Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
SIU Edwardsville
Falcons Use Fast Start to Fly Past Cougars, 74-58
January 02, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 2, 2009
Final Stats
| BGSU-SIUE Boxscore in PDF Format 
Coach Miller Post-Game Audio
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team raced out to an early lead and coasted past host Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, 74-58, Friday night (Jan. 2). The non-conference game was held at SIUE's Vadalabene Center.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 11-2 on the year, and BGSU has won 11 consecutive games after starting the season with a pair of losses. The host Cougars drop to 1-15.
The Falcons have tied the school record for non-conference wins in a season. BGSU, after never posting a double-digit win total in such games prior to the 2006-07 season, now has won 11 non-conference games in each of the last three years.
Junior Niki McCoy led the Brown and Orange with 16 points, while sophomores Tracy Pontius and Lauren Prochaska added 14 and 10, respectively. Junior Tara Breske had seven points and a game-high nine rebounds.
For the hosts, Jenny Wuest had 15 points to pace three players in double digits. Ashley Bey had 13 points, while Melia Duncan added 12.
The Falcons raced out to a 26-2 lead midway through the opening half, settling for a 39-19 halftime advantage. That BG lead ballooned to a game-high 25 points as BG scored the first five points of the second half, but the Cougars got as close as 14 points on several occasions before the Brown and Orange closed out the win.
"That was an unbelievable first 10 minutes of the game," said Falcon head coach Curt Miller. "Southern Illinois Edwardsville is a lot better than their record would indicate. But, because of that record, we thought that we could get them on their heels if we could get out early.
"Our defense was fantastic at the beginning, and I thought we were aggressive attacking (on offense). There was not much more we could have done in those first 10 minutes.
"The last 30 minutes were relatively even. They probably even outplayed us in stretches. We tried some different lineups, and I was disappointed with our execution at times, and how we handled their pressure later in the game. But, that first 10 minutes was the difference."
BGSU scored the first eight points of the game, beginning with a hoop just five seconds in. Breske won the opening tip, then streaked downcourt to take a pass from Pontius for a layup. Jumpers by senior Lindsey Goldsberry and McCoy gave the Falcons a six-point lead, and when Pontius drove the lane and dished to a wide-open McCoy for a layup, BG had an 8-0 advantage, and the Cougars burned a timeout at the 17:46 mark.
Jessie Stapleton got the home team on the board with 16:40 left in the half, but the Brown and Orange then proceeded to score the game's next 18 points, holding SIUE scoreless for 8:05. Pontius had seven points in that run, while McCoy hit a pair of hoops during that stretch.
Goldsberry took a pair of charges just 27 seconds apart for the game's first two fouls, just prior to that run. Pontius hit a jumper to begin the run, and McCoy followed with a jumper of her own. Prochaska then spotted freshman Jessica Slagle with a cross-court pass that led to a three-pointer and a 15-2 lead, and Pontius grabbed a defensive rebound and fired the ball ahead to McCoy for a breakaway layup.
A Prochaska jumper prompted an SIUE timeout, but the Falcons would score on a Pontius layup, and would put the lead over 20 points when junior Sarah Clapper's entry pass found an open Chelsea Albert for a layup and a 23-2 lead. A Pontius three-pointer at the 10:27 mark gave the Falcons a 26-2 advantage.
From that point, the scoring was relatively even over the remainder of the half. The hosts scored six of the next 10 points, getting back within 20, and after BGSU upped the lead to 37-14, SIUE scored five of the final seven points of the half to get back within 20, at 39-19.
BGSU shot 53.1 percent from the field in that opening half, holding the hosts to a 9-for-32 effort (32.1%).
Prochaska picked Bey's pocket at midcourt on the first possession of the second half, sailing in for a breakaway layup, and Breske had a rebound and putback that led to a three-point play just 35 seconds into the half. When Breske hit the free throw, BG had a 44-19 lead, the largest of the night.
But, SIUE proceeded to go on a 9-2 run to cut BG's lead to 18 points. McCoy knocked down a jumper at the 16:54 mark for a 48-28 lead, but four-straight Cougar points got the hosts within 16.
Jumpers by Pontius and Albert put the Falcon lead back at 20 points, and BG still led by 20 after a pair of free throws by sophomore Jen Uhl with 12:12 remaining. But, six-straight SIUE points -- including back-to-back fastbreak layups by Duncan and Madison Meade -- got the Cougars within just 14 points as Miller called time with 9:47 left.
BG would score the game's next six points, all at the free-throw line, and the hosts did not get within 14 again until the game's final minute. A total of 19 of the Falcons' 35 second-half points came at the charity stripe.
The Falcons shot 44.6% from the field for the game, with SIUE shooting 40.0% in the second half for a game percentage of 36.5%. The Falcons, however, made 22 free throws to the Cougars' eight in the game, sinking more FTs than the opponent for the 13th time in as many games this season.
In addition to Breske's nine rebounds, Prochaska had seven as the Falcons held a 43-39 advantage on the glass. Uhl had three blocked shots as the visitors had a total of eight on the night.
The Falcons now will prepare for Mid-American Conference action, with the first league game coming Wednesday (Jan. 7) at Kent State University.
