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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Oklahoma State (First Round)
Falcons Advance Past Cowgirls, 70-66, for First NCAA Win in 18 Years
March 18, 2007 | Women's Basketball
March 18, 2007
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EAST LANSING, Mich. (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, for the first time in 18 years and just the second time ever, has advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championships. Senior Ali Mann had 16 points to lead four double-digit scorers as the Falcons rallied past Oklahoma State University, 70-66, on Sunday afternoon (March 18) at the Breslin Center.
With the win, BGSU becomes the first Mid-American Conference women's basketball program ever to win 30 games in a season. The Falcons are now 30-3 on the year, and will take on Vanderbilt Tuesday night (March 20) at the Breslin Center in a 9:30 p.m. start.
OSU saw its season come to an end with a record of 20-11. The Cowgirls had qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1996.
Senior Liz Honegger scored 15 points for the Falcons, while junior Kate Achter added 14 and senior Amber Flynn 10.
Mann had a double-double, with a game-high 13 rebounds in addition to her 16-point total, while Achter dished out nine assists.
Andrea Riley, the Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year, paced the Cowgirls with 20 points, while Taylor Hardeman had 12 and Rashidat Sadiq 10.
The Falcons battled back from a 14-point first-half deficit in the win. BGSU, after a slow start on the boards, outrebounded the Cowgirls by a 37-31 count. The Falcons had 12 offensive rebounds, and turned them into 19 second-chance points.
The game featured five ties and eight lead changes. Mann scored on the Falcons' first possession, hitting a right-side jumper, but the Cowgirls came right back with five-straight points. Hardeman hit a three-pointer to get OSU on the scoreboard, and Dominique Chism canned a jumper a half-minute later.
Senior Carin Horne, who had nine points on the day, tied the game at 5-5 with a three-pointer off an Achter assist. Moments later, however, Mann was hit in the chest and was forced to leave the game.
Hardeman's second trey of the day gave OSU a 10-6 lead at the 16:24 mark, but Honegger got to the line and hit a pair of free throws just before the first media timeout.
The Cowgirls would score the next five points to take a 15-8 lead, before Achter spotted Mann, back in the game, for a layup. Then, Achter got her hands on an OSU pass and sailed in for a layup of her own, cutting the deficit to just three points, at 15-12.
The Cowgirls, however, would go on an 11-0 run over the next three-plus minutes. A Brisa Silva layup midway through that run gave OSU a 21-12 lead and prompted Falcon coach Curt Miller to take a timeout at the 12:12 mark.
OSU, however, was rolling, as Riley hit a long two-pointer for a double-digit lead. Horne seemingly ended the run with a three-pointer, but her foot was on the out-of-bounds line in front of the OSU bench just prior to the shot, and the ball went back to the Cowgirls.
Then, late in the shot clock, Riley hit a three-pointer at the other end. The run was 11-0 and the score was 26-12, both in favor of the Cowgirls, as Miller took another timeout midway through the half.
All season long, the Falcons have been used to being the team that makes the double-digit runs, rather than absorbing them, and BG came back with 10-straight points. The Brown and Orange held OSU without a point for 4:15, and began the run with a layup by Flynn.
The Falcons then got a stop, and Danielle Green was called for an over-the-back foul as BG grabbed the defensive rebound. Flynn's spinning drive at the other end resulted in another OSU foul, and a pair of free throws by the senior.
Moments later, Achter got herself to the stripe, and knocked down two tosses, and the deficit was 26-18 at the under-eight media timeout.
Flynn took a charge at the defensive end, resulting in Green's second foul, and sophomore Lindsey Goldsberry's pass inside to Flynn resulted in a layup. Then, Horne drove the lane and hit a sweet one-hander, and the score was 26-22.
Flynn, however, was whistled for a personal foul, then a technical foul, giving her three fouls on the afternoon. Riley made both of the resulting free throws, for 28-22 OSU advantage.
A minute later, though, Horne hit a layup, and Mann took a charge, resulting in an offensive foul on Chism. OSU got the ball back, however, and a jumper by Shaunte' Smith restored the six-point lead with 3:29 left.
Achter responded with a jumper at the three-minute mark, but Riley converted a layup with 2:09 on the clock. Neither team would score again until Horne knocked down a jumper with only six seconds left before halftime. The teams headed to their respective lockerrooms with OSU holding a 32-28 lead.
When the teams retook the floor, the Falcons spotted the Cowgirls the first three points, falling behind by a 35-28 count, then came roaring back. That rally began with Mann's offensive rebound and driving layup, and senior Megan Thorburn then buried a three-pointer from the left elbow with the shot clock nearing zero. The Falcons got the ball back and Mann's 'extra pass' found an open Honegger for a triple in the left corner. BG led, 36-35, and OSU coach Kurt Budke took a tomeout with 17:02 left.
A few minutes later (after Achter took a charge, the Falcons' third of the day), Mann hit a three-pointer off an Achter inbounds pass, and BG held a 39-37 advantage.
On the next possession, Mann's three-point try would not drop, but Flynn was in position for the rebound and the putback, and BG was up by four.
The Cowgirls, though, quickly scored the next five points, and a Hardeman trey gave OSU a one-point lead, 42-41.
A physical game got even more physical, as Honegger was hit in the chin behind the play, but was able to stay in the game. But, a Sadij jumper gave OSU a 44-41 lead with 12:08 left.
Out of a media timeout, Honegger was fouled on a jumper, and hit both of her free throws. Sadiq scored again on a short jumper, however, and Hardeman hit yet another three, and Miller and the Falcons took time with 10:52 on the clock.
Trailing by that six-point margin, 49-43, the Falcons came back once again. Goldsberry took a pass from Mann and let a three-pointer fly. The net barely moved as the ball dropped through, and the deficit was cut in half.
Then, with under nine minutes left and the shot-clock winding down, Honegger hit a shot from several feet behind the three-point line, and the game was tied.
OSU regained the lead with a pair of free throws, but a three-pointer by Achter -- just the second trey of the junior's career -- gave BG a 52-51 advantage with 7:35 left.
A Riley jumper was followed by Mann's splitting a pair of free throws, and the game was deadlocked at 53-53. Again, the Cowgirls took the lead, but Achter found Flynn for a quick layup with 5:30 left.
Riley's three-point play, however, gave OSU a 58-55 lead with 4:43 remaining. Out of the game's final media timeout, Mann drew a foul and made two charity tosses to cut the deficit to one, but Riley hit a driving hoop at the 2:57 mark.
With 2:40 left, though, Honegger took a pass from Achter and drilled a three-pointer to tie the score. Sadiq missed a shot at the other end, with Flynn grabbing the rebound, and the Falcons called a timeout with 2:13 remaining and the score knotted at 60-60.
On the next possession, Mann was trapped by a double-team under the basket, and was forced to use the Falcons' final timeout with 1:59 left. Out of that timeout, Achter worked the ball inside to Mann for a layup at the 1:53 mark, and the Falcons had the lead.
At the other end, Sadiq missed a shot, but the ball went out of bounds off of a BG player and the Cowgirls used a timeout with 1:31 remaining.
Oklahoma State's possession resulted in a Sadiq three-point try, which would not drop, and Mann grabbed the defensive rebound. At the other end, Mann backed her defender down, then shoveled a pass to a cutting Achter for a layup and a four-point Falcon lead with under a minute to go.
OSU quickly drove downcourt, and Achter was called for a blocking foul as she guarded Riley. Riley, however, was whistled for a technical foul after the play was over. Achter shot two free throws, making both, before Riley converted both ends of her one-and-one opportunity. BG's lead remained four points, as the Falcons got the ball back.
Mann then showed why she will be remembered as one of the best players in BGSU history. The Falcons ran some time off the clock as OSU chose not to foul, but to try to get a defensive stop. With the shot clock winding down, Mann received a pass, took a few dribbles and knocked down a crucial foul-line jumper as the shot-clock buzzer sounded. BG's lead was six points, 68-62, with just 22.5 seconds remaining.
Riley quickly responded with a layup, and OSU called time with 17.7 seconds left. The Falcons successfully inbounded the ball, and the Cowgirls immediately fouled Honegger. The BG senior made both of her tosses to restore that six-point lead with 16.6 seconds remaining.
OSU missed several shots at the other end, before Maria Cordero finally banked a shot home. Only a few seconds were left, however, and once the Falcons inbounded the ball, the game was over and BG was moving on.
The Falcons shot 42.6 percent from the field, but held the Cowgirls to a 40.0% success rate. BGSU made eight three-pointers in 27 attempts (29.6%), while OSU was 5-for-15 (33.3%) from beyond the arc.
As mentioned, the Brown and Orange had 37 rebounds to OSU's 31. That total included a 22-13 advantage in the second half. For the game, BG had a 12-11 margin in offensive boards, but a 19-7 lead in second-chance points.
As mentioned, the Falcons' second-round game vs. Vanderbilt will begin at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. The first game of the night, pitting Rutgers against Michigan State, will begin at 7:00 p.m.
NOTES
* The Falcons' win over Oklahoma State Sunday was only the second NCAA Tournament victory in program history ... BGSU is now 2-8 all-time in NCAA Championships games ... the lone NCAA Championships win prior to Sunday came in 1989, a 69-59 home win over Cincinnati.
* BGSU is the first 30-win team in Mid-American Conference history ... the Falcons are now 30-3 heading into Tuesday's second-round game vs. Vanderbilt (28-5)
* The Falcons are the #7 seed in the Greensboro Region, while the Commodores are the #2 seed.
* Sunday's win was only the sixth by a MAC team in the NCAA Championships ... conference teams are now 6-27 all-time in NCAA history ... BG's win was the first by a MAC team in the national tournament since 1996.
* The Falcons now have won 58 games over the past two seasons, and BGSU has a total of 102 wins since the current senior class arrived on campus -- a school record for a four-year period.
* Senior Ali Mann had a team-high 16 points and a game-high 13 rebounds in the win over OSU ... Mann now has scored in double digits in 31 of this season's 33 games, and in 101 of her 126 career contests.
* Mann now has scored exactly 1,800 points in her BG career, and has a total of 903 rebounds ... she is second in school history in scoring and third in rebounding.
* Mann's double-double was her fourth of the season and the 20th of her storied Falcon career.
* Senior Liz Honegger had 15 points, including three three-point field goals, and three blocked shots vs. the Cowgirls ... Honegger has surpassed the 1,500-point mark for her career, and has 1,512 entering the Vanderbilt game ... she ranks fifth in BG annals in scoring and fourth in rebounding (892), and holds the school records for three-pointers made (214) and blocked shots (187).
* Junior Kate Achter had 14 points and nine assists in the win, playing all 40 minutes ... Achter has played 119 of a possible 120 minutes over the past three games, including each of the last 100 ... Achter `rested' for the final 48 seconds of the first half in the MAC Tournament semifinal win over Eastern Michigan, then played the entire game against both Ball State (MAC Tournament final) and Oklahoma State.
* Achter hit the second three-point field goal of her career in the OSU game Sunday.
* BG is now 4-8 against Big 12 Conference teams, including a 1-1 mark vs. Oklahoma State ... the Falcons have an all-time record of 0-11 against members of the Southeastern Conference, including an 0-2 ledger vs. Vanderbilt.
