Georgia Tech Downs BGSU, 69-58, in NCAAs

Saturday, March 19

Columbus, Ohio

11:20 AM

Bowling Green State University

Georgia Tech (First Round)

Lauren Prochaska puts up a shot over Georgia Tech's Sasha Goodlett. Both players had 19 points in Saturday's game (photo by Brad Phalin)

March 19, 2011 | Women's Basketball

Falcons see season end with 28-5 record

By: COLUMBUS, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Georgia Tech, leading the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team by just a point at halftime, went on a run early in the second half to pull away for a 69-58 win Saturday morning/afternoon (March 19). The game, a first-round contest in the NCAA Championships, was held at St. John Arena.

FINAL STATS - HTML
BOXSCORE - PDF
POSTGAME AUDIO - Curt Miller, Lauren Prochaska & Chrissy Steffen
POSTGAME QUOTES - Complete transcript of BGSU, Ga Tech press conferences
PHOTO GALLERY 1 | PHOTO GALLERY 2

With the win, the Yellow Jackets improve to 24-10 on the year, and move on to face Ohio State in Monday's second round. The Falcons see the season come to an end with an overall record of 28-5.

Senior Lauren Prochaska, in her final game at BGSU, led the Falcons and tied for game honors with 19 points. Sophomore Chrissy Steffen joined Prochaska in double figures, with 16 points in Saturday's game. Steffen made five of her six shot attempts from the field.

Prochaska was one of six Falcon seniors who suited up for the final time on Saturday.

Sasha Goodlett led three GT double-digit scorers with 19 points, while Alex Montgomery had a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Tyaunna Marshall scored 12 points off the bench, and also had a game-high five steals.

The Falcons were within a single point at the half, after redshirt sophomore Danielle Havel scored back-to-back baskets, with the second shot just beating the halftime buzzer. But, the Jackets opened the second period on a 10-2 run to take a nine-point lead.

The Falcons closed to within five points on a layup by senior Tracy Pontius with 13:39 remaining. But, GT would hold the Falcons without a point for over four minutes, going on an 8-0 run to take a 57-42 lead with under eight minutes left. BGSU could not get within single digits the rest of the way.

Georgia Tech's pressure defense forced the Falcons into a season-high 25 turnovers in the game, and the Yellow Jackets did not allow BGSU to hit a three-point field goal until more than 33 minutes were gone. BG went just 2-of-6 from beyond the arc, posting season-low totals in three-pointers made and attempted.

The Falcons turned the ball over on the first two possessions of the game. But, BG forced a missed shot, then a turnover on GT's ensuing possessions before Prochaska was fouled shooting a three-pointer. The senior, one of the top free-throw shooters in NCAA history, made all three of her tries to put BG ahead with 1:14 gone.

Chelsea Regins got the Yellow Jackets on the board at the 17:39 mark, but GT then picked up two fouls just one second apart. The second of those fouls was Deja Foster's second of the game, with 17:24 remaining before halftime.

Foster headed to the bench, but only five seconds later, Steffen converted an 'and-one' layup, with Regins picking up her second foul of the morning. Foster returned to the game, replacing Regins, and Steffen's free throw gave the Brown and Orange a 6-2 lead.

The Jackets, though, scored the next six points, with Metra Walthour's layup and Goodlett's putback tying the score at the day's initial media timeout -- the first of seven ties in a span of under six minutes -- and Marshall's steal and layup putting GT ahead by a bucket, 8-6.

Pontius responded by hitting a contested runner, and after Marshall knocked down a jumper, Steffen fed senior Maggie Hennegan for a layup and a 10-10 tie.

Prochaska answered the Jackets' next two baskets, getting past Montgomery for a layup, then rebounding her own miss and hitting a short jumper to deadlock the score at 14.

Goodlett converted a putback of her own, but Prochaska drew a foul on the GT center and made both free-throw tries. The game was tied once again, 16-16, and Prochaska had nine points with just over eight minutes gone.

Steffen gave the Falcons the lead with a layup, but Goodlett answered with a three-point play, and a Montgomery jumper put the fifth-seeded Jackets up by a 21-18 score midway through the half.

Pontius fed Jessica Slagle for a nifty layup, as the junior adjusted her shot in midair and banked it home. Mo Bennett answered with a hoop for GT, but Prochaska hit a jumper in the paint with the shot clock winding down, putting BGSU within a point at 23-22. Prochaska went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line over the next minute-and-a-half span, giving the Falcons a 26-25 lead.

Prochaska got to the line by drawing Regins' third foul of the game with 8:10 left in the half, before making Goodlett commit her second foul with 7:08 remaining before halftime.

After scoring six-straight points for the Falcons, Prochaska then fed senior Jen Uhl for a layup and a 28-25 advantage. Montgomery answered for the Yellow Jackets, beginning an 8-0 run. Goodlett scored two of GT's four baskets during that span, giving her 15 first-half points.

Havel made her mark on the game at that point. First, she hit a jumper with 28 seconds left in the period to cut GT's lead to three points. Then, just before the half, Pontius tried a three-pointer that was deflected by Goodlett. But, Havel grabbed the rebound and laid the ball off the glass and through the hoop just before the buzzer sounded. The Yellow Jackets' lead was only a point, 33-32, at the break.

The Falcons were called for a turnover just three seconds into the second half, setting the tone for the early stages of the period. BG turned the ball over seven times in the first 10 possessions of the period, and the Yellow Jackets built a nine-point lead in that time.

After that initial turnover, Regins got a putback, was fouled and hit the ensuing free throw. Prochaska scored late in the shot clock, cutting GT's lead to two points with 18:31 left, but the Jackets then scored seven-straight points.

Marshall had an and-one layup in that run, which was bookended by hoops from Walthour and Goodlett. Goodlett's hoop gave GT a 43-34 advantage before Steffen scored to snap the run.

Out of the first media timeout of the period, the Falcons turned the ball over, and Marshall got a transition layup for a 45-36 lead.

The Falcons looked to rally, scoring four-straight points. First, senior Kelly Zuercher's entry pass led to a layup by Uhl with 14:22 left. Then, less than a minute later, Pontius converted an 'and-one' layup. The free throw would not drop, but BG's deficit was just five points, at 45-40.

Layups by Bennett and Montgomery, however, gave the Jackets a nine-point advantage. Steffen drew Foster's fourth foul of the game with 11:28 left, and sank a pair of tosses, but the Yellow Jackets then scored eight-straight points to bump the lead up to 15 points.

That 8-0 run was capped by Montgomery's three-pointer -- the first triple of the game for either team -- with 7:44 left. WHen that shot went through the net, GT had a 57-42 lead.

Steffen scored five points around a Goodlett layup. The Falcon soph converted a driving layup, then knocked down BG's first three-pointer of the day with 6:38 on the clock, cutting GT's lead to 59-47.

Moments later, Prochaska threw in a shot while being knocked to the ground, and BG's deficit was just 10 points. But, the Jackets got four-straight free throws to increase the advantage to 14 points.

Pontius took a pass from Steffen and made a long three-pointer, putting BG within 11 points with 4:06 left. Pontius then stole the ball from Walthour in the backcourt, but the Falcons missed a three-point try, then were whistled for a foul as the teams battled for the rebound.

The Jackets went on a 6-2 run, capped by Montgomery's three-ponter, to take a 69-54 lead with just under three minutes remaining. BG got four consecutive points, as sophomore Allison Papenfuss made a pair of free throws and Pontius got a running layup try to drop. But, the Falcons could get no closer.

BGSU shot 50.0 percent from the field in the opening period, and had a field-goal percentage of 46.5% for the game. The Falcons, the nation's leaders in free-throw percentage, made 16-of-18 shots from the stripe (88.9%) on the day. But, GT had a 22-11 advantage in points off turnovers and a 16-6 lead in second-chance points.

The rebounding battle narrowly went to the Yellow Jackets, 32-27. Sixteen of GT's 32 boards, however, came at the offensive end.

Pontius had nine points in her final game as a Falcon, while Uhl and Havel scored four points each. Uhl was a perfect 2-for-2 from the floor on the day.

As mentioned, the Falcons lose the services of six talented seniors off of the 2010-11 squad. All six -- Pontius, Prochaska, Hennegan, Uhl, Zuercher and Chelsea Albert, saw action in Saturday's game.

The five fourth-year Falcons helped BGSU post a record of 110-25 during their careers. Hennegan, in her second playing season at BG after transferring from Saint Louis University, helped the Brown and Orange to the NCAA Championships in both years. BG was appearing in the NCAA tourney for the fifth time in seven seasons, and the Falcons advanced to national postseason play for the seventh consecutive year.