Bowling Green State University
NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Falcons Drop A Heartbreaker, 73-72
February 01, 2003 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 1, 2003
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Jennifer Youngblood's three-point play with 7.5 seconds left lifted Northern Illinois University to a 73-72 road win over the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team Saturday afternoon (Feb. 1). The Mid-American Conference game was held at BGSU's Anderson Arena.
With the victory, the visiting Huskies improve to 9-10 overall and 5-3 in the MAC, while dropping the Falcons to 9-9 and 2-5, respectively.
Youngblood's decisive free throw capped off an entertaining contest which saw two ties and two lead changes in the final two-and-a-half minutes. After seeing NIU build a nine-point lead, the biggest of the contest, at 64-55 with just under seven minutes remaining, the Falcons went on a run. Senior Francine Miller hit a running layup, and classmate Kim Griech scored the game's next six points.
After hitting a three-point field goal off a feed by senior Megan Jerome with 5:23 left, Griech was fouled attempting a long-range shot with 4:46 remaining. She drained all three free-throw attempts to bring BG within a single point, 64-63.
The teams traded baskets before Youngblood was fouled and split her charity tosses with 3:03 remaining. Then, Jerome hit a shot at the 2:18 mark to tie the contest.
Back came the Huskies. Youngblood missed a shot, but got her own rebound. Then, Monique Davis hit a three-pointer with 1:32 left, and the visitors led, 70-67.
BG responded, as Griech took a pass from junior Lindsay Austin and drilled a triple from the right wing with 1:11 left. The Falcons got a stop at the other end, and Miller corralled the rebound with under a minute to go. After a BG timeout, Miller scored off an Austin feed, giving the hosts a two-point lead with 27 seconds left.
Northern worked for a tying or go-ahead shot, and Davis got a look from three-point range with just over 11 seconds remaining. Her shot was off the mark, and Joi Scott's put-back attempt did not drop, either. But, Youngblood rebounded Scott's miss, and scored as a Falcon foul was whistled.
BGSU had one last chance. After Youngblood's free throw, Austin drove into the lane and, in traffic, kicked the ball out to Jerome. Her long three-point attempt hit the back of the iron and bounced away as the buzzer sounded.
The Huskies, playing without a pair of senior starters in Kim Boeding and Kristan Knake, got a combined 44 points and 20 rebounds from Scott and Youngblood. Scott had game-high totals of 23 points and 11 boards, including eight rebounds at the offensive end. Youngblood had 21 points and nine rebounds.
The Falcons got 21 points and eight rebounds from Miller, who led the team in both categories. Griech added 11 points, while junior Stefanie Wenzel had all 10 of her points in the second half.
Both Austin and Sakima Smith had eight points for the Brown and Orange. Austin added a game-high seven assists, while Smith had her points in only seven minutes of action. She sank two three-pointers for the second consecutive contest.
Northern's Davis and Secrest each had 10 points, and Davis led the team with six assists and a game-high four steals.
Miller had 12 of her points, along with six boards, in the first half, as the Falcons led by as many as eight points (34-26) before the Huskies rallied to within two points, 36-34, at halftime.
The Huskies shot an even 50 percent for the game, and outrebounded the Falcons by a 32-29 margin. BGSU shot .491 from the field in the contest, including a .500 mark in the first half. The Falcons went 8-of-21 from three-point land (.381), while NIU was 4-of-12 from long distance.
BGSU made all 12 free-throw attempts in the game, while NIU was 11-of-18 (.611) from the stripe.
The Falcons now return to the road, closing the first half of the conference season with a Wednesday (Feb. 5) game at Central Michigan. That contest begins at 7:00 p.m. BGSU returns to Anderson Arena for a Saturday (Feb. 8) game against arch-rival Toledo, beginning at 1:00 p.m.
NOTES
