Bowling Green State University
Saint Francis
Prochaska, Falcons Explode for 98-74 Win at SFU
November 25, 2008 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 25, 2008
Final Stats
BGSU-Saint Francis (Pa.) Boxscore in PDF Format 
Miller and Prochaska Post-Game Audio
LORETTO, Pa. (BGSUFalcons.com) - Sophomore Lauren Prochaska exploded for a career-high 32 points -- just three shy of the school record -- as the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team rolled to a 98-74 win over Saint Francis University Tuesday night (Nov. 25). The non-conference game was held at SFU's DeGol Arena in the Maurice Stokes Athletics Center.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 2-2 on the young season, while dropping the Red Flash to 0-4.
BGSU scored 55 points in the first half, shooting 61.8 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes. For the game, the Brown and Orange shot 58.1%.
Prochaska, who had a career-high of 24 points entering the game, had 23 points in the opening half of Tuesday's game.
Junior Tara Breske had 15 points for the Falcons, while sophomore Chelsea Albert had 13 points and freshman Jessica Slagle 11. Albert and Slagle each had career-high scoring totals.
For the hosts, Brittany Lilley had 21 points to lead three players in double figures.
Prochaska was 13-of-18 from the field, making five of her seven three-point tries. Albert was efficient, to say the least, going 6-of-6 from the floor and grabbing four offensive rebounds in 13 minutes off the bench.
Breske went 5-for-7 from the floor in the win. Sophomore Jen Uhl had eight points and a game-high nine rebounds, including four offensive boards to match Albert for game honors in that category. The Falcons held a 38-23 advantage on the boards.
On a snowy night in Western Pennsylvania, Prochaska and the Falcons got off to a fast start. The soph took a pass from classmate Tracy Pontius and hit a right-elbow triple just 10 seconds into the game, then fed Breske for a jumper and a 5-0 lead.
The hosts battled back to within 6-5, before Prochaska sliced through traffic for a rebound and putback. Britney Hodges picked up a steal several minutes later, however, finding Lilley for a layup.
BGSU got Janie Killian in trouble early, as the 6-foot-4 center picked up her second foul at the 17:41 mark, then got her third foul only moments after coming back into the game, midway through the first half.
The game was back and forth for the next few minutes, with both teams finding shooting success. Pontius found Slagle for a baseline layup, and Prochaska then made a nifty fake, blowing by her defender for a layup. But, Samantha Leach canned a jumper at the other end, giving the hosts a 16-15 lead and prompting the Falcons' second timeout of the first eight minutes. At that point, the teams had combined for 13 turnovers.
After another Leach jumper, Uhl grabbed an offensive rebound and found Prochaska for a short jumper, tying the game at 18-18. Breske then scored eight of the Falcons' next nine points. First, the junior drew Killian's third foul and knocked down both free throws. Then, Breske hit a jumper as BG cut the home team's lead to 28-27.
Then, the Falcons got three-straight fast-break layups. After a Lilley jumper, Pontius quickly fired the ball ahead to Breske for a layup. Leach scored on another jumper, and again, Pontius found Breske ahead of the pack for another layup. That shot began a 12-0 run that would give the Brown and Orange the lead for good.
After picking up back-to-back assists, Pontius scored herself, off a steal by junior Niki McCoy. The Falcons led by a 29-28 score, and SFU coach Susan Robinson Fructl took a timeout with seven minutes left before halftime.
Out of the timeout, however, a Prochaska steal led to an `and-one' layup around the third media break. The soph then hit a three-ball to give the visitors a seven-point lead, 35-28.
Albert converted back-to-back putbacks, sandwiched around a pair of Hodges free throws, giving the Falcons a 39-30 advantage. Then, Uhl had a putback of her own to put the lead into double digits for the first time.
Prochaska caught fire, hitting three-pointers one minute apart and finding Albert for a layup in between. After Prochaska's second triple, the Falcons had a 12-point lead.
With each team continuing to score, the lead fluctuated between 10 and 12 points for the remainder of the half. Prochaska's driving layup with just over a second left in the period gave the Falcons a 55-43 lead at the break.
The point total marked BGSU's highest in a half since a 55-point effort against Miami in February of 2007.
Prochaska was prolific in that opening period, with 23 points in the period. The Falcons shot 61.8% in the half, going 21-of-34 from the field, but SFU shot almost as well, with a 55.2% field-goal rate (16-for-29).
Both teams continued to score as the second half began. Each team had a turnover, then both the Falcons and Red Flash scored on two-straight possessions. McCoy hit a jumper, and Pontius drained her only three-point try of the night. When Prochaska scored yet another triple at the 17:40 mark, the Falcons' lead was 16 points, and the Red Flash took time.
BG gradually extended the lead beyond 20 points, and the Falcons were never headed the rest of the way.
The Falcons had 21 assists on their 36 baskets, and BG had 17 steals in the win. Pontius had six points and a game-high six assists, while McCoy scored eight points and had four helpers. Senior Lindsey Goldsberry had four assists, and tied for game honors with five steals.
Prochaska had seven rebounds and Breske six in the win.
For the Red Flash, Leach and Hodges joined Lilley in double digits in the scoring column. Leach had 16 points, while Hodges had 12 points and led the hosts with four assists and five steals.
The Falcons now continue on to Greensboro, N.C., for two games in this weekend's UNCG Marriott Classic. The Falcons will face Winston-Salem State on Friday (Nov. 28) and UNC Greensboro the following day.
FALCON NOTES
* The Falcons now lead the series with Saint Francis by a 3-0 count ... BGSU is now 2-0 at DeGol Arena, with the only previous game having gone to overtime (an 80-74 Falcon win on Dec. 18, 2004).
* BGSU's total of 98 points was the Falcons' highest single-game output in over four years, since a 115-84 blowout at IPFW on Nov. 19, 2004.
* Sophomore Lauren Prochaska's prolific scoring output Tuesday night marked the first 30-point game of her collegiate career ... her previous best had been 24 points in the Falcons' WNIT game at Michigan State last March ... Prochaska tied her career best with five three-point field goals made ... she hit five triples on three occasions last year, including in that MSU game.
* Prochaska was just three away from three school single-game records -- points, field goals made and three-pointers made ... a BGSU player has scored 35 points in a game four times, with Francine Miller doing it twice and Jackie Motycka and Jacki Raterman once each ... Raterman has the school record with 16 field goals made, and Whitney Taylor hit a BG-record eight triples in last year's win at Kent State.
* Sophomore Chelsea Albert set several career highs in the win ... her total of 13 points bested her previous mark of nine points, set vs. Miami last Feb. 23 ... Albert also set a personal best with her six field goals made.
* Freshman Jessica Slagle's 11 points were the most of her brief BGSU career ... she had scored 10 points in the Falcons' first three games.
* Soph Tracy Pontius has set or tied her career best for assists in each of this year's four games ... after recording three assists in both the Temple and Valparaiso games, Pontius had four helpers vs. Lipscomb, before dishing out six at SFU.
* Another sophomore, Jen Uhl, pulled down nine rebounds, the most of her Falcon career ... Uhl's total of four offensive rebounds was her highest as a Falcon.
* All three Falcon freshmen were on the court at the same time during a first-half stretch ... Maribeth Giese, Victoria McGowan and Slagle were joined by sophs Prochaska and Uhl during that time.
* BGSU's 55-point first half marked the team's highest output since the first half of the Feb. 28, 2007, game vs. Miami ... the Falcons went on to a 92-62 win over the RedHawks on Senior Night at Anderson Arena.
* The Falcons were coming off a 71-52 win over Lipscomb on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 22) ... Tuesday night, BG led SFU by that same 71-52 score, but over 14 minutes remained in the second half.
