Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
VALPARAISO
Valparaiso Drops Falcons, 69-58
November 19, 2008 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 19, 2008
Final Stats
BGSU-Valpo Boxscore in PDF Format 
VALPARAISO, Ind. (BGSUFalcons.com) - Host Valparaiso University shot a blistering percentage from three-point range, and used a 22-5 second-half run to pull away from the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team Wednesday night (Nov. 19). The Crusaders downed the Falcons by a 69-58 final at the Athletics-Recreation Center.
Coach Miller Post-Game AudioWith the win, the hosts improve to 1-0 on the young season, while the Falcons fall to 0-2 for the first time since the 1996-97 campaign.
Valpo's Agnieszka Kulaga had a game-high 22 points, while teammate Aimee Litka had a double-double, with 17 points and a game-best 12 rebounds.
Sophomore Lauren Prochaska led the Falcons with 15 points, and junior Niki McCoy and soph Tracy Pontius scored 11 apiece.
The home team went 10-of-19 (52.6 percent) from three-point land, with Litka making five of her seven long-range tries.
"I thought Valparaiso executed very well," said BGSU head coach Curt Miller. "They took advantage of our young defense, and got on a roll shooting the basketball. That is something they are capable of doing, with their three senior guards, and they did a nice job on the offensive end tonight.
"It's going to be a work in progress this season. We are certainly not the team we have been the last four or five years, when we have averaged 27 wins a year. We are going to get better, but tonight, Valpo's execution was the story, and I thought they looked very good coming out of the gate."
The Falcons scored the first four points of the night, including a McCoy running layup as she headed left-to-right across the lane. Senior Lindsey Goldsberry found junior Tara Breske for a layup and a 6-3 lead, and Goldsberry then picked up a steal and fed Pontius for a breakaway layup.
At the first media timeout of the night, four of BG's five starters had scored, while the fifth -- Goldsberry -- had two assists and a steal. But, the hosts would respond.
A quick 6-0 run gave Valpo a 9-8 lead at the 14:45 mark. Breske drove the lane and kicked the ball to Prochaska for a right-side three-pointer, but the Crusaders scored the next six points for a 15-11 lead.
The Brown and Orange got some second-chance points, as junior Sarah Clapper tracked down her own miss and eventually found freshman Maribeth Giese for a three-pointer. But, the Crusaders went on another run, with a step-back triple by Litka giving VU a 22-14 lead and prompting a Falcon timeout.
Breske, the recipient of a high entry pass, made a leap to tip the ball out to Pontius, who hit a right-side trey to cut the VU lead to 22-17. Several minutes later, out of a timeout, Goldsberry found sophomore Jen Uhl down low for an 'and-one' layup. Uhl hit the ensuing free throw, and the Falcons were within four points, 28-24.
But, Kulaga responded with a nice move in traffic, hitting a short up-and-under jumper at the shot-clock buzzer. Then, Betsy Adams hit a trey to give the hosts a 33-25 lead.
McCoy drove and drew a foul on VU's Sylwia Zabielewicz, the second foul of the night for the 6-foot-6 center. McCoy split her free throws.
BG got the ball back and had several shots in the final seconds of the half. But, after the Falcons' second shot of the possession, BG was whistled for a foul on the rebound. With no time left in the half, Whitney Farris was awarded a one-and-one opportunity, and hit both shots as she stood at the line by herself. The hosts took a 35-28 lead into the break.
In that first half, both teams had 11 turnovers, but Valpo shot 50.0% from the field to the Falcons' 30.8%.
McCoy scored the first four points of the second half, hitting a layup, then driving and drawing the third foul on Zabielewicz. This time, McCoy knocked down both charity tosses, and the Falcons were within 35-32.
Valpo responded, with another Litka three-pointer followed by a Kulaga jumper. Breske hit a jumper, and Goldsberry spotted McCoy for a layup to cut the margin to 40-36. But, Katie Emig answered with a layup to give the hosts a six-point advantage at the first media timeout of the half.
Pontius knocked down a three, but Ashley Varner returned the favor for the Crusaders. Fifty seconds later, Prochaska took a pass from Pontius on the fastbreak, pulled up behind the arc and drained her shot to cut the hosts' lead to three once again, 45-42.
BG was able to get a stop, but the Falcons then threw the ball out of bounds at the other end of the court. Again, the Falcons got a stop, forcing a missed jumper, but BG could not convert.
Out of a media timeout, Kulaga hit a wide-open three-pointer, and a BG turnover led to a Kulaga layup, a 5-0 run in a 12-second span, and an eight-point lead.
McCoy again got herself to the line, and again hit a pair of free throws, but the Crusaders proceeded to score seven-straight points to extend the lead into double digits for the first time. Lauren Kenney's layup with 9:24 remaining capped that run, which was part of the aforementioned 22-5 run.
Prochaska knocked down a three-pointer, cutting BG's deficit to 10 points, but the hosts then scored 12-straight points over a six-minute span, with Kulaga's jumper giving VU a 69-47 lead with 2:39 left.
The Falcons scored the game's last 11 points, but the damage had been done. Sophomore Chelsea Albert, Pontius and Clapper all hit shots during that span, with Pontius assisting on an Albert layup and a Clapper three-pointer, picking up a steal and breakaway layup as well. Junior Laura Bugher was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw stripe during that run.
For the game, the home team shot 48.1% from the field, holding the Falcons to a 34.0% rate. VU was 10-of-19 from beyond the arc, while the Brown and Orange went 7-for-19. BG had the advantage at the free-throw line, with a 17-for-22 night compared to Valpo's 7-for-13 effort.
In addition to her 11 points, McCoy led the Falcons with six rebounds, while Pontius had five. The Crusaders owned a narrow 36-32 advantage on the glass.
Each team had seven second-half turnovers for a total of 18, and each team had seven steals and two blocked shots in the game. Points in the paint were also even, at 20-20.
The Falcons now return home to prepare for Saturday's (Nov. 22) game vs. Lipscomb. That game will begin at 2:00 p.m. at venerable Anderson Arena, "The House That Roars."
NOTES * The Falcons have started the season with two losses for the first time in 12 years ... the last team to go 0-2 was the 1996-97 squad, which dropped home games to Notre Dame and West Virginia to start the year ... Jaci Clark's club actually dropped the first five games of the season (losing to Colorado and Louisville in Boulder, then losing at Michigan State), but recovered to go 15-13 overall and advance to the semifinal round of the MAC Tournament.
* Wednesday's win was Valparaiso's first against the Falcons in four tries.
* Celebrity sightings: Former Falcon greats Liz Honegger and Ali Mann were in attendance at Wednesday night's game ... both Honegger and Mann are currently coaching in the state of Indiana.
