Bowling Green State University
Toledo (Semifinal)
Falcons Rocket Into MAC Tournament Championship, 68-46
March 10, 2006 | Women's Basketball
March 10, 2006
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CLEVELAND, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team used a balanced effort to post a 68-46 win over the arch-rival University of Toledo Friday afternoon (March 10). The game, a semifinal contest in the Kraft Mid-American Conference Tournament, was held at Quicken Loans Arena.
With the victory, the Falcons improve to 27-2 on the year. BGSU has tied the school -- and the MAC -- record for wins in a season. Toledo bows out of the tourney with an overall 2005-06 mark of 11-18.
The Falcons advance to face Kent State University in the Kraft MAC Tournament championship for the second consecutive season. KSU was a 70-56 winner over Eastern Michigan University in Friday's first semifinal.
Junior Liz Honegger paced four BG double-digit scorers with a game-high 17 points, and led all players with 10 rebounds, for her BG-best seventh double-double of the season. Four Falcon juniors hit double figures in the scoring column, as Ali Mann had 14 points and nine rebounds, while Amber Flynn and Carin Horne scored 13 and 11 points, respectively.
Savannah Werner, the lone Toledo player in double digits, had 10 points.
BGSU shot 56.0 percent in the first half and 48.1% for the game, while holding the Rockets to just a 28.1% field-goal rate on the afternoon. The game was tied just once, at 2-2, before Honegger's straightaway three-pointer off an inbounds pass from sophomore Kate Achter gave the Falcons the lead for good.
The Rockets stayed close for several minutes, and Achter was forced to leave the game after running into a UT screen with three minutes gone. The play was completely clean, but Achter was momentarily dazed, and freshman Jasmine McCall replaced her in the Falcon lineup.
Toledo was within 7-6 when the Falcons went on a 6-0 run before the game's second media timeout. Mann hit a layup at the 14:37 mark, and Honegger took a pass from Horne and converted a short turnaround jumper.
Flynn entered the game and immediately made her presence felt, as Mann's inside look found her classmate for an easy layup and a 13-6 lead.
Toledo battled back to within two points, as Olivia Terry's layup at the 10:29 mark cut BG's lead to 17-15. But, Achter, back in the game, drove the lane and spotted Flynn for another layup and a four-point margin.
After a Toledo miss, Mann displayed her versatility and her value to the Falcons. A BGSU shot missed everything, and Mann made a behind-the-back save just before the ball went out of bounds, passing the ball to Flynn. Mann then took the return pass from her classmate for a layup and a 19-13 lead.
Another Flynn layup at the 8:27 mark, off of Achter's drive-and-dish pass, gave the Falcons an eight-point margin, but Terry hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to 21-16. BG kept extending that margin, however, as Mann pounded the ball inside to Honegger for a layup and a 29-20 margin at the four-minute mark.
Then, Honegger's defensive rebound and quick outlet pass led to a BG fast-break opportunity, and the Falcons cashed in. Achter fired a pass to Mann, ahead of the pack, and the junior converted an easy layup, prompting a Toledo timeout. For the first time in the game, the lead was double figures, and the Rockets would not be able to trim that lead to single digits for the rest of the game.
Honegger was heating up. The junior hit a tough left-side jumper, then converted a pair of free throws to complete a BG 8-0 run and give the Falcons a 35-20 lead with 1:15 left in the half. UT's Lacey McNulty snapped that run with a layup, but Honegger slipped out to the right corner, took a pass from senior Casey McDowell and drained a three-pointer with 31 seconds on the clock.
Crystal Young answered with a jumper, but Honegger was fouled on a shot attempt just before the first-half horn sounded. She hit one free throw to give BG a 39-24 lead at the break. Honegger scored the Falcons' final eight points of the half, and 10 of the last 12 BG markers prior to the intermission.
As the second half began, Horne picked up where Honegger had left off. Horne scored the first five points of the half to give the Falcons a 20-point lead. She began the scoring with a driving left-side layup, then took a cross-court pass from Achter and drilled a left-corner three-pointer at the 18:59 mark, and the Rockets, trailing by a 44-24 count, burned a timeout.
Out of that timeout, however, Mann rebounded a UT miss. At the other end, Honegger faked a three-point shot and, in one motion, fired the ball to her classmate under the hoop. Mann's layup gave the Falcons a 22-point lead and completed a 7-0 run.
Danielle Bishop hit a three-pointer for the Midnight Blue and Gold, but the Falcons still had the momentum. Moments later, after a BG miss, Mann was able to sneak behind a Rocket player and knock the ball away. That play led to Honegger's finding a wide-open Mann for a layup and a 50-29 lead with 16:22 left.
The next few minutes featured few points and several turnovers and scrambles for losse balls. UT cut the lead to 50-33 before Mann hit another layup. Then, on the break, Mann fired an 'Ali-oop' pass to Horne for yet another BG layup and a 54-33 lead at the 11:46 media timeout.
UT got as close as 17 points on an Aaron Richmond jumper with 9:17 left, but BG then scored the next five points on two Horne charity tosses and Achter's driving and-one layup. A few minutes later, McCall's steal and coast-to-coast layup made the score 61-40, and Flynn's hoop with 5:43 on the clock put the lead over 20 points for the remainder of the game.
Achter had seven points and seven assists in the win, while Mann's day included four assists and game-best totals of three steals and two blocks. McCall scored four points in the contest.
Bishop had nine points and Richmond seven for the Rockets.
BGSU held a 45-36 rebounding advantage, and the Falcons had 36 points in the paint to the Rockets' 24.
The Falcons and Kent State will tangle for the title at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, with the game televised on Fox Sports Net Ohio as well as Comcast (Michigan and Chicago areas) and Adelphia (Buffalo).
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