Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Iowa State
Falcons Fall to Iowa State in First Game of Cyclone Shootout
December 28, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2007
Final Stats | Quotes
AMES, Iowa - The Iowa State University Cyclones (9-2) connected on eight three's in the second half, including three in the final five-minutes, as the hosts defeated the Bowling Green State University Falcons (8-3), 74-57, on the opening night of action of the Iowa State Cyclone Shootout.
The game featured 23 made three-point field-goals with BGSU producing a season-high 11. The dead-eye shooting marked their first 10-plus three-point contest since Feb. 17, 2007 - a MAC road contest at the University at Buffalo. The last time the squad saw an equivalent number in non-conference action was Nov. 29, 2006 when they sunk 12 vs. Oakland. Bowling Green went on to win both games. The deep game was needed tonight as the Falcons' posts shot 17.6-percent (3-17) inside the arc; the Falcons would finish the game with just 10 points inside the paint.
On the individual level, guards Kate Achter and Lauren Prochaska controlled the scoreboard with their 36 combined points (18 points per player). Prochaska also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds en route to documenting her first collegiate double-double. Her night also commemorated the first time a Falcon freshman celebrated such a milestone in three seasons. On Feb 21, 2004 both Carin Horne and Ali Mann contributed 15 points to the Falcons total score while the duo brought down a respective 10 and 16 rebounds that same night. Oddly enough, head coach Curt Miller and Co. lost that game also, 71-62. Prochaska is only the sixth rookie under Miller to join the "Double-Double" club and the only player to not do it in the 2003-04 season.
After the opening tip-off and a pair of scoreless possessions, Achter drew first blood sinking her fourth three pointer of the season and just the sixth of her career. Lindsey Goldsberry, on the other hand, landed the 53rd of her career (18th of the season) on the following trip down the court.
Bowling Green took the opening 6-0 lead on the host's three possessions into the game, but fifty-three made three's was not enough for Goldsberry as she knocked down number fifty-four in the 15th minute of the game to put BG ahead 9-4 over the Big XII opponent. At the first media break (15:10) the Falcons were taming the winds' of the Cyclones shooting 3-6 from the floor and 3-3 from the three-point range.
Soon there after the lead was leveled to 9-all as ISU's Heather Ezell brought the host within a field-goal with a three-pointer of her own, while Jocelyn Anderson, netted the needed jumper less than thirty second later. Yet, the tie was short lived as Prochaska responded with a jumper in the Falcons' territory.
Iowa State stole their first lead of the night on a well played transition basket where Nicky Wieben was found alone near the backboard as each of the teams scrambled to get down court. Denae Stuckey was credited with the assist on the break-away. Wieben would go on to finish the game with 11 points while Stuckey would toss three assists.
Jennifer Uhl gave the lead back to the Falcons sinking a `banker' from the slight right side of the court and, after letting in a Cyclone field-goal, was mimicked by Tara Breske. Breske also used a bit of geometry to create the proper angle to kiss the glass in the attempt.
Although the great majority (83%) of the Falcons' points were gained deep on their own side of the court, Iowa State continued to battle the Orange and Brown with a succession of short jumpers and was up 20-17 by the second media timeout. At 7:58 BGSU was shooting 40-percent from the field (6-15) and was 5-9 (55.6%) from behind the arc. ISU was also taking advantage of a successful shooting night. The Cyclones were shooing 69.2 percent (9-13).
After being held without a field goal for 2:14 the Cyclones found their shooting touch once again first scoring inches from the basket and later extending that range behind the semicircle. Iowa State took advantage of a 13-4 run and was up 33-21 with three-minutes and change still lingering in the first half.
Bowling Green was suffering in a dry spell of their own, but Prochaska ended the drought as she `made it rain' with the team's sixth three-pointer of the night at 3:21. Bowling Green stepped it up a notch as Uhl drew a charge on the ensuing Iowa State possession. Yet another rookie, Chelsea Albert, made the most of the Iowa State turnover converting a short jumper in the post. BG would score 20 points off turnovers before the final buzzer sounded.
At 2:25 Achter, one of three Falcons to be sent to the line and the second leading free throw shooter in Falcon history, chipped away not only at the Cyclones' lead but also at Mann's made free throw record, converting a pair she drew on the defensive end. The double-shot of points put the Falcons within five of the Cyclones, 33-28.
Two-minutes later a series of quick passes put the ball back into Achter's hands and the Falcons took a 30-35 deficit into the locker room.
Despite their obvious undersized status (five of the Cyclones' stand at 6'0 or taller while just three of the Falcons boast such height measurements), the Falcons were narrowly out-rebounded, 15-13, in the first half. Additionally, they allowed ISU just two offensive boards and two second-chance field-goals.
Also in the first half, the scored was tied twice while the lead changed hands on five occasions before finally resting with the Cyclones through the end of the contest.
To begin the new period, Bowling Green found themselves down, 39-32, in the opening minutes of the second half but was soon down just four thanks to Prochaska's second deep-rooted field-goal of the night. At the time, she was 2-4 when making it count for three points.
Within what seemed to be the blink of an eye, if one takes three-minutes to blink their eye, the Falcons four-point deficit was extended 13 as the Cyclones lived up to their mascot's meaning swirling a 9-0 run over the visiting Falcons. When Kelsey Bolte grabbed a defensive rebound and scored on the other end of the court BG was forced to take a TO to reorganize in an attempt to end the scoring surge. Iowa State had taken 48-35 lead symbolizing their largest lead of the night to that point in the game. By game's end, ISU would lead by as many as 17 points.
Out of the 30-second restructuring session Prochaska swished her third three pointer of the night when Uhl found her after snatching an offensive rebound. Iowa State once again answered with a good field-goal, but when Achter recorded her first multi-three-point night of her career sinking her second trio at 11:31 the Falcons were back within nine-points of the hosts.
A small scoring drought once again plagued both teams as the game was blinded of any scoring actions for 2:11. Once again it was Prochaska who knocked down a big shot as she hit her fourth long-one of the night to bring the Falcons within six-points, 50-44, at 9:20.
Much like their previous 9-0 run, Iowa State took control of the game out-scoring the Falcons 10-4 between the 9:20 and the 6:36 marks. During the timeframe, the hosts shot nothing but three-point field-goals and boasted a 75-percent success rate going 3-4. Anderson was the Cyclone's go-to-girl netting a point, two defensive rebounds and a blocked shot.
Bowling Green continued to cut lead to under double-digits getting as low as a six-point discrepancy, but the Cyclones also continued to drain shots of their own and was able to build another 12-or-more point lead through the remaining five-minutes of the game.
Bowling Green will now face the Hampton Lady Pirates tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. in Game Three of the Iowa State Cyclone Shootout. In the opening game of the tournament, Hampton (5-4) defeated the University of Tennessee-Martin (3-8), 57-47. Starters Artavia Burns, Rachel Butler and Chinyere Ukoh combined for 42 points in the Lady Pirates win.
Falcon Notables:
* Bowling Green is the only team to end a match tied with Iowa State on the boards in 2007 - each squad had 33 total rebounds. In fact, they are only one of four teams to keep the squad under 35 rebounds the entire 40:00 minutes of play.
*Lindsey Goldsberry was 3-3 from the field with each of her three makes coming from behind the arc. She was also a perfect 3-3 from long distance at the University of Indiana. In 2007, the Falcons are 2-2 when the junior makes three or more trey's and 0-2 when she is a flawless 3-3 on the road. *The Orange and Brown shot just five free throws with Kate Achter sinking both made FT's (2-5). The five attempts were a seasonal low for the team and the least attempts for the squad since taking just six at Chicago State in January last season in another non-conference road-competition.
*BGSU played in front of a crowd of 7,581 the day after a snow fall brought an estimated four-to-six inches of white wet weather accumulation to the Ames area. The crowd was the fourth largest a Miller coached team has played in front of - included in the stands was Miller's older sister Lori who flew in for the tournament from the West Coast.
##BGSU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL##
