Bowling Green State University Athletics
Wednesday, January 25
Muncie, Ind.
7:00 PM
Bowling Green State University
63
at
52
Ball State
Jessica Slagle had a career-high 22 points at Ball State (photo by Doug Sampson)
Falcons Steal a Win at Ball State, 63-52
January 25, 2012 | Women's Basketball
Slagle scores 22 as BGSU moves to 7-0 in MAC play
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team used a late first-half run to open up a double-digit lead en route to a 63-52 win at Ball State University Wednesday night (Jan. 25). The Mid-American Conference game was held at Worthen Arena.
FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
POSTGAME AUDIO: Curt Miller
With the win, the Falcons improve to 17-3 overall, and BGSU is a perfect 7-0 in MAC play. BGSU has won 10-straight games and 17 of the last 18 contests. The Cardinals drop to 7-13 and 2-5, respectively.
Senior Jessica Slagle scored a career-high 22 points in the win, including 13 in the first half. The Brown and Orange used a 10-0 run late in the period, holding BSU off the scoreboard for a six-and-a-half-minute stretch to open up a 17-point lead. BG's advantage never dropped below double digits in the second half, with the final 11-point margin being the closest of the period.
The Falcons had a team total of 19 steals in the win, the team's most in three years.
Junior Chrissy Steffen added 12 points for the Brown and Orange, while redshirt junior Danielle Havel had a very well-rounded stat line. Havel had nine points and a team-high nine rebounds, and also had five assists, five steals and a blocked shot.
Slagle also had five steals, setting a career high in that category as well as in points. Havel had career-high totals in both assists and three-point field goals made (two), and both Havel and Slagle played all 40 minutes in a game for the first time in their respective BGSU careers.
Brittany Carter led the hosts with 11 points, while Shelbie Justice scored nine off the bench.
BGSU shot 59.1 percent from the field in the opening half, making 13-of-22 shots. The Falcons were 6-of-11 from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes, with five different players hitting a triple.
The Cardinals' only lead of the night came at 2-0, after Katie Murphy's layup. But, Slagle hit a pair of free throws to tie the score, then fed redshirt sophomore Alexis Rogers for a three-pointer at the 17:19 mark. Freshman Jasmine Matthews knocked down a triple as well, and the Falcons were up by an 8-2 count as BSU took a timeout.
A Havel trey gave the Falcons an 11-4 lead, and Slagle's baseline drive and sweet reverse layup put the visitors ahead by a 13-6 count.
The Cards battled back to within three points, at 15-12, and the Falcons' lead was still only four points with eight-and-a-half minutes left before the break. But, two more Slagle charity tosses were followed by Steffen's three-ball from the left wing, giving the Falcons a 27-18 advantage with 7:08 left in the period.
Suzanne Grossnickle responded with a putback for the home team, but another Slagle free throw began a 10-0 BG run. Sophomore Jillian Halfhill and Havel hit treys, and a Steffen toss was followed by soph Jill Stein's short jumper. The Falcons' lead was 17 points, 37-20, before Amber Crago stopped BSU's scoreless streak of 6:29. Crago scored on a layup with 16 minutes remaining, but Slagle countered with a layup with just three seconds left before the break, giving the Brown and Orange a 39-22 lead.
In the second period, Jazmin Hitchens got the Cards on the board first. The team's leading scorer this season, Hitchens was held without a point in the opening period, but she hit a three-pointer on BSU's opening possession of the second half.
After that trey, however, neither team scored for nearly three minutes, before Havel hit a layup for the visitors. BG's lead was extended to 18 points after a Slagle floater with 14:13 left. After Justice scored for the Cardinals, Slagle responded with a nifty up-and-under layup, drawing a foul in the process. Her ensuing free throw gave the Falcons a 47-28 lead.
Moments later, Steffen drew Shanee' Jackson's fourth foul of the game, and her second in a span of just two seconds. Steffen hit a pair of free throws with 12:49 remaining, and her layup less than a minute later gave the Falcons a game-high 21-point lead, 51-30.
The Cards, however, hit two quick three-pointers to start an 8-2 run and pull within 15 points. After a Matthews layup from Havel's feed gave the Falcons a 55-38 lead, the defenses took over, as the teams combined for just one bucket over the next three-plus minutes.
A layup by Rogers, who played just 21 minutes in the game due to foul trouble, put the Falcons ahead by 18 points with just over four minutes remaining. A game-ending 11-4 run by the Cardinals cut BG's lead to 11 when the final buzzer sounded.
The Falcons shot just 33.3% in the second half, but held BSU to the same success rate, as both teams went 9-of-27 after the intermission. For the game, the Falcons shot 44.9% from the floor to the Cardinals' 34.5%.
BGSU turned the ball over 18 times, but the Falcon defense forced BSU into 22 turnovers. BG, as mentioned, came up with 19 steals in the game. In addition to the five-steal nights by Havel and Slagle, the Falcons saw Steffen and Stein come up with three steals apiece, while Matthews had two.
The Falcons return to the road this weekend, heading to Mount Pleasant, Mich., for a Saturday (Jan. 28) game vs. Central Michigan University. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at CMU's McGuirk Arena.
FALCON NOTES
* BGSU had 19 steals in Wednesday night's win ... that was the Falcons' highest total in over three years, since a 20-steal game against Buffalo on Jan. 21, 2009.
* The Falcons, as mentioned, have won 10 games in a row ... the current streak is the 11th double-digit winning streak in school history, and the seventh over the last seven seasons ... in those seven seasons, the rest of the MAC teams have combined for a total of three double-digit winning streaks ... Ball State had two of those streaks, while Miami had a 10-game winning streak earlier this season ... MU's streak was snapped by BG last week.
FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
POSTGAME AUDIO: Curt Miller
With the win, the Falcons improve to 17-3 overall, and BGSU is a perfect 7-0 in MAC play. BGSU has won 10-straight games and 17 of the last 18 contests. The Cardinals drop to 7-13 and 2-5, respectively.
Senior Jessica Slagle scored a career-high 22 points in the win, including 13 in the first half. The Brown and Orange used a 10-0 run late in the period, holding BSU off the scoreboard for a six-and-a-half-minute stretch to open up a 17-point lead. BG's advantage never dropped below double digits in the second half, with the final 11-point margin being the closest of the period.
The Falcons had a team total of 19 steals in the win, the team's most in three years.
Junior Chrissy Steffen added 12 points for the Brown and Orange, while redshirt junior Danielle Havel had a very well-rounded stat line. Havel had nine points and a team-high nine rebounds, and also had five assists, five steals and a blocked shot.
Slagle also had five steals, setting a career high in that category as well as in points. Havel had career-high totals in both assists and three-point field goals made (two), and both Havel and Slagle played all 40 minutes in a game for the first time in their respective BGSU careers.
Brittany Carter led the hosts with 11 points, while Shelbie Justice scored nine off the bench.
BGSU shot 59.1 percent from the field in the opening half, making 13-of-22 shots. The Falcons were 6-of-11 from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes, with five different players hitting a triple.
The Cardinals' only lead of the night came at 2-0, after Katie Murphy's layup. But, Slagle hit a pair of free throws to tie the score, then fed redshirt sophomore Alexis Rogers for a three-pointer at the 17:19 mark. Freshman Jasmine Matthews knocked down a triple as well, and the Falcons were up by an 8-2 count as BSU took a timeout.
A Havel trey gave the Falcons an 11-4 lead, and Slagle's baseline drive and sweet reverse layup put the visitors ahead by a 13-6 count.
The Cards battled back to within three points, at 15-12, and the Falcons' lead was still only four points with eight-and-a-half minutes left before the break. But, two more Slagle charity tosses were followed by Steffen's three-ball from the left wing, giving the Falcons a 27-18 advantage with 7:08 left in the period.
Suzanne Grossnickle responded with a putback for the home team, but another Slagle free throw began a 10-0 BG run. Sophomore Jillian Halfhill and Havel hit treys, and a Steffen toss was followed by soph Jill Stein's short jumper. The Falcons' lead was 17 points, 37-20, before Amber Crago stopped BSU's scoreless streak of 6:29. Crago scored on a layup with 16 minutes remaining, but Slagle countered with a layup with just three seconds left before the break, giving the Brown and Orange a 39-22 lead.
In the second period, Jazmin Hitchens got the Cards on the board first. The team's leading scorer this season, Hitchens was held without a point in the opening period, but she hit a three-pointer on BSU's opening possession of the second half.
After that trey, however, neither team scored for nearly three minutes, before Havel hit a layup for the visitors. BG's lead was extended to 18 points after a Slagle floater with 14:13 left. After Justice scored for the Cardinals, Slagle responded with a nifty up-and-under layup, drawing a foul in the process. Her ensuing free throw gave the Falcons a 47-28 lead.
Moments later, Steffen drew Shanee' Jackson's fourth foul of the game, and her second in a span of just two seconds. Steffen hit a pair of free throws with 12:49 remaining, and her layup less than a minute later gave the Falcons a game-high 21-point lead, 51-30.
The Cards, however, hit two quick three-pointers to start an 8-2 run and pull within 15 points. After a Matthews layup from Havel's feed gave the Falcons a 55-38 lead, the defenses took over, as the teams combined for just one bucket over the next three-plus minutes.
A layup by Rogers, who played just 21 minutes in the game due to foul trouble, put the Falcons ahead by 18 points with just over four minutes remaining. A game-ending 11-4 run by the Cardinals cut BG's lead to 11 when the final buzzer sounded.
The Falcons shot just 33.3% in the second half, but held BSU to the same success rate, as both teams went 9-of-27 after the intermission. For the game, the Falcons shot 44.9% from the floor to the Cardinals' 34.5%.
BGSU turned the ball over 18 times, but the Falcon defense forced BSU into 22 turnovers. BG, as mentioned, came up with 19 steals in the game. In addition to the five-steal nights by Havel and Slagle, the Falcons saw Steffen and Stein come up with three steals apiece, while Matthews had two.
The Falcons return to the road this weekend, heading to Mount Pleasant, Mich., for a Saturday (Jan. 28) game vs. Central Michigan University. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at CMU's McGuirk Arena.
FALCON NOTES
* BGSU had 19 steals in Wednesday night's win ... that was the Falcons' highest total in over three years, since a 20-steal game against Buffalo on Jan. 21, 2009.
* The Falcons, as mentioned, have won 10 games in a row ... the current streak is the 11th double-digit winning streak in school history, and the seventh over the last seven seasons ... in those seven seasons, the rest of the MAC teams have combined for a total of three double-digit winning streaks ... Ball State had two of those streaks, while Miami had a 10-game winning streak earlier this season ... MU's streak was snapped by BG last week.
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