Bowling Green State University
Kent State
Kent State Comeback Downs Falcons, 74-60
January 02, 2002 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 2, 2002
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Kent State University rallied from a double-digit deficit for a 74-60 win over the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team Wednesday night (Jan. 2). The game, the Mid-American Conference opener for both teams, was held at BGSU's Anderson Arena.
With the win, the Golden Flashes improve to 5-7 overall and 1-0 in league play.
For the Falcons (3-9 overall, 0-1 MAC), senior Francine Miller came back after missing nine games with an injury, and scored a game-high 29 points in 25 minutes.
The Golden Flashes got the first point of the game, as Andrea Csaszar split a pair of free throws with 45 seconds elapsed. But, the host Falcons would hold KSU off the scoreboard for the next 5:50. In that time, the Brown and Orange scored 13 consecutive points.
Senior Dana Western-Schuka hit a three-point field goal just 12 seconds after Csaszar's charity toss, and sophomore Stefanie Wenzel had the next two baskets of the game, both from beyond the arc, to give BG a 9-1 lead.
Western-Schuka hit a pair of free throws at the 16-minute mark, and Miller made two free throws of her own exactly two minutes later.
KSU countered with two free throws, but sophomore Kelly Kapferer hit a long-distance try with 8:06 elapsed. When Miller made a layup 22 seconds later, the Falcons had their biggest lead of the game, 18-3.
The Falcon defense held KSU without a field goal for the game's first 9:12. In that time, the Flashes missed 10 shots from the field. Christi Shibata hit a three-pointer to break the drought.
Unfortunately for the Brown and Orange, however, they were not shooting much better at the other end of the court. The Falcons started the game by making 4-of-15 shots during that nine-minute stretch.
Kent made just 2-of-18 field goals (.111) over the first 12:36, but the Flashes improved as the half wore on. KSU scored the final four points of the stanza to get the deficit to single digits, 36-27, at the intermission.
In that first half, Kent shot .233 from the field to the Falcons' .276. The second half, however, was a much different story.
When the teams returned to the court, the Flashes held the Falcons without a point for over five minutes. KSU forced BG into an 0-for-7 performance to start the half, and the Flashes scored the first 11 points of the half to take the lead.
Sophomore Pam Brown, like Francine Miller returning from an injury, sank a basket to tie the score at 38-38. The game was tied twice more in the next few minutes before a Shibata trey gave the Flashes the lead for good with 12:03 remaining.
That three-pointer began a 14-0 run which sealed the deal. The Golden Flashes, who shot .552 (16-of-29) from the field in the second half, did not let BGSU get closer than seven points thereafter.
Kate Miller, who played all 40 minutes, led the visitors with 19 points, while Shibata had 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Csaszar added 12 points and nine boards.
Francine Miller went 8-of-14 from the floor, including a 3-of-6 performance from beyond the arc, and made 10 of her 11 free-throw attempts. Miller had not played since suffering a knee injury just four minutes into a Nov. 20 game at Detroit, BGSU's second game of the season.
Brown, who missed seven games with a knee injury of her own, made her return and had two points and four rebounds off the bench. Brown saw 15 minutes of action.
Miller was the lone Falcon with more than six points on the night. Both Wenzel and junior Kim Griech had six points, while Kapferer had four points and a team-best eight rebounds.
Sophomore point guard Lindsay Austin had a game-best eight assists on the night.
The Falcons made nine three-pointers in 30 attempts (.300), while KSU went 6-of-21 from long range.
BGSU returns to the court Saturday afternoon (Jan. 5), with a game at Central Michigan University. That contest is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. start at CMU's Rose Arena.
