Falcons Cash in at Stripe, Downing Miami, 85-65

Tuesday, January 19

Bowling Green, OH

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Miami

Tracy Pontius scores 2 of her game-high 27 points vs. Miami (photo by Dave Kielmeyer, BGSU Marketing & Communications)

January 19, 2010 | Women's Basketball

Prochaska sets school record as BGSU goes 28-31 at FT line

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team got to the free-throw line repeatedly, and the Falcons cashed in when they got there. The result was an 85-65 win over Miami University in Mid-American Conference action at venerable Anderson Arena Tuesday night (Jan. 19).

Final Stats | PDF Boxscore | BGSU Cume Stats | 2009-10 News Wire

Postgame Audio: Curt Miller | Tracy Pontius

With the win, the Falcons improve to 15-4 overall, and BGSU completes the first round-robin swing through the MAC's East Division with a perfect 5-0 conference record. The RedHawks drop to 4-14 and 2-3, respectively.

The Falcons and RedHawks combined to attempt 59 free throws on the night. BGSU shot over 90 percent, making 28-of-31 tosses, while Miami was 23-of-28 (.821) from the stripe.

Junior Tracy Pontius scored a season-high 27 points, while classmate Lauren Prochaska added 17. Prochaska set a school single-game record by going a perfect 13-for-13 from the line. Additionally, she moved up four spots on the BGSU career scoring list, and now ranks seventh in school history with 1,433 points in just over two and a half years.

Maggie Boyer led the RedHawks with 18 points off the bench, while Rachael Hencke added 16.

The 'Hawks led on just one occasion, although the game was tied twice in the opening five minutes. After a 2-2 deadlock, the Falcons reeled off five consecutive points, only to see the visitors answer with a six-point run. The last two points of that run came on Ashleigh Brown's layup at the 15:34 mark, but just seven seconds later, Pontius answered with one of her game-high four three-point field goals.

MU responded with a Boyer jumper to tie the game at 10-all, but a layup by freshman Chrissy Steffen began an 8-0 run for the home team. With just over six minutes left in the half, Pontius hit a pair of free throws to put the lead into double digits for the first time, then picked Courtney Osborn's pocket and took the ball in for a layup and a 29-17 lead.

The Falcons slowly, steadily and systematically increased the lead, taking a 19-point advantage into halftime. MU's Brown opened the second-half scoring with a jumper, cutting BG's lead to 46-29, but the 'Hawks would get no closer. BG's lead got as high as 27 points on a jumper by sophomore Jessica Slagle midway through the period, before the visitors closed within 19 once again, at 71-52 with 7:49 on the clock.

After the teams traded hoops, the Falcons held Miami without a basket for nearly five minutes in the latter stages of the game, taking a 25-point lead as junior Kelly Zuercher's entry pass resulted in a layup from senior Laura Bugher. The RedHawks scored the last five points of the night to provide the game's final margin.

Junior Jen Uhl scored eight points on the night, while seniors Tara Breske and Tamika Nurse added seven apiece. Bugher, Slagle and Zuercher had four points each as a total of 11 different Falcons found the scoresheet.

BGSU shot .473 from the field in the game, while holding MU to a .408 success rate, including an 8-for-24 (.333) first-half performance. The RedHawks got nine points and a game-high eight rebounds from Erin Wisner, while Hencke added six rebounds. Miami held a 36-25 advantage on the boards.

Prochaska had five rebounds for the Brown and Orange. BG forced Miami into 24 turnovers, including 16 in the first half, while the Falcons committed just 10 turnovers, a season low, all night long. Pontius had four steals and Prochaska three, as BG held a 27-7 margin in points off turnovers.

The teams traded -- what else? -- free throws to begin the game, before Pontius found an open Nurse. The Falcons had a fever, and the only prescription was a three-pointer, as Nurse hit from beyond the arc. Then, a Prochaska steal led to Nurse getting the ball to Breske for a transition layup and a 7-2 advantage.

The Redhawks, as mentioned, proceeded to score the game's next six points. Courtney Reed, Hencke and Brown all converted layups as the visitors took their only lead of the game. After the Pontius three and the Boyer J put both teams into double digits, Breske's pass to a cutting Steffen resulted in a slicing layup for the Falcon freshman.

Steffen's show was followed by a Breske jumper at the 13:15 mark, two Prochaska freebies and a right-side hoop by junior Chelsea Albert. The run was 8-0 and the Falcons' lead was 18-10.

Back came the Red and White with four consecutive points, but Prochaska got to the line again, hitting two shots. Then, Pontius grabbed a defensive rebound, headed downcourt and found herself relatively unguarded. The resulting three-pointer gave the hosts a 23-14 lead with 8:09 left in the half.

Two minutes later, a pair of Pontius tosses gave the Falcons a 27-17 advantage, and the junior then had the aforementioned steal and easy layup, giving her four points in a 12-second span.

Prochaska got back to the line and made two more shots for a 14-point lead. The RedHawks got within 12, but Nurse scored four consecutive points on two free throws and a pull-up jumper, and BG's lead was 37-21 with 3:24 on the clock.

The RedHawks got a Boyer jumper, but Prochaska went back to the line and scored two more points, then assisted Uhl's layup that gave the Brown and Orange a 41-23 margin. The free throws made BG 16-of-16 from the stripe, before BG finally missed with 1:15 left in the half. A Pontius jumper with 52 seconds remaining gave the Falcons a 44-27 lead, and after a Miami miss, Prochaska was fouled as she corralled the rebound, heading back to the line and adding two more points to BG's total. Prochaska had 12 of her 13 free throws in the first half alone.

Miami outrebounded the Falcons, 20-9, in that opening half, but had 16 turnovers to the Falcons' four.

BG increased the lead to 20 points for the first time on Prochaska's three-point play with 17:13 left. Hencke's layup cut the lead to 18, but an Albert free throw was followed by a Uhl layup prior to the initial media timeout of the half.

The lead reached 24 points after a 6-0 run, beginning with Zuercher's reverse layup at 13:30. Then, it was back to the line, with Slagle and Pontius hitting twice each for a 64-40 Falcon lead.

Boyer connected on one of two free throws to cut the lead to 23 entering the 11:51 media timeout, but Pontius and Slagle each hit field goals for a 27-point lead, the largest of the game.

It was the RedHawks' turn to make a run, as Miami scored eight points in a row, but Pontius knocked down a triple try from in front of the BG bench. The shot came after junior Maggie Hennegan saved an errant pass from going out of bounds under the basket, firing the ball to Pontius as she fell to the ground. The left-corner trey gave the Falcons a 71-49 lead with 8:08 left.

Another Pontius three gave BG a 77-55 advantage with 5:54 to go. Erin Wisner's putback cut the lead to 20, but Breske pulled down a defensive rebound, ran the floor and dished the ball to senior Sarah Clapper for a fast-break layup.

A Hencke free throw got the visitors within 21 points, but Bugher countered with a nifty offensive board and a sweet putback. After two Boyer free throws, Bugher hit Zuercher for a layup with 1:39 remaining. Zuercher returned the favor, getting the ball inside to Bugher for a 'free taco' layup and an 85-60 advantage with 1:02 to go. Boyer hit a jumper, and Hencke knocked down a three -- only the RedHawks' second trey of the game -- to close the scoring.

The Falcons continue a three-game homestand Saturday afternoon (Jan. 23). BGSU begins cross-divisional play by taking on Eastern Michigan University in a 2:00 p.m. start at "The House That Roars."

FALCON NOTES
* The Falcons have completed the first foray through the MAC's East Division with a 5-0 record ... 2009-10 marks the fourth time in five years that BG has gone 5-0 in the first round-robin swing through the MAC East ... Saturday's game vs. EMU is the first of six-straight contests against MAC West Division schools.

* Junior Lauren Prochaska, as mentioned, set a school record with her 13-for-13 free-throw performance Tuesday night ... a BGSU player had gone 12-of-12 from the stripe on four occasions, the most recent being Prochaska last season at Akron.
BGSU SINGLE-GAME RECORDS -- FREE-THROW PERCENTAGE
1.000 (13-13), Lauren Prochaska vs. Miami, 1/19/10
1.000 (12-12), Lauren Prochaska vs. Akron, 2/21/09
1.000 (12-12), Kate Achter vs. Detroit, 11/30/05
1.000 (12-12), Sara Puthoff vs. Western Michigan, 1/8/97
1.000 (12-12), Talita Scott vs. Kent, 1/8/94

* Prochaska moved up no fewer than four spots on the BGSU career scoring list in Tuesday's win ... with 17 points vs. the RedHawks, she now has1,433 career points ... she passed Chris Tuttle, Lori Albers, Charlotta Jones and Talita Scott in Tuesday night's game ... her next target is Liz Honegger, who scored 1,522 points at BG.
BGSU CAREER RECORDS -- POINTS
1 -- 2,122, Jackie Motycka
2 -- 1,825, Ali Mann
...
6 -- 1,522, Liz Honegger
7 -- 1,433, Lauren Prochaska
8 -- 1,432, Talita Scott
9 -- 1,430, Charlotta Jones
10 -- 1,424, Lori Albers
11 -- 1,420, Chris Tuttle
12 -- 1,412, Angie Bonner

* BGSU is now 39-4 in MAC home games over the last five-plus seasons.

* Overall, the Falcons are 8-0 at Anderson Arena -- whoops, make that venerable Anderson Arena -- this season ... and, BGSU has won 27 of the last 28 games at "The House That Roars" ... 21 of those 27 wins have been by double-digit margins.

PROGRAMMING NOTE
* BCSN is not televising Saturday's game vs. Eastern Michigan, so there will be no video streaming. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience.