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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
BUFFALO
Pontius, Falcons Outlast Buffalo, 89-82 in OT
February 25, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 25, 2009
Final Stats
| BGSU-Buffalo Boxscore in PDF Format 
POSTGAME AUDIO:
Goldsberry on WBGU-FM 88.1 postgame show
| Coach Miller
BUFFALO, N.Y. (BGSUFalcons.com) - Sophomore Tracy Pontius exploded for 17 points in overtime, lifting the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team to an 89-82 win at the University at Buffalo Wednesday night (Feb. 25). The Mid-American Conference game was held at UB's Alumni Arena.
With the win, the #25 Falcons improve to 24-2 overall and 13-0 in MAC action, and BGSU has won 24 consecutive games. The Bulls drop to 5-21 and 1-12, respectively.
The win was the 109th for the Falcons in the last four years, making senior Lindsey Goldsberry the winningest player -- man or woman -- in MAC basketball history. BGSU is now 109-17 since Goldsberry ventured to Northwest Ohio prior to the 2005-06 season.
Pontius scored a team-high 27 points in the game, including the 17 in overtime. She was a perfect 5-for-5 from beyond the three-point line in the extra session, en route to seven triples for the game.
The Falcons set a school single-game record by shooting a perfect 24-for-24 from the free-throw line. Seven different players made at least two tosses apiece in the win.
Additionally, the game saw a pair of NCAA records fall. The Falcons' total of 23 points in the overtime period set a new record, as did the two-team total of 39 points. The NCAA does not keep records for points by an individual in an overtime period.
Junior Niki McCoy had a double-double off the bench, with 16 points and a team-leading 11 rebounds, while soph Lauren Prochaska had 15 points and Goldsberry 10.
For the Bulls, Kourtney Brown had game-high totals of 30 points and 14 rebounds. Brown was 13-for-17 from the field in the win. Jamie Schiebner scored 18 points, and Jessica Fortman and Bridgette Kendricks added 10 apiece.
The teams combined to shoot 70.0 percent in the overtime period, as BGSU was an incredible 7-of-8 and UB 7-of-12. The Bulls, like the Falcons, made seven of their first eight shots in OT, before going 0-for-4 to end the game.
The contest featured no fewer than 15 ties and 22 lead changes.
The overtime offensive onslaught began when Fortman and McCoy traded layups in the first 25 seconds of the period. Schiebner hit a three-pointer, but sophomore Kelly Zuercher grabbed a Prochaska miss and sank a putback to get the Falcons within 71-70.
Brown, who like Schiebner scored six points in OT, scored inside, but McCoy, trapped along the baseline, fired a cross-court pass to Pontius for the first of her five triples in the extra session..
The Bulls, who scored 48 points in the paint, pounded the ball inside to Brown for a short jumper, but another Pontius trey gave the Falcons a 76-75 lead with 2:40 left. At that point, each team had scored in its first four OT possessions, and that trend would continue for the next few minutes.
Schiebner came back with another three, but Pontius answered with another long-distance connection. Fortaman hit a jumper at the 1:53 mark, but the Falcons answered with a -- wait for it -- Pontius three-pointer, and BG led by an 82-80 score.
The Bulls finally missed an OT shot attempt, but Brown grabbed the rebound and converted a layup to tie the game at 82-all with 1:07 remaining. But, the Falcons took the lead for good on a -- give you one guess -- Pontius long ball, and BG had an 85-82 advantage as the Bulls called a timeout with 58 seconds remaining.
Finally, the Falcons got a defensive stop, as the Bulls missed a pair of three-point tries before Goldsberry corralled the second rebound and was fouled by Schiebner. The senior co-captain's free throws, like all of BG's charity tosses on the night, were good with 26.0 seconds on the clock.
Another defensive stop all but clinched the win, as Schiebner, forced to alter her three-point try in midair, saw it fall short of the target. McCoy grabbed the ball and passed it to Pontius, who was fouled with 9.8 seconds left. Pontius capped her incredible overtime performance, as well as her team's incredible free-throw performance, by making both tries from the stripe to seal the win.
The Falcons, leading by a 34-28 count at halftime, took a nine-point advantage, the largest of the night for either team, as Pontius hit a triple on the opening possession of the second half. But, the Bulls scored 11 of the next 15 points, then forged a tie on a layup by Brown with 12:54 left. Then, Dayna Smith's jumper gave the Bulls the lead, and that lead ballooned to 49-43 after back-to-back hoops by Kendricks.
Junior Tara Breske hit a tough shot over the outstretched arms of Brown to begin a 7-0 BG run. Breske took a charge at the defensive end of the floor, then hit a layup off a McCoy pass. When McCoy drove for an 'and-one' layup, the Brown and Orange had the lead, 50-49, with 7:20 left in the half.
Neither team led by more than two points over the next four-plus minutes. With the Falcons leading by a 55-53 count after two McCoy free throws, the BG defense got several deflections on a UB possession, with the ball bouncing around like a pinball. Several times, however, the ball bounded directly to UB players. After the final such deflection, Rachel Matthys picked up the ball and whipped a pass to Schiebner, who spotted up for a three-pointer and a 56-55 UB lead with 4:01 left in regulation.
The Falcons turned the ball over on the next possession, but Brown missed a shot, then was called for an over-the-back foul on the rebound. Breske's free throws gave the Falcons the lead once again with 3:22 on the clock.
Two UB free throws were answered by McCoy's second three-point play of the half, and the Falcons held a 60-58 lead at the 2:51 mark.
Brown split a pair of tosses, then after Prochaska made two shots from the stripe, Brown again went 1-for-2 from the line. After the second miss, McCoy rebounded the ball and was fouled, making both of her tries for a 64-60 lead with 1:59 left in regulation.
The Falcons forced a miss by Brittany Hedderson from beyond the arc, but BG could not score at the other end, and BG was called for a loose-ball foul with 1:12 remaining. Smith hit a pair of free throws to cut BG's lead in half.
The Bulls fouled Pontius, who gave BG a four-point lead, but Brown quickly scored and the home team called a timeout.
Pontius drove the lane, but her runner would not go down, and Hedderson got the rebound. Then, on the ensuing possession, Hedderson hit a pull-up jumper to tie the score with 14.1 seconds left. Prochaska's runner in traffic in the final seconds would not go, and the teams headed to OT.
The first half was a tight affair. BG built a six-point lead, 14-8, only to see UB score the next seven points to take the lead. Tied at 26, the Falcons scored eight of the last 10 points of the half to take a six-point lead into the break.
All 10 Falcons who saw action in the game scored at least two points. The Bulls had a 48-26 advantage in points in the paint, but the Falcons had an advantages of 33-15 from beyond the arc. BG doubled up on Buffalo in bench scoring, 26-13.
BGSU shot 39.7% for the game, aided by that 7-of-8 performance in the overtime period. The Bulls shot 48.6% on the night. BG had a +15 margin at the free-throw line, going 24-of-24 while UB made only nine of 19.
BGSU returns home for a Saturday (Feb. 28) game vs. Kent State University. Tipoff is set for noon at venerable Anderson Arena.
FALCON NOTES
* Bowling Green's total of 23 points in the overtime period set a new NCAA record ... the old mark of 22 points was reached three times ...
NCAA DIVISION-I RECORDS, POINTS IN ONE OVERTIME PERIOD
23 - Bowling Green (89) vs. Buffalo (82), Feb. 25, 2009
22 - Maine (86) vs. Stetson (78), Dec. 30, 1989
22 - Oklahoma City (104) vs. New Orleans (91), Feb. 16, 1985
22 - Long Beach State (91) vs. San Diego State (73), March 22, 1984
* The 39 points scored in the extra session also broke an NCAA Division-I record ...
NCAA DIVISION-I RECORDS, POINTS IN ONE OVERTIME PERIOD, BOTH TEAMS
39 - Bowling Green (23) vs. Buffalo (16), Feb. 25, 2009
36 - Maine (22) vs. Stetson (14), Dec. 30, 1989
* Ironically, the Falcons also are listed in the NCAA record book for most points by both teams in overtime periods of a game ... the Falcons and Northern Illinois combined for 81 points in a four-overtime epic at Anderson Arena just over five years ago (Feb. 8, 2004; a 102-97 NIU wins).
* BGSU, as mentioned, broke the school single-game record for free-throw percentage, going a perfect 24-of-24 from the stripe ... BG had shot a perfect 100 percent from the stripe before, but had never made more than 12 free throws in one of those games.
* The Falcons' free-throw effort was not too terribly far off the NCAA record ... the single-game mark for free-throw percentage is a 31-of-31 performance, by Kansas vs. Nebraska on Feb. 11, 1996.
* Pontius fell just one three-pointer shy of tying the school record ... Whitney Taylor ade a BG-best eight triples in last season's win at Kent State (Jan. 16, 2008).
* Pontius tied the school record for three-point FG attempted in a game ... Jenny Kulics attempted 13 treys in a Nov. 29, 1994, game vs. Xavier, as did Carin Horne against kSU on Jan. 26, 2005.
