Bowling Green State University
BALL STATE
Strong Second Half Lifts Falcons Past Ball State, 72-60
February 11, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 11, 2006
MUNCIE, Ind. - Trailing by four points at halftime, the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team used a pair of second-half runs to surge past host Ball State University, 72-60, Saturday afternoon (Feb. 11). The Mid-American Conference game was held at Worthen Arena.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 20-2 overall, and BGSU is now 11-0 in MAC play. The Cardinals drop to 13-9 and 6-5, respectively.
BGSU's victory also clinched a first-round bye for the Kraft MAC Tournament. The top-two teams in each division will earn byes through the first round, and BG is now seven games ahead of third-place Ohio University with five regular-season games to play.
Junior Ali Mann had a game-high 18 points in the win, adding a BG-best nine rebounds. Sophomore Kate Achter scored 15 points, and had five boards and a team-leading five assists. She did not commit a turnover in 35 minutes of play.
Junior Liz Honegger, a native of Lafayette, Ind., had 14 points, and game-best totals of five blocked shots and four steals. Honegger's 5-for-8 day from the field included a perfect 3-for-3 effort from three-point land.
BGSU scored the first seven points of the second half to take the lead for good, then used a 15-0 run to take a 60-44 advantage with 7:35 left in the game.
The Falcons shot 58.6 percent in the second half, while holding Ball State to just a 29.4 field-goal percentage after halftime. BGSU made 7-of-12 three-pointers (58.3%) on the afternoon.
Erica Cotton led the Cardinals with 16 points, while Raechelle Hampton had 14 points off the bench and Tina Bolte added 11.
The Cardinals' leading scorer, Julie DeMuth, saw her playing time severely limited due to toul trouble. DeMuth, averaging 12.4 points per game coming into Saturday's contest, had just one point in only 16 minutes of action. DeMuth did have a team-high nine rebounds.
The teams battled to a 7-7 tie entering the day's first media timeout. In that first 4:18, Honegger had three blocks, including two on back-to-back BSU shots. After the second block in that flurry, DeMuth was called for a foul while going for the rebound. The foul, her second, came at the 18:13 mark.
The Cardinals got four-straight points to take an 11-7 lead, but the Falcons got a quick three-pointer to cut the lead to one. An entry pass to Honegger was high, but the junior saved the ball as it was going out of bounds under the hoop. Honegger's pass found junior Carin Horne in the left corner, and Horne's triple try found nothing but net.
After a pair of BSU free throws, Falcon junior Amber Flynn got back-to-back layups to give the Brown and Orange a 14-13 lead. But, a quick three by Bolte gave the hosts the advantage once again.
Freshman Lindsey Goldsberry converted a layup while drawing a foul, and her free throw completed the three-point play to cut the lead to a single point once again, 18-17, with 10:57 left in the half. But, the Cards would score the game's next 12 points.
That 12-0 BSU run saw the Falcons go scoreless for 3:33. Bolte began the run with another three, and a Hampton layup gave the Cards a 23-17 margin and prompted a quick timeout by BG coach Curt Miller at the 10:03 mark.
Out of the timeout, however, the Falcons turned the ball over, and Horne was whistled for her third foul of the game with 9:39 still remaining before halftime.
A Stephanie Douglas layup was followed by two Kelsey Corbin free throws, and the hosts led by double digits, 27-17, with 8:27 on the clock. Then, Cotton hit a triple and held the pose, and the lead was 13 points at the 7:24 mark.
After falling behind by that 30-17 score, however, the Falcons would outscore Ball State by a 43-14 margin over the game's next 20 minutes.
Honegger answered Cotton's triple with a straightaway trey, and a hustle play by Mann cut the lead to eight points with 5:44 on the clock. Mann blew past several players to corral an offensive rebound, then ducked around a would-be defender for a layup.
Hampton hit a layup, but Honegger took a pass from senior Casey McDowell and hit another triple, cutting the BSU lead to 32-25. When junior Megan Thorburn hit a left-wing three-ball off an inbounds pass from Jasmine McCall, the Cards' lead was down to four points. A Mann jumper cut that lead in half, bringing BG's run to 13-2, but the Cardinals would respond with four-straight points for a 36-30 lead. A driving baseline layup from Mann with 40.1 seconds left would close the first-half scoring.
In the second half, a Honegger free throw would open the scoring at the 18:29 mark, cutting the lead to 36-33. On BG's next possession, Mann's three-point try rimmed out, but Thorburn grabbed the rebound, and the play ended with Achter finding Honegger for an easy layup.
Then, McDowell blocked Bolte's three-point attempt at the other end, with Thorburn grabbing that rebound as well. A McDowell pass found Mann, whose baby hook shot gave the Falcons the lead for good, 37-36, with 17:35 remaining.
Another Mann layup put the Falcons up by three points, before Hampton hit a layup at the 15:51 mark for BSU's first points of the half.
Back-to-back Achter jumpers gave the Falcons a five-point lead before Cotton hit a three-pointer. A Horne jumper was followed by a DeMuth free throw and a layup from Cotton, giving the Falcons a 45-44 lead at the 12:35 juncture. From there, however, BG went on a run that, for all intents and purposes, put the game away.
The Brown and Orange scored the game's next 15 points, holding Ball State scoreless for a span of 5:21. Goldsberry began the run with a wide-open three, and Honegger came off a screen to take an Achter pass and drill a trey from the right elbow. When Mann's nifty pass found an open Honegger for a layup, BG's lead was 53-44 and the Cardinals burned a timeout with 10:28 left.
The Falcons stayed hot, however. A Honegger steal immediately after the ensuing inbounds pass led to a two-on-one, with Horne dishing to Achter for a fast-break layup and a double-digit BG lead.
An Achter foul-line jumper gave BG a 57-44 lead with 8:14 left, and a Horne steal led to a three-point play by Mann, who hit a layup while drawing DeMuth's fourth foul at the 7:35 media timeout. Mann's free throw out of the timeout gave the Falcons a 60-44 cushion.
Hampton finally stopped her team's scoring drought with a rebound and putback, but an Achter three-point play with 5:01 left inreased the Falcons' lead to a game-high 17 points, 65-48.
The Cardinals scored eight points in the game's final 1:36, but BSU drew no closer than 11 points.
The Falcons held a 21-5 advantage in points off turnovers, including a 15-3 margin in the second half. Horne had seven points for the Falcons, while three players -- Flynn, Goldsberry and Thorburn -- scored six apiece. Led by Honegger's five blocks, the Falcons tied a season high with seven as a team.
BGSU's three-point field-goal percentage was a season best, as the Falcons were 58.3% from long range. Ball State, like BG, made seven triples, but the Cardinals took 23 shots from beyond the arc (30.4%).
Becca Bajorek had eight points and eight rebounds for the hosts, who held a 44-37 rebounding advantage.
The Falcons now return to intra-divisional play for the final five games of the regular season, beginning with a trip to Akron for a Wednesday night contest (Feb. 15). That game begins at 7:00 p.m. at UA's Rhodes Arena.
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