Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Premier All-Stars
Falcons Tough Down The Stretch
November 01, 2000 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 1, 2000
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team used a game-ending 15-3 run to post an 87-77 victory over the Premier All-Stars in exhibition play Wednesday (Nov. 1). The game was held at BGSU's venerable Anderson Arena.
Falcon senior Angie Farmer, held scoreless for the game's first 36 minutes, hit a three-point field goal to give BG the lead for good with 3:33 left, then hit another triple with 2:52 remaining. Farmer had 11 points, including three treys, in that final 3:33.
Junior Francine Miller led all scorers with 20 points in the game, while classmate Dana Western added 18 off the bench in the Falcons' first action of the season.
"I thought we showed some good things tonight," said BGSU head coach Dee Knoblauch. "We pretty much picked up right where we left off (last year), in that we toughed it out at the end. We had ice water in our veins.
"We still need to work on every aspect of the game, but I think our press is better than at any point last year."
BGSU broke out to an early lead, as Miller scored the game's first five points. The Falcons led by as many as nine points (20-11) midway through the first half, but the visitors came back. A three-pointer by Lisa Cline gave the All-Stars their only lead of the half, 37-36, with under a minute to go in the half.
But, sophomore Kim Griech hit a three-pointer, and freshman Kelly Kapferer grabbed a rebound and hit a layup at the buzzer to give the Falcons a 41-37 halftime lead.
The All-Stars would not go away, however, scoring the first five points of the second half to take a 42-41 lead. The second half would feature seven ties and 16 lead changes.
A basket by freshman point guard Lindsay Austin gave BG a five-point lead, the biggest of the half at that point, with 11:14 left. Sophomore Megan Jerome made a pair of free throws a minute later, and Western's basket with 9:17 remaining gave BG a nine-point lead.
But, the All-Stars closed the gap once again, as baskets by Tez Kraft and Megan McCabe preceded four-straight points by Cline. Cline led four double-digit scorers for the visitors, scoring 18 points on the night. The 8-0 run cut the lead to one. Neither team would lead by more than four points again until the final moments.
With four minutes left, a Kraft three-pointer put the All-Stars up, 74-72, but Farmer made her two triples to give BG the four-point margin. A steal and layup by Austin moved the lead to six points with 1:43 remaining, and the freshman made a pair of free throws just 19 seconds later.
Another Farmer triple gave the Falcons an 85-76 lead with 53 seconds to go, and the BG defense forced the All-Stars to miss the final four field-goal attempts of the game.
Austin and Griech each scored eight points in the game, while senior Jackie Adlington added six. Senior Afra Smith and freshman Emily Pohl each had five points, as 10 of the 11 Falcons that saw action scored at least two points in the game.
"I told the kids before the game that we are playing the game to win," said Knoblauch. "I told the other freshman (besides point guards Austin and Pohl) that they may not get into the game.
"I played Kelly (Kapferer) because of some foul trouble on our post players."
Austin, one-half of the BGSU freshmen point guards, was glad to get her first collegiate game out of the way.
"I just wanted to come out and try my best, and fit into the system," said Austin. "In the second half, I knew I had to play better defense and apply better pressure on the ball."
Farmer felt that the Falcons wore the All-Stars down. The visiting team had eight players in uniform for the game.
"I think they were a little tired by the end," said the senior co-captain. "We weren't getting open looks before then. I think our press wore them down, finally."
The Falcons held a 44-29 rebounding margin, with Farmer's game-high nine boards including four at the offensive end. Every BG player that saw action grabbed at least one board.
In addition to her 20 points, Miller recorded a game-high eight assists. Her three steals were one behind Austin's game-best total of four.
The Brown and Orange, after setting a new NCAA record for three-pointers made per game (9.25) last year, went 8-for-18 from behind the arc Wednesday. The All-Stars, led by Kraft's 4-of-6 long-range performance, made five treys in eight attempts.
In addition to her 18 points, Cline had seven assists and five rebounds for the visitors. Stacie Huhn and Kraft each had 14 points, while McCabe added 10.
The Falcons will close the exhibition schedule next Wednesday, Nov. 8, hosting Ilirija (Slovenia) at Anderson Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
