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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
MIAMI (OH)
Falcons Down Miami, 71-59, to Cap 16-0 MAC Season
February 28, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 28, 2006
OXFORD, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team built a huge lead, then withstood a furious Miami University second-half rally for a 71-59 win Tuesday night (Feb. 28). The Mid-American Conference game was held at Millett Hall.
With the victory, the Falcons improve to 25-2 overall, and Bowling Green completes the MAC schedule with a perfect 16-0 record. BG is just the fifth team in league history to go undefeated in conference play. Miami drops to 8-19 and 3-13, respectively.
The Falcons scored the game's first eight points, took a 14-point halftime lead and opened a 28-point margin in the second half. Miami, however, rallied from a 63-35 deficit with 6:57 left, closing the gap to 10 points in the final minute before a late BG layup. The RedHawks outscored the Falcons, 24-8, over that final 6:57.
Junior Ali Mann paced five BGSU double-digit scorers with a game-high 17 points, while classmate Megan Thorburn and sophomore Kate Achter had 11 apiece. Both junior Amber Flynn and freshman Jasmine McCall scored 10 points for the visitors.
Jenna Schone had 13 points and Cindi Merrill 11 for the RedHawks.
"Certainly, we are ecstatic to go undefeated in MAC play, and finish out a long journey to 16-and-0," said BGSU head coach Curt Miller. "We had a lot of challenges thrown at us this year, but we are now one of only five MAC teams to go undefeated over a whole conference season, so we are really proud of that.
"It was an outstanding effort for our team to get up by almost 30, and I was really pleased with our defense. I thought it was tremendous, and we did a great job building that lead. It is not unusual to let your guard down a little bit (when you have a lead), and you've got to give Miami credit for never quitting. They started pressing us and gambling more, and we didn't handle that well.
"We are in the top-10 in the nation in (fewest) turnovers; we only turn the ball over 12 times a game. So, to turn the ball over 19 times is not the way we want to finish the regular season, but give Miami credit for never quitting."
The Falcons, ranked #24 in the nation in the latest USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches poll, scored the first eight points of the game. Achter opened the scoring on a running one-hander, then found a pair of teammates for fast-break layups. Her long pass hit junior Megan Thorburn ahead of the pack for an easy two points, and Achter then found an open Ali Mann on a two-on-one, prompting a quick Miami timeout at the 17:50 mark.
A pair of Mann free throws put BG up 8-0 before Cindi Merrill got the RedHawks on the board with a fadeaway jumper at the 16:30 mark. Achter hit a shot jumper off the glass, and a Merrill three-pointer cut the Falcons' lead to 10-5 at the first media timeout.
Another Achter hoop, at the 14:55 mark, was an and-one basket, with Merrill drawing her second foul of the game. Achter made the free throw for a 13-7 BG lead as the RedHawks' leading scorer went to the bench for the remainder of the first half.
The teams traded baskets before McCall stole a Miami inbounds pass deep in the RedHawks' end of the court. McCall's quick layup gave the Falcons a 17-9 lead at the 12:07 mark.
Moments later, however, a Mann three-pointer gave the Falcons a 20-11 lead. Ashley Hawkins hit a jumper, but Flynn grabbed a rebound and converted a putback, beginning a 6-0 run. Honegger's monster block on Hawkins resulted in an Achter rebound, and the sophomore found classmate Whitney Taylor all alone for an easy layup, a 26-13 lead, and Miami's second timeout of the half.
Out of that timeout, however, the RedHawks missed a pair of shots, and Mann worked inside for a layup and a 15-point lead. Schone hit a three-pointer for the hosts, but Mann answered with a three-ball of her own at the 6:11 mark. The lead stayed between 12 and 15 points for the remainder of the half, with the Falcons taking a 40-26 advantage into the lockerroom.
BGSU opened the second half with four points in the first minute of play. Junior Carin Horne hit a jumper, which was followed by a pair of Achter free throws that put the Falcons up by 18 points. Miami scored the next five points, on a Schone trey and two Laura Markwood free throws, before the Falcons got a pair of carbon-copy three-pointers from Thorburn.
Mann drove the left baseline, drew a crowd of MU defenders, and kicked the ball out to Thorburn in the left corner for a three-pointer at the 17:13 mark. Almost immediately, a McCall steal in the Miami end of the court gave the ball right back to the Falcons. The ensuing possession ended with another Mann kick-out to an awaiting Thorburn, again in the left corner. The Thorburn three gave the Brown and Orange a 50-31 lead with 16:44 left in the contest, and Miami took another timeout.
Moments later, senior Casey McDowell's nifty entry pass found Mann for an open layup and the Falcons' first 20-point lead of the night, 52-32. Mann's hoop began a 7-0 BG run.
A Thorburn steal gave the ball right back to BG, and Mann's entry pass to Flynn resulted in a sweet whirl and finger-roll. Then, a Thorburn 3, her third in just over four minutes, gave the Falcons a 57-32 lead with 13:11 remaining.
The lead grew to a game-high 28 points, 61-33, on a Flynn offensive rebound and jumper with 11:38 left. A Stephanie Ford layup with 10:09 left snapped a Miami span of 8:39 without a field goal, and both teams proceeded to go two-and-a-half minutes without scoring.
McCall's layup with 7:33 left restored the Falcons' 28-point margin with 7:33 remaining. Jaclyn Leininger hit a pair of free throws for MU, but McDowell spotted a wide-open Lindsey Goldsberry under the hoop, and the freshman's layup put BG ahead by a 65-37 score with 6:57 left. But, the Brown and Orange would score only six more points the rest of the night.
Beginning with a pair of Merrill layups just 14 seconds apart, the RedHawks scored the game's next 12 points. Merrill hit a pair of free throws, and a pair of Katie Guerriero layups prompted BG's second timeout in a 90-second span.
Schone's hoop out of the second BG timeout cut the Falcon lead to 65-49 at the final media stoppage. Finally, with 2:55 on the clock, Horne spotted a wide-open Achter under the hoop for a layup that broke the run.
Still, the RedHawks kept coming at the Falcons. Sarah Hull hit a pair of free throws, but Taylor responded with a pull-up jumper for a 69-51 lead with 1:39 left.
Miami's furious rally continued, as the hosts scored eight-straight points to cut the lead to 10 with 17.7 seconds left. The Falcons, however, were able to survive, and a McCall layup closed the scoring.
BGSU committed a total of 19 turnovers, including 16 in the second half, with Miami owning a 21-14 advantage in points off miscues.
The Falcons shot 50.0 percent from the field, making 30-of-60 field-goal attempts on the night. BGSU held the RedHawks to a 31.7% success rate from the floor.
Mann's 6-for-10 shooting effort included a perfect 2-for-2 night from beyond the three-point line, and Thorburn was 3-for-5 from beyond the arc. Flynn made five of her seven field-goal tries in the game, and -- after being whistled for three first-half fouls -- played 15 minutes in the second half without committing another.
Mann tied her career high with five assists, while Achter also had five. McCall had four steals to match her season best.
BGSU held a 42-32 rebounding advantage, with junior Liz Honegger pulling down a game-high eight. Flynn had six boards, while Achter and freshman Jessica McKenzie had five apiece. McKenzie's total represented a career best.
The Falcons now have over a week off before facing an opponent to be determined in the quarterfinal round of the Kraft MAC Tournament. BGSU's game will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 8, at Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena.
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