wednesday's game was the 100th since the current senior class -- Amber Flynn, Julie Gompers, Liz Honegger, Carin Horne, Ali Mann and Megan Thorburn -- arrived on campus ... the Falcons are 78-22 during that time.
* IU's Kim Roberson, originally pencilled into the starting lineup, was injured during pregame warmups when she collided with a teammate ... Vanita Smart took Roberson's place in the lineup ... Roberson, who was forced to change jerseys (uniform #13 instead of her usual #35) due to blood, played 12 minutes off the bench.
* The Falcons entered the game tied for 22nd in the latest USA Today/ESPN poll, while the Hoosiers entered Wednesday's action receiving votes (27th - second team listed under 'receiving votes') in that poll ... in the latest Associated Press rankings, however, both teams received votes, with IU (27 points) listed just before BGSU (21 points).
* Honegger hit four three-point field goals on the night ... she now has made 171 triples in her career, just two shy of matching Sara Puthoff's (1994-98) school record ... Honegger is tied with Francine Miller (1998-2003) for second place on that BG career list.
