Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Kent State
Flashes' Seniors Foil Falcons, 82-61
March 01, 2003 | Women's Basketball
March 1, 2003
KENT, Ohio - On "Senior Day" at Kent State University, the Golden Flashes got a combined 59 points from the four-member senior class en route to an 82-61 victory over the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team Saturday afternoon (March 1). The Mid-American Conference contest was held at the M.A.C. Center.
With the win, the Flashes improve to 14-12 overall and 9-6 in MAC action. BGSU dropped to 11-15 and 4-11, respectively.
A pair of fifth-year seniors led their respective teams in scoring. KSU's Jamie Rubis had a game-high 23 points, while Francine Miller led the Falcons with 18.
Senior Kim Griech had 16 points, including a game-high four three-point field goals, while junior Stefanie Wenzel was 3-of-5 from long range en route to 12 points for the Falcons.
After the emotional "Senior Day" festivities prior to the game, the host Flashes scored the first four points, on baskets by Rubis and senior Katalin Kollat. The Falcons got a three-pointer from Griech, though, and after a KSU layup by senior Valerie Zona, Miller's triple produced the game's first tie at 6-6.
Then, a steal and layup by junior Lindsay Austin gave the Falcons the lead, and Griech took a Miller pass and hit another trey for an 11-6 BG lead.
Several minutes later, Miller hit a driving layup, drew a foul from Kollat and made the ensuing free throw for a three-point play. The Falcons had their biggest lead of the game at 18-10 heading into the second media timeout.
The Flashes proceeded to go on a 10-0 run, with yet another KSU senior starting the charge. Morgan O'Hara hit back-to-back triples to cut the lead to two points, and a Zona layup tied the score before Lindsay Shearer gave the hosts the lead at the 8:57 mark. But, the Falcons would rally.
Moments later, Griech hit a layup off a Sakima Smith pass on a two-on-one break. Then, after two KSU free throws, Griech took an Austin pass and drove in for another layup. After a missed shot by the hosts, Griech gathered another Austin feed and hit a left-side triple, giving her 13 points in the game, and giving her team a 26-22 lead.
After two Flash free throws, Wenzel hit a trey as the shot clock expired, off a pass from senior Megan Jerome. Then, Jerome sank two charity tosses to give the Falcons a 31-24 lead with 5:34 left in the half.
But, KSU ended the first half on a 16-2 run to take a 40-33 lead at the intermission. After the hosts scored 13 of those points, Sakima Smith got a rebound and layup to cut the KSU lead to 37-33. But, Rubis hit a three-pointer with just five seconds left in the first half.
In that first half, the Falcons were 6-of-12 from three-point range, but BGSU was only 5-of-18 on shots from inside the arc. KSU's four seniors scored 34 of the team's 40 first-half points.
In the second half, the Falcons went on an early 7-2 run, capped by Griech's fourth trey of the contest, to cut the deficit to two points, 44-42, with 16:13 left in the game. But, the hosts went on a 19-0 run that put the game out of reach. By the time Miller made a free throw with 8:52 left to stop the run, the hosts led by a 63-43 count. The Falcons were unable to get close than 16 points in the remainder of the contest.
For the Flashes, Rubis made nine of her 13 shots from the field en route to her 23-point total. Fellow senior Kollat scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds before fouling out with four minutes left, while Zona had 10 points and O'Hara nine on 3-of-3 three-point shooting.
While the KSU seniors combined for 59 of the team's 82 points, a freshman helped the cause as well. Shearer finished the game with 18 points and a game-high nine rebounds. She had 12 points and seven boards in the second half.
BGSU made 9-of-22 shots from three-point land in the game, while KSU was 7-of-14 on the afternoon. Overall, the Flashes shot an even 50 percent from the floor, while the Falcons had a .355 field-goal percentage. KSU held a 37-32 rebounding advantage in the contest.
The Falcons end the regular season Tuesday night (March 4), hosting Eastern Michigan University. The game, which will be "Senior Night" for the Falcons, begins at 7:00 p.m. at Anderson Arena. Then, the Brown and Orange will begin MAC Tournament action Saturday (March 8), hitting the road to face an opponent to be determined. The winner of that first-round game will advance to the quarterfinal round, slated for March 12 at Cleveland's Gund Arena.
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