Saturday, February 6
Muncie, IN
2:30 PM
Bowling Green State University
80
at
76
Ball State
Junior Lauren Prochaska's 26 points included a career-high 6 3-pointers
BGSU Battles Back to Beat BSU, 80-76
February 06, 2010 | Women's Basketball
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team erased a double-digit deficit in the second half, battling back for an 80-76 win over Ball State Saturday afternoon (Feb. 6). The Mid-American Conference cross-divisional game was held at Worthen Arena.
STATS: Final Stats - HTML | Boxscore - PDF | Cumulative Stats - PDF
POSTGAME AUDIO: Curt Miller | Lauren Prochaska
With the win, the Falcons improve to 19-5 overall and 9-1 in MAC play, and BGSU remains a game ahead of Akron in the East Division race. The Cardinals drop to 9-14 and 3-7, respectively.
Junior Lauren Prochaska had 26 points, including 23 in the second half, to lead the Falcons. Prochaska made a career-high six three-point field goals in the win, moving her within just one made trey of the school's career record in that category.
Senior Tamika Nurse scored 15 points, including 12 in the second half, while fellow senior Tara Breske had a double-double, with 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
The Cardinals got a 28-point, nine-rebound performance from Emily Maggert, while Audrey McDonald chipped in with 16 points, including four three-pointers.
Ball State scored the final five points of the first half to take a 35-30 lead into the intermission, and the Cardinals got off to a quick second-half start. Out of the lockerroom, BSU scored nine points in less than two minutes, taking a 44-33 lead on Maggert's layup with 18:14 left.
The Cardinals' lead was once again in double figures after Patrice King's jumper gave BSU a 46-36 advantage at the 16:59 mark. But, the Falcons proceeded to go on an 18-0 run, holding the Cards scoreless for nearly seven minutes. Prochaska scored eight points and Breske and Nurse four apiece during that span. Breske capped that run with a pair of free throws at the 10:33 mark, giving the Falcons a 54-46 lead.
The Falcons extended the lead to double figures with just over eight minutes left, on a Prochaska three-pointer, but the Cardinals scored seven-straight points to cut BG's margin to just three, at 61-58, with over five minutes still remaining in the game.
BG extended the lead back out to eight points with just over three minutes left, before five-straight BSU points put the hosts within three, 72-69, with 2:36 left.
The Falcons got a driving layup from junior Tracy Pontius at the 2:21 mark, but McDonald -- who holds the Ball State record for career three-pointers -- got free for a long-distance shot, putting her team within two points, at 74-72, with 1:34 remaining. A pair of free throws by Nurse, however, gave the Brown and Orange a four-point lead. Nurse hit six charity tosses in the game's final 1:24.
The Cardinals got within three points on two occasions in the final minute, as Danielle Gratton made two free throws with 30.1 seconds left, and Maggert converted a layup with approximately 12.8 seconds remaining. But, Nurse made two free throws of her own after the Gratton tosses, then hit another free throw with 10.9 seconds remaining to provide the final margin. The Cardinals turned the ball over with less than two seconds left, and BG inbounded the ball as time ran out.
The Cards had scored the game's first four points, both on coast-to-coast layups by Ty'ronda Benning. Following the second shot, BGSU coach Curt Miller took an early timeout, just 56 seconds into the game.
BGSU tied the score on runners by Pontius and freshman Chrissy Steffen (a Carmel, Ind., native), before Maggert stepped out and hit a three-pointer. The Falcons equalized, however, as junior Kelly Zuercher took a pass from Steffen and hit a trailing three-pointer from dead center. The game was tied, 7-7, at the initial media timeout.
Steffen set a new personal best with five assists in the game, leading all players. She also set or tied her season/career records in four additional categories.
Zuercher hit another shot, draining a jumper off a Pontius inbounds pass, before the Cardinals scored four-straight points. But, Steffen hit a second-chance three-pointer after a nice hustle play by Breske. After Steffen misfired on a three-point try, Breske fought for the rebound, and came up with the ball while being knocked to the ground. While on her stomach, Breske flipped the ball to Steffen behind the arc, and the freshman's shot gave the Falcons a 12-11 lead. A nifty entry pass from junior Jen Uhl freed Breske for an easy layup and a three-point advantage.
Several minutes later, Breske drew several players to her in the lane, and kicked the ball out to Prochaska for a right-elbow triple and a 17-13 BG lead midway through the half. The Cardinals scored five-straight points, with a McDonald trey putting the home team back in front, but junior Maggie Hennegan's driving layup gave the Brown and Orange a 19-18 advantage at the third media timeout of the day.
After a Maggert layup, an offensive rebound and putback by Breske gave BG a 21-20 advantage, but Suzanne Grossnickle answered with a jumper for the hosts, and Benning's three-point play put BSU ahead, 25-21, with 4:48 left in the half.
Back came Breske and the Falcons, however. The senior converted a three-point play of her own, bringing BG back within one. The hosts responded, though, by scoring five points in a row for a 30-24 lead. The last four points came on a pair of Maggert layups.
Steffen answered with a three-pointer, snapping a BG scoreless drought of two and a half minutes. Then, Nurse knocked down a triple of her own, tying the game with 1:13 left in the half. McDonald got free for a trey, though, and then found Maggert for a layup in the final seconds of the period.
Ball State shot .517 from the field in the opening half, while holding BGSU to a .375 success rate.
When the second half began, the Cards scored quickly, on a Gratton jumper. Prochaska hit a three-ball, but McDonald answered with a long-distance shot of her own, sparking a 7-0 run for the hosts. Maggert scored the last four of those points, hitting two free throws before getting an offensive board and a putback. The latter shot gave BSU that 44-33 lead.
Pontius sliced through the lane for an 'and-one' layup, hitting the free throw to reduce Ball State's advantage to eight points. King's jumper gave BSU a 46-36 lead, but that would be the last points the Cardinals would score for the next 6:44.
The run began innocently enough, as Nurse grabbed an offensive rebound and found Prochaska for a three-pointer. Then, Breske picked King's pocket near midcourt and went in all alone for a layup. The Falcons were back within five points, and BSU used a timeout.
The score remained 46-41 for nearly three minutes, before Prochaska took Nurse's inbounds pass and hit a long two-pointer. Then, Hennegan tossed in a jumper in the lane. The Falcons forced a Benning turnover, and Steffen's pass to Nurse resulted in a three-pointer from in front of the BG bench. That shot put BG on top, 48-46, with 11:51 left. The Falcons never trailed again, but the game was far from finished.
Nurse split a pair of free throws, missing the second, but Breske rebounded that miss. The extended possession culminated when Prochaska took a Steffen pass and made a left-elbow trey. The BG defense forced a miss, and Breske was fouled as she got the rebound. She hit both ends of the one-and-one opportunity, giving the Brown and Orange a 54-46 lead with 10:33 remaining.
Amber Crago finally snapped the scoreless streak for the Cards, with a jumper at the 10:15 mark, but Prochaska got to the line and hit a pair of charity tosses. Half a minute later, Hennegan did the same, and BG's lead was 58-49.
Crago made two tries from the line, but Steffen spotted an open Prochaska, and the junior hit a straightway triple and a 61-51 lead with 8:07 left. Ball State responded with the aforementioned 7-0 run, capped by McDonald's runner at the 5:52 mark.
Prochaska made two free throws, then answered a Maggert jumper with a three-pointer -- her sixth of the game -- for a 66-60 lead with five minutes left.
McDonald made a layup after a Maggert steal, but Prochaska's baseline floater gave the Falcons a 70-64 lead with 3:44 remaining. Two Breske free throws upped the advantage to eight points, before a Maggert three-point play at the 2:53 mark. After a BGSU turnover, King's layup brought the hosts within 72-69.
Moments later, McDonald's triple cut BG's lead to two points with 94 seconds remaining. But, that was as close as the hosts would get. Nurse made 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch, keeping BG in the lead.
The Falcons shot an even 50 percent from the field in the second half, going 12-of-24. After shooting just one free throw in the opening period, BGSU was 20-of-25 from the stripe in the second half. Nurse went 9-of-12 from the line in the game.
Prochaska went 8-of-11 from the floor, including a 6-of-8 performance from three-point land, and made all four of her free-throw tries.
Led by Prochaska's output, the Falcons went 11-of-32 from the arc, marking BG's ninth game this season of 10 triples or more. Steffen and Nurse each made two apiece.
Steffen had eight points, five rebounds and five assists in the game, while Pontius scored seven points, Hennegen six and Zuercher five.
Nurse had a career-high total of three blocked shots for the Brown and Orange.
The Falcons now turn their attention to the final cross-divisional game of the regular season, Wednesday's (Feb. 13) game at Central Michigan. The Ball State game began a stretch in which BGSU plays four road games in a five-game span.
FALCON NOTES
* Junior Lauren Prochaska passed former Falcon Liz Honegger on one list and moved ever closer to her on another ... Prochaska's 26 points vs. Ball State give her a career total of 1,528 ... she moved past Honegger (1,522 pts., from 2003-07) into sixth place on the BGSU career list.
* Prochaska made a career-high six three-point field goals on Saturday, giving her 215 for her career ... Prochaska needs just one more three-pointer to tie Honegger's career record ... Honegger, a native of Lafayette, Ind., was in attendance at Saturday's game.
* Senior co-captain Tara Breske had a double-double, with 13 points and a game-high total of 12 rebounds ... for Breske, the double-double was her first of the season and the sixth of her BGSU career.
* Freshman Chrissy Steffen, a native of Carmel, Ind., had eight points for the Falcons on Saturday, just one off her career high ... she set new personal bests in minutes played (25), rebounds (five) and assists (five) and tied her season/career best with two three-pointers made.
* Steffen entered the day with a total of nine assists this season, including four in the first nine MAC games, before dishing out a team-high five helpers vs. the Cardinals.
* Senior Tamika Nurse had a career-high three blocked shots at BSU ... Nurse entered the game with four total blocks this season and seven in her collegiate career.
STATS: Final Stats - HTML | Boxscore - PDF | Cumulative Stats - PDF
POSTGAME AUDIO: Curt Miller | Lauren Prochaska
With the win, the Falcons improve to 19-5 overall and 9-1 in MAC play, and BGSU remains a game ahead of Akron in the East Division race. The Cardinals drop to 9-14 and 3-7, respectively.
Junior Lauren Prochaska had 26 points, including 23 in the second half, to lead the Falcons. Prochaska made a career-high six three-point field goals in the win, moving her within just one made trey of the school's career record in that category.
Senior Tamika Nurse scored 15 points, including 12 in the second half, while fellow senior Tara Breske had a double-double, with 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
The Cardinals got a 28-point, nine-rebound performance from Emily Maggert, while Audrey McDonald chipped in with 16 points, including four three-pointers.
Ball State scored the final five points of the first half to take a 35-30 lead into the intermission, and the Cardinals got off to a quick second-half start. Out of the lockerroom, BSU scored nine points in less than two minutes, taking a 44-33 lead on Maggert's layup with 18:14 left.
The Cardinals' lead was once again in double figures after Patrice King's jumper gave BSU a 46-36 advantage at the 16:59 mark. But, the Falcons proceeded to go on an 18-0 run, holding the Cards scoreless for nearly seven minutes. Prochaska scored eight points and Breske and Nurse four apiece during that span. Breske capped that run with a pair of free throws at the 10:33 mark, giving the Falcons a 54-46 lead.
The Falcons extended the lead to double figures with just over eight minutes left, on a Prochaska three-pointer, but the Cardinals scored seven-straight points to cut BG's margin to just three, at 61-58, with over five minutes still remaining in the game.
BG extended the lead back out to eight points with just over three minutes left, before five-straight BSU points put the hosts within three, 72-69, with 2:36 left.
The Falcons got a driving layup from junior Tracy Pontius at the 2:21 mark, but McDonald -- who holds the Ball State record for career three-pointers -- got free for a long-distance shot, putting her team within two points, at 74-72, with 1:34 remaining. A pair of free throws by Nurse, however, gave the Brown and Orange a four-point lead. Nurse hit six charity tosses in the game's final 1:24.
The Cardinals got within three points on two occasions in the final minute, as Danielle Gratton made two free throws with 30.1 seconds left, and Maggert converted a layup with approximately 12.8 seconds remaining. But, Nurse made two free throws of her own after the Gratton tosses, then hit another free throw with 10.9 seconds remaining to provide the final margin. The Cardinals turned the ball over with less than two seconds left, and BG inbounded the ball as time ran out.
The Cards had scored the game's first four points, both on coast-to-coast layups by Ty'ronda Benning. Following the second shot, BGSU coach Curt Miller took an early timeout, just 56 seconds into the game.
BGSU tied the score on runners by Pontius and freshman Chrissy Steffen (a Carmel, Ind., native), before Maggert stepped out and hit a three-pointer. The Falcons equalized, however, as junior Kelly Zuercher took a pass from Steffen and hit a trailing three-pointer from dead center. The game was tied, 7-7, at the initial media timeout.
Steffen set a new personal best with five assists in the game, leading all players. She also set or tied her season/career records in four additional categories.
Zuercher hit another shot, draining a jumper off a Pontius inbounds pass, before the Cardinals scored four-straight points. But, Steffen hit a second-chance three-pointer after a nice hustle play by Breske. After Steffen misfired on a three-point try, Breske fought for the rebound, and came up with the ball while being knocked to the ground. While on her stomach, Breske flipped the ball to Steffen behind the arc, and the freshman's shot gave the Falcons a 12-11 lead. A nifty entry pass from junior Jen Uhl freed Breske for an easy layup and a three-point advantage.
Several minutes later, Breske drew several players to her in the lane, and kicked the ball out to Prochaska for a right-elbow triple and a 17-13 BG lead midway through the half. The Cardinals scored five-straight points, with a McDonald trey putting the home team back in front, but junior Maggie Hennegan's driving layup gave the Brown and Orange a 19-18 advantage at the third media timeout of the day.
After a Maggert layup, an offensive rebound and putback by Breske gave BG a 21-20 advantage, but Suzanne Grossnickle answered with a jumper for the hosts, and Benning's three-point play put BSU ahead, 25-21, with 4:48 left in the half.
Back came Breske and the Falcons, however. The senior converted a three-point play of her own, bringing BG back within one. The hosts responded, though, by scoring five points in a row for a 30-24 lead. The last four points came on a pair of Maggert layups.
Steffen answered with a three-pointer, snapping a BG scoreless drought of two and a half minutes. Then, Nurse knocked down a triple of her own, tying the game with 1:13 left in the half. McDonald got free for a trey, though, and then found Maggert for a layup in the final seconds of the period.
Ball State shot .517 from the field in the opening half, while holding BGSU to a .375 success rate.
When the second half began, the Cards scored quickly, on a Gratton jumper. Prochaska hit a three-ball, but McDonald answered with a long-distance shot of her own, sparking a 7-0 run for the hosts. Maggert scored the last four of those points, hitting two free throws before getting an offensive board and a putback. The latter shot gave BSU that 44-33 lead.
Pontius sliced through the lane for an 'and-one' layup, hitting the free throw to reduce Ball State's advantage to eight points. King's jumper gave BSU a 46-36 lead, but that would be the last points the Cardinals would score for the next 6:44.
The run began innocently enough, as Nurse grabbed an offensive rebound and found Prochaska for a three-pointer. Then, Breske picked King's pocket near midcourt and went in all alone for a layup. The Falcons were back within five points, and BSU used a timeout.
The score remained 46-41 for nearly three minutes, before Prochaska took Nurse's inbounds pass and hit a long two-pointer. Then, Hennegan tossed in a jumper in the lane. The Falcons forced a Benning turnover, and Steffen's pass to Nurse resulted in a three-pointer from in front of the BG bench. That shot put BG on top, 48-46, with 11:51 left. The Falcons never trailed again, but the game was far from finished.
Nurse split a pair of free throws, missing the second, but Breske rebounded that miss. The extended possession culminated when Prochaska took a Steffen pass and made a left-elbow trey. The BG defense forced a miss, and Breske was fouled as she got the rebound. She hit both ends of the one-and-one opportunity, giving the Brown and Orange a 54-46 lead with 10:33 remaining.
Amber Crago finally snapped the scoreless streak for the Cards, with a jumper at the 10:15 mark, but Prochaska got to the line and hit a pair of charity tosses. Half a minute later, Hennegan did the same, and BG's lead was 58-49.
Crago made two tries from the line, but Steffen spotted an open Prochaska, and the junior hit a straightway triple and a 61-51 lead with 8:07 left. Ball State responded with the aforementioned 7-0 run, capped by McDonald's runner at the 5:52 mark.
Prochaska made two free throws, then answered a Maggert jumper with a three-pointer -- her sixth of the game -- for a 66-60 lead with five minutes left.
McDonald made a layup after a Maggert steal, but Prochaska's baseline floater gave the Falcons a 70-64 lead with 3:44 remaining. Two Breske free throws upped the advantage to eight points, before a Maggert three-point play at the 2:53 mark. After a BGSU turnover, King's layup brought the hosts within 72-69.
Moments later, McDonald's triple cut BG's lead to two points with 94 seconds remaining. But, that was as close as the hosts would get. Nurse made 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch, keeping BG in the lead.
The Falcons shot an even 50 percent from the field in the second half, going 12-of-24. After shooting just one free throw in the opening period, BGSU was 20-of-25 from the stripe in the second half. Nurse went 9-of-12 from the line in the game.
Prochaska went 8-of-11 from the floor, including a 6-of-8 performance from three-point land, and made all four of her free-throw tries.
Led by Prochaska's output, the Falcons went 11-of-32 from the arc, marking BG's ninth game this season of 10 triples or more. Steffen and Nurse each made two apiece.
Steffen had eight points, five rebounds and five assists in the game, while Pontius scored seven points, Hennegen six and Zuercher five.
Nurse had a career-high total of three blocked shots for the Brown and Orange.
The Falcons now turn their attention to the final cross-divisional game of the regular season, Wednesday's (Feb. 13) game at Central Michigan. The Ball State game began a stretch in which BGSU plays four road games in a five-game span.
FALCON NOTES
* Junior Lauren Prochaska passed former Falcon Liz Honegger on one list and moved ever closer to her on another ... Prochaska's 26 points vs. Ball State give her a career total of 1,528 ... she moved past Honegger (1,522 pts., from 2003-07) into sixth place on the BGSU career list.
* Prochaska made a career-high six three-point field goals on Saturday, giving her 215 for her career ... Prochaska needs just one more three-pointer to tie Honegger's career record ... Honegger, a native of Lafayette, Ind., was in attendance at Saturday's game.
* Senior co-captain Tara Breske had a double-double, with 13 points and a game-high total of 12 rebounds ... for Breske, the double-double was her first of the season and the sixth of her BGSU career.
* Freshman Chrissy Steffen, a native of Carmel, Ind., had eight points for the Falcons on Saturday, just one off her career high ... she set new personal bests in minutes played (25), rebounds (five) and assists (five) and tied her season/career best with two three-pointers made.
* Steffen entered the day with a total of nine assists this season, including four in the first nine MAC games, before dishing out a team-high five helpers vs. the Cardinals.
* Senior Tamika Nurse had a career-high three blocked shots at BSU ... Nurse entered the game with four total blocks this season and seven in her collegiate career.
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