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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
AKRON
Falcons Hold Off Zips, 81-70
February 21, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 21, 2009
Final Stats
| BGSU-Akron Boxscore in PDF Format 
Miller & Pontius Post-Game Audio
AKRON, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - Sophomores Tracy Pontius and Lauren Prochaska combined for 51 points as the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team picked up an 81-70 road win over the University of Akron Saturday afternoon (Feb. 21). The Mid-American Conference game was held at Rhodes Arena.
> With the victory, the Falcons improved to 23-2 overall and 12-0 in MAC play, and BGSU extended the school-record winning streak to 23 games. The Zips dropped to 9-16 and 4-8, respectively.
Pontius scored a game-high 26 points while Prochaska had 25 for the Falcons. The two players combined to go a perfect 19-for-19 from the free-throw line, including eight in the final minute of the game.
Junior Tara Breske rounded out BGSU's double-digit scorers with 12 points in the win. Kyle Baumgartner had 21 points to pace three Zips players in twin digits, while Kara Murphy added 15 and Ayla Guzzardo 10.
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Saturday's victory was the 108th since senior Lindsey Goldsberry joined the program, tying the MAC record (men or women) for wins in a four-year span.
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It seems that some sort of record is set every time the Falcons take the floor, and Saturday was no exception. Prochaska was a perfect 12-for-12 at the charity stripe, tying the BG single-game record for free-throw percentage.
Additionally, Saturday's victory was the 108th since senior Lindsey Goldsberry joined the program, tying the MAC record (men or women) for wins in a four-year span. That record was set by last year's BGSU senior class of Kate Achter and Whitney Taylor.
The Falcons took the early lead on a three-point field goal by sophomore Jen Uhl and a turnaround jumper by Breske, prompting UA coach Jodi Kest to burn an early timeout. Baumgartner got the Zips on the scoreboard at the 17:36 mark, but Pontius spotted Breske ahead of the pack for a quick layup at the other end and a 7-2 Falcon lead.
Back came the Zips, however, as Baumgartner's putback was followed by an Amber Witt triple and a 7-7 game. Pontius answered with a long two-pointer, but Guzzardo came back with a jumper at the 16:12 mark.
Prochaska drove the lane and drew Witt's second foul of the game just 18 seconds later, and hit a pair of free throws out of the ensuing media timeout, giving the Falcons the lead for good.
A 6-0 run by the visitors prompted another Akron timeout. Pontius hit a layup, and senior Lindsey Goldsberry knocked down a baseline jumper from the left side. When Goldsberry pounded the ball inside to her fellow co-captain, Breske, the junior backed Victoria Arndt down for a layup and a 17-10 BG lead.
Junior Niki McCoy checked in at the 12:35 mark, seeing her first game action since Feb. 3, and immediately grabbed a defensive rebounds. Less than a minute later, the Akron transfer knocked down a pair of free throws, and a Pontius layup gave the Falcons a 21-13 advantage.
Murphy countered with a layup, but a three-ball by Pontius gave BG a nine-point lead, the largest of the half, with 10:38 on the clock.
Murphy hit a three-pointer, but the Falcons countered with a Breske layup on the fast break. Another Murphy long ball, however, cut BG's lead to five points, at 26-21.
Prochaska, who had not taken a shot in the first 10-plus minutes of the game, knocked down a three-pointer off a Pontius inbounds pass at the 9:20 mark, giving the Falcons a 29-21 lead. Layups by Jolene Tamboue and Jasmine Mushington, however, cut that margin in half. Neither team would score for over two minutes, before Arndt scored on another inside shot for the Zips, cutting the BG lead to two.
A Pontius three-pointer, though, began a 7-2 run that boosted the Falcons' advantage to seven points. The league fluctuated between four and seven points until the final seconds of the half. UA scored the final five points of the period, capped by an Ashley Veal three-pointer, to cut BG's lead to just 44-42 at the half.
Both teams shot better than 50 percent from the field in that opening half, with the Falcons and Zips making five three-pointers apiece. Each team would cool off significantly in the second period, however, combining for 20 field goals, none from beyond the arc.
Prochaska displayed a nice shooting touch on the opening possession of the second half, pulling up for a one-hander over a UA defender. The teams would trade baskets over the first three-plus minutes, until Breske split a pair of free throws to give the Falcons a three-point lead.
Still holding that three-point advantage, 51-48, the Falcons got a steal from Goldsberry, and had several golden opportunities to extend the lead. Breske had a pair of offensive rebounds after unsuccessful three-point tries, with the first rebound coming after several players from each team hit the deck. But, a BG third-chance layup would not go down, before the Zips finally corralled the rebound. Baumgartner scored at the other end, cutting the Falcons' lead to a single point.
Pontius blew past her would-be defender for an 'and-one' layup, and her free-throw gave BG a 54-50 lead with 12:48 remaining. Then, freshman Jessica Slagle muscled home a layup for a six-point margin.
A nifty slicing drive through traffic resulted in another Slagle layup, and a 58-52 lead. But, Tamboue answered each of those layups with buckets of her on, and a Mushington jumper cut the Falcon lead to 58-56.
BG hit four-straight free throws, with two from Prochaska and two from sophomore Chelsea Albert, to take a six-point lead, but Baumgartner cut that lead in half with a conventional three-point play. Again, BG looked to extend the lead, with a Pontius layup followed by two more Prochaska free throws. The Falcons led, 66-59.
Guzzardo, who had been out of the game due to picking up her fourth foul, returned to the Zips' lineup and hit a jumper with 7:02 left. But, Prochaska scored off of a Pontius inbounds pass for a 68-61 advantage.
Neither team scored for nearly two minutes, before Guzzardo got to the line and hit a pair of free throws with 4:33 left. She returned to the line and hit two more shots out of the day's final media timeout. When Baumgartner scored after a Falcon turnover, BG's lead was a single point, 68-67, with 3:14 left.
Prochaska, however, hit a tough shot to begin a game-ending 13-3 run for the Falcons. The next possession saw the Zips miss three shots, and Prochaska grabbed the rebound after the third miss, with Mushington called for an over-the-back foul. Prochaska's free throws with exactly two minutes remaining gave BG a 72-67 lead.
Another UA miss was followed by another BG defensive rebound and another foul on the home team, and McCoy split two tosses with 1:30 remaining. The Falcons would go 11-for-12 from the stripe over the final two minutes.
Pontius made two throws before Baumgartner broke a 7-0 BG run with a charity toss of her own. Pontius, however, would toe the stripe four more times in a 13-second span, sandwiched around a Veal layup, and Prochaska closed the scoring with two more free throws, extending BGSU's lead into double digits for the first time.
Uhl had seven points and led the Falcons with seven rebounds, while Prochaska had six boards. Baumgartner had a double-double, with a game-high 13 rebounds along with her 21 points.
Pontius, in addition to her game-high 26 points, had five rebounds, five assists, three steals and no turnovers. BG had 10 turnovers as a team, while forcing the hosts into 17.
The Falcons return to the road for the next game, heading Eastward for a Wednesday (Feb. 25) game against the University at Buffalo. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at UB's Alumni Arena.
FALCON NOTES
* BGSU's win at Akron means that the Falcons now have an overall record of 108-17 since this year's lone senior, Lindsey Goldsberry, ventured to Northwest Ohio ... that ties the school and MAC records -- for men or women -- for wins in a four-year span ... she has matched the mark set by last year's BG women's basketball senior class of Kate Achter and Whitney Taylor.
* The Falcons are 56-4 in MAC regular-season games in Goldsberry's tenure.
* Lauren Prochaska tied the school single-game record for free-throw percentage at Akron ... Prochaska was a perfect 12-of-12 at the stripe ... the list ...
BGSU SINGLE-GAME RECORD, FREE-THROW PCT.
1.000 (12-12), Talita Scott vs. Kent, 1/8/94
1.000 (12-12), Sara Puthoff vs. Western Michigan, 1/8/97
1.000 (12-12), Kate Achter vs. Detroit 11/30/05
1.000 (12-12), Lauren Prochaska vs. Akron, 2/21/09
* Prochaska has scored 68 points over the last two games, scoring 43 in Sunday's win over Central Michigan before adding 25 more at Akron ... her 68-point total sets a new school record for points in a two-game span.
* Prochaska now has 961 career points in just 59 games as a Falcon ... she is looking to become the 23rd player in school history to score 1,000 points, but only the second to do so as a sophomore.
* BGSU now holds a commanding 41-2 lead in the all-time series with Akron, and the Falcons have won 12 consecutive meetings ... Curt Miller is 12-0 vs. the Zips in his head-coaching career.
* BGSU won for the 23rd game in a row, extending the school-record winning streak ... BG's streak is the second longest in MAC history ... the record is a 26-game win streak, put together by Central Michigan during the 1983-84 season.
