Wednesday, February 15
Bowling Green, Ohio
7:00 PM
Bowling Green State University
62
vs
52
Buffalo
Jessica Slagle (14) hit 6 free throws in the final minute to clinch the win over Buffalo (Nathan Dreimiller photo)
Falcons Outlast Buffalo, 62-52; Clinch Top-Four Seed
February 15, 2012 | Women's Basketball
Bowling Green State University women's basketball senior Jessica Slagle scored six of her game-high 19 points at the foul line in the final minute, sealing the Falcons' 62-52 victory over the University at Buffalo Wednesday night (Feb. 15). The Mid-American Conference game was held at the Stroh Center.
FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
POSTGAME AUDIO: Jessica Slagle | Curt Miller
PHOTO GALLERY: Courtesy Nathan Dreimiller, BGSU Marketing & Communications
Scroll down for video of the postgame interviews
With the win, the Falcons improve to 21-4 overall and 11-1 in the MAC. Wednesday's victory clinched a top-four finish in the final MAC regular-season standings, and gives the Brown and Orange a berth in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.
The Bulls drop to 7-19 and 2-10, respectively.
Junior Chrissy Steffen and redshirt sophomore Alexis Rogers joined Slagle in double digits in the scoring column for the Falcons. Both players had double-doubles, as Rogers had 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Steffen also pulled down 12 boards to go along with 13 points.
Brittany Hedderson led the Bulls with 15 points, while Teresa Semalulu had 12. UB led for nearly all of the first half, and the visitors did not trail in the second period before junior Allison Papenfuss hit a pair of free throws with 13:23 on the clock to break a 37-37 tie and give the Falcons the lead for good.
Buoyed by the 24 combined rebounds from Rogers and Steffen, the Falcons had a 52-36 advantage on the glass. That helped offset 20 turnovers by the Brown and Orange, who forced Buffalo into 14 turnovers on the night.
The Bulls scored on the first two possessions of the game, with a Beth Christensen putback followed by an Ephesia Holmes jumper for a 4-0 lead. BG got on the board as Steffen's entry pass found an open Danielle Havel for a layup, but Holmes came back with a three-pointer to give the visitors a 7-2 advantage.
Holmes had nine points on the night, including seven of her team's first nine. After a Rogers putback at the 16:40 mark, Holmes hit a layup, and a steal and layup by Semalulu gave the visitors an 11-4 lead.
Steffen quickly responded with a three-pointer, but BGSU then would go without a point for over four and a half minutes. The Falcons turned the ball over on the next three possessions, as part of a stretch which would see the home team commit five turnovers in a seven-possession span.
Nytor Longar hit a pair of free throws, Holmes split two charity tosses and Hedderson knocked down a layup at the 12:33 mark. Suddenly, the Bulls had a 16-7 lead as BGSU coach Curt Miller called timeout for the second time in the game.
A jumper by Rogers ended BG's scoring drought with 10:47 left in the half. After a UB miss, Rogers scored again, on a nifty up-and-under layup in the paint. Longar was called for her third foul of the night, and Rogers followed with her fifth- and sixth-straight points, taking a Slagle pass and hitting a turnaround jumper. The Falcons were back within three points.
Buffalo missed a shot, then called a timeout after the ball went out of bounds to BG. Out of that break, however, Havel found freshman Jasmine Matthews in the left corner, and Matthews knocked down a triple try to tie the game at 16-16. That trey came after a nifty Slagle-to-Rogers-to-Havel-to-Matthews passing sequence.
Semalulu hit a pair of free throws to snap the Falcons' 9-0 run, but Matthews got open again for a corner three -- this time from the right side of the court -- and the home team had a 19-18 advantage with 8:43 left before the half.
Hedderson answered with a nifty reverse layup, and a Semalulu jumper gave the Bulls a three-point lead, before Rogers answered. The redshirt soph took a kickout pass from true sophomore Jill Stein and knocked down a three-ball from out top. The teams were tied, 22-22, with 5:16 on the clock.
From there, neither team would score until Slagle drove and hit a pull-up jumper at the 2:52 mark. Back came the Bulls, however, as a Christa Baccas transition layup began a 7-0 run. Hedderson hit a three-pointer with a defender's hand in her face, then fed Semalulu for a layup and a 29-24 lead.
Slagle would answer with four points before the intermission. First, the senior got herself to the line and made a pair of free throws with 24.5 seconds left in the period. Then, after a UB offensive foul, Slagle hit a shot with just under five seconds remaining before halftime, cutting her team's deficit to one point at the break.
Slagle scored 10 of her points in the final minute of a half on Wednesday night, with the aforementioned four points to end the opening period, plus the 6-of-6 performance at the stripe in the second half.
The second period saw the Bulls maintain a slim lead until a Rogers free throw tied the score, 35-35, with 16:23 left. Shortly thereafter, Longar was called for her fourth foul of the game.
Baccas made a layup with 14:34 left, but Slagle answered with a layup of her own to begin a 6-0 BG run. Papenfuss followed with her charity tosses, putting the Falcons up by a 39-37 count, and a Slagle laup at the 12:24 mark gave the Brown and Orange a four-point margin.
Holmes split two tosses, before Slagle pulled up for a foul-line jumper and a 43-38 BG lead. The senior made a free throw just under a minute later, but four-straight points by Hedderson cut the Falcons' lead to just two points.
Freshman Logan Pastor answered with two shots from the stripe, and Steffen went 2-for-2 from the line on BG's next possession. After Baccas put back a Hedderson miss, Steffen's layup gave the Falcons a 50-44 lead with under five minutes remaining.
Three times, the Bulls hit a layup to cut the deficit to four points. All three times, the Falcons answered with a shot to restore a six-point lead. Christensen scored with 3:21 remaining, but Rogers knocked down a layup 13 seconds later. Hedderson scored on an 'and-one' layup as the clock ticked under three minutes, but missed the ensuing free throw, and Steffen converted a scoop shot off of a drive with 2:26 left.
After the teams traded turnovers, Semalulu canned a jumper at the 1:40 mark, only to see Rogers answer by slicing through traffic for a layup and a 56-50 lead with 1:19 left. Rogers then knocked the ball away from Semalulu near midcourt, starting a sequence which saw multiple players dive to the floor for the loose ball. Steffen eventually picked it up and tossed it to Slagle, who was fouled with 59 seconds remaining.
The senior hit both of the resulting throws, as part of that 6-for-6 effort in the final minute. UB missed a three-point try and Slagle was fouled again, hitting two shots from the line with 32 ticks on the clock. After Hedderson was called for an offensive foul with 24 seconds remaining, giving the ball back to the hosts, Slagle was fouled in the frontcourt. Her final two points came with 22 seconds left. UB got a layup by Christensen with 11 seconds remaining, but it was too little, too late.
Slagle was 9-of-11 at the foul line as the Falcons made 18 of 24 tries on the night. The senior was 5-of-9 from the floor en route to those 19 points.
Matthews had six points for the Falcons, while Havel added four. Freshman Shanique Ogle, on her 19th birthday, had a career-high five rebounds in just four minutes of work.
The Falcons shot just 36.4 percent from the field for the game. But, the BG defense held the Bulls to just a 31.3% success rate, including a 9-for-33 (27.3%) effort after halftime.
BG went 4-of-15 from three-point range, while the Bulls were just 2-of-9. The teams combined to go 0-for-8 from long distance in the second half.
UB led in all of the specialty categories, including a 14-2 lead in fast-break points, a 32-28 margin in points in the paint and a 16-12 advantage in points off turnovers.
The win, as mentioned, clinched a top-four seed in the MAC regular-season standings for the Falcons. BGSU earns a bye through the MAC Tournament's first and second rounds, and will advance at least as far as the quarterfinals. The top-two teams in the final regular-season standings will earn a bye into the semifinal round, with seeds three and four placed into the quarterfinals.
In the East Division race, the Falcons hold a three-game lead over second-place Miami with four games left.
The Falcons will play three of those four games on the road to end the regular season, beginning with a Saturday (Feb. 18) contest at the University of Akron. That game begins at 2:00 p.m. in the Rubber City.
FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
POSTGAME AUDIO: Jessica Slagle | Curt Miller
PHOTO GALLERY: Courtesy Nathan Dreimiller, BGSU Marketing & Communications
Scroll down for video of the postgame interviews
With the win, the Falcons improve to 21-4 overall and 11-1 in the MAC. Wednesday's victory clinched a top-four finish in the final MAC regular-season standings, and gives the Brown and Orange a berth in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.
The Bulls drop to 7-19 and 2-10, respectively.
Junior Chrissy Steffen and redshirt sophomore Alexis Rogers joined Slagle in double digits in the scoring column for the Falcons. Both players had double-doubles, as Rogers had 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Steffen also pulled down 12 boards to go along with 13 points.
Brittany Hedderson led the Bulls with 15 points, while Teresa Semalulu had 12. UB led for nearly all of the first half, and the visitors did not trail in the second period before junior Allison Papenfuss hit a pair of free throws with 13:23 on the clock to break a 37-37 tie and give the Falcons the lead for good.
Buoyed by the 24 combined rebounds from Rogers and Steffen, the Falcons had a 52-36 advantage on the glass. That helped offset 20 turnovers by the Brown and Orange, who forced Buffalo into 14 turnovers on the night.
The Bulls scored on the first two possessions of the game, with a Beth Christensen putback followed by an Ephesia Holmes jumper for a 4-0 lead. BG got on the board as Steffen's entry pass found an open Danielle Havel for a layup, but Holmes came back with a three-pointer to give the visitors a 7-2 advantage.
Holmes had nine points on the night, including seven of her team's first nine. After a Rogers putback at the 16:40 mark, Holmes hit a layup, and a steal and layup by Semalulu gave the visitors an 11-4 lead.
Steffen quickly responded with a three-pointer, but BGSU then would go without a point for over four and a half minutes. The Falcons turned the ball over on the next three possessions, as part of a stretch which would see the home team commit five turnovers in a seven-possession span.
Nytor Longar hit a pair of free throws, Holmes split two charity tosses and Hedderson knocked down a layup at the 12:33 mark. Suddenly, the Bulls had a 16-7 lead as BGSU coach Curt Miller called timeout for the second time in the game.
A jumper by Rogers ended BG's scoring drought with 10:47 left in the half. After a UB miss, Rogers scored again, on a nifty up-and-under layup in the paint. Longar was called for her third foul of the night, and Rogers followed with her fifth- and sixth-straight points, taking a Slagle pass and hitting a turnaround jumper. The Falcons were back within three points.
Buffalo missed a shot, then called a timeout after the ball went out of bounds to BG. Out of that break, however, Havel found freshman Jasmine Matthews in the left corner, and Matthews knocked down a triple try to tie the game at 16-16. That trey came after a nifty Slagle-to-Rogers-to-Havel-to-Matthews passing sequence.
Semalulu hit a pair of free throws to snap the Falcons' 9-0 run, but Matthews got open again for a corner three -- this time from the right side of the court -- and the home team had a 19-18 advantage with 8:43 left before the half.
Hedderson answered with a nifty reverse layup, and a Semalulu jumper gave the Bulls a three-point lead, before Rogers answered. The redshirt soph took a kickout pass from true sophomore Jill Stein and knocked down a three-ball from out top. The teams were tied, 22-22, with 5:16 on the clock.
From there, neither team would score until Slagle drove and hit a pull-up jumper at the 2:52 mark. Back came the Bulls, however, as a Christa Baccas transition layup began a 7-0 run. Hedderson hit a three-pointer with a defender's hand in her face, then fed Semalulu for a layup and a 29-24 lead.
Slagle would answer with four points before the intermission. First, the senior got herself to the line and made a pair of free throws with 24.5 seconds left in the period. Then, after a UB offensive foul, Slagle hit a shot with just under five seconds remaining before halftime, cutting her team's deficit to one point at the break.
Slagle scored 10 of her points in the final minute of a half on Wednesday night, with the aforementioned four points to end the opening period, plus the 6-of-6 performance at the stripe in the second half.
The second period saw the Bulls maintain a slim lead until a Rogers free throw tied the score, 35-35, with 16:23 left. Shortly thereafter, Longar was called for her fourth foul of the game.
Baccas made a layup with 14:34 left, but Slagle answered with a layup of her own to begin a 6-0 BG run. Papenfuss followed with her charity tosses, putting the Falcons up by a 39-37 count, and a Slagle laup at the 12:24 mark gave the Brown and Orange a four-point margin.
Holmes split two tosses, before Slagle pulled up for a foul-line jumper and a 43-38 BG lead. The senior made a free throw just under a minute later, but four-straight points by Hedderson cut the Falcons' lead to just two points.
Freshman Logan Pastor answered with two shots from the stripe, and Steffen went 2-for-2 from the line on BG's next possession. After Baccas put back a Hedderson miss, Steffen's layup gave the Falcons a 50-44 lead with under five minutes remaining.
Three times, the Bulls hit a layup to cut the deficit to four points. All three times, the Falcons answered with a shot to restore a six-point lead. Christensen scored with 3:21 remaining, but Rogers knocked down a layup 13 seconds later. Hedderson scored on an 'and-one' layup as the clock ticked under three minutes, but missed the ensuing free throw, and Steffen converted a scoop shot off of a drive with 2:26 left.
After the teams traded turnovers, Semalulu canned a jumper at the 1:40 mark, only to see Rogers answer by slicing through traffic for a layup and a 56-50 lead with 1:19 left. Rogers then knocked the ball away from Semalulu near midcourt, starting a sequence which saw multiple players dive to the floor for the loose ball. Steffen eventually picked it up and tossed it to Slagle, who was fouled with 59 seconds remaining.
The senior hit both of the resulting throws, as part of that 6-for-6 effort in the final minute. UB missed a three-point try and Slagle was fouled again, hitting two shots from the line with 32 ticks on the clock. After Hedderson was called for an offensive foul with 24 seconds remaining, giving the ball back to the hosts, Slagle was fouled in the frontcourt. Her final two points came with 22 seconds left. UB got a layup by Christensen with 11 seconds remaining, but it was too little, too late.
Slagle was 9-of-11 at the foul line as the Falcons made 18 of 24 tries on the night. The senior was 5-of-9 from the floor en route to those 19 points.
Matthews had six points for the Falcons, while Havel added four. Freshman Shanique Ogle, on her 19th birthday, had a career-high five rebounds in just four minutes of work.
The Falcons shot just 36.4 percent from the field for the game. But, the BG defense held the Bulls to just a 31.3% success rate, including a 9-for-33 (27.3%) effort after halftime.
BG went 4-of-15 from three-point range, while the Bulls were just 2-of-9. The teams combined to go 0-for-8 from long distance in the second half.
UB led in all of the specialty categories, including a 14-2 lead in fast-break points, a 32-28 margin in points in the paint and a 16-12 advantage in points off turnovers.
The win, as mentioned, clinched a top-four seed in the MAC regular-season standings for the Falcons. BGSU earns a bye through the MAC Tournament's first and second rounds, and will advance at least as far as the quarterfinals. The top-two teams in the final regular-season standings will earn a bye into the semifinal round, with seeds three and four placed into the quarterfinals.
In the East Division race, the Falcons hold a three-game lead over second-place Miami with four games left.
The Falcons will play three of those four games on the road to end the regular season, beginning with a Saturday (Feb. 18) contest at the University of Akron. That game begins at 2:00 p.m. in the Rubber City.
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