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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
EASTERN MICHIGAN
Mann, Achter Help Falcons Post 72-55 Win at Eastern
January 28, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 28, 2007
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YPSILANTI, Mich. - Senior Ali Mann, playing her last collegiate regular-season game in her home state, had 19 points and seven rebounds as the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team picked up a 72-55 win over Eastern Michigan University Sunday (Jan. 28). The Mid-American Conference game was held at EMU's Convocation Center.
Junior Kate Achter had a game-high 22 points for the Falcons, who improve to 18-2 overall and 8-0 in MAC play. BGSU, ranked #16 in the nation, has won 11 consecutive games. The Eagles dropped to 11-8 and 6-2, respectively.
The win was BGSU's first-ever victory at the Convocation Center in six tries. The Falcons have won 33-straight games against MAC opponents, with the last last to a conference foe coming two seasons ago at EMU.
Senior Carin Horne, despite some foul trouble, hit double figures with 11 points in Sunday's game. Kelly Watts led three double-digit scorers with 17 points for Eastern.
Mann and Achter did much of their damage at the free-throw line. The Falcons, who have struggled from the stripe at times this year, were a stellar 25-for-28 from the line on Sunday. Achter was a perfect 10-of-10, while Mann went 8-of-10 in the game. Eastern went to the line 22 times, making 12, as the game featured a total of 41 fouls.
The contest featured one tie and five lead changes, but none over the final 26 minutes. BG got out to a slow start, with turnovers on the first two possessions of the night. The first led to a breakaway layup by the Eagles' Sarah VanMetre, who had 14 points.
Mann, however, showed a harbinger of what was to come, getting herself to the line on back-to-back possessions, and making four free throws.
A short layup by Horne, off of Achter's drive and dish, gave the Brown and Orange a 6-2 lead, before Patrice McKinney answered with a quick jumper. But, Achter drove again and kicked the ball to Horne again, this time for a three-pointer. Then, Achter kept the ball herself, and a driving layup made the score 11-4 and prompted an Eastern timeout.
Emily Hanley's jumper cut the lead to five points, and the two teams then went nearly three minutes without scoring. Achter broke the scoreless drought with a nifty hanging jumper in the lane, adjusting her shot after McKinney leaped to contest it, and the Falcons had a seven-point lead.
McKinney knocked down a pair of free throws at the other end, but senior Amber Flynn worked around her defender and hit a baby hook in the lane for a 15-8 advantage.
The Eagles, largely on the strength of Watts, battled back. The freshman hit a jumper, then converted a three-point play to cut the home team's deficit to just 15-13.
Senior Liz Honegger ended that run with a baseline turnaround jumper off Mann's entry pass. But, two free throws by Alyssa Pittman were followed by a Watts three-pointer, and the Eagles had an 18-17 lead at the 7:08 mark.
Mann answered that run with a driving baseline J, but an easy layup by Watts gave the Eagles a 20-19 lead and forced BG head coach Curt Miller to take a timeout. That layup, at the 6:11 mark, would be Eastern's last field goal of the half, and the Falcons would not trail again.
Out of the timeout, the net barely moved as Horne drained a left-elbow triple off of a Jasmine McCall feed, and the Falcons had a 22-20 lead.
Honegger, however, was called for her third foul of the game at the 5:05 mark, and Kivilcim Yamanoglu split her two free-throw opportunities to cut BG's lead to a single point.
The Falcons then went on a 10-0 run to open up a double-digit lead at the half. Mann fought through a double team to free herself some space for a jumper and a 24-21 lead. A reverse layup by Flynn gave BG a five-point edge, and Yamanoglu then was called for an offensive foul as she worked against Mann.
A Mann jumper with 47 seconds left in the half was followed by an Achter steal, and the junior was then hammered on a shot attempt at the other end. Achter hit both free throws with 17.7 seconds left, but the Falcons were not finished.
After a VanMetre miss, sophomore Lindsey Goldsberry grabbed the rebound and threw an outlet pass to Achter, who was fouled near midcourt with 00.8 seconds remaining in the half. Achter was perfect on two tosses to give BG a 32-21 lead entering the lockerroom.
The Eagles got their deficit under double digits early in the second half, as Pittman hit an off-balance 3 to open the scoring. But, Horne hit a triple of her own right away at the other end.
The teams traded points for the next few minutes, and a McKinney layup cut the BG lead to 37-28 at the 15:51 media timeout. Pittman hit one free throw before Achter had a driving layup of her own for a 10-point advantage.
Kendra Gallert's backdoor pass found Watts for a layup, and the Falcons took timeout when Mann was triple-teamed on the baseline on the ensuing possession. Out of the timeout, however, Mann found classmate Megan Thorburn wide open in front of the BGSU bench for a three-pointer and a 42-31 score, and the lead would not fall below double figures again.
A Goldsberry defensive rebound on the next possession led to a running layup by Achter, before Pittman hit a long three-pointer to cut the deficit to 10 points, 44-34.
Mann was fouled and split her free-throw attempts. Off of the miss, however, Flynn grabbed the offensive board, and her putback gave BG a 47-34 lead.
Freshman Tara Breske swatted a McKinney shot out of bounds to send the teams to a media timeout with the Falcons ahead by 12, 48-36.
A jumper by Achter ended another scoreless stretch of over two minutes for both teams, but VanMetre answered at the other end. Then, however, the Falcons went on an 11-4 run that all but sealed the deal.
Mann began the run with a driving layup, and Achter then deflected an EMU pass right to Goldsberry. Goldsberry fed Achter for a layup in transition, a 54-38 advantage and an Eastern timeout.
After a VanMetre putback, Mann drained a three-point dagger for a 57-40 lead, and the lead never fell below 14 points thereafter.
Flynn had eight points off the bench for the Brown and Orange, while Honegger -- like Horne saddled with foul trouble all game -- also had six boards in just 19 minutes of action.
Mann, Achter and Goldsberry all had three assists on the day, while the latter two players had three steals apiece.
The Falcons shot 42.0% from the field to the Eagles' 37.3%, and Eastern had a narrow 35-32 edge in rebounding.
BGSU has a quick turnaround, leaving town Monday for a Tuesday (Jan. 30) non-conference game at Chicago State University.
NOTES
* The win was BGSU's first-ever victory at Eastern's Convocation Center ... the Falcons had lost in each of the team's first five games in the facility.
* As mentioned, BGSU has won 33 consecutive games vs. MAC opposition ... the Falcons' last loss to a league opponent came in the team's last trip to the Convocation Center, a 57-52 setback to EMU on Feb. 19, 2005.
* BGSU has now won 11 consecutive games overall since a Dec. 19 loss to Duke, now ranked #1 in the nation ... BGSU also has won 14 consecutive MAC road contests.
* Members of the Falcon coaching staff and support staff wore pink as part of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's nationwide "Think Pink Weekend" to raise awareness of cancer research, education and prevention, and to show support for all coaches in the profession who are battling cancer.
* The game was televised by Comcast Local.
* Celebrity watch: noted actor/performer Jeff Daniels was in the crowd to take on the BGSU-EMU game ... Daniels, also known as the uncle of BGSU senior Ali Mann, is a native of nearby Chelsea, Mich. ... Mann, also a native of Chelsea, had a large fan following at Sunday's game.
* What else did Ali Mann do on Sunday? Glad you asked ... in the Eastern Michigan game, Mann surpassed the 1,600-point and 800-rebound marks for her career, and she also became the school's all-time leader in free throws made ... Mann now has 1,606 points and 805 boards as a Falcon, and increased her career total to 432 free throws made ... she passed Jackie Motycka (430 FTM) to set the record.
