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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
AKRON
Women's Basketball Rallies For Important Road Win, 84-71
February 23, 2000 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 23, 2000
AKRON, Ohio - The Bowling Green women's basketball team rallied for an 84-71 win at Akron in Mid-American Conference play Wednesday night (Feb. 23). The Falcons trailed by double digits in the first half before outscoring the hosts, 50-28, after the intermission.
The win was BGSU's 28th in 29 series meetings with the Zips, and completed a sweep of the 1999-2000 season series between the teams.
BGSU shot just .286 from the field in the first half, making only one of the team's 17 three-point field goal attempts. In fact, the Falcons (9-16 overall, 7-8 MAC), who entered the game as the national leaders in treys made per game, went just 4-of-25 from long range on the evening.
Akron (11-15, 7-8) led by nine points at the break, 43-34, but the Brown and Orange pounded the ball inside to erase that deficit in the second half. Afra Smith, who had 16 points, scored BG's first three baskets of the half. Sherry Kahle, who tied for game scoring honors with 17 points on the night, scored the next two Falcon hoops, and the two combined for 17 of the team's first 21 points of the half.
The Falcons, trailing by a 47-36 count with 19:28 left in the half, went on a 24-7 run over the next 10 minutes. Smith's two free throws at the 12:21 mark gave BG its first lead of the game, 55-54, and sparked a 9-0 run that gave the visitors a 62-54 lead. The Zips were not finished, however, cutting the margin to five points with 5:25 left. But, the Falcons converted from the foul line down the stretch and slowly pulled away.
For just the third time all year, BG held the rebounding advantage, 44-31. Kahle led the team with seven boards.
Francine Miller had 17 points to tie Kahle for team honors, and Dana Western had 14 points off the bench. The Falcons shot .586 from the field in the second half to finish at .408 for the game. UA shot .383 on the night, with just a .281 effort in the second stanza.
Erica Glover had a game-high 20 points for the Zips, while Katie Hank added 18.
For the Falcons, the win was the third in a row, and put the team in contention to earn a homecourt bid for the first round of the MAC Tournament, which begins Monday (Feb. 28). The team will head to Buffalo to end the regular season with a Friday (Feb. 25) game against the Bulls. That game, which will begin at 8:00 p.m., is scheduled to be aired by Fox Sports Net Ohio as part of the MAC's TV package.
