Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
EASTERN MICHIGAN
Falcons Ride Fast Start to 69-55 Win at Eastern
January 24, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 24, 2009
Final Stats
| BGSU-EMU Boxscore in PDF Format 
BGSU's Updated Cumulative Stats in PDF Format
McCoy & Miller Post-Game Audio
YPSILANTI, Mich. (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team scored the first nine points of the afternoon, leading from wire to wire in a 69-55 victory over Eastern Michigan University Saturday (Jan. 24). The Mid-American Conference game was held at EMU's Convocation Center.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 17-2 overall and 6-0 in MAC action. BGSU has won 17 consecutive games, and the Falcons have opened up a three-game lead in the MAC's East Division. The Eagles dropped to 4-14 and 0-6, respectively.
Junior Niki McCoy had a game-high 18 points to pace four Falcons in double digits. Junior Tara Breske and sophomore Lauren Prochaska scored 13 points apiece, while soph Tracy Pontius had 11 points and a career-high eight assists.
Cassie Schrock was the lone player in double digits for Eastern, with 14 points on the afternoon.
The Falcons held EMU to just 25.8 percent shooting in the game, including a 5-for-27 (18.5%) output in the opening half. The Brown and Orange shot 44.0% in the win.
BGSU got a third-chance basket on the game's opening possession, as McCoy grabbed a rebound and banked a shot home with 36 seconds gone. After an EMU miss and a Falcon rebound, Pontius dribbled around the arc, found no one guarding her and drained a straightaway three-pointer. When, Breske drove the lane and found McCoy for an easy layup, the Falcons had a 7-0 lead. Then, Breske was on the receiving end, as Pontius spotted the junior co-captain underneath the hoop. BG was up by nine at the initial media timeout.
The Eagles got on the scoreboard with nearly five minutes gone, as Amber Land was fouled and hit two free throws. But, the Falcons proceeded to score the next seven points for a 16-2 lead.
That run began with another Breske layup, off another Pontius assist. McCoy hit a three-pointer, and then canned a jumper with 12:43 left in the opening half. The Falcons led by 14, and McCoy had nine points.
The Eagles scored the game's next four points, before Pontius stole the ball from De'Ja Wills and sailed in for a layup. Then, McCoy and Pontius worked a give-and-go to perfection, as the sophomore's no-look pass found the junior for another easy hoop and a 20-8 lead. That basket put McCoy into double digits, with 11 points.
The Eagles battled back to within 20-13, but senior Lindsey Goldsberry made a three-pointer from well beyond NBA range at the shot-clock buzzer, and another McCoy putback gave the Brown and Orange a 25-13 lead.
That lead increased to 27-13, as Breske scored off a pass from freshman Jessica Slagle with five minutes left in the half. Eastern got three points back, all at the foul line, but Prochaska -- held scoreless for over 16 minutes to start the game -- took an inbounds pass from Pontius and drained a three-pointer for a 30-16 Falcon lead.
Prochaska scored again on a driving layup at the 2:07 mark, and McCoy closed the first-half scoring by hitting a layup despite drawing contact. The Falcons held a 34-18 lead at the intermission.
The Falcons, after shooting 50.0% in the first half, got off to a slow second-half shooting start, but kept the Eagles at bay. The first field goal of the half, for either team, came over two-and-a-half minutes in, as Tavelyn James connected for the home team. Breske answered for the Falcons, and the teams traded free throws over the next few minutes.
Slagle hit a driving layup at the 13:23 mark, putting the Falcons ahead by 18, and a Prochaska steal and layup with 11:06 left gave BG a 20-point lead, the largest of the game, at 50-30.
Eastern got as close as 13 points, as Mary Lawson's three-pointer cut BG's lead to to 56-43 with 4:40 remaining. But, the Falcons scored four-straight points at the line, and when Pontius stole the ball from Schrock and fed Breske for a two-on-one layup, BG had a 63-45 lead with just over two minutes remaining.
The Eagles made two of their five three-point field goals in the final two minutes, but freshman Maribeth Giese spotted wide-open sophomore Jen Uhl for a layup, and scored on a short-corner jumper herself in the final minute of play.
Slagle scored seven points off the bench for the Brown and Orange, with five of those points coming at the free-throw line. After shooting just one free throw in the first half, the Falcons were 20-of-29 in the second period.
Eastern held a slim 41-40 rebounding advantage, and the Eagles had 19 offensive boards. Three Falcons, however, tied for game honors in that department, as Breske, McCoy and Prochaska were credited with nine boards apiece.
BGSU now has a week off before heading to Northern Illinois next weekend. The Falcons will face the Huskies next Saturday (Jan. 31) in DeKalb, Ill.
