Bowling Green State University
EASTERN MICHIGAN
BG Seniors Lead The Way, 70-69, Over EMU
March 04, 2003 | Women's Basketball
March 4, 2003
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - On "Senior Night" at Anderson Arena, all four Bowling Green State University women's basketball seniors contributed as the Falcons downed Eastern Michigan University, 70-69, Tuesday (March 4). The game closed the Mid-American Conference regular-season schedule for both teams.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 12-15 overall and finish MAC play with a 5-11 conference record. The visiting Eagles dropped to 12-15 and 9-7, respectively.
As mentioned, all four seniors in the game played a role for the Falcons. Francine Miller had a team-high 22 points, and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds. Karen Stocz joined Miller in double digits, going 5-of-6 from the field en route to a career-high 12 points. With junior Lindsay Austin in foul trouble for much of the night, Megan Jerome played a career-high 38 minutes, running BG's offense from the point-guard spot for much of that time. She scored six points and had four assists, and hit a pair of key baskets early in the second half. The fourth senior, Kim Griech, hit a pair of free throws with 7.8 seconds left in the game to give BG a three-point lead.
For the visitors, Ryan Coleman had a game-high 26 points, including 23 of EMU's 51 second-half points. Abby Wiseman had 15 points, while Nikki Knapp added 12 off the bench.
Eastern took an early 9-4 lead, but the Falcons responded with an 18-3 run to take a 22-12 lead with 6:05 left in the first half. Miller scored nine of BG's 18 points in that run.
The Falcon lead got as high as 15 points, at 31-16, after Griech hit a three-point field goal with 1:03 left in the half. Wiseman made a late layup to cut the BG margin to 13 at the break.
EMU, after making just 7-of-27 shots (.259) in the first half, started the second half by making 6-of-8 shots. A three-point play by Knapp cut the lead to six points, 37-31, with 14:36 left in the half.
From there, Coleman got herself to the foul line, and converted when she got there, over the next few minutes. She drew the fourth foul on both Austin and BG freshman Jill Lause before the 12-minute mark, and went 6-of-6 at the line in a span of 1:55. BG's only answer during that time was a Miller layup.
After Dru Bishop's three-pointer, Eastern trailed by only one point, 41-40, with 11:13 left. Junior Stefanie Wenzel hit a pair of free throws, but back-to-back hoops by Coleman gave the Eagles the lead for the first time in over 26 minutes.
The Falcons responded, though, as Miller took a pass from Griech and converted a three-point play, restoring the Falcon lead, 46-44, with 9:43 left. EMU's Erika Ford made a layup to tie the game, but Jerome made a pair of free throws at the 9:03 mark, and Miller showed her passing prowess.
The senior found Stocz inside for a layup, and, after Stocz took a charge by Coleman for an EMU turnover, Miller again got an assist, finding sophomore Sakima Smith for a layup to give the Falcons a six-point lead, 52-46.
The lead grew as high as 11 points, as Wenzel hit a three-pointer with 6:03 left, and Sakima Smith scored with just 4:37 remaining. At that point, the Falcons held a 61-50 edge.
The teams traded layups, keeping the BG margin at 11 points with 2:29 left, but the Eagles were far from finished. A Coleman three-pointer with 2:14 left ignited an 8-0 run over a span of 1:12. After a Coleman layup on the fast break, Bishop freed herself for a triple with 1:02 left, cutting the lead to just 63-60.
Austin answered with a big shot, upping the lead to five points with 42 seconds left. But, Eastern got a three-point play with 33 seconds left, and quickly fouled Griech. She split her free throws with 32 ticks on the clock, giving the Falcons a three-point lead at 66-63. But, Wiseman hit a layup with 19 seconds left.
The Eagles fouled Miller, who made two free throws with 16 seconds remaining, but Coleman quickly went coast-to-coast for a layup to cut BG's lead to 68-67. The visitors fouled Griech, who made her two tosses with 7.8 seconds left.
After a timeout, the Eagles came downcourt, needing three points to tie. Ford got a layup at the buzzer, but it was not enough as the Falcons had the win.
The Eagles, after posting that .259 first-half field-goal pct., nearly tripled that effort in the second half, shooting a sizzling .690 (20-of-29) after the intermission. EMU shot .482 for the game to the Falcons' .479.
The teams combined for just a 7-of-26 effort from three-point range, with BGSU making 3-of-10 long-range shots. The Falcons did go 21-of-23 from the free-throw line (.913), while EMU made 11 tosses in 14 attempts (.786).
Eastern held a narrow 30-28 rebounding advantage, with three Eagles -- Wiseman, Ford and Coleman -- pulling down six boards each.
For the Falcons, Griech had eight points and tied Jerome for team honors with four assists. Austin, saddled with foul trouble, had seven points in only 15 minutes on the night, while Wenzel had seven points and five rebounds.
The Falcons and Eagles will meet again, this time in Ypsilanti, Mich. BGSU will travel to EMU for the first round of the MAC Tournament, with that game set for Saturday (March 8) at 7:00 p.m. at the Convocation Center.
