Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
IUPUI
Honegger, Falcons Down IUPUI, 66-55
November 25, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 25, 2005
Final Stats | Quotes
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Junior Liz Honegger, an Indiana native, scored 25 points in a return to her home state as the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team posted a 66-55 win over IUPUI Friday afternoon (Nov. 25). The game, the opening contest in the Hampton Inn Classic, was held at Assembly Hall.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 3-0 on the season, and BGSU will face the tournament host, Indiana University, in Saturday's (Nov. 26) championship game at 7:00 p.m. IU was a 74-38 winner against Youngstown State University in Friday's second game.
The Falcons have begun the season at 3-0 for the first time in eight years. The 1997-98 team was the last Falcon squad to start a season with as many as three consecutive victories.
The Jaguars drop to 0-3 on the year.
Junior Carin Horne and sophomore Kate Achter joined Honegger in double digits in scoring. Horne had 15 points, while Achter added 14. Each of the two players scored all but two points after halftime.
Junior Ali Mann had seven points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
For the Jaguars, Tanika Mays and Jernisha Cann had 13 points apiece, while Brooke McAfee had 11 points and a team-leading 11 boards. IUPUI held the rebounding advantage in the game, 48-39.
As has been the case in each of the Falcons' three games this year to date, BGSU got off to a quick start, then saw the opponent narrow the gap later in the first half. On Friday, the Falcons scored the first four points of the game and built a 12-4 lead. BG held the Jaguars scoreless for a span of 5:23 during that time.
The Brown and Orange still led, 22-12, after a Honegger hoop with 7:14 left in the half, but saw IUPUI score five consecutive points to cut the 10-point lead in half. The Falcons countered with baskets by Achter and Honegger, but the Jags stayed within striking distance, scoring the last two hoops of the first half to cut the BG lead to seven points, 32-25, at the intermission.
Honegger had 18 of the Falcons' 32 points in that opening half, making seven of her 10 shots from the field in the first 20 minutes. The rest of the team, however, went just 5-of-23 from the field in the first half.
In the second half, Horne, who had not made a first-half basket, began by hitting a pair of shots in the first minute. She began the second-half scoring by picking the pocket of Alicia Booyer and sailing in for a layup with just 13 seconds gone.
After a Mays jumper, Horne drained a three-pointer off an Achter pass, putting the Falcons up by 10 points. The lead ballooned to 13 after Achter fed Honegger for a triple with 17:32 left.
On the Falcons' next possession, Achter had her third consecutive assist, finding Honegger for a layup inside. BGSU received a scare seconds later, as Mann went down with an injury with 16:12 left in the second half. She walked off the court under her own power, however, and returned to the game with 12:58 left.
Meanwhile, the lead stayed around 10 points for the Brown and Orange. Honegger scored off a Horne feed with 13:17 left in the half, putting BG ahead by a 49-38 count. At that point, Horne (10) and Honegger (seven) had accounted for all of BGSU's 17 second-half points.
The Jaguars would not go away, however. McAfee converted a three-point play at the 10:59 mark, and Mays sank a layup 36 seconds later to cut the lead to six points, 50-44.
With BG still clinging to a six-point margin, Achter hit a driving layup with 6:58 to play, drawing a foul and converting the ensuing free throw to give BG a nine-point lead. But, McAfee scored at the other end. Achter got herself to the line again, hitting a pair of free throw with 4:46 left, but Cann converted a three-point play with 4:14 on the clock, cutting the Falcons' lead to 57-51.
Then, however, out of the game's final media timeout, the Falcons got a defensive stop, and ran a play for Horne. The junior took a pass at the top of the three-point arc and drained a triple with 3:08 left, putting BG ahead by nine. When Achter scored on another driving layup at the 1:46 mark, the Falcons were up by 11 points, 62-51, and the Jags could never get closer than nine points again.
Achter, in addition to her 14 points, had six rebounds and a game-high six assists. Horne had three assists, a pair of blocked shots and a game-best five steals, while Honegger chipped in with six boards and two rejections.
Mann had three steals, while junior Amber Flynn had four points, four rebounds and two steals off the bench.
For the second consecutive game, BGSU led from wire to wire. The Falcons had never trailed in Monday's (Nov. 21) win over Saint Francis (Pa.). Additionally, the Falcon defense held the opponent under 60 points for the third time in as many 2005-06 games.
The Falcons' championship game vs. IU is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m., but will be preceded by the 4:30 consolation game featuring IUPUI and YSU.
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