Falcons Shoot Past Western, 74-56

Wednesday, January 27

Bowling Green, OH

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Western Michigan

photo by Craig Bell - BGSU vs. EMU - Jan. 23, 2010

Tamika Nurse had 14 points and six assists vs. WMU

January 27, 2010 | Women's Basketball

Prochaska has 23 points as BG moves to 7-0 in the MAC

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, after a slow start, used a three-point barrage to take the lead for good in a 74-56 win over Western Michigan University Wednesday night (Jan. 27). The Mid-American Conference game was held at venerable Anderson Arena.

Final Statistics | PDF Boxscore | BGSU Cume Stats (PDF) | Photo Gallery
POSTGAME AUDIO: Curt Miller | Lauren Prochaska
Todd Walker Recaps Men's and Women's Hoops Wins (Audio)

With the win, the Falcons improve to 17-4 overall, and BGSU remains undefeated in MAC play with a 7-0 league ledger. The Broncos drop to 5-15 and 0-7, respectively.

Junior Lauren Prochaska had a game-high 23 points, while senior Tamika Nurse added 14 points and dished out a game-high six assists for the Brown and Orange. Ebony Cleary paced the Broncos with 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting.

After scoring just two points in the first four-plus minutes of the game, the Falcons hit four three-point field goals in a span of just 1:48. When the smoke had cleared, the home team held a 14-8 lead, and BG never trailed again.

The Falcons scored on the game's opening possession, courtesy of a Nurse jumper, but the BG offense then went cold The Brown and Orange went 4:33 without another point, with four missed shots and five turnovers in that span.

Meanwhile, the Broncos got two layups, from Cleary and Taylor Manley, to take a 4-2 lead at the 18:26 mark. When DeAirra Goss hit a jumper in the paint, the Broncos had a 6-2 lead and Falcon coach Curt Miller took a timeout with less than four minutes gone.

The Falcons went another minute without scoring, however, until junior Maggie Hennegan began a 12-2 run for the hosts. Hennegan took a pass from Prochaska and knocked down a three-point try from the right wing. Then, after a WMU turnover, Hennegan's pass found fellow transfer Nurse at the left elbow. Nurse's three-ball would prove to be the shot that gave BG the lead for good.

The Falcon defense forced another turnover by the Broncos, and Prochaska got free for the first of two triples, taking a pass from senior Tara Breske and scoring from the left wing. After Manley stopped BG's 9-0 run with a jumper in transition, Prochaska spotted up at the right wing, in front of the WMU bench, and hit her second trey in 28 seconds, with Pontius assisting. The shot gave BG a 14-8 lead.

The Broncos, when not committing turnovers, were shooting the ball well in the early going. Through seven-plus minutes, Western was 5-of-7 from the floor, capped by Manley's three-pointer that cut BG's lead to 14-11. But, the visitors had seven turnovers in those first seven-plus minutes.

Pontius answered Manley's three with a layup, but both teams then went over two minutes without scoring. The Broncos broke the drought with four consecutive points, cutting BG's lead to one. The teams traded successful possessions over the next few minutes, with the lead fluctuating between one and three points.

A Nurse jumper was answered by two free throws from Jenny Loney. Freshman Chrissy Steffen's nifty offensive rebound and putback was followed by Sara Vest's jumper. And, junior Kelly Zuercher's layup after a nice drive-and-dish play from Nurse was followed by a Cleary jumper. With six minutes left in the half, BG's lead was 22-21. But, the Falcons were about to go on one of their patented first-half runs.

The Brown and Orange scored eight-straight points as part of a larger 16-3 run over the next five minutes. That run began on an unconventional possession for the home team.

The Falcons missed two shots, but offensive rebounds by Nurse and Zuercher kept the possession going. Sophomore Jessica Slagle's pass, intended for Nurse, sailed wide of the target, but Nurse chased the ball down before it bounced into the backcourt. With the shot clock winding down, Nurse worked against a double team and found Slagle at the right elbow. Slagle's three-point try found nothing but net as the shot-clock horn went off, and the Falcons had a 25-21 lead.

After getting a defensive stop, the hosts knocked down another shot from long range, with Nurse again picking up the assist. This time, she found Prochaska on the fast break, and the junior's third triple of the game gave BG a 28-21 lead as the Broncos took a timeout with exactly five minutes left in the half.

Slagle got to the line and hit a pair of free throws before Loney's three-pointer finally broke BG's scoring run. But, Zuercher nailed a three-pointer from the left corner,and BG's lead was back to nine points with 2:32 left in the half.

Prochaska, who had the assist on the Zuercher trey, then scored BG's next seven points. She made a pair of tosses at the 1:54 mark to put the Falcons' lead into double digits for the first time, at 35-24. Then, on BG's next possession, Prochaska missed a three-point try, but got her own rebound, drove to the basket and hit a layup while drawing a foul. Her free throw completed the three-point play and gave the hosts a 38-24 advantage.

Manley's three-pointer cut the lead to 11, but Prochaska hit two more charity tosses, and Pontius knocked down a jumper with nine seconds left in the half. BG took a 42-27 lead into the lockerroom.

In the second period, the teams traded points over the first two minutes, before Cleary hit a layup to begin a 5-0 Bronco run. Manley's layup cut the Falcons' lead to single digits, 47-39, with 14:28 on the clock.

Nurse canned a jumper to briefly restore the double-figure lead, but Sara Vest answered with a layup at the 13:21 mark. But, BG put the game away by scoring the next 13 points.

Prochaska began that run after it looked like the visitors might cut into BG's lead even more. The Falcons had missed a shot, with Western getting the rebound. But, Prochaska got a steal, and wound up hitting a layup at the 12:14 mark, putting the lead back into double digits for the remainder of the night.

Nurse got back to the line for a pair of free throws, and the senior then found Steffen for an open three-pointer and a 56-41 lead. Hennegan split a pair of tosses, then scored inside, and Prochaska's three-ball gave the Brown and Orange a 62-41 advantage with 8:49 on the clock, and the Falcons were never headed.

BG shot .526 from the field in the second half, en route to a .490 field-goal percentage for the game. The Falcon defense forced 18 WMU turnovers and allowed the Broncos to shoot only .379.

BGSU went 9-of-22 from three-point range, with six different Falcons hitting at least one shot from beyond the arc. Prochaska led the way with a 4-of-8 long-range performance. Manley made two of the Broncos' four treys, en route to 14 points on the night.

In addition to scoring, Prochaska led all players with six rebounds, and tied for game honors with three steals and two blocks. Hennegan had eight points and five rebounds off the bench, while three teammates -- Slagle, Steffen and Zuercher -- scored five points apiece. Zuercher set a career high in minutes played for the second-straight game, with 20 minutes of action on Wednesday night, and tied her career high (for the second-straight game) with five rebounds.

Four different WMU players had five rebounds apiece as the Broncos had a narrow 34-33 advantage on the boards. One of those players was Miame Giden, but the Falcons held Western's leading scorer to seven points on 3-of-12 shooting.

The win improved the Falcons to 10-0 at home this season, and gave the Brown and Orange 27 consecutive regular-season wins at Anderson Arena. WMU was the last team to win a regular-season game at "The House That Roars," with a 79-73 decision two years ago (Jan. 30, 2008).

The Falcons now prepare for a Saturday (Jan. 30) game against the arch-rival University of Toledo. Tipoff for that matchup is 2:00 p.m. at UT's Savage Arena.