Foxes Rally to Top Falcons, 70-65

Saturday, November 21

Poughkeepsie, NY

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Marist

Tara Breske had a team-high 16 points, including a career-best three 3-pointers made, at Marist

November 21, 2009 | Women's Basketball

Breske has team-high 16 points in BG's final Preseason WNIT game

By: POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Host Marist College rallied from a double-digit deficit to post a 70-65 win over the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team Saturday afternoon (Nov. 21). The non-conference game, a Consolation Round 3 contest in the Preseason WNIT, was held at the McCann Center.

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With the victory, the Red Foxes improve to 2-1 on the year, while dropping the Falcons to 1-2 on the young season.

Senior Tara Breske had 16 points to lead a balanced BG scoring attack. Juniors Tracy Pontius and Jen Uhl had 13 points apiece on the afternoon.

All-American Rachele Fitz led all players with 28 points and eight rebounds for the Red Foxes. Fitz was 10-of-14 from the field and 8-for-9 from the free-throw line.

The Falcons hit nine first-half three-pointers, taking a 16-point lead late in the opening period. But, the home team scored the last six points of the half, then went on a 16-4 run to take a two-point lead, 52-50, midway through the second period.

A Pontius triple gave the Brown and Orange the lead, but Erica Allenspach hit a layup to regain the advantage for the Red Foxes, 54-53. Marist led by three points before Pontius tied the score with another long triple with 5:34 remaining.

Back came the hosts, scoring five-straight points while holding the Falcons scoreless for nearly three minutes. But, Breske hit one of her career-high three three-pointers at the 2:49 mark, and Pontius knocked down a pair of free throws to tie the game with 2:15 on the clock.

Lynzee Johnson's layup gave Marist a two-point lead, but junior Lauren Prochaska made a pair of free throws with exactly one minute left, tying the score at 65-65.

On the ensuing possession, the Falcons forced a missed shot by Allanspach, but the Marist junior grabbed the rebound and hit an 'and-one' layup with 42 seconds remaining Allanspach missed the free throw, however, and Uhl grabbed the rebound.

After a Falcon timeout, BG missed a three-point try, and Fitz corralled the rebound and was fouled with 16.5 seconds remaining. The foul was Breske's fifth of the game and the Falcons' 10th of the half, sending BG's senior co-captain to the bench and giving Marist's top scorer a pair of shots at the line. She hit both tries to give her team a four-point lead.

BG missed two shots on the next possession, and Corielle Yarde got the rebound, was fouled and split a pair of free throws with only three seconds remaining.

The Falcons hit a total of 12 triples on the afternoon, with Breske, Pontius and Uhl all making three. As mentioned, Breske's total represented a career high, and the post player was a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.

Uhl's three triples all came within a span of just 67 seconds, with the final one giving the Brown and Orange a 39-23 lead with 2:28 left in the opening half. As mentioned, however, the Red Foxes scored the final six points of the period to cut the halftime margin to 10 points, then rallied to overtake BG in the second half.

After Fitz opened the game with a basket, the Falcons scored eight-straight points as part of a 15-2 run. MC responded with seven consecutive points to cut BG's lead to 15-11, but the Falcons kept up the offensive onslaught, eventually building that aforementioned 39-23 advantage.

The Falcons were 9-of-19 (47.4%) from long range in the first half and 12-for-33 for the game (36.4%). Marist held the Brown and Orange to a 25.9% rate from the field, including a 21.4% percentage from long distance, in the second half.

The Red Foxes shot 53.6% in the second half en route to an even 50 percent for the game. MU was just 3-of-15 from three-point land, but went 25-of-41 from inside the arc.

The home team was 11 of 14 from the free-throw line in the final half, after taking just one shot from the stripe in the first 20 minutes. For the game, BG was 15 of 18 (83.3%) in the second period.

The Falcons held a 35-33 rebounding advantage, with Prochaska and Pontius pulling down seven apiece and Breske adding six. Breske had four offensive boards, while Prochaska and junior Maggie Hennegan got three apiece.

Uhl and Breske combined to go 9 of 14 from the field, including a 6-of-9 effort from long distance.

Two Marist players, Allenspach and Yarde, scored 11 points apiece to join Fitz in double figures. Both players had six rebounds, and Allenspach had a game-high seven assists. Prochaska led the Falcons in that department, with five helpers.

The Falcons will prepare for another tough test on Tuesday (Nov. 24), heading to Oakland to take on the Grizzlies. Tipoff for that game is 6:30 p.m. in Rochester, Mich.