Falcons Hold off RedHawks, 61-58, in Battle of MAC Unbeatens

Thursday, January 19

Oxford, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Miami

Jessica Slagle scored 10 of her 15 points down the stretch in BGSU's win at Miami

January 19, 2012 | Women's Basketball

Slagle scores 10 points down the stretch; Rogers has another double-double as BG wins in Oxford

By: OXFORD, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

A pair of Southwest Ohio natives came up big as the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team came up with a 61-58 road win over Miami University Thursday night (Jan. 19). The Mid-American Conference game was held at Millett Hall.

FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
POSTGAME AUDIO: Curt Miller | Jessica Slagle

Senior Jessica Slagle, a native of Sidney, Ohio, scored 10 of her 15 points in the final six-plus minutes, while redshirt sophomore Alexis Rogers had a double-double, helping the Falcons improve to 15-3 overall and 5-0 in MAC action.

The RedHawks dropped to 14-4 and 4-1, respectively.

BGSU has won eight consecutive games, and the Falcons have captured 15 of the last 16 contests after an 0-2 start to the season. For Miami, Thursday's loss snapped a 10-game winning streak.

Rogers, who hails from West Chester, Ohio, scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Falcons in both categories. The double-double was her fourth in five MAC games this season, and was her fifth of the year.

Junior Chrissy Steffen joined Rogers and Slagle in double figures in the scoring column, with 12 points.

Hannah Robertson paced the RedHawks with a game-high 19 points, while Kirsten Olowinski had a double-double, with 14 points and 10 boards. Olowinski also had three blocked shots in the game.

The Falcons led for most of the night, but the RedHawks rallied from 13 points down, tying the score with just under seven minutes left and taking the lead on a Courtney Osborn jumper with 4:53 left. Then, an Olowinski steal led to a Robertson layup, and the home team was ahead by a 52-49 count with four-and-a-half minutes remaining.

But, a Rogers layup was followed by a Slagle three-pointer, and BGSU took the lead for good. Slagle's triple came with 3:42 on the clock, and a pair of Rogers free throws completed a 7-0 run with just over three minutes left.

The Falcons' lead was still six points after Slagle hit two charity tosses with 1:05 remaining, but Robertson made a pair of free throws at the other end, then hit a jumper with 14.6 seconds left.

Slagle was fouled with 11.6 seconds remaining, and missed her first free-throw try, but hit the second for a three-point lead. As Miami looked to set up a final play, a deflection near the top of the arc disrupted things for the RedHawk offense. Olowinski got the ball to Osborn, who was forced to take a long three-pointer from the left wing. The buzzer sounded while the ball was in the air, and the potential game-tying shot hit the front of the rim and bounced away.

Miami shot 41.7 percent from the field for the game, while holding the Falcons to a 35.2% success rate, including just an 8-for-27 (29.6%) performance in the second half. But, BGSU won the battle of the boards for the 13th consecutive game, with a 42-36 rebounding advantage. The BG defense came up with nine steals, including three from both Rogers and Steffen.

Indiana natives Steffen and Osborn each played all 40 minutes for their respective clubs.

The RedHawks scored on each of the first three possessions of the night to take a quick 6-2 lead, but the Falcons responded with a 9-0 run over the next two minutes. Redshirt junior Danielle Havel scored BG's first four points of the game, including a short jumper off of a Steffen pass to begin the nine-point run.

Slagle tied the game with a jumper, and Havel, who was very active at both ends of the court during that stretch, saved a teammate's errant pass from going out of bounds. Havel hit freshman Jasmine Matthews with the pass that led to a Matthews triple and a 9-6 BG lead.

Then, Havel came up with a steal that led to a two-on-one break, and fed Slagle for an easy transition layup and an 11-6 advantage as Miami used a timeout.

Lillian Pitts scored for the hosts, but Havel then drove past Pitts for a layup. Robertson answered with a jumper, before Matthews knocked down her second three-pointer of the night, and BG's lead was 16-10 with just under six minutes gone.

Neither team scored for over four minutes, before Robertson knocked down a pair of shots to cut her team's deficit to two points. But, Steffen split a pair of free throws, then hit a jumper, and when sophomore Jillian Halfhill hit a runner in the lane, the Falcons' lead was 21-14 as the RedHawks used another timeout.

The Falcons maintained that lead, primarily at the foul line, over the remainder of the half. In those final six-plus minutes before intermission, Halfhill, Matthews, Rogers and freshman Logan Pastor all hit shots from the stripe, and Steffen had a pair of layups over the final three minutes.

Steffen's first layup came after she stole the ball at midcourt and hit a transition shot for a 29-16 lead, BG's largest of the night, with 2:45 remaining.

Osborn found Maggie Boyer for a three-pointer -- the RedHawks' only triple of the night -- with just over a minute remaining, but Steffen drove through traffic and hit a short layup with 45 seconds on the clock. Olowinski's jumper cut the Falcons' lead to 32-23 at the half.

In that first 20 minutes, the visitors went 8-for-13 from the free-throw line, while the RedHawks did not attempt a shot from the stripe.

The second half started off well for the Falcons, as BG rebounded a Miami miss, and Steffen took a Rogers pass and knocked down a triple for a 35-23 lead. But, the Falcons would not score again for over three minutes.

MU scored the next six points, capped by Boyer's layup after Olowinski's acrobatic steal and pass. Olowinski got a deflection, then saved the ball from going out of bounds and fired it ahead to a wide-open Boyer. The resulting layup cut BG's lead to just six points, at 35-29.

The Miami run reached 7-0 after Robertson split a pair of free throws -- the RedHawks' first shots from the line -- with 15:39 left. But, the Falcons responded with a 6-0 run to take a 41-30 lead.

First, Rogers and Matthews worked the inside-out game to perfection, as Rogers took an entry pass and hit an 'and-one' layup. The redshirt soph hit the ensuing free throw, then stole the ball on MU's next possession.

Slagle split two tosses, and Rogers then threw in a one-handed runner for that 41-30 advantage with 14:03 on the clock.

Back came the hosts, however, scoring six-straight points before Steffen split two free throws with 11:09 left. BG's lead was 42-36.

The teams traded baskets, before a jumper by Robertson sparked a 6-0 run for the hosts that tied the game. Pitts hit a jumper, and Rachael Hencke scored in the paint with 6:53 remaining to knot the score at 44-44.

Hencke was fouled on the play, but her free throw was off the mark. Rogers gave the Falcons the lead again, hitting a pair of charity tosses, but Boyer scored inside with 6:30 left.

Slagle answered with a sweet drive and a shot over the outstretched arms of Olowinski, giving the Falcons a 48-46 lead at the 6:14 mark. That shot represented the first two of Slagle's 10 points over the last six-plus minutes of the night.

At the other end of the court, Hencke's three-point try was off line, and Steffen was fouled as she tracked down the rebound. She made one of the two resulting tosses for a three-point advantage.

But, Osborn found Olowinski for a layup, then hit a long two-pointer, and the RedHawks had the lead for the first time in roughly 33 minutes. Then, Olowinski came up with a steal and raced downcourt. Her shot did not fall, but Robertson was there to clean the glass and hit her follow try. With 4:30 remaining, the 'Hawks led, 52-49.

Rogers responded with a bucket, and the Falcons forced a miss at the other end. On the next possession, Steffen drove right-to-left into the lane, then kicked the ball to Slagle on the left wing. The senior's three-point try hit nothing but net, giving the Falcons the lead for good with 3:42 remaining.

The BG defense forced another Miami miss, and a pair of Rogers free throws with 3:02 left gave the visitor a four-point lead. Olowinski responded with two tosses of her own, and the teams then traded misses. After a pair of BG shots would not drop, Olowinski's potential game-tying jumper from close range was unsuccessful, and Havel grabbed the rebound with just under two minutes remaining.

On the next possession, the Falcons used nearly all of the shot clock before Slagle converted a driving layup at the 1:33 mark. The BG lead was 58-54, and Miami used a timeout.

Osborn missed a layup try, and the ball went out of bounds off of a BG player. Boyer's three-point attempt from the left corner was no good, and Slagle rebounded the miss and was fouled. She hit both ends of a one-and-one opportunity with 1:05 left, giving the Falcons a 60-54 lead.

But, after a foul, Hannah Robertson made two tosses with 54.5 seconds remaining. BGSU used all of the shot clock on the ensuing possession, but a layup would not fall, and Olowinski rebounded the ball with approximately 23 seconds left.

Robertson knocked down a foul-line jumper, and MU took a timeout with 14.6 seconds left. After the timeout, the Falcons were able to successfully inbound the ball, and Slagle was fouled, for the RedHawks' 10th foul of the half. The senior missed her first free-throw try, but made the second, and BG's lead was three points.

On the next possession, as Olowinski attempted to get the ball to Osborn on a handoff play outside the three-point line, a BG defender got a hand on the ball and knocked it away. The RedHawks tracked down the ball, and Olowinski got it to Osborn for the long three-point try that bounced off of the rim at the final horn.

For the game, the Falcons went 19-of-29 at the free-throw line, led by an 8-of-9 performance by Rogers. MU was 7-of-10 from the stripe, with all 10 tries coming in the second period.

The RedHawks were just 1-of-8 from three-point land. BGSU made only four of 17 long-range tosses, with Matthews going 2-of-5 and Slagle and Steffen hitting one trey apiece.

The Falcons return home to begin cross-divisional play Sunday afternoon (Jan. 22). BGSU will host Eastern Michigan University. The battle of divisional leaders will also be Dollar Day at the Stroh Center, with selected tickets and food items available for just one dollar apiece. Additionally, Sunday's game will be Alumnae Day for the women's basketball program, with numerous former Falcon standouts on hand. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.