Saturday, January 23
Bowling Green, OH
2:00 PM
Bowling Green State University
83
vs
71
Eastern Michigan
Jen Uhl scores 2 of her 12 points in Saturday's win. Uhl had a double-double in the victory (photos by Craig Bell)
Falcons Top Eastern, 83-71, to Give Miller Milestone Win
January 23, 2010 | Women's Basketball
BGSU coach picks up 100th career MAC victory
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, in front of a large home crowd that included many past Falcon greats, led from wire to wire in an 83-71 win over Eastern Michigan University Saturday afternoon (Jan. 23). The Mid-American Conference game was held at venerable Anderson Arena.
Final Stats | PDF Boxscore | PHOTO GALLERY
Postgame Audio: Curt Miller | Jen Uhl | AnnMarie Gilbert
With the victory, the Falcons improve to 16-4 overall and 6-0 in MAC play. BGSU leads the East Division by two games. The Eagles, who entered the day tied for the West Division lead, fall to 14-4 and 4-2, respectively.
Tracy Pontius had 16 points to pace four double-figure juniors for BGSU. Lauren Prochaska scored 14 points, while Jen Uhl had her first career double-double, with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Kelly Zuercher had a career-high 10 points in the win.
EMU's Tavelyn James led all scorers with 22 points, while Cassie Schrock added 17.
The win was the 100th MAC victory in the illustrious head-coaching career of Curt Miller. Already the winningest coach in BGSU annals, he became just the seventh coach in MAC history to reach the century mark in conference wins.
The victory came in front of a crowd of 2,823, the seventh-largest home attendance in BGSU women's basketball history and the largest home throng in over two years.
Among those in attendance on Saturday were numerous former BGSU standouts, as the Falcon women's basketball program celebrated Alumnae Day at Anderson Arena.
Those former Falcons, like everyone else in attendance, saw the 2009-10 team take a 41-22 lead into the half. BGSU led by as many as 25 points on several occasions in the second half. Eastern made a 21-8 run over the game's final five-plus minutes.
Uhl's 11 rebounds led a relentless BGSU assault on the boards. Eastern entered the game with a +6.8 rebounding margin, tops in the MAC, but the Falcons held a 46-31 advantage on Saturday. BG had 22 offensive rebounds in the win.
The Falcons held the Eagles to just seven made field goals in the opening half. BG's defense forced 16 EMU turnovers in that opening 20 minutes, and had a 23-7 first-half advantage in points off turnovers.
The Falcons got on the scoreboard quickly, to say the least. After senior Tara Breske won the opening jump ball, Pontius fired the ball ahead to Prochaska, who drained a three-point try from in front of the EMU bench. Just four seconds had elapsed, and the Falcons had a 3-0 lead.
James knocked down a three-pointer just over a minute later, but Breske hit a layup, then made a jumper, and the Falcons had the lead for good.
A Pontius layup at the 17:19 mark made BG a perfect 4-for-4 from the field and gave the hosts a 9-3 lead. But, James and the Eagles came back to get within a bucket.
James had Eastern's first eight points of the day, hitting two free throws and draining a triple to make the score 10-8 at the initial media timeout.
Uhl and senior Tamika Nurse each hit layups, before Lindsey Mahone hit a putback to cut BG's lead to four points, 14-10. But, junior Maggie Hennegan scored off a Breske pass, and Pontius stole the ball from Schrock at midcourt, sailed in and hit a layup while being fouled. Pontius hit the free throw to complete the three-point play and give the home team a 19-10 advantage.
Eastern scored four-straight points, but Uhl hit a pair of free throws, then had a blocked shot that led to a transition layup for Nurse. The Falcons led by a 23-14 count.
Out of the game's third media timeout, Pontius drained a three-pointer, then picked up another steal and was fouled. She split her two tosses, giving the Falcons an 8-0 run and a 27-14 lead with 6:50 left in the half.
After Chenise Miller hit one free throw to snap the Eagles' scoreless drought, Zuercher grabbed a teammate's miss and laid the ball up and in. Then, a Prochaska pass found an open Chrissy Steffen, and the freshman hit a three-pointer, giving the Falcons a 32-15 lead and prompting the Eagles to take a timeout with 5:16 left in the half.
A Steffen free throw completed a 14-1 BG run, but, after a Schrock layup, freshman Allison Papenfuss hit a putback, then made a pair of free throws to give the Falcons a 20-point margin, at 37-17. Eastern scored five-straight points, but Pontius grabbed a defensive rebound and went coast to coast for a layup in the final minute of the half. Then, Hennegan banked home a shot with six-plus seconds left, giving the Falcons a 41-22 halftime lead.
BG enjoyed first-half margins of 22-4 in points in the paint, 23-7 (as mentioned) in points off turnovers and 12-5 in second-chance points.
In the second half, EMU's Kristin Thomas scored on the opening possession. Thomas had started the game, but played only three minutes of the first half after picking up two quick fouls. She got a steal to end BGSU's first possession of the half, as the Eagles looked to start the period with a run to cut the Falcons' lead. But, Eastern came up empty on the next possession, and Thomas was whistled for her third foul just one minute into the half.
Two other players would pick up foul number three in the next few minutes, as Breske headed to the bench for the hosts and Schrock took a seat for the visitors.
The Eagles got as close as 16 points on several occasions over the first eight minutes of the period, only to see the Brown and Orange answer. On one of those occasions, after a Sydney Huntley-Rogers three-pointer, Steffen spotted a wide-open Uhl underneath the basket, and hit the junior for an easy layup and a 51-33 lead.
Zuercher, playing one of the best games of her BG career to date, took a pass from Nurse and converted an 'and-one' layup. The free throw would not drop, but the Falcons' lead was 18 points, at 53-35.
A James jumper got the visitors within 16 once again, but Prochaska answered with a triple from the left corner, beginning a 9-2 run for the Brown and Orange. Prochaska scored the first seven BG points in that run, and Nurse again hit Zuercher for a layup, giving the Brown and Orange a 62-39 lead midway through the half.
Senior Sarah Clapper came into the game and hit a long two-pointer, and the Falcons' lead reached a game-high 25 points on Breske's three-point play with 7:39 remaining.
Pontius hit a layup at the 6:29 mark, then drilled a three-pointer for a 75-50 lead with 5:50 left. The Eagles rallied for the next nine points, including back-to-back triples from James, but BG moved the lead back out to 20 points several minutes later, after two Prochaska free throws and three-straight points from Uhl.
A pair of Nurse free throws gave the home team an 18-point lead with 1:21 left, before Eastern scored the final six points of the afternoon. Schrock's jumper at the final horn put the Eagles within 12 points, their smallest deficit since two-thirds of the way through the first half.
The Eagles, after shooting just .280 from the field in the first half, hit 56.7 percent of their shots in the second half to end the game with a .436 field-goal rate. BG shot .420 for the game.
James hit four three-pointers as the Eagles went 7-of-14 from three-point range. Pontius and Prochaska each made two shots from long distance for the Falcons, who were 5-of-18 for the game.
Breske nearly gave the Falcons five double-digit scorers, with nine points on the game, while Nurse and Hennegan scored six points apiece. Uhl, as mentioned, led the way with 11 points, while three teammates -- Breske, Nurse and Zuercher -- each pulled down four boards.
Breske, Pontius and Prochaska each had three assists, while Nurse and Uhl had two apiece.
For the game, BG had 40 points in the paint to EMU's 24, and the Falcons also had a 29-16 edge in points off turnovers.
The Falcons conclude a three-game homestand with a Wednesday (Jan. 27) game vs. Western Michigan at Anderson Arena, before making a short trip north to face arch-rival Toledo next Saturday (Jan. 30).
.png&width=84&height=84&quality=100&type=webp)
Amy Velasco, Lexi Fleming, & Coach Chmiel Postgame Interview (Mar. 5, 2025)
Thursday, March 06
Paige Kohler, Coach Chmiel, & Amy Velasco Postgame Interview (Feb. 26, 2025)
Thursday, February 27
In the Paint: Lexxus Graham-Blincoe
Wednesday, February 26
Erika Porter, Amy Velasco, & Coach Chmiel Postgame Interview (Feb. 22, 2025)
Sunday, February 23