Bowling Green State University
Detroit
Falcons Run Past Detroit, 72-42
December 03, 2008 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 3, 2008
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - Sophomore Tracy Pontius scored a career-high 16 points -- and recorded her first career blocked shot -- as the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team led from wire to wire in a 72-42 victory over the University of Detroit Mercy. The non-conference game was held at venerable Anderson Arena Wednesday night (Dec. 3).
With the win, the Falcons improve to 5-2, and BGSU has won five consecutive games after dropping the first two games of the year. The Titans fall to 2-5 on the young season.
Junior Niki McCoy had 13 points for the home team, while senior Lindsey Goldsberry rounded out BGSU's double-digit scorers, with a season-high 10 points. Pontius and Goldsberry ranked one-two in both assists and steals for the hosts, as Pontius led all players with five assists and four steals. Goldsberry dished out four assists and recorded three steals on the night.
Sandi Brown led the visitors with 11 points and nine assists, but had a game-high 10 turnovers on the evening. The Falcons forced the visitors into 26 turnovers in the game.
Falcon soph Chelsea Albert had nine points off the bench, shooting a perfect 1.000 from the field for the third time in the last four games. Albert made all three of her field goal attempts on the night.
The Falcons got the scoring started quickly, converting on their first two possessions. Off of a Pontius feed, Goldsberry drained a three-pointer, the Falcons' first of a season-high 12 triples. Then, after a UDM miss, sophomore Lauren Prochaska's entry pass found McCoy for a turnaround jumper, and BG had a 5-0 lead after 65 seconds.
The score remained the same until Pontius converted on a transition layup after McCoy's steal, prompting a UDM timeout at the 17:15 mark. When McCoy knocked down a jumper, the Falcons had a 9-0 lead at the first media break.
Finally, the visitors got on the scoreboard, on a Zemora Davis layup at the 15:11 mark. But, another Goldsberry triple was followed by two Pontius free throws, and the Falcon lead was 14-2.
A jumper by Brigid Mulroy, though, began a 9-0 run for the visitors, as UDM battled back to within three points. Three three-point field goals -- two by Pontius and one by Prochaska -- in a span of just over two minutes gave the Brown and Orange a 10-point lead, 23-13, with 9:03 left in the half. A Titan triple briefly cut the lead to seven points, but UDM would draw no closer.
With eight-and-a-half minutes on the clock, Pontius came up with one of the most crowd-pleasing plays of the night. She committed a turnover at the offensive end, but raced back downcourt. There, the sophomore point guard leapt high to block a shot by UDM's Chanica Hall, then directed the ball to a teammate before sailing into the two rows of bleachers at the north end of the arena. For Pontius, the block was the first of her career.
The Titans got within single digits for one final time, on a Mulroy jumper with 6:36 left in the half. But, those would be the visitors' final points of the opening period.
BG scored the last six points of the first half to take a 34-18 lead at the intermission. Then, after Heather Hatter's layup opened the second-half scoring, the Falcons used another 9-0 run to extend the lead to 43-20.
That run did not begin until 17:21 remained in the game. McCoy broke a scoring drought of several minutes, hitting a driving baseline one-hander while being fouled. McCoy's free throw gave BG a 37-20 advantage. Then, junior Sarah Clapper hit back-to-back treys, just 36 seconds apart. The second triple was a high, arcing shot that nearly brought rain and did bring a UDM timeout.
Brown scored four-straight points for the Titans, but Albert somehow converted an up-and-under layup attempt, off a Clapper feed, while being hacked in the act. Out of the 11:51 media timeout, Albert hit the ensuing FT to up BG's lead to 46-24.
The margin fluctuated between 18 and 24 points for the next few minutes until Prochaska, BGSU's leading scorer on the season, heated up. First, she took a pass from Albert while streaking down the lane and hit a layup. Then, Prochaska grabbed a defensive rebound and hit a three-pointer on the next possession. Those five points in 24 seconds gave BGSU a 27-point lead, 62-35, with 6:30 remaining.
When Goldsberry hit her third three-pointer of the night, BG's lead was 66-37. Kelly Zuercher's first career three-pointer gave the hosts a 69-40 lead in the late going, and the sophomore hit a turnaround jumper with 1:05 left. The final score was BGSU's biggest margin of the game.
BG shot 41.1 percent from the field, and hit 12-of-30 three-pointers (40.0%). The Falcon defense held the Titans to just 29.6% success from the floor.
Prochaska scored eight points and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds for the hosts, while Clapper scored six points and Zuercher five. Clapper also had four rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot.
Mulroy scored eight points for the Titans, while four of her teammates scored four points apiece.
The Falcons continue a four-game homestand Saturday (Dec. 6), hosting Youngstown State University. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at "The House That Roars."
NOTES
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* Sophomore Chelsea Albert, as mentioned, made every shot she took from the field, for the third time in the last four games ... Albert is now shooting 76.5% on the year, having gone 13-of-17 from the floor ... over the last four contests, she has made 12 shots in 14 attempts, for a success rate of 85.7%.
* Soph Tracy Pontius had a career-high 16 points in the win ... Pontius has set or tied her career scoring high four times in the Falcons' seven games.
* Pontius also set career standards in field goals made (five), steals (four), blocks (one) and three-pointers made (four) in the win over UDM.
* For the first time ever, BGSU has drawn even in the all-time series with Detroit ... the series is now deadlocked at 10-10, and BGSU has won four consecutive meetings ... the Titans won five-straight meetings from 1977 to 1981, and BGSU has been playing catch-up in the series ever since, until Wednesday.
* The Falcons are now 20-2 in non-conference home games since the start of the 2003-04 season ... BGSU is 16-1 against non-league opposition at Anderson Arena since November of 2004.
