Bowling Green State University
Detroit
Falcons Rally for 78-67 Win at Detroit
November 30, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 30, 2005
DETROIT, Mich. - All five starters hit double digits in scoring as the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team rallied from a second-half deficit to down the University of Detroit Mercy, 78-67, Wednesday night (Nov. 30). The non-conference game was held at Calihan Hall.
With the win, BGSU improves to 5-0 on the season. The Falcons have begun the season with five consecutive victories for the first time since the 1991-92 campaign. Detroit drops to 1-4 on the year.
The Falcons got 18 points from both junior Liz Honegger and sophomore Kate Achter, while junior Ali Mann added 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Senior Casey McDowell and junior Carin Horne scored 10 points apiece.
Achter was a perfect 12-for-12 from the free-throw line, tying the school single-game record.
Lindsey Pasquinzo led the Titans with 14 points, while Kelly Jaskot added 13 off the bench. Shawanna Stubblefield rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points for the hosts.
BGSU took the first double-digit lead of the game, at 48-38, on a Honegger layup off Achter's inbounds pass with 13:41 left. But, the Titans then went on an 18-4 run over the next five-and-a-half minutes. The run was capped by a Joanna Cooper spinning layup that gave the hosts a four-point margin, 56-52.
Achter responded with a pair of free throws, but a BG foul was called after Pasquinzo attempted a three-point field goal from in front of the UDM bench. The shot was off the mark, but Pasquinzo was awarded three free throws. She made only the third, however, putting the Titans' lead at 57-54.
Freshman Lindsey Goldsberry responded with her only shot attempt of the game, but it was a big one. Goldsberry took a pass from Achter and hit a three-pointer from the left elbow, tying the contest with 7:21 left. That sparked a 10-0 run, putting the Falcons ahead by a 64-57 count with under five minutes on the clock.
After Goldsberry's triple, Mann scored the game's next six points. She made a steal on UDM's next possession, was fouled immediately and converted a pair of free throws. Then, after another UDM foul, Mann grabbed the rebound of a teammate's unsuccessful FT try. That possession ended with Mann knifing through a pair of defenders for a layup, followed by a UDM timeout.
Then, some nifty passing by the Falcon five led to a long jumper from Mann, off an Achter feed. A Honegger free throw gave the Falcons the 64-57 lead. But, the Titans were not finished.
A long Jaskot three-pointer -- one of nine UDM triples in the game -- cut the lead to four points. Achter drew a foul, the fifth on Kandace Evans, and hit both tosses, but Jaskot hit a left-wing three, then knocked down a right-side runner with 2:35 left, and BG's lead was a single point at 66-65.
BGSU would respond by getting the ball low to Honegger. The junior backed down her defender and hit a shot from close range, putting the Falcons up by three points with 2:08 left.
Honegger took a charge on UDM's ensuing possession, giving the ball back to the Falcons, and she scored after Horne drove the baseline and found her lurking on the other side of the basket. Honegger's layup put BG ahead, 70-65, with 1:24 remaining.
Detroit was unable to draw any closer the rest of the way, hitting just one more shot on the night. The Falcons were a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line in the final minute, with Achter converting the last six.
BGSU shot a season-best 50.0 percent from the field, going 12-for-24 in each half, while holding Detroit to a 44.3% success rate. The Titans were 9-of-24 from behind the arc, with both Pasquinzo and Jaskot making three.
The Falcons made four triples in 14 attempts, with McDowell a perfect 2-for-2 and Goldsberry draining her only long-range shot.
The Falcons shot nearly 90 percent (89.7%) from the charity stripe, going 26-for-29. UDM took only seven free throws, making four.
Mann, as mentioned, had eight rebounds, while Honegger added six and Achter five. The Falcons held a 36-26 advantage on the boards.
Early in the game, it seemed as if the Falcons might run away with the win. The opening tip went out of bounds off of a BG player. But, Achter stole the inbounds pass and scored the game's first points with just seven seconds elapsed. BGSU raced to leads of 11-5 and 13-7, but the hosts held BG to only three points in a span of over seven minutes.
Junior Amber Flynn got the ball inside to Honegger for a layup at the 6:51 mark, but a Pasquinzo three-pointer tied the game, 18-18, with 6:36 left. The Falcons retook the lead after Achter's drive and dish to Flynn for a hoop, but back-to-back treys by Pasquinzo and Jaskot gave UDM the lead for the first time, 26-24, at the four-minute media timeout.
The Titans hit two more shots from beyond the arc as the lead fluctuated back and forth, but two Achter free throws at the 1:35 mark gave BG a 33-32 edge and capped the first-half scoring.
Pasquinzo had nine of her points in the first half, while Honegger matched her point total at the other end. Pasquinzo was 3-for-4 from three-point land in the opening half, as the Titans went 6-of-10 from long range as a team.
After a Stubblefield layup opened the second-half scoring, the Falcons regained the lead on five consecutive points by Horne. She converted a three-point play, then picked Stubblefield's pocket and drove in for a layup.
Two minutes later, the Falcons led by two points when a McDowell left-elbow three-pointer sparked an 8-0 run. The fifth-year senior hit a right-side trey off a Megan Thorburn pass, and Honegger's hoop gave the visitors the aforementioned 48-38 lead.
The Falcons return to Northwest Ohio for a rare home game on Tuesday (Dec. 6). The Brown and Orange will take on Duquesne University in the team's lone December game at venerable Anderson Arena, with tipoff at 7:00 p.m.
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