Bowling Green State University
CLEVELAND STATE
Falcons Hold Off CSU, 62-59
December 14, 2002 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 14, 2002
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team held off a rally by Cleveland State University to post a 62-59 win Saturday afternoon (Dec. 14). The non-conference game was held at Goodman Arena on the CSU campus.
With the win, the Falcons move to 4-3 on the season, and BGSU is 3-0 in road games. CSU dropped to 0-5 on the year.
BG led for nearly the entire contest. CSU led at 2-0 and 5-4, but a jumper by junior Lindsay Austin less than two minutes into the game gave the Falcons the lead for good. BGSU held the host Vikings to just seven field goals and a field-goal percentage of .269 in the first half.
Senior Francine Miller scored 17 of her game-high 23 points in the first half. Miller, who was held to just nine points in the Falcons' last game, at IPFW Wednesday (Dec. 11), surpassed that total less than eight minutes into the contest.
BG led by an 18-16 count after CSU's Mandy Sichting scored on a conventional three-point play at the 11:36 mark. The Falcon defense then took over, holding the Vikings without a point for the next 6:49. CSU went without a field goal for 7:26.
Unfortunately for the Falcons, BG scored only 10 points during that stretch. The visitors led, 28-16, after Miller scored at the 5:50 mark. But, CSU's Jill Barnbrook's free throw at 4:47 was followed by a Maria Rickards three-point field goal 37 seconds later, cutting the Falcon lead to eight points.
Austin hit a jumper, but the Vikes scored the next six points to cut the lead to 30-26. Senior Karen Stocz hit a pair of shots in the final 19 seconds of the half, the last with just 3.3 seconds remaining, to give BG an eight-point lead at the break.
In the second half, the hosts trailed by 10 points, 40-30, after senior Kim Griech hit a layup two-and-a-half minutes in. But, another Rickards trey was followed by two baskets from Erika Roudebush, cutting the margin to three points at the first media timeout.
BG took the lead back out to nine points on three occasions. But, after Griech hit a pair of free throws with 7:26 left, CSU scored the next seven points to cut the lead to 56-54 with under five minutes remaining.
The hosts cut the margin to a single point, 58-57, with 3:43 left, but senior Megan Jerome made the first of several key plays in the final few minutes, hitting a jumper off a Stocz feed. That shot, with the shot clock winding down, restored the Falcons' three-point lead.
Again, though, the Vikings came back, as Roudebush hit a jumper with 1:28 left. The Falcons could not score on the next possession, and the hosts grabbed the rebound with a chance to take the lead. As CSU's Nikki Perkins crossed the midcourt line, she fired a pass toward Roudebush in front of the Viking bench. Jerome got a hand on the pass, which then deflected off Roudebush and out of bounds, giving BG the ball with 46 seconds left.
On the ensuing possession, Griech misfired on a three-point attempt, but Jerome slipped under the basket for the offensive rebound, giving the Falcons a fresh shot clock. The Vikings were forced to foul with 21.6 seconds left, and Austin split her free-throw tries.
Then, CSU missed a jumper with just a few seconds left, and Austin grabbed the rebound and was fouled. She again split a pair of charity tosses with 2.3 ticks on the clock, and a long CSU triple try fell way short as the buzzer sounded.
Miller went 7-of-13 from the floor and was a perfect 7-of-7 from the stripe. The senior added a game-high nine rebounds as the teams each grabbed 41 boards on the day.
Austin went 5-of-9 from the floor en route to 12 points, adding seven rebounds and four assists. Griech joined Miller and Austin in double digits with 11 points.
Sophomore Tene Lewis was one of numerous contributors to the Falcons' solid defensive play. Lewis had three steals in 11 minutes. The Falcons held the Vikings to a .351 field-goal pct. in the game.
Roudebush, held scoreless in the first half, had 19 points after the break to lead the Vikings. Shannon Sword also hit double digits, with 12 points. The Falcons held CSU's two point guards, Nikki Perkins and Regina Smith, to a combined five points and seven turnovers in the game.
BGSU, following the upcoming exam week, completes a six-game road swing with a pair of games at next weekend's Bearcat Invitational (Dec. 21-22). The Falcons will face the host school, the University of Cincinnati, in Saturday's first round, and BG will meet either Louisiana-Lafayette or Savannah State on Sunday.
