Bowling Green State University
DUQUESNE
Falcons Shoot Down Duquesne, 76-51
December 06, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 6, 2005
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team used a 14-0 run early in the second half to break the game open, and the Falcons went on to a 76-51 win over visiting Duquesne University Tuesday night (Dec. 6). The non-conference game was held at Anderson Arena.
The victory moves the Falcons to 6-0 on the season, tying the best start in school history. The Dukes drop to 3-4 on the year.
Junior Ali Mann had her first double-double of the season, posting game high totals of 14 points and 11 rebounds. Ten different Falcons scored at least four points in the win, with juniors Liz Honegger (13) and Carin Horne (10) and sophomore Kate Achter (10) joining Mann in double figures in the scoring column.
Jocelyn Chandler led the visitors with 11 points off the bench.
BGSU shot 50 percent or better in each half, finishing the night with a 29-for-57 (50.9%) performance from the floor. The Falcons held DU to just eight successful field goals in the second half, including only one in a span of nearly 14 minutes.
The game was tied, 17-17, after a Chandler three-point field goal with 8:25 left in the first half. BGSU freshman Lindsey Goldsberry's steal and layup led to a three-point play that sparked a 7-0 Falcon run and gave the hosts the lead for good.
Beginning with that Goldsberry three-point play, BGSU finished the half on a 21-8 run to take a 38-25 lead into the lockerroom. That lead was the Falcons' largest of the game to that point.
In the second half, a Chandler hoop just 26 seconds in cut the BG margin to 11, before the Falcons scored the next 14 points to take a 52-27 lead with just over five minutes elapsed.
A free throw by Aiga Bautre broke that run, but the Falcons proceeded to score the next seven points, capped by a triple from sophomore Whitney Taylor, that gave BG a 31-point lead, 59-28, with 11:41 on the clock.
A Nicole Sinclair layup at the 11:01 mark broke an 0-for-16 shooting streak for the Dukes, but the damage had been done. BG's lead got as large as 34 points on three occasions, before the visitors ended the game on a 13-4 run to provide the final 25-point margin.
The Falcons held advantages of 41-34 in rebounding, 38-16 in points in the paint and 14-3 in fast-break points. In addition to her 10 points, Achter had a game-high eight assists against just two turnovers.
The visitors scored the first four points of the game, on a pair of jumpers by Carmen Bruce. The Falcons did not get on the board until almost three minutes were gone, on a Horne layup at the 17:03 mark.
That hoop by Horne began a 12-0 BG run, as the Brown and Orange held the Dukes scoreless for a 4:56 span. Horne and senior Casey McDowell capped that run with three-point field goals 35 seconds apart.
Bautre, who entered the game shooting 54.1 percent from three-point land on the season, hit a triple out of the first media timeout, cutting the BG lead to five points. Another Bautre trey just over a minute later began a 5-0 DU run that cut the lead to a single point. The teams traded hoops before Chandler's trey tied the score at 17.
Then, however, Goldsberry's steal and three-point play were followed by a pair of Mann free throws. After a steal by junior Amber Flynn, Achter fed Honegger for a 24-17 lead with 6:25 left before halftime. The assist on that play was Achter's fifth of the opening half.
After a basket by DU's Loui Hall, Honegger answered with a trey at the 4:29 mark. Forty-five seconds later, freshman Jasmine McCall ignited the crowd with a behind-the-back pass to Honegger for an easy layup on the fast break. The Falcons had a 29-19 lead as DU took a timeout.
Achter closed the first-half scoring with a jumper, giving the Brown and Orange a 13-point halftime margin. Achter and Honegger each made four-of-five shots from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
In the second half, as mentioned, Chandler's layup was answered by 14 consecutive BGSU points. Mann started that run with a three-ball, and Honegger and Achter hit back-to-back layups.
A Horne jumper gave the Falcons a 20-point lead, and two free throws from Mann out of the first media timeout continued the Falcons' scoring run. Then, Achter blocked a three-point attempt by Malgorzata Flaga. The BG soph saved the ball in front of the scorer's table and fired it ahead to Horne, who laid it in as she was fouled. Horne hit the free throw to give BG a 25-point lead, 52-27, with 14:56 left, and the Falcons continued to pull away.
No fewer than five Falcons -- Flynn, McCall, McDowell, Taylor and junior Megan Thorburn -- scored five points apiece, while Goldsberry added four. DU's top-two scorers, Bautre and Hall, entered the game averaging a combined 29.5 points per game, but the Falcons held Bautre to seven points and Hall to four.
BGSU now embarks upon a stretch which takes the team away from home for the next five games, beginning with a Saturday (Dec. 10) contest at Florida International. The Falcons' next home game is Jan. 7, 2006, vs. Akron in the Mid-American Conference opener.
