Bowling Green State University
BALL STATE (Championship)
Ball State Tops Falcons, 55-51, to Win MAC Tournament
March 15, 2009 | Women's Basketball
March 15, 2009
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POSTGAME AUDIO: Miller, McCoy and Pontius
CLEVELAND, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - Porchia Green hit the go-ahead layup with 26.2 seconds remaining, lifting Ball State University to a 55-51 victory over the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team in the championship game of the Mid-American Conference Tournament. The game was held at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland Sunday afternoon (March 15).
With the win, the Cardinals improve to 25-8 on the season, and BSU earns the MAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. The Falcons, who are 28-4 overall, are assured a national postseason berth and will await their fate. Despite Sunday's loss, the Falcons have won 28 of their last 30 games.
Junior Niki McCoy scored a game-high 15 points off the bench for the Falcons, while sophomore Tracy Pontius had 14 points. Pontius was named the MAC Tournament's Most Valuable Player, while McCoy joined her on the all-tournament team.
Emily Maggert led the Cardinals with 14 points, while Danielle Gratton and Kiley Jarrett scored nine apiece. Gratton's three-pointer tied the game with 1:07 left after McCoy had scored five-straight points to give BG a 51-48 lead.
After Gratton's triple tied the game, the Falcons missed a shot, and the Cardinals brought the ball over midcourt and called timeout with 44.7 seconds left. The ensuing possession resulted in Green's driving layup with 26.2 seconds on the clock.
The Falcons, looking to tie or take the lead, turned the ball over on a pass in the corner in front of BG's bench with 10 seconds left. BSU's Audrey McDonald came up with the ball and whipped a pass to Green as the Falcons tried to catch her. Green sailed in ahead of the pack for an insurance layup, giving the Cards a 55-51 lead with only 2.6 seconds left.
The Falcons shot just 28.3 percent for the game, making only six field goals in the second half. BG was 6-of-27 after halftime (22.2%). The Falcon defense allowed the Cardinals to shoot only 38.8% on the day.
Jarrett hit a three-pointer on the Cardinals' first possession of the day, but the Falcons answered when sophomore Jen Uhl took a pass from classmate Lauren Prochaska and drained a triple from the top of the arc. Neither team would score for nearly two minutes, before Maggert hit a putback as part of a three-point play. Prochaska knocked down a pull-up jumper in the lane to get the Falcons within a point, 6-5, heading into the first media timeout of the day.
McCoy slipped her defender and made a layup on a pass from senior Lindsey Goldsberry, then converted another short shot with Prochaska assisting. The Falcons led, 9-6.
Patrice King got the Cards within a point with a pair of free throws, but junior Tara Breske hit one of her patented turnaround fadeaway jumpers, then rebounded a teammate's miss, drew a foul and hit both tosses.
Amber Clark made a jumper, but Breske made another layup for a 15-10 lead. After a BSU miss, an over-the-back foul on Green -- her second of the day -- and a media timeout, McCoy got an offensive board and putback at the 11:23 mark. BGSU's lead was seven points, the Falcons' largest of the day, at 17-10.
The Cardinals, however, scored six-straight points, on a Clark jumper and four shots from the stripe. But, Goldsberry hit a step-back three-pointer, and McCoy picked McDonald's pocket and streaked downcourt for a layup and a 22-16 Falcon lead.
BGSU took a seven-point lead once again, 24-17, when Pontius made two free throws at the 6:03 mark. Maggert and Gratton hit shots to bring the Cardinals back within three points, though, and Breske picked up her second foul with 4:55 left in the half. She headed to the bench, joining Prochaska, who also had two fouls.
On the next possession, Shannon Klei made a trey to tie the score with 4:33 left in the half.
But, it was the Falcons' turn to go on a run. Pontius got to the line and converted twice, then hit a nifty floater in the lane with the shot clock winding down. Jarrett was called for an offensive foul, and BG's next possession saw the Falcons get no fewer than four offensive rebounds, before Prochaska was fouled by Jade Barber. Prochaska split a pair of tosses, giving the Falcons a 29-24 lead.
King made a jumper with a minute and a half left in the period, and the teams then traded misses. The Cardinals got a steal with 38 seconds remaining, but Jarrett was called for another offensive foul -- her third foul of the day -- with 21.6 seconds left. Pontius found Prochaska inside for a layup with six seconds left in the period, giving the Falcons a 31-26 lead at the break.
The Falcons opened the second half by going just 1-of-15 from the field over the first 11 minutes. Believe it or not, BG's second field goal of the period put the team within two points of the Cardinals, and the next shot tied the game.
The Cards got a layup by Gratton to begin the period, but BSU was nearly as cold as BGSU at the start of the half. Ball State then would miss the next five field-goal tries over the next three-plus minutes.
BG's first basket did not come until nearly four minutes had elapsed, when a pair of Cardinals miscommunicated on a pass, with the ball ending up in Prochaska's hands. The sophomore headed downcourt and converted a transition layup.
Jarrett, though, came back with a three-pointer, beginning a 10-0 Ball State run. The Cards got three free throws and jumpers by Maggert and Gratton during that run. Gratton's short-corner J gave the Cardinals a five-point lead, 38-33, at the midway point of the half.
Pontius ended a BGSU scoring drought of 7:22 when Pontius ventured out top for a straightaway trey. The Falcons then worked the ball inside, and soph Chelsea Albert's nice post move resulted in a slick one-handed shot off the glass, a foul by Kind and a 38-38 tie at the 7:45 media timeout.
Out of that break, Albert drained the free throw to give the Falcons a one-point lead.
Maggert came right back with a three-pointer from out top, giving the Cardinals a 41-39 lead. After that 1-for-15 shooting start to the half, though, the Falcons made four consecutive shots, as McCoy took a Prochaska pass and hit a layup. Maggert made a layup, but an effective screen by McCoy freed Pontius for a long-range shot with 6:18 left. The Falcons retook the lead, 44-43.
Green began to assert herself for the Cardinals, getting to the line and splitting a pair of free throws, then making a driving layup for a 46-44 advantage with 3:46 left.
Pontius drove and drew a foul, getting herself to the line and converting twice. Her second free throw tied the game with 3:23 remaining. But, Maggert's layup at the 2:22 mark put the Cardinals back ahead.
After a foul by McDonald -- only the fifth of the half for Ball State -- Pontius inbounded the ball to a slicing McCoy, who sank an 'and-one' layup in traffic. Her resulting free throw gave the Brown and Orange a 49-48 lead with 1:57 on the clock.
A jumper by Green would not go. McCoy got the rebound and was fouled by Gratton. The BG juniors's two free throws gave BG a 51-48 lead with 1:28 left, but the Falcons would not score again. Gratton hit her three-pointer with 67 seconds left, setting the stage for the final sequence.
The Falcons got seven points and a team-leading seven rebounds from Prochaska. BGSU won the battle of the boards for the third time in as many days, with a 40-34 advantage against the Cardinals. Sixteen of those rebounds came at the offensive end, tying for BG's second-highest total of the season.
McCoy had six rebounds along with her 15 points, while Breske had six points and five boards. Prochaska had three assists and three steals to lead the Brown and Orange in both categories.
Gratton had a game-best 12 boards in addition to her nine points, while Green had seven points, seven boards and three assists. King had eight points off the bench, with six coming from the foul line.
The announcement of the bracket for the 2009 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship will take place on ESPN from 7 to 8 p.m. Eastern time Monday evening (March 16). The Women's National Invitation Tournament field will be announced following the NCAA Tournament selections on Monday evening. BG is assured of a spot in the WNIT, should the Falcons not get an NCAA at-large bid, by virtue of winning the MAC"s regular-season championship for the fifth consecutive year.
NOTES
* Tracy Pontius and Niki McCoy were joined on the MAC's All-Tournament Team by Ball State's Emily Maggert, Buffalo's Kourtney Brown and Toledo's Tanika Mays.
* The selection of Pontius as MAC Tournament MVP marks the first time in league history that the award went to a player not on the title-winning team.
* Pontius averaged 20.0 points per game and shot 51.7 percent from the field and 60.0% from three-point land in the three MAC Tournament games ... her total of 12 three-pointers made set a new tourney record.
* McCoy averaged 15.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per contest in the three games in Cleveland ... she shot a team-leading 54.8% from the field.
* BGSU's loss was the Falcons' first to the Cardinals in six MAC Tournament meetings ... BG's 5-0 tourney mark vs. the Falcons had included one win in the championship game, two years ago.
* BG is now 36-17 all-time in MAC Tournament games, and the Falcons have a record of 9-2 in championship games ... the nine tournament titles is the highest total of any MAC institution ... Ball State's title on Sunday was the Cardinals' first.
