Bowling Green State University
OHIO
Falcons Top Ohio, 73-72, To Open MAC Play
January 08, 2003 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 8, 2003
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team opened the Mid-American Conference schedule with a 73-72 win over visiting Ohio University Wednesday night (Jan. 8) at BGSU's Anderson Arena.
With the victory, the Falcons improve to 8-4 overall, while the visiting Bobcats drop to 4-8.
The Falcons got a 20-point effort from senior Francine Miller, while junior Lindsay Austin had 17 points and a career-high 10 assists. The double-double was Austin's first as a collegian.
Miller's free throw with 44 seconds remaining broke a 72-all tie, and the Falcons made a pair of defensive stops to seal the victory. First, sophomore Tene Lewis dove on a loose ball to force a jump ball, with the Falcons getting the ball on the alternating possession.
Then, after Miller missed a pair of free throws with 20.9 seconds left, the Bobcats had one more chance. The visitors called timeout with 12.0 seconds remaining, and looked to get the ball to Andrea Johnson. Johnson, with Lewis hounding her the entire way, finally got off a last-second shot that was wide of the mark, and BGSU had the victory.
The Bobcats opened the game by making 10 of the first 15 shots, yet led by only four points, 23-19, nearly midway through the first half. BGSU battled back and took the lead, 24-23, on a layup by junior Stefanie Wenzel at the 9:07 mark.
The rest of the half was back-and-forth, with BGSU taking a three-point lead into the break. That first half featured eight ties and 12 lead changes.
The second stanza had three ties and four lead changes, with the last lead change coming on a long three-point field goal by Miller with 4:48 left. That shot gave the Falcons a 65-64 lead.
Then, freshman Jill Lause split a pair of free throws for a two-point BG advantage, and a Wenzel layup doubled the lead. Moments later, however, back-to-back Bobcat layups by Johnson and Gay tied the game at 70 with 1:31 left.
Austin hit a layup, but Latreece Bagley came back for another layup at the other end. Then, Miller's free throw 12 seconds later proved to be the game's final point.
The win was BG's second consecutive one-point victory. BGSU has now won four-straight games and six of the last seven contests.
Wenzel added 14 points for the Falcons, while senior Kim Griech had 11. Bagley had 18 points to pace five Bobcats in double digits, while Johnson added 13 points.
BGSU now begins a stretch in which four of the next five games are on the road, beginning with Saturday's (Jan. 11) contest at Northern Illinois University. That game is scheduled to begin at 3:05 p.m. Central Time at NIU's Convocation Center.
