Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
TOLEDO
Falcons 66, Toledo 62
February 08, 2003 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 8, 2003
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Senior Francine Miller scored 23 points as the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team snapped a four-game losing streak with a 66-62 win over the University of Toledo Saturday afternoon (Feb. 8). The Falcons captured the Mid-American Conference win in front of an "Alumnae Day" crowd at venerable Anderson Arena.
With the victory, the Falcons improve to 10-10 overall and 3-6 in the MAC. BGSU has surpassed the win total for all of last season (9-19). The Rockets, who saw a seven-game win streak halted, drop to 15-6 and 8-2, respectively.
In addition to Miller's offensive performance, the Falcons had two other players in double digits. Senior Kim Griech had 13 points, including 10 in the final six minutes of the game, while junior Lindsay Austin added 10 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Sophomore Tene Lewis, making her first start of the season, did not score, but led the Falcons in rebounds, assists and steals. Lewis, playing a career-high 27 minutes, tied her career marks with seven boards and six assists. She had a game-high three steals in the win.
The Rockets were playing their first game since the team's top scorer and rebounder, senior Tia Davis, suffered a season-ending injury. UT was led by Karin Hoogendam's 17 points off the bench. Kelly Walker added 16 points, while Teresa Kahle had 12 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
In the teams' first meeting of the year, the Rockets posted a 70-62 win (Jan. 15) largely on the strength of a 27-3 advantage in second-chance points. The Falcons, outrebounded by 16 (48-32) in that first meeting, were much more competitive on the boards Saturday, as UT held a slim 38-34 advantage. BGSU had 16 second-chance points to the Rockets' 10.
The Falcons led for most of the game, but the lead never grew larger than seven points. A Miller three-point field goal, the first of 10 BGSU triples on the day, erased a 4-1 Rocket lead with just over two minutes elapsed. After an Amanda Davis layup gave the visitors a 6-4 advantage, senior Megan Jerome tied the contest with a layup, and UT would lead on only two more occasions.
The Falcons went on a 7-0 run, beginning with another Miller triple at the 13:46 mark. Miller had 14 of her points in the first half. But, after BG's run, Toledo scored the next five points as part of a 10-2 run, culminating with Kahle's layup at the 7:56 juncture. That shot gave UT a one-point lead, 18-17, but a Miller layup just over a minute later gave the Falcons the lead once again. After UT's Mary Blessing split a pair of charity tosses, Miller broke the tie with her third three-pointer of the half.
The lead grew to five points before the Rockets scored back-to-back layups. After Kahle's layup with 2:49 left, neither team would score for over two minutes. With UT looking to take the last shot of the half, Austin picked Leah Gonnella's pocket and went in all alone for a layup with nine seconds left. That shot gave the Falcons a 30-27 lead at the break.
The Falcons held the lead for the first nine minutes of the second half, but a Hoogendam bucket gave the Rockets a 43-42 lead with 10:25 left. Miller answered at the other end, scoring and drawing a foul from Walker 20 seconds later. After Miller completed the three-point play, the Falcons had the lead for good.
A Crystal Young three-pointer brought the Rockets within two points, 57-55, with just under four minutes left, but the Falcons got a big triple after an extended trip down the court. On that possession, Griech missed a three-point attempt, but Lewis grabbed the rebound. After another Falcon miss, Lewis again grabbed the offensive rebound to keep the possession alive. The Falcons held the ball for approximately 1:20 on that possession, which culminated with a Griech trey off of a Lewis assist.
After a UT miss, Lewis again grabbed the rebound, and Miller scored at the other end to extend the lead to 62-55 with 1:55 left. The Falcons twice missed the front end of one-and-one opportunities, and the Rockets cut the margin to just two points on a Young triple with 30 seconds left. But, Griech made all four of her free-throw attempts in the final 27 seconds to help put the game away.
The Falcons have completed an eight-game stretch against MAC West Division foes, and now play five of the next six games against teams from the East Division. BGSU will travel to Buffalo for a Wednesday (Feb. 12) game, beginning at 7:00 p.m. at UB's Alumni Arena.
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