Bowling Green State University Athletics
Tuesday, March 2
Oxford, OH
7:00 PM
Bowling Green State University
63
at
58
Miami
Lauren Prochaska had 25 points as the Falcons earned a sixth-straight outright MAC title
Falcons Roll Along to MAC Title with 63-58 Win at Miami
March 02, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Prochaska scores 25 as BGSU captures sixth consecutive outright regular-season championship
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team earned a sixth-straight conference regular-season title outright, gutting out a 63-58 victory over Miami University Tuesday night (March 2). The game, the final Mid-American Conference regular-season contest for both teams, was held at MU's Millett Hall.
FINAL STATISTICS: HTML Stats | PDF Boxscore
POSTGAME AUDIO: Curt Miller | Lauren Prochaska
MAC TOURNAMENT: Updated Bracket
With the win, the Falcons improve to 24-6 on the season, and BGSU finishes MAC regular-season play with a 14-2 record. The RedHawks drop to 8-21 and 6-10, respectively.
The Falcons have clinched the number-one seed for the MAC Tournament. BGSU will play a quarterfinal-round game on Wednesday, March 10, at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland. The Falcons will meet the winner of the first round game pitting #9 Northern Illinois against #8 Miami. The RedHawks will host that first-round contest on Saturday (March 6).
Junior Lauren Prochaska led the Falcons with a game-high 25 points, in the process breaking the BGSU single-season record for three-point field goals made. Senior Tamika Nurse had 13 points for the Brown and Orange, while junior Tracy Pontius scored 12.
For the RedHawks, Courtney Osborn scored 23 points, while Kirsten Olowinski had 12 points and a game-high 17 rebounds.
Both Prochaska and Pontius made four three-pointers in the game as the Falcons went 10-of-27 from long range. Prochaska now has made 80 triples this season.
Junior Jen Uhl had five points and a team-leading 12 rebounds for the Brown and Orange. Miami held a narrow 46-44 advantage on the boards.
The Falcons shot a season-low 29.0 percent from the field, but held the RedHawks to just a .316 success rate. MU was 3-of-17 from three-point land.
Not surprisingly, both teams got off to a slow start. The Falcons and RedHawks combined for just two baskets, one at each end, in the first three-plus minutes.
Senior co-captain Tara Breske got the Falcons on the scoreboard with a jumper 57 seconds into the contest, but Osborn's three-pointer gave the RedHawks a 3-2 lead at the 18:10 mark.
Maggie Boyer's layup put the hosts up by three, before senior Sarah Clapper took a pass from freshman Chrissy Steffen and knocked down a triple, tying the game at 5-5. Clapper's shot came after the Falcons had started the game by going just 1-of-8 from the field.
The hosts responded, however, with five-straight points, scored by the RedHawks' two seniors on Senior Night. Courtney Reed fed Ashleigh Brown for a layup, and Brown returned the favor, kicking the ball out to Reed for a three-pointer and a 10-5 MU lead.
The Falcons, however, responded by going on a 15-1 run over a four-minute span. Pontius took Uhl's pass and hit a three-pointer from the right elbow. Then, after a Miami miss and a Uhl defensive rebound, Pontius brought the ball downcourt, found herself unguarded and uncorked a three-point try from virtually the same spot. Her second trey in a 25-second span gave the Falcons an 11-10 lead.
Osborn split a pair of free throws to tie the game, but another Pontius trey gave the Falcons a 14-11 lead at the 12:13 mark. That shot concluded a stretch in which Pontius scored nine points in just 1:20.
That trey also gave the Falcons the lead for good, but there would be plenty of tense moments for the Brown and Orange over the remainder of the evening.
Additionally, that triple began a 9-0 run for the visitors. Nurse hit a pull-up jumper, and Prochaska sliced between two would-be defenders for a layup at the 9:50 mark. A Nurse steal and transition layup gave the Falcons a 20-11 lead and prompted a Miami timeout.
Osborn ended Miami's drought with a steal and layup of her own, but Prochaska responded with a nifty baseline drive for a 22-13 advantage. The RedHawks scored four-straight points to get within five points, but Steffen drained a three-pointer for a 25-17 advantage heading into the final media timeout of the first half.
Erin Wisner converted a putback of her own miss, but Prochaska's three gave the Falcons a nine-point lead, the largest of the game, at the 2:20 mark.
Again, the 'Hawks battled back, scoring six of the next seven points, but Uhl took Steffen's entry pass and threw in a shot as the first-half horn sounded, giving the visitors a 31-25 lead.
The hosts scored the first four points of the second half, however, cutting the Falcons' lead to two. Nurse hit a banker, but the RedHawks pounded the ball inside to Olowinski for a hoop.
Pontius hit her fourth three-pointer of the game, a straightaway triple that gave BG a 36-31 lead at the 16:33 mark, but Osborn got to the line for a pair of charity tosses, and Lillian Pitts hit a jumper to cut the Falcons' lead to a single point. Pontius hit an open Uhl for a layup to give the Brown and Orange a 38-35 lead, and neither team would score for nearly two minutes.
Prochaska, who scored 17 of her 25 points in the second half, got to the line for a pair of free throws, then hit a three-pointer off of Nurse's inbounds pass, giving the visitors a 43-35 lead with just over 13 minutes remaining.
Again, however, the RedHawks battled back. Baskets by Osborn and Reed were followed by a free throw from Brown, getting the Red and White within three points at 43-40.
Prochaska drove and drew Boyer's fourth foul of the night at the 11:24 mark, hitting both tosses for a five-point lead, and Nurse split two throws less than a minute later.
Pitts hit a jumper for MU, but Prochaska hit her school record-breaking three to give BG a 49-42 lead with 9:07 left. Pontius, though, was whistled for two fouls within a span of just 14 seconds, giving her four on the night. After the latter foul, Osborn made two free throws to cut the Falcon advantage to 49-44.
BGSU got to the line twice within a 35-second span, with Prochaska and Nurse each going 2-for-2. Nurse's tosses with 6:58 left gave the Falcons a nine-point lead, 53-44. But, once again, the RedHawks would respond.
Pitts split two free throws, and Brown's layup at the 6:04 mark cut the Falcons' lead to 53-47.
And, that's where the score would remain for the next 12 possessions, spanning more than three minutes. Miami had six chances to cut into the six-point lead, and the Falcons had six possessions with a chance to increase the advantage. Finally, on BG's seventh chance, Uhl was fouled and split a pair of free throws. BG's advantage was 54-47 with 2:49 remaining.
The teams traded scoreless possessions -- just one each this time -- before Osborn converted two free throws. The MU freshman was 11-for-12 from the stripe.
Prochaska, however, hit a big three-pointer with just 1:40 left, taking a pass from Pontius and sinking her 80th trey of the season. The shot gave the Falcons a 57-49 edge.
Brown grabbed an offensive board, drew a foul and hit two tosses with 1:15 left, but the Falcons got the ball downcourt quickly, and Nurse was fouled on a layup try. The BG senior converted two tosses for a 59-51 lead with 1:05 on the clock. The RedHawks needed to score points quickly, and Miami did just that.
Osborn hit a three-pointer with just under a minute remaining, and BG turned the ball right back over to the RedHawks after a snafu on the ensuing inbounds pass. Olowinski was fouled and hit a pair of free throws, and suddenly, MU was down by only three points with 46.8 seconds still remaining.
The Falcons inbounded the ball, and Prochaska was fouled with 41.5 seconds left. She hit two free throws for a 61-56 BG lead. Osborn missed a jumper, but Olowinski got the rebound and hit the follow try, making it a three-point game with 30.6 seconds left.
After a Miami timeout, BGSU inbounded the ball, but the Falcons called a timeout of their own after a player was trapped in the corner with 27.8 seconds left. Following the BG timeout, Nurse streaked downcourt to grab Uhl's long inbounds pass in stride. She was fouled by Boyer as she attempted a layup, which hit the rim and rolled off.
The foul was Boyer's fifth of the game, with 26.0 seconds on the clock. Nurse made the first free-throw try, but missed the second, leaving the RedHawks down by a 62-58 count.
The RedHawks got two three-point looks from Osborn on the ensuing possession, but neither shot would drop. After the second miss, Nurse grabbed a long rebound and took the ball over midcourt. Brown finally caught up with the Falcon senior, fouling her with just 5.6 seconds left. Nurse split a pair of free throws to provide the game's final margin.
Miami held a 26-14 advantage in points in the paint on the night, and the RedHawks forced BGSU into 18 turnovers. The Falcons, however, forced 20 Miami miscues, with Breske, Pontius and Prochaska each picking up three of BG's 13 steals.
As mentioned, the Falcons will face either MU or Northern Illinois in the MAC Tournament's quarterfinal round. The four quarterfinal games will be played on Wednesday, March 10, at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland. BGSU will play the third game of the day, tentatively scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m.
MAC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Saturday, March 6 - First Round
#9 Northern Illinois at #8 Miami, 1:00 p.m.
#10 Western Michigan at #7 Ball State, 2:00 p.m.
#12 Buffalo at #5 Eastern Michigan, 2:00 p.m.
Sunday, March 7 - First Round
#11 Ohio at #6 Central Michigan, 5:00 p.m.
Wednesday, March 10 - Quarterfinals (Quicken Loans Arena; Cleveland)
BSU/WMU winner vs. #2 Toledo, Noon
CMU/Ohio winner vs. #3 Kent State, 2:00 p.m.*
Miami/NIU winner vs. #1 Bowling Green, 4:00 p.m.*
EMU/UB winner vs. #4 Akron, 6:00 p.m.*
Friday, March 12 - Semifinals (Quicken Loans Arena)
BSU/WMU/UT winner vs. CMU/Ohio/KSU winner, Noon
Miami/NIU/BGSU winner vs. EMU/UB/UA winner, 2:30 p.m.*
Saturday, March 13 - Championship (Quicken Loans Arena)
Semifinal winners, 1:00 p.m.
* or 30 minutes following conclusion of previous game
FINAL STATISTICS: HTML Stats | PDF Boxscore
POSTGAME AUDIO: Curt Miller | Lauren Prochaska
MAC TOURNAMENT: Updated Bracket
With the win, the Falcons improve to 24-6 on the season, and BGSU finishes MAC regular-season play with a 14-2 record. The RedHawks drop to 8-21 and 6-10, respectively.
The Falcons have clinched the number-one seed for the MAC Tournament. BGSU will play a quarterfinal-round game on Wednesday, March 10, at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland. The Falcons will meet the winner of the first round game pitting #9 Northern Illinois against #8 Miami. The RedHawks will host that first-round contest on Saturday (March 6).
Junior Lauren Prochaska led the Falcons with a game-high 25 points, in the process breaking the BGSU single-season record for three-point field goals made. Senior Tamika Nurse had 13 points for the Brown and Orange, while junior Tracy Pontius scored 12.
For the RedHawks, Courtney Osborn scored 23 points, while Kirsten Olowinski had 12 points and a game-high 17 rebounds.
Both Prochaska and Pontius made four three-pointers in the game as the Falcons went 10-of-27 from long range. Prochaska now has made 80 triples this season.
Junior Jen Uhl had five points and a team-leading 12 rebounds for the Brown and Orange. Miami held a narrow 46-44 advantage on the boards.
The Falcons shot a season-low 29.0 percent from the field, but held the RedHawks to just a .316 success rate. MU was 3-of-17 from three-point land.
Not surprisingly, both teams got off to a slow start. The Falcons and RedHawks combined for just two baskets, one at each end, in the first three-plus minutes.
Senior co-captain Tara Breske got the Falcons on the scoreboard with a jumper 57 seconds into the contest, but Osborn's three-pointer gave the RedHawks a 3-2 lead at the 18:10 mark.
Maggie Boyer's layup put the hosts up by three, before senior Sarah Clapper took a pass from freshman Chrissy Steffen and knocked down a triple, tying the game at 5-5. Clapper's shot came after the Falcons had started the game by going just 1-of-8 from the field.
The hosts responded, however, with five-straight points, scored by the RedHawks' two seniors on Senior Night. Courtney Reed fed Ashleigh Brown for a layup, and Brown returned the favor, kicking the ball out to Reed for a three-pointer and a 10-5 MU lead.
The Falcons, however, responded by going on a 15-1 run over a four-minute span. Pontius took Uhl's pass and hit a three-pointer from the right elbow. Then, after a Miami miss and a Uhl defensive rebound, Pontius brought the ball downcourt, found herself unguarded and uncorked a three-point try from virtually the same spot. Her second trey in a 25-second span gave the Falcons an 11-10 lead.
Osborn split a pair of free throws to tie the game, but another Pontius trey gave the Falcons a 14-11 lead at the 12:13 mark. That shot concluded a stretch in which Pontius scored nine points in just 1:20.
That trey also gave the Falcons the lead for good, but there would be plenty of tense moments for the Brown and Orange over the remainder of the evening.
Additionally, that triple began a 9-0 run for the visitors. Nurse hit a pull-up jumper, and Prochaska sliced between two would-be defenders for a layup at the 9:50 mark. A Nurse steal and transition layup gave the Falcons a 20-11 lead and prompted a Miami timeout.
Osborn ended Miami's drought with a steal and layup of her own, but Prochaska responded with a nifty baseline drive for a 22-13 advantage. The RedHawks scored four-straight points to get within five points, but Steffen drained a three-pointer for a 25-17 advantage heading into the final media timeout of the first half.
Erin Wisner converted a putback of her own miss, but Prochaska's three gave the Falcons a nine-point lead, the largest of the game, at the 2:20 mark.
Again, the 'Hawks battled back, scoring six of the next seven points, but Uhl took Steffen's entry pass and threw in a shot as the first-half horn sounded, giving the visitors a 31-25 lead.
The hosts scored the first four points of the second half, however, cutting the Falcons' lead to two. Nurse hit a banker, but the RedHawks pounded the ball inside to Olowinski for a hoop.
Pontius hit her fourth three-pointer of the game, a straightaway triple that gave BG a 36-31 lead at the 16:33 mark, but Osborn got to the line for a pair of charity tosses, and Lillian Pitts hit a jumper to cut the Falcons' lead to a single point. Pontius hit an open Uhl for a layup to give the Brown and Orange a 38-35 lead, and neither team would score for nearly two minutes.
Prochaska, who scored 17 of her 25 points in the second half, got to the line for a pair of free throws, then hit a three-pointer off of Nurse's inbounds pass, giving the visitors a 43-35 lead with just over 13 minutes remaining.
Again, however, the RedHawks battled back. Baskets by Osborn and Reed were followed by a free throw from Brown, getting the Red and White within three points at 43-40.
Prochaska drove and drew Boyer's fourth foul of the night at the 11:24 mark, hitting both tosses for a five-point lead, and Nurse split two throws less than a minute later.
Pitts hit a jumper for MU, but Prochaska hit her school record-breaking three to give BG a 49-42 lead with 9:07 left. Pontius, though, was whistled for two fouls within a span of just 14 seconds, giving her four on the night. After the latter foul, Osborn made two free throws to cut the Falcon advantage to 49-44.
BGSU got to the line twice within a 35-second span, with Prochaska and Nurse each going 2-for-2. Nurse's tosses with 6:58 left gave the Falcons a nine-point lead, 53-44. But, once again, the RedHawks would respond.
Pitts split two free throws, and Brown's layup at the 6:04 mark cut the Falcons' lead to 53-47.
And, that's where the score would remain for the next 12 possessions, spanning more than three minutes. Miami had six chances to cut into the six-point lead, and the Falcons had six possessions with a chance to increase the advantage. Finally, on BG's seventh chance, Uhl was fouled and split a pair of free throws. BG's advantage was 54-47 with 2:49 remaining.
The teams traded scoreless possessions -- just one each this time -- before Osborn converted two free throws. The MU freshman was 11-for-12 from the stripe.
Prochaska, however, hit a big three-pointer with just 1:40 left, taking a pass from Pontius and sinking her 80th trey of the season. The shot gave the Falcons a 57-49 edge.
Brown grabbed an offensive board, drew a foul and hit two tosses with 1:15 left, but the Falcons got the ball downcourt quickly, and Nurse was fouled on a layup try. The BG senior converted two tosses for a 59-51 lead with 1:05 on the clock. The RedHawks needed to score points quickly, and Miami did just that.
Osborn hit a three-pointer with just under a minute remaining, and BG turned the ball right back over to the RedHawks after a snafu on the ensuing inbounds pass. Olowinski was fouled and hit a pair of free throws, and suddenly, MU was down by only three points with 46.8 seconds still remaining.
The Falcons inbounded the ball, and Prochaska was fouled with 41.5 seconds left. She hit two free throws for a 61-56 BG lead. Osborn missed a jumper, but Olowinski got the rebound and hit the follow try, making it a three-point game with 30.6 seconds left.
After a Miami timeout, BGSU inbounded the ball, but the Falcons called a timeout of their own after a player was trapped in the corner with 27.8 seconds left. Following the BG timeout, Nurse streaked downcourt to grab Uhl's long inbounds pass in stride. She was fouled by Boyer as she attempted a layup, which hit the rim and rolled off.
The foul was Boyer's fifth of the game, with 26.0 seconds on the clock. Nurse made the first free-throw try, but missed the second, leaving the RedHawks down by a 62-58 count.
The RedHawks got two three-point looks from Osborn on the ensuing possession, but neither shot would drop. After the second miss, Nurse grabbed a long rebound and took the ball over midcourt. Brown finally caught up with the Falcon senior, fouling her with just 5.6 seconds left. Nurse split a pair of free throws to provide the game's final margin.
Miami held a 26-14 advantage in points in the paint on the night, and the RedHawks forced BGSU into 18 turnovers. The Falcons, however, forced 20 Miami miscues, with Breske, Pontius and Prochaska each picking up three of BG's 13 steals.
As mentioned, the Falcons will face either MU or Northern Illinois in the MAC Tournament's quarterfinal round. The four quarterfinal games will be played on Wednesday, March 10, at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland. BGSU will play the third game of the day, tentatively scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m.
MAC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Saturday, March 6 - First Round
#9 Northern Illinois at #8 Miami, 1:00 p.m.
#10 Western Michigan at #7 Ball State, 2:00 p.m.
#12 Buffalo at #5 Eastern Michigan, 2:00 p.m.
Sunday, March 7 - First Round
#11 Ohio at #6 Central Michigan, 5:00 p.m.
Wednesday, March 10 - Quarterfinals (Quicken Loans Arena; Cleveland)
BSU/WMU winner vs. #2 Toledo, Noon
CMU/Ohio winner vs. #3 Kent State, 2:00 p.m.*
Miami/NIU winner vs. #1 Bowling Green, 4:00 p.m.*
EMU/UB winner vs. #4 Akron, 6:00 p.m.*
Friday, March 12 - Semifinals (Quicken Loans Arena)
BSU/WMU/UT winner vs. CMU/Ohio/KSU winner, Noon
Miami/NIU/BGSU winner vs. EMU/UB/UA winner, 2:30 p.m.*
Saturday, March 13 - Championship (Quicken Loans Arena)
Semifinal winners, 1:00 p.m.
* or 30 minutes following conclusion of previous game
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