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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
AKRON
Falcons Top Zips, 85-73
January 14, 2002 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 14, 2002
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Four players scored in double figures to lead the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team to an 85-73 victory at home against the University of Akron Monday night (Jan. 14). The Falcons notched their second-straight win and improved to 5-11 overall and 2-3 in the MAC. Akron falls to 1-14 and 0-4, respectively.
With the victory, the Falcons remain perfect in home games vs. UA, improving the all-time record to 16-0 in home contests. The Falcons lead the overall series by a 30-2 count.
Sophomore Stefanie Wenzel led BGSU in scoring for the second consecutive contest, with a 20-point effort. She made 11-of-12 free throws and had seven rebounds.
Redshirt sophomore Pam Brown came off the bench to score a season-high 17 points, while senior Dana Western-Schuka had 13 points and sophomore point guard Lindsay Austin had 10 points, seven assists and five steals.
In some respects, the first four minutes of the contest resembled an NBA All-Star Game, with a lot of end-to-end action and not a great deal of defense played at either end. At the first media timeout, just 4:24 into the game, the Falcons led by a 14-13 count. At that point, BG had made 5-of-8 shots from the floor, while the Zips had hit 6-of-9 field-goal attempts.
Just before that media break, BGSU had taken the lead for good on a three-pointer by junior Kim Griech at the 16:07 mark.
Following the timeout, the Falcons tightened the clamps at the defensive end of the floor. BGSU held Akron without a point for a span of 9:44, and the Falcons did not allow the Zips a basket for 11:28. During that stretch, the BG defense forced Akron to miss 16 consecutive shots and turn the ball over seven times.
BGSU went on a 12-0 run and led by a 27-16 count before the Zips finally got a basket, by Kimberly Larson with 4:51 left in the half. BG extended the lead to 14 points, 39-25, at the intermission.
After allowing Akron those first 13 points on six baskets in the game's first 3:41, the Falcons let the Zips sink just three more buckets and score a total of 12 points in the final 16:19 of the half.
BGSU took its biggest lead, 65-46, with 9:02 left in the game.
Akron was led by freshman Lindsay Hemmelgarn who had 22 points. Dominique Harris, the Zips' leading scorer entering the game, was held scoreless.
Three other Zips joined Hemmelgarn in double digits, as Jen Arnold, another freshman, had 14 points, and Felecia Bell scored 13 points off the bench. Cassandra Martin had 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. The teams were deadlocked in the rebounding department, 44-44.
The Falcon bench proved to be a contributing factor in the victory. In addition to Brown's 17 points, the Brown and Orange got eight points and a team-high eight rebounds from freshman Sakima Smith. Junior Megan Jerome (two points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals in 12 minutes) and freshman Tene Lewis (two points and three boards in nine minutes) also provided a spark for the hosts.
UA outshot BG for the game by a slim .406 to .403 margin. BGSU made 6-of-16 three-point attempts (.375), while the Zips had a 7-of-18 long-range effort (.389). The Falcons made 25 free throws in 32 tries (.781), while UA went 14-of-20 (.700).
Wenzel is averaging 16.4 points per game in the Falcons' eight home games this year, and has an 18.4 average in the last seven contests at Anderson Arena. She has scored 50 points in the last two games, both wins, and has four 20-point games this season. Wenzel has 168 points on the year, after scoring a total of 36 points during her freshman campaign.
Austin is averaging 12.5 points, 7.0 assists and 4.5 rebounds during the last two games. Her total of five steals vs. the Zips ties a career high.
The Falcons are now idle until Saturday (Jan. 19), when they take to the road for a 1:30 p.m. contest at Ball State.
