Bowling Green State University
EASTERN MICHIGAN
Falcons Roar Back to Beat Eagles, 57-43
February 16, 2008 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 16, 2008
Miller post-game audio(BGSU) | Prochaska & Achter post-game audio (BGSU) | AnnMarie Gilbert post-game audio |
Final Stats
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team went on a 22-3 run to end the game, downing Eastern Michigan, 57-43, inside Anderson Arena on Saturday night.
The win moves the Falcons to 19-6 overall and 8-3 in Mid-American Conference action while Eastern Michigan falls out of the current first place race with their now 7-4 league record. The Eagles are 13-10 on the season after losing for the first time in three games tonight. The race for the top of the MAC charts was also narrowed as BGSU, Miami and Western Michigan won to move to 8-3 in the conference, Eastern fell to 7-4 and Ohio was idle (7-3).
Freshman Lauren Prochaska led the Falcons with 17 points and eight rebounds while classmate Jennifer Uhl contributed 13 of the 15 points off the Falcons' bench. She has now scored in double-figures in each of the Falcons' last three games and has put up 10-plus in four of the past five MAC outings. Uhl is averaging 7.1 ppg in MAC only games as the sixth/seventh man for BG.
All but seven of the Eastern points were scored by the core group of the starting five with Colleen Russell (18) and Canea Williams (10) inputting 65-percent of the Eagles' points on the board. The forward and the guard combined for 28 points and 10-of-16 made EMU FG's.
In what was deemed an 'ugly' first half by both BGSU head coach Curt Miller and Eastern Michigan head coach AnnMarie Gilbert, Bowling Green was 4-of-24 from the floor. Three field goals came from behind the three point line and the lone two-point field goal came inside the paint on a Tracy Pontius jumper at the 4:44 mark. Prochaska, Uhl and Lindsey Goldsberry each sunk one trey in the first half, but combined for 3-of-10 in doing so.
At the half, EMU was winning the battle of the scoring percentages - but not by much. The Eagles were 9-of-37 from the field en route to shooting 24.3% also with three made three's.
Similarly to the Central Michigan win just one game removed, free throws kept the Falcons in the hunt during the opening half. BGSU out shot EMU from the line going 7-of-8 while Williams made the only FT EMU was awarded in the initial 20:00.
Additionally, to begin the game BGSU was 3-17 at the 10:06 mark while Eastern had taken a 16-11 lead thanks to their 7-20 shooting.
EMU would score twice more from the floor in the following three minutes, but would be held without a field goal or a free throw for the remainder of the half. The 7:00 drought marked the second longest by a BG opponent in Anderson Arena this season; the Falcons held Chicago State scoreless for 7:47 at home in their non-conference finale to begin the month of January.
Before intermission, the Falcons would not score on consecutive occasions from the floor, but did record back-to-back tallies after Pontius' jumper in the lane (4:44) and a made free throw by Prochaska 31-seconds later (4:13). A pair of free throws by Goldsberry at 3:55 would mark the final scoring effort for either team through the end of the half.
Bowling Green's largest lead of the first half was a 6-2 plus-four margin at 16:21; EMU tied the score at six-all on Russell's lay-up at 13:10 and would hold the lead for the rest of the half. Although BGSU cut the deficit to one point by 12:18, the Eagles managed to increase that boundary to nine points on a Kelly Watts three at 7:00, 22-13. As previously mentioned, that score would be the last of the first half points for EMU.
After a full 20-minutes of action, EMU was up on the hosts, 22-18, and was out rebounding BGSU 30-19. The Eagles had also tripled the Falcons, 12-4, on the offensive boards and recorded a 9-2 advantage in the second chance points category.
To open the latter half BG picked up a quick four points to tie the match at 22-all at 18:39 but would not score again until 14:44 on a Prochaska three pointer - in that duration, EMU went on a 7-0 run led by Russell's five points. After the freshman's long range jumper, BGSU cut the Eagles lead to a bucket, 29-27, on a Uhl lay-up at 13:56. The rookie post would then go on to score all eight of the Falcons points through the 11:04 mark; her final field goal of the run put BGSU ahead one, 34-33.
Taking advantage of another BGSU scoring drought, Eastern Michigan netted jumpers by Kivilcim Yamanoglu and Williams and then took a five point lead back over BG on a pair of Russell free throws by 8:42. She would go on to finish the night at 6-7 from the free throw line.
Goldsberry's jumper at 8:09, which broke a nearly three minute silent period for the Falcons since Uhl's last FG, began what would become that triumphant 22-3 run.
As the Falcons lessened and then broke free of the EMU lead with Crystal Murdaugh's turnaround jumper in the lane at 6:52, BG went 7-10 from the floor and 7-10 from the free throw line. EMU was just 1-10 from the floor and 3-5 from the stripe. Prochaska led the final run scoring eight points while Achter was good for six points and four uninterrupted assists. Murdaugh also contributed four points in the lane while Breske and Goldsberry chipped in a pair of points each.
The Falcons will remain in the fan friendly confines of Anderson Arena this week as they return to MAC East play as Kent State comes to town for Wednesday night action. The Orange and Brown are set to clash with the Golden Flashes at 7:00 p.m. on Feb. 20. KSU will enter the game at 4-7 in league play, but will be riding a 15 point come-from-behind win over preseason favorite Ball State, 69-54.
FALCONS BY THE NUMBERS
* 16.7 - percent of field goals made by the Falcons in the first half. (4-24)
* 51.9 - percent of field goals made by the Falcons in the second half. (14-27)
* 20 - points BGSU scored as a result of Eastern Michigan's 23 turnovers ... the Eagles scored just two off BGSU's 18 TO's.
* 5 and 6 - field goals scores by Jennifer Uhl and EMU's Colleen Russell; each was a respective team high.
*15 - BGSU bench points ... 13 came from Uhl.
* 36 - BGSU points scored by freshman class (63.2%)
* 352 - points scored by Prochaska to date; not only does she rank third on the all-time rookie list, but with her 17 points tonight she surpasses teammate Kate Achter's total of 341 making her the second highest scoring freshman under head coach Curt Miller ... Ali Mann is the only Miller coached player to outrank Prochaska on that list with 400 points (2nd overall).
