Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Premier All-Stars
Falcon Comeback Falls Short, 89-81
November 12, 2001 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 12, 2001
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit, but the Premier All-Stars responded to the challenge. The result was an 89-81 win for the All-Stars in exhibition play at BGSU's Anderson Arena Monday night (Nov. 12).
The contest was the final tune-up for the Brown and Orange before the regular-season opener.
Trailing by a 44-33 count at halftime, the hosts began the second stanza with a 17-6 run over the first four minutes. Senior Francine Miller scored eight points during that stretch, and sophomore Pam Brown capped that run with a three-pointer and a layup. The second basket tied the score at 50-50.
A few minutes later, a layup by sophomore Lindsay Austin gave BG a 56-54 edge, the team's lone lead of the half. But, the visitors scored the next four points. After a Brown basket tied the contest with 13:11 left, the All-Stars' Jamie Lewis hit a three-pointer to give her team a lead it would not relinquish.
"There were some good things that came out of that game," said BGSU coach Curt Miller, who was making his head-coaching debut in Anderson Arena. "That team (All-Stars) was loaded with talent. With two Cleveland Rockers on that roster, and some top Ohio State players from past years, I am excited that we competed with that team. We came out and battled, and were not intimidated at any point."
Francine Miller, despite being saddled with early foul trouble, led all players in scoring, with 21 points in 22 minutes. Sixteen of those points came after halftime. Miller played just six minutes in the first half before going to the bench with three fouls.
"Francine Miller is such a key to our team," said the coach. "But, we need to find ways to play with her off the floor. I would have liked to have her in the game for more than six minutes in the first half. Clearly, against a talented team, I thought we held our own without her.
"It is very important to win the first five minutes out of halftime in every basketball game. We made some adjustments, we fired them up, and I think we came out as the aggressor."
In addition to Francine Miller, three other Falcon starters hit double digits in scoring. Austin had 15 points, and had a double-double with a game-high 11 assists. She also had five rebounds to tie classmate Kelly Kapferer for team honors.
Sophomore Pam Brown had 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, while junior Kim Griech had 10 points and a game-high four steals.
"Lindsay Austin was fantastic tonight," said Curt Miller. "I can't be more proud of her handling the pressure, between (Trish) Bader-Binford and Lewis. I was really impressed that Lindsay can go against WNBA-caliber guards, with that kind of quickness and speed, and have an assist-to-turnover ratio of 11-to-4. For her to step up and be, probably, the MVP of the game for us is a great sign."
For the visitors, all five starters hit double digits. Angela (Drake) Bray, a former standout at Toledo, had 18 points and 10 rebounds, while former Ohio Stater Lewis scored 16 points and added seven assists.
Joni O'Connell, like Bray, had a double-double, with 15 points and 11 rebounds. She was 11-of-16 from the free-throw line, and had five assists.
Bader-Binford scored 14 points, while Lisa Cline had 11. Rushia Brown was the sixth All-Star in double digits, with 13 points off the bench. The visitors outrebounded the Falcons by a 43-32 margin.
"I was disappointed in our rebounding, because our number-one goal coming into this game was to rebound better," said the head coach. "If we're going to shoot the amount of 'threes' that we will shoot, we have to go get the ball. They have the green light to shoot 'threes', but that will be taken away if we are unwilling to go track down long rebounds from the arc."
BGSU now prepares to begin the regular season. The Falcons will head across the state for a Saturday (Nov. 17) contest against Youngstown State University. Start time for that contest is 7:00 p.m. at the Beeghly Center.
After a game at Detroit (Nov. 20) and a pair of contests at Colorado's Coors Classic (Nov. 23-24), BGSU will return home to face Eastern Kentucky, a 2001 NCAA Tournament participant, on Nov. 27.
