Falcons Begin Mountain West Swing with 60-53 Win at Wyoming

Thursday, December 29

Laramie, WY

7:00 PM MT

Bowling Green State University

Wyoming

Jessica Slagle had 16 points at Wyoming, doing much of her damage at the foul line (photo by Doug Sampson)

December 29, 2011 | Women's Basketball

Slagle scores a career-high 16 points in road victory

By: LARAMIE, Wyo. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team took the lead with a late first-half run, and the Falcons held off every University of Wyoming challenge en route to a 60-53 win Thursday night (Dec. 29). The non-conference game was held at Arena Auditorium.

FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
POSTGAME AUDIO: Curt Miller

With the victory, the Falcons improve to 9-3 on the season, while the Cowgirls drop to 4-8.

Senior Jessica Slagle scored a career-high 16 points, doing most of her damage at the foul line, while junior Chrissy Steffen had 15.

Ashley Sickles had 16 points to pace three Wyoming players in double figures. Chaundra Sewell had 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds for the Cowgirls, while Kaitlyn Mileto chipped in with 10.

Slagle, who played at the point-guard position for much of the evening, was continually successful at getting herself to the foul line. She made 12 charity tosses in 16 tries, obliterating her previous career bests in both categories.

All 11 of Slagle's second-half points came at the stripe, when she played all 20 minutes and also had three of her team-leading four assists. In addition to the 16 points and four helpers, Slagle also had six rebounds and two steals, tying for game honors in the latter category.

The Falcons had a 42-37 advantage in rebounding, led by a career-best 12 boards from redshirt sophomore Alexis Rogers. BGSU outrebounded the opponent for the seventh consecutive game.

Wyoming opened up a 16-8 lead with just under seven minutes gone in the game, but the Falcons went on an 11-2 run, hitting three three-pointers during that stretch, to take a 19-18 lead with just over eight minutes left before halftime. Sickles hit a layup to give the hosts a one-point advantage, but junior Allison Papenfuss grabbed an offensive rebound and banked a turnaround shot home to give the Brown and Orange the lead for good.

That Papenfuss jumper began an 8-2 BG run, before Sewell closed the first-half scoring. Leading by a 28-24 score at the intermission, the visitors scored eight of the first 10 points in the second period to open up a 10-point lead.

After the Cowgirls got back within six points at the 16:21 mark, the Falcons scored the next seven points to take a 43-30 lead. The lead remained in double digits for much of the half, but Mileto's jumper got the hosts within six points, 54-48, with 2:14 remaining.

The Falcons had an answer for nearly every Wyoming score, but the hosts crept within five points on a Sickles free throw in the final minute. But, UW would get no closer, and a pair of Slagle tosses capped the scoring.

Both teams had opened the evening by scoring on the first two possessions of the game. Sewell hit a layup just 11 seconds in, but Slagle answered with a driving shot of her own. Sickles drained a three-pointer, but freshman Jasmine Matthews hit a triple to knot the score at 5-5 with only 1:18 elapsed.

Another Sickles triple gave the hosts an 8-5 lead, and after a Steffen layup, the hosts went on an 8-1 run. That run was capped by Mileto's second-chance three-pointer, which bounced around the rim and dropped through the hoop for a 16-8 Wyoming lead.

At that point, the Cowgirls were a perfect 3-for-3 on three-point attempts. But, UW would misfire on the next eight triple tries to end the first half, and the hosts would make only one of their final 16 long-range shots.

Trailing by that 16-8 score, the Falcons began to battle back. Sophomore Noelle Yoder hit a straightaway trey, snapping a stretch of over five minutes without a field goal for the Brown and Orange. Steffen followed with a trey off of a pass from sophomore Jill Stein, and after Mileto's layup, another Matthews triple got the Falcons to within a point, 18-17. Sophomore Jillian Halfhill hit a jumper in the paint at the 8:04 mark for a 19-18 BG advantage.

Sickles' layup gave the hosts the lead for what proved to be the last time, but the Papenfuss jumper put BG ahead with 7:12 left. Slagle hit a jumper late in the shot clock, and after a UW layup, Rogers made two free throws with 4:28 left in the half. Yoder followed with her second three-pointer in as many attempts, but a 28-22 Falcon lead, before Sewell's jumper closed the first-half scoring.

That Yoder trey had come after a great play by redshirt junior Danielle Havel. After a missed shot, Havel, in traffic, knocked the rebound out to Rogers at midcourt, keeping the possession alive for Yoder's shot.

BGSU got off to a fast second-half start. Slagle stole the ball from Mileto on the opening possession and was fouled on her drive to the hoop. The senior split her two free-throw tries. Then, BG forced the Cowgirls to turn the ball over again, and the resulting possession resulted in Rogers putting back her own miss for a 31-24 lead with 19:13 left.

Sickles made a layup, but Steffen hit a triple on the break, then threw in a layup for a 36-26 BG lead.

Kayla Woodward hit a wide-open three-pointer for the hosts, and a Sickles free throw cut BG's lead to six points. But, Slagle found Steffen for another trey and a 39-30 lead with just under 16 minutes remaining. Then, Steffen drove the lane in traffic and hit Stein with a nifty bounce pass for a layup. After a Papenfuss steal, Slagle was fouled and hit two tosses. BG's run was 7-0 and the Falcons' lead was a game-high 13 points, at 43-30.

The Falcons' lead was still 12 points after Rogers took a pass from Havel, made a fake with her back to the basket and turned and banked the ball home.

Wyoming answered with a Sickles layup and two free throws, but Slagle threw the ball inside to Havel for a layup and a 10-point lead. Several minutes later, Steffen drove and dished to Havel for a three-point try from the right wing. That shot gave the Brown and Orange a 53-42 lead with 5:44 left.

The Cowgirls, however, kept coming back. Sewell's three-point play cut BG's lead to eight points, and Alison Gorrell made a free throw with 2:46 remaining. Slagle, though, drove and drew a foul on Sickles with 2:13 left. The BG senior split her two tosses, giving BG a 54-46 lead.

Mileto knocked down a crazy jumper while drawing a foul, but the free throw was no good, and BG got the rebound. Once again, Slagle was fouled at the other end, and this time, the senior made both free-throw tries. With 1:56 on the clock, the Falcons had a 56-48 lead.

A too-easy Sewell layup was answered by two more Slagle tosses with 1:33 left. Woodward made a layup to cut the lead to six, and BG missed a shot at the other end.

Sickles drew a foul on Rogers, and split a pair of tosses with 42 seconds remaining to bring the Cowgirls within five points, 58-53. Havel missed a free throw with exactly 40.0 seconds left, and Wyoming got the ball back.

The next possession, however, resulted in a missed shot by Mileto, with Slagle coming up with the rebound. She was fouled with 18.7 seconds on the clock, and hit both tosses to close the scoring. Sickles missed a jumper in the dying seconds.

Matthews, Rogers and Yoder all had six points for the Falcons, with Havel adding five. Havel also had eight rebounds on the evening.

BGSU remains in the Mountain Time Zone, heading to Fort Collins, Colo., for a Saturday (Dec. 31) game vs. Colorado State University. That contest is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. locally (3:00 p.m. Eastern) at Moby Arena.

FALCON NOTES
* Senior Jessica Slagle had a career-high 16 points, going 12-of-16 at the free-throw line ... Slagle's previous bests at the stripe were six free throws made and eight attempted.

* Slagle's double-digit scoring game was her sixth of the season and the 11th of her BGSU career ... she topped her old mark of 15 points scored earlier this month against Butler (Dec. 3, 2011).

* Redshirt sophomore Alexis Rogers had a career-high 12 rebounds vs. the Cowgirls ... Rogers had had one prior double-digit rebounding game, at Youngstown State on Dec. 6.

* The Falcons entered Thursday's game leading the Mid-American Conference in scoring defense, having allowed 53.7 points per game ... BG held Wyoming right at that average, as the Cowgirls had 53 points on the night.

* Thursday was assistant coach Kevin Eckert's birthday ... the Falcons are now a perfect 7-0 in games played on Eckert's birthday since he joined the BGSU staff ... six of those seven wins have come away from home.