Bowling Green State University
OHIO
On Senior Day, Falcons Ride Team Effort to 79-64 Win over Ohio
March 07, 2009 | Women's Basketball
March 7, 2009
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PDFs: BGSU-Ohio Boxscore 
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2009 MAC TOURNAMENT BRACKET
POSTGAME AUDIO: 
Co-Captains Breske and Goldsberry
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team honored the individual efforts of its fourth-year members in pregame 'Senior Day' festivities, then went out and used a team effort to pick up a 79-64 win over Ohio University Saturday afternoon (March 7). The Mid-American Conference game was held at that most venerable of venues, Anderson Arena.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 26-3 overall, and BGSU ends the regular season with a 15-1 MAC record. BG, having posted the MAC's best regular-season mark for the fifth consecutive year, now will face either Akron or Central Michigan in the quarterfinal round of the MAC Tournament on Friday (March 13).
The Bobcats drop to 12-17 and 7-9, respectively.
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Sophomores Jen Uhl, Tracy Pontius and Lauren Prochaska scored in double figures as well, with Uhl and Pontius scoring 11 apiece and Prochaska 10.
BGSU's balanced attack offset a stellar shooting game by Ohio's Jennifer Bushby. Bushby paced all players with 25 points, and her 10-of-12 shooting day included a 5-of-6 performance from three-point land. For good measure, she added seven assists and two blocked shots.
Lauren Hmiel had 13 points for the Bobcats, while Da'Keisha Mann had a double-double, with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. The 'Cats had a 35-24 advantage on the boards, and grabbed 17 offensive rebounds in the game.
Two seniors, Lindsey Goldsberry and team manager Randall Clark, were recognized in pregame ceremonies, and Goldsberry had one of her typical games. The Dayton native scored six points, making two of her three shot attempts (all from three-point range) on the day, and added five assists and a team-leading three steals. And, as is often the case, Goldsberry drew several charges against Ohio players at the defensive end of the floor.
Goldsberry is the winningest player in MAC basketball history (men's or women's). The Falcons now have an overall record of 111-18 since she ventured to Northwest Ohio, and Goldsberry will finish her career having gone 59-5 in MAC regular-season games.
BG bounced back after a poor shooting night on Wednesday at Miami. After shooting just 20 percent from the field vs. the RedHawks, the Brown and Orange shot 56.0% in Saturday's win, including a 63.0% effort in the second half. BG made seven three-point field goals in 14 tries vs. the Bobcats.
The Falcons had 34 points in the paint to the Bobcats' 24 on the day, and BGSU had a 28-7 advantage in points off turnovers. Additionally, BG got 28 points from the bench (led by McCoy) to Ohio's four.
BGSU built a 28-15 lead, before the Bobcats went on an 11-0 run late in the first half to get within just two points. Pontius grabbed her own miss and banked in a shot just before the first-half buzzer, giving the Falcons a 30-26 lead at the break.
In the second half, the Bobcats got within a single point after a Bushby three-pointer on the opening possession. Then, after the Falcons had built the lead as high as nine points, the 'Cats went on a 9-2 run -- with three triples from Bushby -- to get as close as 57-56 with 7:46 remaining. But, a McCoy jumper began a 6-0 run, and the lead never got lower than five points thereafter.
The Falcons scored on the game's oopening posession, as Breske's entry pass found Uhl for a layup just 13 seconds in. But, Bushby answered with her first three-pointer with less than half a minute gone in the game. The teams were scoreless after that until Kamille Buckner split a pair of free throws at the 17:38 mark. Pontius, however, hit one of her patented three-pointers, dribbling around the arc to the right wing, finding herself open and connecting to give the Falcons the lead.
After Thia Gholson made a foul shot to tie the game at 5-5, McCoy gave the Brown and Orange the lead for good, putting back her own miss with 15:40 left in the half. Then, Pontius fired a pass ahead to Prochaska for a long two-pointer and a 9-5 lead.
With 14:33 left in the opening half, McCoy hit a triple off a Prochaska pass, and after a Jenny Poff jumper, McCoy answered with a layup, putting BG ahead by a 14-9 count. The latter shot, made with 6:09 gone in the game, was the Falcons' sixth successful field goal. BG made a total of six field goals in each half in Wednesday's game at Miami.
Goldsberry, who had spotted McCoy for that layup, then took a charge against Mann, the second charge the senior co-captain had drawn on the day. Then, out of a media timeout, McCoy took a Pontius inbounds pass and hit an 'and-one' layup, her first of several on the day. The ensuing free throw did not drop, but McCoy had nine points and the Falcons had a 16-11 lead.
A long two-pointer by Breske gave the Falcons a seven-point advantage. The Falcons then went several minutes without hitting a shot, but BG made several free-throw tries to maintain a lead. Goldsberry made one of her rainbow shots from beyond the arc, and the Falcons then forced a shot-clock violation on the visitors.
On the next possession, Goldsberry's pass found an open Prochaska, and the MAC Player-of-the-Year candidate buried a three-pointer to give the Falcons a 28-15 lead and prompt an Ohio timeout at the 6:34 mark.
Neither team scored for over three minutes, before Bushby hit a foul-line jumper to snap a drought of exactly five minutes for the visitors. That began the aforementioned 11-0 run for the visitors, capped by Poff's triple with just over a minute left. That run included four points by Hmiel and a third-chance layup by Gholson.
Pontius missed a three-pointer in the final seconds of the half, but got her own rebound and banked a shot off the glass just before the horn.
The teams got off to a fast pace at the start of the second half. Bushby hit a triple 24 seconds in, cutting BG's lead to one point, but Goldsberry took a Pontius inbounds pass and knocked down a three-pointer of her own. A Goldsberry steal led to a Breske layup on the next possession, giving BG a 35-29 lead.
Back came the Bobcats, scoring the next four points. Goldsberry's entry pass to Uhl resulted in a quick layup for the sophomore, but Bushby hit a pull-up jumper in the paint, cutting BG's lead to 37-35.
Pontius hit two free throws at the 15:43 mark, and Pontius then deflected a pass, leading to a sequence which saw several Falcon players dive to the ground. Both Pontius and Prochaska hit the deck, and the ball wound up in the hands of Pontius, who whipped a pass ahead to McCoy for a layup and a foul, Buckner's fourth. McCoy's charity toss gave the Falcons a seven-point lead, 42-35, with 15:25 left.
A Breske putback of a teammate's miss gave BG a nine-point edge a minute later, before the 'Cats scored four-straight points. The teams then traded hoops for the next few minutes, until a Hmiel jumper cut the Falcons' lead to three points, 50-47, midway through the period.
Again, however, McCoy hit an 'and-one' shot. The free throw was no good, but the ball went out of bounds off an OU player. Seconds later, a Pontius pass to junior Sarah Clapper resulted in a three-pointer and a 55-47 BG lead.
That preceded the 9-2 OU run, with all nine Bobcat points coming on long-range shots by Bushby. Clapper found McCoy down low for a layup during that stretch, but Bushby's last triple cut the Falcons' lead to a single point, 57-56, with under eight minutes remaining. At that point in the game, Bushby was 10-of-11 from the field. But, she would not score again.
McCoy hit a jumper down low, and after a Bobcat turnover, Goldsberry fed Clapper for another jumper. Then, Goldsberry grabbed an errant OU pass on the run, leading to a two-on-one with fellow co-captain Breske. 'Golds' hit Breske with a pass, and Breske hit a layup for a 63-56 Falcon lead with 6:27 left in the game.
Hmiel hit a jumper, but Breske drew the fourth foul on Hmiel, splitting a pair of tosses for a six-point Falcon lead. The Bobcats missed a shot, and Breske grabbed the rebound. On the next possession, Breske was blanketed when a teammate tried to throw her an entry pass. She alertly redirected the pass, volleyball style, to an open Prochaska, who drilled a trey from the right elbow. The Falcons led by a 67-58 count.
Mann scored for the Bobcats, who then got a quick steal in the backcourt. But, Uhl stepped in front of a Bushby pass. After the teams traded misses, Uhl grabbed a teammate's errant shot and put it back up and in while drawing a foul at the 3:57 mark. Her resulting free throw put the Falcons ahead by 10 points, 70-60. The final margin of 15 points was the game's largest.
The Falcons now prepare for the Kraft MAC Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena. The tourney begins with first-round games on Wednesday, March 11. BG's first game will come in Friday's (March 13) quarterfinal round, with the Falcons playing the second game of the day against either Akron or Central Michigan. BG's game is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m.
MAC TOURNAMENT BRACKET (also available by clicking the PDF link at the top of this page)
all games at Quicken Loans Arena; Cleveland, Ohio
FIRST ROUND - Wednesday, March 11
#4 East Miami vs. #5 West Eastern Michigan, Noon
#3 West Northern Illinois vs. #6 East Buffalo, 2:00 p.m.^
#3 East Ohio vs. #6 West Western Michigan, 4:00 p.m.^
#4 West Central Michigan vs. #5 East Akron, 6:00 p.m.^
^ game will begin 30 minutes following the completion of the previous game
QUARTERFINALS - Friday, March 13
#2 West Toledo vs. Ohio/WMU winner, 9:00 a.m.
#1 East Bowling Green vs. CMU/Akron winner, 11:00 a.m.*
#1 West Ball State vs. Miami/EMU winner, 1:00 p.m.*
#2 East Kent State vs. NIU/Buffalo winner, 3:00 p.m.*
* game will begin 20 minutes following the completion of the previous game
SEMIFINALS - Saturday, March 14
Toledo/Ohio/WMU vs. BGSU/CMU/Akron, Noon &
BSU/Miami/EMU vs. KSU/NIU/Buffalo, 2:30 p.m. &
& if seeds hold to form [Highest remaining seed with the best MAC record will play the noon game]
CHAMPIONSHIP - Sunday, March 15
Semifinal winners, 1:00 p.m.
NOTES
* The Falcons' MAC title was the team's fifth in a row, setting a school record and tying the league mark ... Kent State won five-straight titles from 1997-98 through 2001-02.
* Saturday's win enabled BGSU to close the regular season with a perfect 13-0 record at home ... should the Falcons not play any more games at Anderson Arena, 2008-09 would mark only the fourth undefeated home schedule in school history ... BGSU went 7-0 at home in the 1974-75 season, then posted a 6-0 home mark the next year ... three years ago (2005-06), the Brown and Orange went 11-0 at "The House That Roars."
* BGSU's total of 13 home wins ties the school record ... the Falcons were 13-1 at home in both the 1988-89 and 1992-93 season, with the only loss in the latter campaign coming in the NCAA Tournament.
* BGSU went unbeaten at home in the MAC for the sixth time in program history ... the 1986-87, 1988-89, 1992-93, 1993-94, 2005-06 and now the 2008-09 seasons have seen the Brown and Orange post perfect conference marks at Anderson.
