Bowling Green State University
Saint Francis (PA)
Falcons Down Saint Francis, 77-55, to Move to 2-0 on Season
November 21, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 21, 2005
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Junior Ali Mann scored 21 points and the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team led from wire to wire in a 77-55 win over Saint Francis (Pa.) University Monday night (Nov. 21). The non-conference game was held at Anderson Arena.
With the win in a matchup of 2005 NCAA Tournament teams, the Falcons improve to 2-0 on the season. BGSU has begun a season with two wins for the first time since the 1997-98 team had a 3-0 start. The Falcons have split the first two contests in each of the last seven seasons. The Red Flash drop to 0-4 on the year.
Mann had a team-high nine rebounds, falling just one board shy of a double-double for the second consecutive game. Junior Carin Horne and sophomore Kate Achter each had 12 points for the Brown and Orange.
Amber Hein, the lone returning starter from a year ago for SFU, led the team with 17 points. Hein was the lone double-figure scorer for the Red Flash.
For the second-straight game, the Falcons held a sizable advantage in points in the paint, with a 48-20 margin on Monday night. BG also had 18 fast-break points to the visitors' four.
The Falcons took a 39-26 lead into halftime, but head coach Curt Miller was less than pleased with his team's effort late in the half, strongly making his point in the locker room.
"I try to teach my team that we need to put a team away when we have the chance," said Miller. "I didn't think we did that, and I broke a chair in the locker room to prove that point ... I didn't really like that chair anyway."
Mann, in a backhanded-compliment kind of way, noted that the head coach got his message across.
"He just wanted to prove a point," said the junior forward. "He came into the locker room and threw the chair around a few times ... it took him a few tries -- I think he needs to come lift with us tomorrow -- but it sent a message."
Indeed it did. The Falcons began the second half by scoring 14 of the first 18 points to take a 53-30 lead with just under 15 minutes left in the game, and the lead never slipped below 20 points again.
BGSU opened the game on a 7-0 run. Mann's first points came just nine seconds into the game, off an Achter assist. Less than a minute into the game, junior Liz Honegger fed Horne for a left-wing three-pointer, and the hosts had a five-point lead. An Achter steal and layup gave the Falcons their 7-0 lead at the 18:35 mark.
Emily Bollinger got the Red Flash on the board, but Achter found Honegger for a layup, then scored herself on the fast break after a Mann rebound and outlet pass. The lead was 11-2, prompting SFU head coach Jill Poe to call time.
The Falcons started the game by making 5-of-6 shots from the field. In the first 2:34 of the game, Achter had four points, two assists and a steal.
The Falcons continued to build the lead, going ahead by 15 points (26-11) on a Honegger triple with 8:31 left in the half. A Horne trey gave BG a 17-point edge just over a minute later. The lead was 17 points once again, at 37-20, on a Mann layup with 1:28 left in the half. SFU's Hein scored the last four points of the half, however, including a jumper with just six seconds left before the break.
In the second half, Mann again got the scoring started, drawing a foul and hitting two free throws with 15 seconds elapsed. Christie Ayers hit a layup for the Red Flash, but Horne then scored the game's next six points, beginning with a steal and layup.
Horne converted two free throws, then was on the receiving end of some nifty BG passing. After a Saint Francis miss, Achter rebounded and found senior Casey McDowell as BG looked to run. McDowell's touch pass hit Horne in stride, and her reverse layup gave the Falcons a 47-28 lead.
Moments later, BG was off and running again. This time, Mann took an Achter pass in stride and converted a layup, leading to another SFU timeout.
Out of the timeout, however, freshman Jasmine McCall scored the next four points, with the first two coming on a steal and layup. Her next basket was answered by a Brittney Weaver jumper, but McCall scored again at the 12:42 mark, giving the Brown and Orange a 55-32 lead. Honegger assisted on two consecutive McCall hoops.
The Falcons' biggest lead of the night was 27 points, after a Mann three-pointer with 3:44 left. BGSU struggled from behind the arc, going just 4-for-24 (16.7 percent) from three-point land on the night, but shot 65.0% from inside the arc.
McCall had eight points and a game-high four steals on the night, making four of her five shots from the field. Junior Amber Flynn had seven points and seven rebounds, while freshman Lindsey Goldsberry had six points, four boards and two steals in just 10 minutes of action.
Mann was 7-of-11 from the field and 6-for-6 from the line, and five of her rebounds came at the offensive end of the floor. The Falcons held a 42-34 advantage in the rebounding department.
For the Red Flash, Kanisha Garrett scored seven points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, while Ayers also had seven points on the night.
The Falcons are in action twice this weekend, as BG heads to Bloomington, Ind., for the Hampton Inn Classic, hosted by Indiana. BGSU takes on IUPUI on Friday (Nov. 25), and will meet either Youngstown State or host IU the following day.
