Zips Snap Falcons' Twelve-Year Winning Streak, 68-63

Thursday, January 31

Akron, OH

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Akron

January 31, 2013 | Women's Basketball

Luburgh's double-double helps Akron down BGSU for just the third time in 51 meetings

By: AKRON, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Chrissy Steffen v Kent St - Bianca Garza photo

Hanna Luburgh had game-high totals of 25 points and 15 rebounds, helping the host University of Akron to a 68-63 win over the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team Thursday night (Jan. 31). The Mid-American Conference game was held at Rhodes Arena.

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POSTGAME AUDIO: Jennifer Roos

The result leaves both BGSU and UA with overall records of 13-7 and MAC marks of 4-3. The Akron win snapped the Falcons' 19-game series winning streak, and was just the third victory for the Zips in 51 series meetings.

Akron's last victory over the Falcons came just under 12 years ago, an 88-63 decision on Feb. 10, 2001. All three of UA's series wins (the first was in February of 1999) have come at Rhodes Arena.

Senior Chrissy Steffen had 19 points to lead four BGSU players in double digits. Both redshirt junior Alexis Rogers and true junior Jillian Halfhill scored 11 points, while fifth-year senior Danielle Havel had 10. The Falcons' fifth starter, freshman Miriam Justinger, scored nine points.

Rachel Tecca had 18 points and seven rebounds for the Zips, while Sina King scored 15 points. Akron had a 42-29 rebounding advantage on the night.

The Falcons made nine three-point field goals, with Steffen hitting three and Havel and Halfhill two apiece. Akron hit five shots from long range, but the Zips were 19-of-24 at the foul line to BGSU's 8-of-10 night from the stripe.

BG led for the entire first half, and the lead reached a game-high nine points on three occasions, including once in the second half on a Justinger run-out. When Halfhill found the freshman ahead of the pack for a layup with just over 18 minutes left, the Falcons were up, 41-32.

The Zips, however, responded with a 10-0 run, including six-straight points by Luburgh. When King hit a layup with 14 minutes to go, the home team had the lead for the first time. That shot marked the first of five second-half lead changes, with the last coming on a pair of Luburgh free throws with 9:07 left.

Those shots were the start of a 6-0 run by the Zips that put UA up by a 50-45 count. The Akron lead reached eight points with under five minutes left, and the Falcons still trailed by six points, 66-60, after two Luburgh charity tosses with just 27.7 seconds remaining.

But, on BGSU's next possession, junior Jill Stein kicked the ball out to Havel for a three-pointer that cut the Akron lead in half, and the Falcons took a timeout with just 12.9 seconds left.

Stein fouled Tecca before the Zips could inbound the ball, and the UA junior went to the line. She missed both free throws, and Stein rebounded the second miss. The Falcons hurried downcourt, and Halfhill fired up a three-point try that rimmed out. Tecca came up with the rebound and was fouled with 1.9 seconds remaining. This time, she hit both free throws to provide the final margin.

The Falcons took a 4-0 lead to start the game, as Justinger's layup was followed by a Rogers pull-up jumper. After the Zips got on the board, BG hit back-to-back triples. Steffen found Justinger for a trey, then made the 'extra' pass to a wide-open Havel, who buried her long-range shot for a 10-2 lead.

The hosts got back within 10-7 after Carly Young connected from downtown, but Stein came up with a steal, then fed freshman Bailey Cairnduff for a three. Moments later, Halhill's 'and-one' layup, followed by the free throw, gave the Brown and Orange a 16-9 lead.

Rogers scored four points as the Falcons traded buckets with the hosts, and Steffen's three-ball gave the visitors a 23-15 advantage.

Steffen hit her second triple of the night out of the eight-minute media timeout, and after Luburgh answered with a triple, Steffen made her third trey of the game and her second in a 25-second span. BGSU had a 29-20 lead with 6:50 left in the half.

But, Kacie Cassell hit a trey for the hosts, and a Tecca steal and layup cut BG's lead to four points. Steffen stopped that UA mini-run with a driving layup, and on BG's next possession, the senior drove the lane and drew Cassell's second foul of the game. Steffen's two free-throw tries were good, putting BG up by a 33-25 count.

Luburgh hit a three, though, and King's putback cut the Falcon advantage to three points with 2:32 left before halftime. Rogers answered with a three-point play, and a Luburgh shot made the score BGSU 36, Akron 32 at the break.

Both teams made 13 of 27 field-goal attempts in the opening half. Steffen (13) and Rogers (9) combined for 22 points for the Falcons, while King, Luburgh and Tecca all had eight points for the Zips in the first half.

The second period saw both sides come up empty on the first few possessions. But, Havel's pass found an open Halfhill for a three, and Halfhill's long pass downcourt resulted in the Justinger layup that gave BG that aforementioned 41-32 advantage. Akron coach Jodi Kest used a timeout with 18:02 to go.

The Zips responded with that 10-0 run, as Tecca hit two tosses before Luburgh took over. She made a pull-up jumper, scored in the lane, then hit a long two-pointer with a hand in her face. Suddenly, the home team was within one point, and when King converted a baseline drive, Akron had the lead with 14:01 to go.

Steffen answered with a jumper in the lane, but Tecca's layup gave the Zips the lead again. Steffen responded with a shot from just inside the three-point line, but Luburgh was fouled and hit two free throws for a 46-45 UA lead with 9:07 remaining.

Then, Tecca made a nifty back-door cut, took a pass and hit a reverse layup for a three-point UA lead. After a BG turnover, King got an offensive board, was fouled and gave the Zips a 50-45 advantage on two free throws with 6:56 on the clock.

Steffen, hounded by a double-team for nearly an entire possession, did yeoman's work to keep the ball, then drove and dished to Havel for a short-corner jumper. King responded with a three-pointer, however, and after a BG miss, the Falcons were called for a foul as the teams battled for the rebound. Young hit both ends of a one-and-one, and the ZIps' lead was 55-47 with 5:42 remaining.

Havel took a Justinger pass for an easy layup, but Luburgh hit a step-back shot from just inside the arc. Halfhill answered with a three-pointer, and the junior got the ball back after an Akron turnover. Halfhill went up for a shot, adjusted in midair as a UA defender jumped with her, and made a quick pass to Rogers. Rogers got a tough layup try to drop, and BG was down by just three, 57-54.

But, Tecca got out ahead of the posse, took a long pass and was fouled with 4:11 left. Her free throws restored UA's five-point lead.

On the next possession, Halfhill drove through heavy traffic and hit a runner in the lane. But, as the ball dropped through the hoop, the shot was waved off as an offensive foul was called. BG got the ball back, however, and Tecca was called for three fouls in a span of roughly 15 seconds. After the third foul, with 2:36 to go, Halfhill made a pair of shots from the stripe, putting her team within four points at 60-56.

Luburgh hit a layup, before Steffen converted a putback. The Falcons held on the next possession, and after a missed shot by King, the ball went out of bounds to BG with 1:21 remaining.

Justinger was fouled on the following possession, hitting two tosses to cut UA's advantage to just two points. But, King answered with a pair of free throws with 56.3 seconds left, and after a Rogers shot would not drop, BG fouled Tecca with 38.5 seconds to go.

Tecca missed both free-throw tries, and BG got the rebound. Again, however, a Falcon shot would not go down, and Luburgh rebounded the ball and was fouled. She made both tries, giving UA a 66-60 lead and setting the stage for the final 27-plus seconds.

The Falcons shot 37.7 percent for the game, but BG was just 10-of-34 (29.4%) from the floor in the second half. Akron shot 31.0% in the final 20 minutes and 39.3% on the night.

BG had 11 steals on 14 Akron turnovers, with Rogers coming up with three steals and Justinger, Steffen and junior Katrina Salinas two apiece.

BGSU returns to Northwest Ohio for the team's lone home game in a six-game span. The Falcons will host MAC-leading Central Michigan University on Sunday (Feb. 3), with tipoff at 1:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center. It will be BGSU's annual Play 4Kay/Pink Zone game.