Falcons Rally for 79-77 OT win at WMU

Saturday, February 7

Kalamazoo, Mich.

12:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

WESTERN MICHIGAN

February 07, 2009 | Women's Basketball

Feb. 7, 2009

Final Stats
 Miller & Prochaska Post-Game Audio

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (BGSUFalcons.com) - Sophomore Lauren Prochaska scored six of Bowling Green State University's seven points in overtime as the Falcon women's basketball team rallied for a 79-77 win at Western Michigan University Saturday afternoon (Feb. 7). The Mid-American Conference game was held at WMU's University Arena.

With the win, the Falcons of head coach Curt Miller improve to 20-2 overall and a perfect 9-0 in the MAC. BGSU has won 20 consecutive games after losing back-to-back games to begin the season. The Broncos drop to 5-17 and 1-8, respectively.

Before a 'Pack the House' crowd in excess of 2,000 fans and a television viewing audience throughout the nation, Prochaska scored 27 points to pace four BGSU double-digit scorers. Fellow soph Tracy Pontius had 14 points, while junior Tara Breske and sophomore Jen Uhl scored 11 apiece. Breske had a double-double, with her game-best total of 14 rebounds including eight at the offensive end.

Tiera DeLaHoussaye had 18 points to lead five WMU players in double figures.

Uhl, making her first collegiate start, fell just one rebound shy of a double-double. She tied her season scoring best, and matched her career rebounding mark, with nine. And, Uhl led the Falcons with a career-high four assists.

The Falcons had trailed by five points with 4:30 remaining in regulation, but rallied to tie the score with on a Pontius layup with just over a minute left. After Western took the lead, another Pontius layup tied the score at 72-72. DeLaHoussaye missed a short jumper in the final seconds of regulation, and the Broncos saw several follow-up tries miss the mark as well, sending the game to overtime.

The Broncos doubled up on the Falcons in points in the paint (44-22), outrebounded the Brown and Orange (43-38) and had fewer turnovers than BG (16 for WMU, 18 for the Falcons). But, the visitors hit 10 three-point field goals to the Broncos' four, and BG went 17-of-21 from the free-throw line, while Western was 9-of-19.

The game featured 10 ties and 12 lead changes. The Falcons looked like they might run away from the Broncos early on, before the home team battled right back.

BG scored the first five points of the afternoon, as Pontius hit a three-pointer, and Breske put back her own miss. Jenny Loney got the home team on the board with a triple, but Prochaska quickly answered with a layup at the other end for a 7-3 lead.

The Broncos, though, proceeded to score the next eight points, with Brenna Banktson's three-pointer followed by Loney's conventional three-point play. When DeLaHoussaye hit a layup on the break, the Broncos had an 11-7 lead.

Pontius made her second triple of the game, but Banktson's layup gave the hosts a 13-10 lead heading into the day's first media timeout.

A few minutes later, DeLaHoussaye's long-range shot put Western ahead by four, at 18-14. But, Uhl took a pass from senior Lindsey Goldsberry and drilled a three-pointer of her own, bringing the Falcons within one.

The teams traded buckets, with a Molly Dwyer layup answered by Breske's turnaround jumper. Then, Uhl made the extra pass to find an open Prochaska, and the latter player's three-point try was good for a 22-20 Falcon lead.

Breske scored on a putback, but four-straight Bronco points enabled the hosts to tie the score at the 6:58 mark. WMU took the lead again on a free throw by Miame Giden.

Giden hit a jumper, but Prochaska came back with an 'and-one' layup, hitting a free throw out of the 3:21 media timeout to tie the score at 27-27. That three-point play started a 7-0 BG run, as Uhl scored on back-to-back buckets. The Wadsworth, Ohio native made a shot fake at the top of the arc, took a dribble and hit a long two-pointer, then made a reverse layup for a 31-27 lead.

The Broncos came back with a Loney jumper, but triples by freshman Jessica Slagle and Prochaska gave the visitors an eight-point lead, the largest of the game, at 37-29. The latter shot capped a 13-2 run for the Falcons. Giden's late layup closed the first-half scoring.

WMU got out of the gates quickly in the second period, scoring the first 10 points after halftime to take a 41-37 lead. Giden scored six of those 10 points, including back-to-back baskets before Goldsberry finally ended that run with a pull-up jumper from the right side.

Ebony Cleary made a pair of free throws, but Prochaska's three-ball bounced around the rim and in, putting the Falcons within a point. Cleary, who had a double-double, drove and scored as part of a three-point play, but another Prochaska triple with a hand in her face was followed by a Pontius transition layup, and the Falcons had a 47-46 lead with 14 minutes left.

The up-and-down, back-and-forth play continued. With 12 minutes left, Uhl grabbed a defensive rebound to give BG possession, then pulled down an offensive board and drew a foul. Her free throws put the Falcons ahead by a 52-50 count. The Broncos tied the score, but Uhl kicked the ball out to Goldsberry for a left-corner triple, and BG lead once again, 55-52.

The Broncos, however, would score eight of the next nine points, including six-straight points to take a 60-56 lead with 6:56 left. The teams traded points before Banktson's three-point play gave Western a five-point lead, 65-60, with 4:38 left.

Prochaska made a pair of free throws, but Cleary got a putback to give the hosts that five-point advantage once again. Some BG boardwork, though, led to a pair of offensive rebounds and a short jumper by junior Sarah Clapper with just over four minutes left.

The Falcons then got a steal, but BG was called for an offensive foul with 3:19 remaining. The visitors forced another WMU miss, an Pontius hit a driving layup with 2:49 left. Cleary, though, hit a layup of her own 23 seconds later, and Western led by three.

At the other end, Prochaska got back to the free-throw line, hitting both of her tries with 2:09 left. The teams traded scoreless possessions before Cleary was fouled, splitting her two tosses for a 70-68 Bronco lead at the 1:19 mark.

Pontius got inside to score off a Slagle pass with 1:02 left, but Western again took the lead after Cleary grabbed a teammates miss and banked the ball home withi 45.5 seconds left.

At the other end, Prochaska's shot would not drop, and Breske could not get her follow try to go. The ball went out of bounds off a WMU player with 27.8 seconds left.

BGSU nearly lost the ball on the ensuing inbounds pass, but Prochaska tied up a WMU player, and the possession arrow was pointing toward the Falcons with 26.1 seconds remaining. Pontius hit a layup with 17.8 seconds left to tie the score once again.

The Broncos, after a timeout, looked to win the game in regulation. DeLaHoussaye missed a short right-side jumper, but WMU got a pair of offensive boards and putback tries. None of the shots would drop, however, and the teams headed to overtime.

Neither team would score for the first two minutes of the extra session, but WMU's Giden was called for an offensive foul -- her fifth of the game -- as Goldsberry took the charge with 3:55 on the clock. Western broke the scoring drought, though, with a jumper with exactly three minute remaining.

Breske got an offensive board on the next possession, and was fouled, hitting one of her free-throw tries to cut the home team's lead to 74-73. Then, Uhl forced WMU's Sara Vest into a charge, but BG turned the ball over with two minutes left.

Cleary missed a jumper, but Loney got the rebound to allow WMU to maintain possession. With 1:23 left, though, Loney's miss was rebounded by Uhl. The ensuing possession saw Prochaska hit a jumper after a shot fake, giving BG the lead, 75-74, with a minute left.

Cleary split a pair of free throws with 50.7 seconds remaining, after Breske had nearly come up with a steal, but was called for her fifth foul. On the next possession, the Falcons turned the ball over, and WMU called a timeout with 31.9 seconds left. But, pressure by Goldsberry led to a Prochaska steal, and the sophomore was fouled by Loney as she streaked in for a layup try. Prochaska made both of her free-throw attempts, giving the Falcons a 77-75 lead wth 15.2 seconds left.

As DeLaHoussaye drove the lane, she lost possession of the ball. Uhl came up with the steal, firing a pass to Prochaska as she fell to the ground. Prochaska again was fouled by the Broncos, and again knocked down both of her charity tosses, making it a two-possession game with 6.3 seconds left. DeLaHoussaye hit a meaningless layup just before the final horn sounded.

The Falcons went 10-of-26 from the arc and 17-of-21 from the stripe. Prochaska led the team in both categories, making four triples and going a perfect 9-for-9 from the line. The game marked the eighth time this year that she has scored at least 20 points.

Slagle had eight points off the bench, making both of her three-point tries, and had three assists. Pontius also dished out three assists and made a pair of treys in the win.

Cleary had 17 points and 12 rebounds off the bench for the Broncos, with 11 of Western's 24 offensive boards. Giden had 15 points, while Banktson scored 12 and Loney 11. Loney and Banktson had eight rebounds apiece, and Loney was credited with five of the home team's 14 steals.

The Falcons return home for the next two games, beginning with a Thursday (Feb. 12) contest vs. the arch-rival University of Toledo. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at Anderson Arena.

NOTES
* The Falcons have won 20 games for the sixth consecutive year, a school record ... prior to the current streak, Fran Voll's BG teams of the late 1980s held the record with four-straight seasons of 20 or more wins.

* BGSU's 20-game winning streak is tied for the second-longest such streak in school history, and is the longest winning streak in the Curt Miller Era ... the school record is 21 consecutive wins, amassed in the 1986-87 season under Voll ... Voll's 1988-89 squad and Jaci Clark's '93-94 team each put together a 20-game win streak.

* More importantly, BGSU has won nine games to open the MAC portion of the schedule ... the Falcons, following the conclusion of the weekend's action, will hold at least a four-game lead in the East Division race with seven regular-season games to go.

* With nine MAC wins and only seven MAC games left, BGSU has clinched a winning record in conference play for the sixth consecutive year.

* Believe it or not, the Falcons are an incredible 28-1 in MAC road games over the last three-plus years ... the last two road wins have come in overtime, last Saturday (Jan. 31) at Northern Illinois and at WMU seven days later.

* The win moves head coach Curt Miller's overall record 100 games above the .500 mark ... Miller-coached BGSU teams are now 170-70 since he took the helm prior to the 2001-02 season.

* Saturday's win avenged a 79-73 WMU victory at Anderson Arena last season (Jan. 30, 2008) ... since that loss to the Broncos, the Falcons have won 29 of 31 regular-season games, including 18-straight contests in MAC play ... BGSU's only regular-season setbacks in over a year came in this season's first two games, at Temple (Nov. 14, 2008) and Valparaiso (Nov. 19, 2008).

* Sophomore Jen Uhl made her first collegiate start in Saturday's game ... Uhl was replacing junior Niki McCoy, who has been suspended indefinitely for team violations, in the starting lineup.

* Uhl, as mentioned, tied her season high with 11 points, and matched her season and career standards with nine rebounds ... she also had 11 points in this year's win over Hartford (Dec. 21, 2008), and had pulled down nine rebounds at Saint Francis (Pa.) (Nov. 25, 2008).

* Uhl tied her career high in assists with four, and also tied her career high for minutes played, with 30.

* Junior co-captain Tara Breske had a career-high 14 rebounds ... her previous best had been 13 boards in last year's win at Ohio ( Fb. 27, 2008) ... Breske's total of eight offensive rebounds also was a career high.

* With 11 points in addition to those 14 rebounds, Breske had her first double-double of the season and the fourth of her career.

* Sophomore Lauren Prochaska, with a game-high 27 points, now has a career total of 880 points in only 56 games.

* Prochaska has averaged 42.0 minutes per game over the last three games ... two of those games went to overtime ... she has played 126 of a possible 130 minutes in that time.

* Prochaska, who leads the nation in free-throw percentage, was a perfect 9-for-9 from the stripe at WMU ... she is now shooting exactly 95 percent from the line, having made 95 free throws in 100 attempts this year.

* Prochaska has made 38 consecutive free throws, dating to the Falcons' win over Miami on Jan. 14.

* Saturday's game was televised nationally on ESPNU, with Jim Barbar and Sedric Toney on the call.