Bowling Green State University
BALL STATE
Falcons Win Battle of West Leaders, 69-49, at Ball State
February 08, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 8, 2005
MUNCIE, Ind. - Leading by 13 points at the half, the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team scored the first 15 points of the second half, as the Falcons defeated Ball State University, 69-49, Tuesday night (Feb. 8). The Mid-American Conference game was held at BSU's Worthen Arena.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 15-6 overall and 8-2 in MAC play, while the Cardinals drop to 11-11 and 7-4, respectively.
Sophomore Liz Honegger had a game-high 27 points, tying her career best. Honegger scored 17 of her points in the first half as the Falcons opened up a 36-23 lead at the break.
In the second half, the Brown and Orange held BSU scoreless over the first 5:50, opening up a 51-23 advantage. The visitors led by a 62-32 margin before Ball State outscored the Falcons, 17-7, over the game's final eight minutes.
Sophomore Ali Mann joined Honegger in double digits, with 14 points, while classmate Carin Horne added nine. Both Honegger and Mann had nine rebounds as the Falcons held a 43-39 advantage in that department.
Kate Endress had 17 points to lead the Cardinals, while Tina Bolte had 10. The Falcons shot 47.6 percent from the field for the game, while holding the Cards to a 26.6% success rate, a season low for a BG opponent.
The game began at a fast pace, as the teams combined for 19 points by the first media timeout. The Cardinals led by a 10-9 count at that time, but a Honegger three-pointer, her first of five triples on the night, gave the Falcons the lead for good at the 14:25 mark.
That was part of a 13-2 Falcon run which gave the Brown and Orange a 20-12 lead. Honegger scored seven points during that span, including back-to-back hoops to end the run and prompt a Ball State timeout with 11:17 left in the half.
Several minutes later, Honegger and the Falcons went on another run. The Lafayette, Ind., native scored every point during an 8-0 BG run, converting a Tene Lewis pass into a layup before hitting three-pointers on back-to-back possessions. Honegger's final trey put the Falcons ahead by a 32-18 score with 5:41 left before intermission.
Honegger ended the first-half scoring with a layup in the final 30 seconds, putting the Brown and Orange up by 13. In that opening half, the sophomore had 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including a 3-for-6 effort from long distance. She also had two assists, two blocked shots and a steal in the opening 20 minutes.
In the second half, Honegger opened the scoring with 47 seconds elapsed, then found Horne for a three-pointer at the 17:27 mark. Then, just 25 seconds later, freshman Kate Achter fed Honegger for a left-side triple. Mann's turnaround jumper in the lane was followed by a Horne right-side shot, and when Honegger hit yet another three, the Falcons had a 51-23 lead with 14:27 left in the game.
Bolte finally broke the Ball State drought, hitting a three-pointer with 14:11 left. Falcon senior Kelly Kapferer scored six-straight BG points over the next few minutes, and when freshman Whitney Taylor hit a trey with 7:55 left, the lead was 62-32. The final margin of 20 was the closest the Cardinals got the remainder of the evening.
BG outscored the hosts by margins of 30-14 in the paint, including 20-4 in the first half, and 22-8 off turnovers. The Falcons' 43-39 rebounding margin included a 30-14 advantage in the opening half.
Kapferer and Taylor each scored six points, with Kapferer going 3-for-3 from the floor and adding five rebounds, while Achter had four points and six assists. Lewis did not attempt a shot, but had a game-high seven assists, five rebounds, three steals and a block in 28 minutes. Horne also had five rebounds, and tied Lewis for game honors with three steals. The Falcons had 10 as a team, marking the team's eighth-straight game with a double-digit steal total.
Honegger finished her night with four assists and three blocked shots, in addition to her near double-double.
Endress led BSU with eight rebounds, while Kelsey Corbin had eight points and six boards.
The Falcons made nine triples in 26 tries (34.6%), but did not make a single free throw. BG was 0-for-2 from the stripe. The Cardinals went 5-for-18 (27.8%) from long distance and 10-of-11 from the free-throw line.
BGSU is next in action Saturday afternoon (Feb. 12), taking on the University of Akron at 2:00 p.m. at UA's James A. Rhodes Arena.
