Bowling Green State University
Florida Gulf Coast
Perfect (5-0) Strangers - Falcons Beat First Time Opponent Florida Gulf Coast
November 30, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 30, 2007
ITHACA, N.Y. - The Bowling Green State University post players accounted for 42 of the Falcons 74 points as BG won the `battle of the birds', 74- 60, against the Eagles of Florida Gulf Coast University in game one of the Cornell Classic. The Falcons perfect 5-0 overall record remains intact while the Eagles, a first year Division I representative, drops to 1-3.
Sophomore reserve Tara Breske nearly doubled her previous career-high of nine points as a result of scoring a game-high 16 points in the winning effort; in fact, head coach Curt Miller's bench was responsible for 43 points in the win. Fellow second-year Falcons Sarah Clapper and Laura Bugher also broke and matched their respective career-highs with eight and seven points. Clapper was 3-4 from the field, including a perfect outing with a pair of three pointers, while Bugher was flawless going 3-of-3 from the floor with a long range field-goal. As a class, the sophomores were 14-19 sinking 74 percent of their shots.
FGCU's Amanda Pierce played a direct role in the Eagles first seven points of the game scoring five and assisting on a lay-up keeping the opponent within a point of the Falcons, 8-7, with three quarters of the first half yet to be played.
Throughout the first 20 minutes, the Eagles tested the Falcons tying their lead on four occasions and forced BG to make plays of their own to bring about another two equalizers. The seesaw opening did not allow either team to hold more than a six point lead.
At the 10:48 mark, senior Whitney Taylor landed one of her two made three's to give the Falcons the positive margin over the Eagles and BGSU would go on to narrowly stave off the opponents for almost a solid seven minutes.
With less than four minutes to play, Delia De La Torre helped the Eagles take a one point lead (28-27) that was soon given back to the Falcons as a result of Breske's made lay-up (29-29). In the first half alone, the post player had accounted for 10 of the Orange and Brown's points.
De La Torre, who finished the night with 15 points, tied the contest for the sixth and final time at 32-all with two-and-a-half minutes still to be played as a result of her successful money ball. The tie did not last long though due to Clapper's matching field goal thirty seconds later giving Bowling Green a lead they would only expand through the remaining minutes of regulation; in the second half, the advantage reached as high as 18 points.
Bowling Green held the defending DII National Runner's-Up scoreless for the opening 6:50 minutes of the second half and extened their 37-34 three point halftime lead into the double-digits thanks to a 16-4 run over the Eagles to begin the latter 20-minutes.
As a result of the lead, which reached and remained at plus-10 points beyond the 15:20 mark, and the nearly seven minute scoring draught by the Eagles, Bowling Green was able to put the game out of reach and ensure their second largest win (14 points) of the season.
With the victory the Orange and Brown will now draw host Cornell for the tournament championship tomorrow (Dec. 1). To date, BG is 3-4 when facing the tournament host under Miller, but has not lost day two of an in-season tournament in their past seven tries. The 5:00 p.m. championship game is the second of a triple header inside of Cornell's Newman Arena; following the women's tournament, the Big Red Men's team will also see home action.
##BGSU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL##
