Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Taking on Michigan State
March 22, 2008 | Women's Basketball
March 22, 2008
Recap |
Final Stats |
Miller Post Game Quotes |
Photo Gallery 
EAST LANSING, Mich. (BGSUFalcons.com) - We're in East Lansing for the second round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament. Why not keep a running diary while we're here? The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team is taking on Michigan State University at the Breslin Center. Check back for updates during the game ...
4:30 p.m. -- A few more quick thoughts from the postgame media room ... Prochaska had a career-high 24 points, ending her first season at BGSU with a total of 502 points. She is the first Falcon freshman ever to top the 500-point plateau. Achter and Taylor end their BGSU careers with a four-year record of 108-23. Another great year for Curt Miller and the Falcons.
4:24 p.m. -- Lindsey Goldsberry and Lauren Prochaska took their turns in the postgame interview room, and head coach Curt Miller and senior Kate Achter are at the podium right now. Miller and his staff guided a team with 10 players of freshman or sophomore status to 26 wins. Twenty-six wins. Pretty impressive.
3:53 p.m. -- Achter comes out of the game for the last time as a Falcon, with 8.4 seconds left, and goes down the line, receiving hugs from her coaching staff. Final score, 74-66 MSU. More to come in a little bit.
3:51 p.m. -- Achter is fouled by DeHaan and hits a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 71-66. Prochaska fouls on the inbound pass, and Thomas misses the front end of a one-and-one. But, Keane -- who was a huge factor in this game -- steals the rebound away from several Falcons.
3:49 p.m. -- The Spartans use nearly all of the shot clock, and Keane then grabs a rebound of her own miss. The possession ends with a DeHaan jumper with 47 seconds left.
3:45 p.m. -- Quickly, the Falcons come down the floor and Prochaska knocks down a three-pointer. Miller takes his final timeout of the game with 1:33 left. 69-64, MSU. Prochaska has five three-pointers and 24 total points.
3:44 p.m. -- A fired-up Jen Uhl hits a three-pointer, cutting MSU's lead to 65-61 with 2:17 left. But, Keane hits a second-chance layup at the other end. BG misses, and Achter is called for her fourth foul as the teams fight for the rebound. Davidson goes to the line for a one-and-one opportunity, and hits both shots for a 69-61 lead.
3:41 p.m. -- Achter hits 'em both, and Uhl then rips the ball away from an MSU player at the other end. But, the Falcons can't capitalize on the turnover, and the Spartan lead remains seven, 65-58, as the teams head under the three-minute mark.
3:39 p.m. -- The shortest player on either roster, MSU's Davidson, hits a three-pointer from the corner in front of her team's bench. The tallest player in the game, DeHaan, then is whistled for a foul, prompting the last media timeout of the day. Two hundred thirty six seconds left (that's 3:56, if you were wondering), and the Falcons trail by nine, with Achter going back to the line.
3:37 p.m. -- Neither team can score over the next few possessions. Finally, Thomas fouls Achter with 4:27 left, and the senior hits both ends of her one-and-one opportunity. The Falcons are within six points, 62-56.
3:33 p.m. -- Keane is out of the game when the teams return to the floor. DeHaan scores on a baby hook shot, but Goldsberry answers with one of her patented rain-making three-pointers. At the other end of the court, Merchant and MSU take timeout, leading 62-54 with 6:36 remaining.
3:30 p.m. -- Keane gets to the line and splits a pair of FTs, but the Spartan freshman is called for her fourth foul of the day with 8:01 left. She stays in the, at least for the time being. Sparty takes a 60-51 lead into the 7:49 media intermission.
3:28 p.m. -- Prochaska corrals a defensive rebound, takes the ball the length of the court and nearly gets a layup to drop as she is fouled. The MAC Freshman of the Year goes to the line and hits two free throws. She has 21 points and the Falcons are within eight, 59-51, withi 8:30 left.
3:25 p.m. -- Freshman Tracy Pontius drives right-to-left underneath the hoop and kicks it out to Prochaska for another three-point try. The ball goes halfway down, bounces on the rim a few times, and finally drops through. 59-49 with 10-and-a-half to go...
3:23 p.m. -- Prochaska hits a three, giving her a game-high 16 points, and the Falcons get three consecutive stops at the defensive end. After the Spartans throw the ball out of bounds, BG gets possession, trailing by 13 (59-46) with 11:19 left.
3:20 p.m. -- The Falcons are desperately trying to claw back into this game. Goldsberry takes a charge at the defensive end, and Achter knifes through the MSU defense for a layup. After MSU throws the ball away, Merchant calls a timeout with 12:42 left. 59-43, Spartans.
3:18 p.m. -- Prochaska hits two free throws, and Uhl then is fouled and converts a pair of tosses at the 13:19 mark. BG trails by a 59-41 score.
3:15 p.m. -- Breske swats a shot attempt by Keane, and the Spartans are then called for an offensive foul.
3:14 p.m. -- The Falcons are forced to call a timeout on the inbounds pass after the media break, leaving BG with only one TO remaining.
3:12 p.m. -- DeHaan scores four-straight points on a jumper and a putback, and a Thomas steal and layup give the Sparatnas a 55-37 lead, the largest margin of the game, as the teams enter the 15:33 media timeout.
3:08 p.m. -- Piechowski's fourth three-pointer of the game (she's 4-for-4) gives MSU a double-digit lead, and Keane's steal and layup makes the score 49-37. The Falcons take a timeout with 17:18 on the clock. Keane, who had six points in the first half, already has nine points in the second.
3:07 p.m. -- Goldsberry answers with a three-pointer, but Keane comes right back with a triple, giving her seven points in the first 100 seconds of the half.
3:05 p.m. -- Prochaska splits a pair of free throws to begin the second half, but Keane hits a layup at the other end, then takes a charge to give the ball back to the Spartans. Keane then drives and gets to the line after another BG foul is called, and the freshman's two FTs increase MSU's lead to 41-32.
3:03 p.m. -- Piechowski leads the Spartans with nine points, while Aitch has eight off the bench. Prochaska paces all scorers with 10 points, while Achter has eight. The senior starts the second half with those three fouls.
3:02 p.m. -- Both teams are back out on the floor, with just a few minutes to go before the second half starts. Perhaps jinxed by an earlier diary entry, the Falcons were outrebounded, 13-1, to end the first half. MSU holds a 24-16 advantage on the boards.
2:48 p.m. -- Breske slips around DeHaan for a layup, cutting MSU's lead to four points in the final minute of the half. Achter, however, is called for her third foul with 21.0 seconds left. Courtney Davidson makes two free throws to give the Spartans a 37-31 lead at halftime.
2:44 p.m. -- BG's next trip down the floor results in a three-pointer by Bianca Hooten, snapping a 17-0 MSU run. After a turnover, Achter finds Uhl for a reverse layup, and the Falcons are back within six points.
2:43 p.m. -- It's all going the Spartans' way right now. DeHaan scores on a transition layup, and Keane hits a jumper, prompting another BG timeout. It's 35-24, Spartans, with 2:18 remaining in the half.
2:41 p.m. -- Right out of the timeout, Piechowski hits a three-pointer, and the Falcons turn the ball back over to the Green and White. Curt Miller calls timeout with 3:34 left in the half, and the Spartans up by seven.
2:39 p.m. -- A layup by Keane gives MSU a 10-0 run and a 28-24 advantage, as the teams head to the benches for the final media break of the half.
2:36 p.m. -- The hosts rally, as head coach Suzy Merchant's team scores six-straight points to tie the game at 24-all. That run gets to 8-0, as Lauren Aitch gets to the free-throw line and hits a pair of free throws with 4:56 left before halftime.
2:35 p.m. -- Senior Whitney Taylor enters the game with exactly eight minutes left in the half, and grabs a defensive rebound, leading to a Falcon fast-break opportunity. As Falcon fans know, Achter and Taylor comprise the winningest four-year class in program history, and the duo looks to add one more win to that total today.
2:31 p.m. -- As was the case in Thursday's win over Dayton, the Falcons do not have the best field-goal percentage early in this game. But, BG is doing the other things needed to win, including outrebounding the Spartans (15-11), getting to the line and hitting those FTs once they get there. BG is 8-of-9 from the stripe at this point.
2:29 p.m. -- A DeHaan miss leads to a long rebound that seemingly bounces off of about eight pairs of hands. Breske grabs the ball near midcourt, turns and finds no one between her and the basket, and takes off running. The result is a layup, an MSU foul and a Breske free throw, and BG's lead is 24-18.
2:25 p.m. -- Achter makes two FTs out of the timeout, then feeds Prochaska for a long two-pointer. DeHaan gets a putback basket, but Achter immediately finds Prochaska for another long shot, this time a three pointer. The Falcons lead by a 19-16 score, midway through the half. Achter and Prochaska each have eight points.
2:22 p.m. -- Just seconds later, Thomas is again called for a foul against Achter. Thomas heads to the bench with two fouls as the teams head into the day's second media timeout. 14-12, State, with 11:55 left before halftime.
2:20 p.m. -- MSU's Thomas hits an and-one jumper, the Spartans' second in the last few minutes. But, for the second time, the ensuing free throw is no good. Seconds later, Thomas is called for a foul on an Achter jumper. The Falcon senior hits two free throws at the 12:27 mark, and the Falcons trail by a 14-12 count. Achter has six of BG's 12 points.
2:18 p.m. -- Jen Uhl is first off the bench for Curt Miller and Company today. Uhl grabs an offensive rebound on her first possession in the game, and another offensive board (by Prochaska) leads to Achter's driving layup. We're tied at 10-10.
2:15 p.m. -- Not a bad crowd for today's game, although MSU folks probably were hoping for a larger attendance. Falcon fans are out in full force, and are making enough noise to rival the larger Spartan contingent. The Falcon band is here and sounding good.
2:12 p.m. -- The Falcons battle back, and a Prochaska three-pointer gives BG a 7-5 lead. But, Piechowski hits her second triple of the game, and the Spartans are up, 8-7, at the game's first media timeout.
2:08 p.m. -- Not the greatest start for the Falcons, as within 20 seconds, BGSU has given up a three-pointer and committed a turnover.
2:04 p.m. -- the starting lineups are announced, and it's the usual suspects for Bowling Green. Senior Kate Achter, junior Lindsey Goldsberry, soph Tara Breske and freshmen Crystal Murdaugh. MSU counters with junior Mia Johnson, sophomores Mandy Piechowski and Allyssa DeHaan -- that's 6-foot-9 Allyssa DeHaan -- and freshmen Brittney Thomas and Kalisha Keane.
