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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
TOLEDO
Falcons Use Super Second-Half Rally to Down Toledo, 71-65
February 05, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 5, 2006
Final Stats | Quotes
TOLEDO, Ohio - Trailing by double digits for the first time all season, the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team used a blistering second-half shooting performance to rally past the University of Toledo, 71-65, Sunday afternoon (Feb. 5). The Mid-American Conference game was held at UT's John F. Savage Hall.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 18-2 on the season, and BGSU remains unbeaten in the MAC at 9-0. The Rockets fall to 8-11 and 3-6, respectively. BGSU has now won six consecutive games vs. the arch-rivals, and the Falcons lead the overall series by a 34-25 count.
Junior Liz Honegger had a double-double, with a BG-high 19 points and a game-best 10 rebounds, while junior Carin Horne and sophomore Kate Achter each had 14 points. Horne scored all of her points in the second half. Junior Ali Mann joined that group in double digits, with 11 points.
For the hosts, Savannah Werner had 20 points to pace three double-figure scorers. Denielle Bishop had 18 points and Diana Reindl 16 for the Rockets.
The Falcons trailed by 12 points, 37-25, at the half, and a Bishop three-point play opened the second-half scoring to give the Rockets a 15-point lead. The Falcons, however, shot 68.0 percent in that second stanza, making 18-of-25 shots from the floor after going just 10-for-33 (30.3%) in the first half.
BGSU outscored UT, 46-28, in the second half, and held a 15-8 rebounding advantage in the final 20 minutes. For the game, the Brown and Orange held a 34-26 margin on the glass. Additionally, the Falcons shot a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line in the second half, going 9-of-10 from the stripe for the game.
The Rockets were 16-of-21 from the charity stripe (76.2%), with Werner shooting and making over half of those. She was 10-of-13 from the foul line Sunday.
The Falcons started out slowly on Sunday, failing to score on the first three possessions. But, an Achter layup at the 18:14 mark broke the ice, creating the first of the game's 12 ties at 2-2.
Less than a minute later, Honegger blocked a UT shot attempt, grabbed the rebound, then took a pass from Horne at the other end and hit a trailing three-pointer to put BG up by a 5-2 score.
Honegger continued her hot play early, scoring seven-straight Falcon points as the teams battled to a 9-9 tie at the first media timeout. For her part, Reindl had six of the Rockets' nine points in that time.
Honegger scored 12 of the visitors' first 16 points of the day, with the last three coming on a left-side trey to put BG up by a point with 12:12 left in the half.
Freshman Jessica McKenzie split a pair of free throws at the 10:33 mark, giving the Falcons a two-point lead. UT's Amanda Davis tied the score with her lone points of the day, but a fired-up Mann hit a three-pointer as the shot clock neared zero, giving the Brown and Orange a 20-17 lead with 7:52 remaining before the break.
Bishop hit a three to tie the game once again, but Mann took a pass from senior Casey McDowell and drilled another triple, putting the Falcons ahead by a 23-20 count. From there, however, the Rockets would go on a major run.
UT scored 17 of the final 19 points of the half, including the last 12. The run started innocently enough, with Werner splitting a pair of charity tosses. Bishop hit a jumper, and a Crystal Young layup gave UT the lead.
Freshman Jasmine McCall's jumper knotted the score, 25-25, but would be the Falcons' last points of the half. The Rockets, however, had plenty of first-half points left in them.
Reindl's short jumper was followed by a Young three-pointer, putting the hosts up by a 31-25 count. Werner hit four free throws for the only scoring of the next two-plus minutes, before Reindl grabbed an Olivia Terry airball and converted a layup with just two seconds left before halftime. The Falcons were scoreless for the half's final 4:49.
The Falcons, who seemed to be settling for three-point shots in the first half, were much more judicious in their shot selection in the second half. But, the second half did not start well for the Brown and Orange.
After the teams traded missed jumpers to begin the half, Bishop converted a three-point play with a minute elapsed, giving the hosts a 40-25 lead. That 15-point margin was the largest of the day for either team.
Horne responded with a driving baseline layup, the Falcons' first points in 6:03, and the junior hit a pair of free throws on BG's next possession to cut the lead to 40-29.
Reindl scored at the other end, but Horne grabbed an offensive rebound and slid a pass under the hoop to Mann, for an easy layup on the other side. Two more Werner free throws restored UT's 13-point lead, but a driving layup by Achter cut the BG deficit to 44-33 at the opening media timeout of the half.
In perhaps a bit of foreshadowing (or perhaps not), the Toledo cheerleaders, performing during that media timeout, were unsuccessful in their first try at that routine, with several nearly falling. Out of the timeout, the Falcons' field-goal attempts continued to fall.
Honegger hit a jumper, and Achter adjusted in the air for a nifty driving, spinning layup. That cut the lead to 44-37, and the Rockets took a timeout.
The timeout did not stop the Falcons' run, however. Achter took a charge for Bishop's third foul, with 14:10 left in the game, and a Honegger steal a moment later led to an Achter pull-up jumper on the fastbreak.
Then, McCall got her hand on a UT pass, deflecting the ball to McDowell. McDowell grabbed the ball and found McCall ahead of the pack for an easy layup. That capped a 10-0 BG run and cut the UT lead to just three points, 44-41.
Werner scored to stop that run, with 11:39 left. That marked the Rockets' first points in 5:12 and the team's first field goal in a 5:45 span. But, BG came right back, as Horne's nifty shot-fake and pass found a wide-open McKenzie for an easy layup.
After a missed shot by the Rockets, the Falcons' next possession resulted in Bishop's fourth foul, with 9:50 left. Bishop had just reentered the game. Horne then grabbed a missed shot and laid the ball in, cuttin ght lead to a single point.
Then, on a 5-on-4 with a UT player injured at the other end, Honegger's pass found a trailing Mann for a three-pointer with 8:07 left. The Falcons led, 48-46, and BGSU would not trail again, although the game would be tied on several more occasions.
The first such occasion came on the next possession, as Aaron Richmond tied the score with a running jumper. But, Honegger responded with a turnaround jumper, drawing a foul in the process and converting the free throw.
A Werner layup was followed by two Achter free throws, and yet another Werner free throw cut the Falcon lead to 53-51. But, a Horne layup off Honegger's pass opened up a four-point margin at the 5:38 mark.
UT rallied, scoring the next four points to tie the score with 4:46 left. However, the Brown and Orange responded with a McDowell trey just 19 seconds later.
Again, however, the hosts were up to the task. Bishop was fouled while attempting a shot from beyond the arc, and made all three free throws to tie the score again. But, Horne grabbed a teammate's miss and made an acrobatic layup while drawing a foul. Out of the final media timeout, Horne's free throw put the Falcons up, 61-58.
Then, Bishop got caught in the air under the basket with three Falcon players around her, and her forced pass resulted in a Honegger steal. That theft led to a driving layup by Achter and a five-point lead with 3:14 on the clock.
Werner, however, scored at the other end, and a Mann jumper hung on the rim for seemingly forever, but rolled off. Neither team could score for the next several minutes, as a UT miss was followed by a BG turnover. Then, Young drew a foul, but missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity with 1:38 left. Honegger grabbed that rebound, and the Falcons headed the other way.
With just 1:16 on the clock, McDowell took a pass from Mann. Standing outside the arc, McDowell seemed to be looking to pass the ball inside. No teammate was open, but McDowell was wide open, and the fifth-year senior decided to let a shot go. That shot found nothing but net, giving the Falcons a six-point lead.
UT responded quickly, however, as Werner sank a layup and drew a Falcon foul, completing a three-point play with 54.4 seconds left to halve the lead.
On the next BG possession, Achter's drive-and-dish found Horne on the right side of the court, and Horne hit a back-breaking three-pointer with 26.7 seconds remaining, putting the Falcons up by a 69-63 score.
Reindl converted a layup with 19.1 seconds left, and drew a BG foul in the process. Her free throw was unsuccessful, but Reindl got her own rebound. She quickly drove and shot, but the ball caromed off the rim, and Honegger grabbed it and was fouled. She made both of her free-throw tries with 14.4 seconds on the clock, completing the scoring and clinching the BG win.
For the game, the Rockets had a better field-goal percentage than the Falcons, shooting 47.9% to BG's 46.6%. But, the Falcons held UT to a 10-for-23 success rate (43.5%) in the second half, after the Rockets had shot 52.0% in the opening half.
McDowell had six points off the bench, on the two key second-half three-pointers, and she also added six assists to tie for game honors. A total of four Falcons had at least three assists, with Achter (four), Honegger (three) and Horne (three) also in that group. Honegger led all players with three steals.
Freshmen McCall and McKenzie had four and three points, respectively, as BG held a 13-4 advantage in bench scoring.
Mann had eight rebounds and Horne seven for the Falcons, who had 15 offensive boards in the win.
The Falcons return home for a Wednesday (Feb. 8) game vs. Northern Illinois University. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at venerable Anderson Arena.
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