Bowling Green State University
Kent State (Quarterfinal)
Falcons Down Flashes, 85-57, to Open MAC Tournament Play
March 11, 2008 | Women's Basketball
March 11, 2008
Final Stats |
Photo Gallery 
Coach Miller, Achter and Breske Postgame Audio
CLEVELAND, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team got off to a successful start in the Kraft Mid-American Conference Tournament, posting an 85-57 win over Kent State University. The game, a quarterfinal-round contest, was held at Quicken Loans Arena.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 25-6 on the year, and BGSU advances to face Ohio University in Friday's (March 14) semifinal round. KSU sees the season come to an end at 9-21.
The Falcons increased a pair of winning streaks to 10 games. BGSU has won 10-straight games this season, since a loss to Western Michigan on Jan. 30. Additionally, the Brown and Orange now has won 10 consecutive games at Gund/Quicken Loans Arena, with the last loss at the venue coming to Eastern Michigan in the championship game of the 2004 MAC Tournament.
Senior Kate Achter and sophomore Tara Breske staked the Falcons to a 44-20 halftime lead Tuesday night. Achter had 10 of her game-high 11 assists in the first half, as the Falcons had 14 helpers on 16 first-half baskets. Achter just missed a double-double with nine points on the night, and she had four steals to tie her season best.
Breske had a double-double, with 16 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, as the Falcons had a 45-33 advantage in the latter category. Breske had 14 points and eight boards in the first half alone.
Breske tied Achter for game honors with four steals, a career high. The Falcons forced 21 KSU turnovers, totaling 12 steals.
Freshmen Jen Uhl, Bianca Hooten and Lauren Prochaska joined the aforementioned duo in double digits. Uhl had 15 points, going 6-for-9 from the field, and added six rebounds in the win.
Hooten scored a season-high 13 points in just 11 minutes of action, all in the second half. She hit her first three-point attempts on the night, in a span of just 64 seconds. Prochaska scored 10 points and pulled down seven rebounds in the game.
Ellie Shields led the Golden Flashes with 19 points and seven rebounds off the bench, while Chenel Harris added 13 points and Anna Kowalska 10.
Both teams got off to slow shooting starts, as the first points did not come until almost 90 seconds had elapsed. Freshman Crystal Murdaugh grabbed her own miss and converted a putback, giving the Falcons a lead they would never relinquish. A Prochaska three-point field goal put BG up by a 5-0 count with two minutes gone.
An Asheley Harkins layup and a Stephanie Gibson trey got the Flashes within 7-5, but junior Lindsey Goldsberry drained a triple of her own, and Breske's fadeaway J gave the Falcons a 12-5 advantage at the first media timeout of the night.
The Flashes scored out of that timeout, but Breske's three-point play gave her seven points and the Falcons a 15-7 lead. Then, Achter's nice pass found Murdaugh for an easy layup and a 10-point advantage. That trend - Achter threading the needle to free her teammates for uncontested layups - would continue throughout the half.
Breske knocked down a pair of free throws for a 19-7 lead, before KSU scored five-straight points to get within seven. Rachel Bennett scored off an inbounds pass to cap that run.
Murdaugh, who scored seven points on the night, split a pair of free throws to snap that KSU mini-run, then hit a jumper for a 22-12 advantage at the 10:46 mark. Gibson's jumper got the Flashes within eight, but another Breske three-point play put the lead into double digits for good.
Then, Breske made the extra pass to find Goldsberry for a wide-open left-side triple, a 28-14, and KSU's second timeout of the first half. But, the timeout would not halt the Falcons' momentum.
Achter found Uhl for a reverse layup and a 30-15 lead with under six minutes left in the half. The senior was just getting started, however. Achter had steals on the next two KSU possessions, following each theft with an assist on baskets by Breske and Uhl, respectively. On the second, Achter made a steal while being knocked out of bounds at the defensive end of the court. She fired a pass to a teammate before hitting the deck, then popped up to receive a return pass. Achter drove the length of the court before firing a bounce pass to Uhl, and BG's advantage was 34-15, prompting the Flashes' third timeout of the half at the 4:39 mark.
Shields hit a free throw, then a jumper. But, Achter made a layup, then drove around a would-be defender and whipped a pass to Uhl for her 10th assist and a 38-18 lead. A Goldsberry three-pointer in the final minute capped a 7-0 run to end the half.
The Flashes threatened to make a game of it in the second half. KSU scored the first 10 points of the period, with Shields scoring six, and BG's lead was 44-30 at the 17:16 mark.
BG broke that run as Achter got to the line and hit both free-throw tries, but Shields came back with two tosses of her own, followed by a jumper, and BG's halftime lead had been cut in half, from 24 points to 12.
Prochaska hit a pull-up jumper, before Shields answered at the other end. But, Prochaska responded with a three-pointer, and Breske's steal led to Achter's driving layup. BG's lead was back to 17 points, 53-36, at the 14:52 mark.
Shields scored yet again, giving her 12 points in the half, and Harris followed two Uhl free throws with a three-pointer. Breske's driving layup gave the Falcons a 57-41 lead with 11:14 left, and after a Nicole Pribich charity toss, an 11-0 BG run sealed the win for the Brown and Orange.
That run began with Uhl's offensive rebound and layup, leading to a three-point play. Hooten then began her 64-second scoring frenzy with back-to-back treys, at the 9:20 and 8:53 marks, respectively. The second triple was followed by KSU's final timeout of the night, as BG had a 66-42 lead.
Achter capped the 11-point run, ripping the ball away from an unsuspecting Harkins and driving downcourt for a layup.
Harkins went to the line and made a pair, but yet another Hooten three-ball gave the Falcons a 71-44 lead, and KSU would get no closer than 25 points the rest of the night.
Freshman Tracy Pontius gave the Falcons some inspired play in the late stages of the game, helping to keep the Flashes from drawing closer. Pontius drove the lane and dished to a wide-open Uhl, and followed that with a steal which led to another Uhl layup and a 75-46 lead.
Goldsberry had nine points on the night, going 3-for-4 from three-point land. Ten different Falcons found the scoresheet.
BGSU, as mentioned, advances to face Ohio in Friday's semifinal round. The Falcons and Bobcats will meet in a game scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. OU advanced to Friday play with a 76-62 win over Eastern Michigan on Tuesday.
In Friday's first game, Miami will meet Toledo. Both teams posted 65-60 victories on Tuesday, with the RedHawks downing Western Michigan and the Rockets upsetting Ball State.
