Bowling Green State University
Kent State
BGSU Opens MAC Play with 77-71 Win at Kent State
January 07, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2009
Final Stats | BGSU-Kent State Boxscore in PDF Format
Pontius and Prochaska Post-Game Audio
Coach Miller Post-Game Audio
KENT, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team rallied from a double-digit, first-half deficit and used deadly three-point shooting to record a 77-71 win at Kent State University Wednesday night (Jan. 7). The game, the Mid-American Conference opener for both teams, was held at the M.A.C. Center.
With the victory, the Falcons improve to 12-2 overall and 1-0 in the MAC, and BGSU has won 12 consecutive games. The Golden Flashes drop to 11-2 and 0-1, respectively.
Sophomore Lauren Prochaska led the Falcons with 20 points in the victory, while classmate Tracy Pontius had 17. The two players combined for nine of the Falcons' three-point field goals made, with Pontius going 5-for-7 and Prochaska 4-for-8 from beyond the arc.
Freshman Jessica Slagle joined the duo in double digits, with 11 points.
Anna Kowalska had 20 points to lead four KSU players in double figures, and added a game-high 15 rebounds.
BGSU fell behind by a 14-3 score, and the Falcons trailed by as many as 13 points (20-7) midway through the half. The visitors responded by scoring the game's next 13 points to begin a 22-2 run and take the lead for good.
The Brown and Orange shot 50.0 percent from three-point range, going 13-of-26 from beyond the arc. The total of 13 successful treys was a season high.
BGSU went over nine minutes without making a three-point field goal to start the game. Beginning with a triple by senior Lindsey Goldsberry at the 10:50 mark, the Falcons made seven three-pointers in under seven minutes. That stretch included a flurry of three triples in 77 seconds, with Pontius hitting the last two to cap the 22-2 run and give the visitors a 29-22 lead.
The Golden Flashes scored on the first three possessions of the night, taking a 6-0 lead and prompting a timeout by Falcon head coach Curt Miller. The lead got to 8-0 before junior Niki McCoy banked a shot high off the glass to get the visitors on the scoreboard at the 17:44 mark. McCoy was limited to just 13 minutes of playing time due to an injury.
A pair of free throws and a layup gave KSU a 12-3 lead, and Jena Stutzman's jumper with just over five minutes gone, gave the hosts a 14-3 advantage.
Jumpers by Goldsberry and junior Tara Breske got the Falcons back within 16-7, but a Kowalska banker was followed by a Jamilah Humes bucket in transition, and the Falcons took a second timeout, trailing by a 20-7 score.
Breske began the Falcons' comeback, grabbing and offensive rebound and putting it back up and in while drawing a foul. Her free throw got BG within 10 points.
Prochaska was fouled and hit a pair of free throws on BG's next possession, before McCoy's kickout to Goldsberry led to the Falcons' first three-pointer of the night. BGSU was within five points, at 20-15, and it was Kent State's turn to take a timeout.
The 30-second break did not slow the Falcons down, however. Slagle hit a three-pointer off a pass from sophomore Jen Uhl, and Slagle then drove the lane and dished to soph Chelsea Albert with the shot clock winding down. Albert's baseline jumper tied the game at 20-20.
Kowalska gave the hosts the lead once again, but Uhl's three-pointer at the 7:25 mark gave the Falcons the advantage for good. Then, Pontius hit a trey from several feet beyond the line, and the sophomore knocked down another triple for a 29-22 advantage, prompting another Kent State timeout.
The Flashes broke BG's 9-0 run as Rachel Bennett split a pair of free throws, but what looked to be a sloppy possession by the Falcons ended up successful. The visitors threw several consecutive passes that were wide of the mark or were not handled cleanly, but the final pass, from Pontius to Prochaska, resulted in a left-side three-pointer that swished cleanly through the net for a 32-23 Falcon lead.
Another triple by Prochaska upped the advantage to 10 points, 35-25, with 4:23 left in the half. The Falcons still had a 10-point lead after Albert's putback with 2:49 on the clock, but the Flashes cut that lead in half, getting to within 37-32 after a free throw by Asheley Harkins.
Then, however, Slagle took over, scoring eight points in the final 1:47 of the half. First, the freshman drove the lane, hesitated before going up for the layup to draw a foul from Kowalska, then hit the layup as she was knocked to the floor. Slagle completed the three-point play for a 40-32 BG advantage.
With 27.7 seconds left before halftime, Slagle hit an acrobatic right-handed layup with three defenders around her. Again, she went to the line after drawing a foul and again, she completed the three-point play.
After a KSU turnover, Slagle was fouled away from the basket with just 3.6 seconds on the clock, and hit both free throws for a 13-point BG lead, the Falcons' largest of the night. But, KSU's Stephanie Gibson hit a shot from nearly halfcourt as the halftime horn sounded, getting the Flashes within 45-35 at the break. That triple was the hosts' only make from behind the arc in the first half.
The Golden Flashes scored the first five points of the second half, with a Bennett three-pointer cutting BG's lead to 45-40, but the Falcons scored the next four points, as Prochaska hit a layup then found Uhl for a layup in transition.
After a Stutzman trey, Slagle spotted Uhl for another layup on the break, and a 51-43 Falcon lead. But, the Flashes would score the game's next six points, capped by a Chenel Harris three-pointer with just under 12 minutes left, and the Falcons' lead was suddenly just two points, 53-51.
Another layup by Uhl doubled the BG lead, but another Stutzman three-pointer cut the margin to a single point, 53-52, with 10:38 remaining.
Just over a minute later, however, a Pontius three-point try hit the rim, bounced high in the air and fell through the hoop. Two Kowalska free throws -- her first points of the half after scoring 16 in the first half -- were answered by a Prochaska jumper, and the soph then drove the baseline and found Goldsberry for a three-ball from the right corner, just in front of the Falcons' bench. That shot gave the Falcons a seven-point lead, but back came the Flashes.
Two Gibson free throws and a Harris three-pointer later, KSU was within two points again, at 61-59.
But, Prochaska was heating up. First, the sophomore got back to the free-throw line, making both tosses. Then, after a Harris jumper, she hit a three-pointer for a 66-61 BG advantage with 4:39 left.
The teams traded free throws, with Pontius hitting BG's pair during that stretch, and Pontius then hit a big three-pointer to give the visitors an eight-point margin, 71-63, with just 2:45 left.
The hosts quickly responded with a Humes jumper, and Humes then picked up a steal and was fouled, hitting both tosses to cut BG's lead to four. The Falcons answered with another dagger, this time a Prochaska triple with just under two minutes remaining.
Kowalska scored on a putback, but Pontius made yet another triple to restore BG's eight-point lead with 1:18 left. A Humes jumper closed the scoring with 21 seconds left.
The Falcons shot 47.3% from the floor, including a 53.6% rate in the first half, while holding KSU to an even 40 percent for the game. BG, as mentioned, went 13-of-26 from three-point land, while the Flashes made six triples in 18 tries.
Goldsberry was 2-of-3 from beyond the arc en route to eight points, and the senior co-captain also had five assists, four rebounds and three steals.
Prochaska had a well-rounded game, with four rebounds, six assists and three steals, playing all 40 minutes. Her assist total was a career high.
The Falcons got 24 points from players off the bench. In addition to Slagle's 11 points, Uhl scored nine, adding five rebounds. Albert had four points and seven boards, matching her career best in the latter category.
Breske scored six points, grabbed five caroms and blocked three shots, tying her career high in the blocks department.
For the Flashes, Harris had 14 points and eight rebounds, while Humes had 13 points and Stutzman 10. Bennett had four points, seven rebounds and six assists.
The Falcons now prepare for a Saturday (Jan. 10) game at Ohio, which closes out a five-game road swing for the Brown and Orange.
NOTES
* The Falcons now lead Kent State, 41-27, in the all-time series between the teams, and Wednesday's win was BGSU's 10th in a row over the Golden Flashes.
* BGSU now holds a 16-15 lead in games played in Kent, and the Falcons have won four-straight games at the M.A.C. Center after a 10-game Golden Flash winning streak ... BG won at KSU in each of Lindsey Goldsberry's four years with the program.
* BG has shot an impressive 29-of-49 (59.2%) from three-point range in the last two road games vs. the Golden Flashes ... after going a blistering 16-for-23 from long distance in last year's 90-64 win at the M.A.C. Center, the Falcons went 13-for-26 in this season's trip to Kent.
* For the first time this season, the opponents had more free throws than the Falcons ... the Golden Flashes' totals of 17 free throws made and 23 attempted were season highs for a BG opponent ... by contrast, the Falcons' totals of 12 FTM and 13 FTA marked season lows, but BG's free-throw percentage of 92.3% was a season best.
* The Falcons are now 80-33 in MAC regular-season games during Curt Miller's tenure, and BGSU is 58-5 in the last 63 games (regular-season and tournament) vs. MAC opponents.
* BGSU is 24-1 in MAC road games since the start of the 2005-06 season.
* Lauren Prochaska, just a sophomore, has moved into eighth place on the BGSU career list for three-point field goals made ... with four triples on Wednesday night, she now has a total of 109 in her career, moving her past Susie Cassell (107 from 1990-94).
* Senior Lindsey Goldsberry, with two successful three-pointers on Wednesday, now has 104 in her BG career ... Goldsberry now ranks 11th in BG annals, just one behind Ali Mann (105 from 2003-07).
* Sophomore Tracy Pontius had a career-high five three-pointers made vs. Kent State ... she now has 31 three-point field goals made this season, after making a total of 12 as a freshman in 2007-08.
* Sophomore Chelsea Albert's total of seven rebounds tied her career best ... she also had seven boards at Miami last Feb. 23 ... Albert played a season-high 23 minutes in Wednesday's win.
* Junior Tara Breske tied her career best with three blocked shots ... she has had three blocks in a game three times this year and four times in her career
* Prochaska set a career best with six assists, while Goldsberry tied her season high with five helpers ... Goldsberry's career high is six assists, reached on three occasions.
* With 11 points, freshman Jessica Slagle tied her career best ... she had 11 points in another road win, at Saint Francis (Pa.) on Nov. 25.
