Friday, January 4
Bowling Green, OH
7:00 PM
Bowling Green State University
56
vs
59
UCF
Knights Rally for 59-56 Win at the Stroh
January 04, 2013 | Women's Basketball
Falcons end non-conference play at 9-4
FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
IN-GAME VIDEO: BGSU-UCF Highlights, courtesy WBGU-TV
POSTGAME AUDIO: Chrissy Steffen | Jennifer Roos
POSTGAME VIDEO: Chrissy Steffen | Jennifer Roos
PHOTO GALLERY: Courtesy Craig Bell, BGSU Marketing & Communications
With the win, UCF improves to 6-8 on the season, and the Knights have won three consecutive games. The Falcons end non-conference play with a 9-4 record.
The Falcons led by as many as 15 points early in the second half, and still held a double-digit lead with just over five minutes left, after a steal and layup by senior Allison Papenfuss gave the hosts a 53-43 advantage.
But, after that Papenfuss bucket, which came with 5:04 on the clock, the Falcons would not score again until the final seconds of the game. UCF went on a 15-0 run, with Gevenia Carter scoring eight of those 15 points, to take the lead for good.
That run included a game-tying three-point field goal by Meghan Keough with 3:15 remaining, and a tiebreaking triple by Carter. Carter, who had a game-high 21 points, actually appeared to think her shot with 1:02 left was off target, charging toward the hoop in an attempt to get the rebound. But, there was no rebound, as the ball found the bottom of the net to put the Knights up, 56-53.
The Falcons had two shots miss the mark on the next possession, and UCF rebounds the ball with just over half a minute remaining. The home team fouled Kayli Keough, who hit a pair of free-throw attempts with 28.0 seconds left.
BGSU's next possession saw junior Jillian Halfhill and senior Chrissy Steffen each miss three-point tries, but the Falcons came up with the offensive rebound on both occasions. Halfhill tracked down Steffen's miss in the right corner, whirled and fired a contested shot that was on target with 5.5 seconds left.
A review of the shot determined that Halfhill was indeed behind the three-point line, and the Falcons were within two points, at 58-56.
BGSU fouled Kayli Keough before the Knights could inbound the ball, and Keough made her first free-throw try for a three-point lead. She missed her second shot, and Steffen corralled the rebound. As the clock wound down, the senior fired a pass ahead to redshirt junior Alexis Rogers, but Rogers' hurried three-point try from NBA range was off the mark, and the Knights had the road win.
The Falcons committed 21 turnovers on the night, tying a season high, and UCF had a 23-12 advantage in points off turnovers. Additionally, the visitors shot 50.0 percent in the second half en route to a 40.7% success rate for the night, while holding BGSU to a 32.0% second-half rate and a 37.5% field-goal percentage in the game.
Carter was the lone UCF player in double digits in the scoring column. Erika Jones scored eight points off the bench, while Kayli Keough and Andrea Hines had seven points apiece.
Rogers had a BGSU-high 11 points, and also had seven rebounds and a team-best four steals. Steffen scored 10 points and led the Falcons with nine rebounds, as BG held a 36-33 edge on the boards.
Halfhill had nine points and eight rebounds for the Brown and Orange, while fifth-year senior Danielle Havel scored eight points.
The first few minutes of the game were back and forth, as neither team led by more than two points until hoops by Carter and Hines gave the visitors an 11-7 advantage with seven minutes gone. The teams combined for 12 turnovers (six apiece) over the first 7:45 of the game.
Two Rogers free throws began a 7-0 run for the home side. After freshman Bailey Cairnduff came up with a steal on the next UCF possession, classmate Miriam Justinger dished a nifty wraparound pass to a cutting Havel for a layup that tied the score. Justinger then took a pass from Halfhill and knocked down a three-point try from the left wing, giving the hosts a 14-11 lead.
The visitors rallied back to take a 16-14 lead, and after a nifty rebound and putback by Papenfuss, Meghan Keough's three gave the Knights a 19-16 lead with 7:42 left before halftime. The Falcons, however, proceeded to go on a 10-0 run, holding the visitors scoreless for the next 5:37.
Steffen and junior Jill Stein combined to score the first seven points of that run. Steffen's layup tied the score at 19-all, and a sweet reverse layup by Stein gave the hosts a two-point lead. Steffen made a nice individual move to elude a defender at the foul line, driving past her and hitting a layup for a 23-19 BG advantage at the 4:47 mark.
A layup by junior Katrina Salinas gave the Brown and Orange a 26-19 lead, and after back-to-back layups by the visitors, Salinas took a Justinger pass and drained a straightaway three-pointer for a 29-23 BG advantage at the half.
The second period saw Havel convert a three-point try just before the shot-clock buzzer sounded on the opening possession of the half. Carter scored her team's first five points of the half, sandwiching a three-pointer and a layup around a Rogers layup at the other end.
After Carter's layup, however, a transition trey by sophomore Jasmine Matthews began a 9-0 run for the home team. Steffen converted a four-point play, hitting a three from the right elbow as she was knocked to the ground, then making the ensuing free throw at the 14:44 mark. Halfhill worked a nifty give-and-go play with Havel, taking a return pass and hitting a long two from in front of the BG bench, and the hosts had a 43-28 lead.
The lead was still 15 points, 45-30, after two Halfhill charity tosses with 11:48 left, but the Falcons would score just eight points the rest of the way. A steal and layup by Rogers with 8:15 remaining put BG up by a 49-36 count, but back-to-back three-pointers by Briahanna Jackson and Hines got the visitors within striking distance at 49-42.
The Papenfuss steal and layup restored BG's double-digit lead with 5:04 on the clock, but a Carter jumper just 11 seconds remaining began the Knights' decisive 15-0 run.
BGSU continues a season-long five-game homestand with three games in a seven-day span, beginning with the Mid-American Conference opener vs. Kent State University on Thursday (Jan. 10). Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.
NOTE: Earlier on Friday, Rogers was named the MAC Player of the Week by the NetScouts Basketball web site. Rogers earned the honor for her 20-point, 10-rebound, six-steal performance in the Falcons' 65-40 win over Dayton on Sunday (Dec. 30).
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