Bowling Green State University
SE Missouri State
Falcons Rally To Top SE Missouri, 70-60, Advance To Championship Game
November 28, 2003 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 28, 2003
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit to top Southeast Missouri State University, 70-60, Friday night (Nov. 28). The game, a first-round contest at the Flint Hills Resources Islander Classic, was held at Memorial Coliseum in Corpus Christi, Texas.
With the victory, the Falcons improve to 2-1 on the season, while dropping the Otahkians to 1-3. Southeast's other two losses came to nationally-ranked opponents Utah and Oklahoma.
The Falcons now advance to the championship game of the Islander Classic, to face host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday (Nov. 29) at 7:00 p.m. CT (8:00 p.m. Eastern).
Four Falcon starters hit double digits in scoring, led by freshman Ali Mann's 19-point outing. Classmate Megan Thorburn scored 11 points, all in the second half, while senior Stefanie Wenzel and freshman Liz Honegger had 10 points apiece.
Kenja White led the Otahkians with 16 points off the bench, while Sammi Jo Cotton had 13.
The Falcons trailed for nearly the entire first half, falling behind by as many as 13 points. The game was scoreless for over four minutes, before Southeast got a pair of three-point field goals to take a 6-0 lead with 15:05 left in the half. Honegger capped a 7-0 BGSU run with a triple of her own, providing the only BG lead of the half at 13-12 with nine minutes left.
After another Southeast three-pointer, one of 11 on the game for the Otahkians, Honegger scored to tie the game at 15 with 8:11 remaining. But, Southeast scored the next seven points to begin an 18-5 run. That run, capped by a Jessica Aebi trey, gave the Otahkians the biggest lead of the game at 33-20.
A pair of Wenzel baskets, the last a triple, ended a 7-0 BG run and cut the lead to six points, but a Cotton triple with just seconds left in the half made the lead 36-27 at halftime. The Otahkians went 8-for-18 from three-point land in the first 20 minutes and shot .444 from the field.
In the second half, however, the Falcons scored the first five points to start a 12-3 run. A jumper by freshman Carin Horne tied the contest at 39-39. Horne's triple at the 13-minute mark gave BG a 42-41 lead, but Southeast would rally to take the lead once again. With the contest tied at 47-47, Southeast scored the next six points to go up, 53-47, with 8:05 left.
A three-point play by redshirt sophomore Casey McDowell, however, began a BG run. McDowell followed with another layup as part of a 10-0 Falcon surge, and when Mann hit a pair of free throws with 5:55 left, the Falcons had the lead for good, 54-53.
A free throw by senior Lindsay Austin and a basket by Honegger gave the Falcons a four-point edge with 4:07 remaining. The margin stayed between three and five points for the next few minutes, before a three-point play by Mann put BG ahead by six points (64-58) with just 2:07 left.
Mann's play was part of a back-breaking 9-0 BGSU run. The Otahkians missed a pair of three-point attempts before BGSU regained possession of the ball. Thorburn was fouled and converted both ends of the free-throw opportunity with 1:05 left.
The Falcons made six charity tosses in that final minute-plus, before Southeast scored a meaningless hoop with only four seconds left in the contest.
Mann, in her third collegiate game, had her second consecutive double-double. She had a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with her game-high point total.
The Falcons, who outrebounded the opponent only four times in last year's 28 games, have pulled down more rebounds than the opposition in each of the three games so far this season, holding a 41-38 advantage vs. the Otahkians.
BGSU held Southeast to a field-goal percentage of just .267 in the second half, as the Otahkians shot .351 for the game. BGSU shot .462 in the second 20 minutes en route to a game percentage of .389.
Southeast was 11-of-30 from three-point range, but only 3-of-12 from beyond the arc in the second half. The Brown and Orange went 5-of-12 from long distance in the game. BGSU made 23 free throws (30 attempts) to Southeast's nine (16 attempts).
Mann, Thorburn and junior Tene Lewis each had three assists for the Falcons, while Thorburn and Honegger had six rebounds apiece. Cotton led the Otahkians with six boards, while Sarah Costello had five assists.
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