Falcons Start Fast, Finish Strong in 77-58 Win over ODU

Saturday, November 23

Columbus, OH

6:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Old Dominion

November 23, 2013 | Women's Basketball

All five starters score in double digits as BG moves to 5-1

By: COLUMBUS, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

All five Bowling Green State University women's basketball starters hit double figures in scoring, as the Falcons led from wire to wire in a 77-58 win over Old Dominion University Saturday evening (Nov. 23). The game, part of second-day action at the Basketball Hall of Fame Challenge, was held at Value City Arena.

FINAL STATS: HTML | PDF
POSTGAME AUDIO: Jennifer Roos

Leading by nine points at the half, the Falcons shot 58.3 percent from the field in the second half, and BGSU enjoyed a 44-30 rebounding advantage for the game.

Senior Jill Stein and redshirt sophomore Erica Donovan each had a double-double, with Donovan scoring a game-high 18 points and adding a career-high 12 rebounds, and Stein posting totals of 14 points and a career-best 14 boards.

Redshirt senior Alexis Rogers scored 17 points, while senior Jillian Halfhill added 12 and sophomore Miriam Justinger 10. Halfhill had eight rebounds in the win.

Rogers made six of her seven shots from the field in the win, and was a perfect 5-for-5 from inside the three-point line.

Stephanie Gardner led the Lady Monarchs with 14 points, while Tiffany Minor added 12 off the bench.

The Falcons shot 61.3% from the free-throw line, but BGSU took 31 shots from the stripe, compared to just 10 for ODU. BG outscored the Lady Monarchs by a 19-6 count at the line.

BGSU hit eight three-pointers, led by Halfhill's three. Donovan and Stein each hit a pair of long-range attempts as the Falcons shot 47.1% from long distance. ODU went just 4-of-16 from beyond the arc.

The Falcons took an early 3-0 lead on Donovan's trey in the first minute of the game, and BG never trailed again. Shae Kelley's steal and layup cut that BG lead to one point, but Halfhill knocked down a triple from the top of the arc for a 6-2 lead.

BGSU's third field goal was also the Falcons' third trey of the day, as Halfhill kicked the ball out to Stein for a long-range hoop and a 9-4 lead. After an ODU turnover, Rogers scored inside, and Donovan spotted Halfhill for the point guard's second triple of the game. The run was 8-0 and the lead was 14-4 as the Lady Monarchs used a timeout.

Out of the timeout, though, the Falcons got a stop at the defensive end, and Stein put back a teammate's miss for a 10-0 run and a 16-4 advantage with 12:44 left before halftime.

Minor snapped her team's scoreless drought, but Rogers answered with a straightaway trey, and moments later, the senior went right around her would-be defender for a layup and a 22-9 lead.

BG's lead fluctuated between 11 and 14 points over the next few minutes, before Donovan's putback at the 5:22 mark gave the Brown and Orange a 31-16 lead. The margin was 14 points, 33-19, after ODU's 12th foul of the half sent Stein to the line with 4:38 left in the period. The senior split her two free-throw tries for that 14-point advantage.

Then, however, the Falcons proceeded to turn the ball over three times within a span of just 10 seconds. The first turnover saw Minor grab an inbounds pass and lay the ball up and in. The second turnover also saw Minor come up with the steal, and quickly led to a Gardner three-point play. BG's lead was down to single digits.

The Falcons threw away the inbounds pass yet again, but this time, the Lady Monarchs gave the ball right back after an offensive foul. ODU crept within eight points with 2:25 left in the period, before the Brown and Orange took a 39-30 advantage into the intermission.

In the second half. Old Dominion cut the BG lead to seven points on no fewer than six occasions, but the Lady Monarchs would draw no closer. After an early layup by ODU's Odegua Oigbokie, the Falcons got three offensive rebounds on the same possession before Donovan put the ball off glass and in.

The teams traded layups before Halfhill drained another three-point try with the shot clock winding down to increase the lead to 11 points, 47-36, with 14::26 to go.

Minor hit a three with just under 13 minutes on the clock to cut the lead to seven, and the teams traded points in the paint over the next few minutes. Buckets by Rogers and junior Jasmine Matthews were answered with hoops from Becca Allison and Galaisha Goodhope.

Rogers hit another layup with 10:17 to go, and Minor picked up her fifth foul on the play. Rogers knocked down the free throw to complete the three-point play, and BG's lead was back to double digits for good, 55-45.

After an ODU miss, Stein's three-ball gave the Brown and Orange a 13-point lead. Moments later, a 7-0 run put the Falcons ahead by a 67-49 score. Justinger hit a layup and Donovan converted a three-point play during that stretch, which was capped by Halfhill's layup after a Justinger steal. The Lady Monarchs used a timeout with 4:47 remaining.

ODU attempted to cut into BG's lead, but the Falcons used the bulk of the shot clock on their offensive possessions, and hit some key shots down the stretch. Matthews scored on a pull-up jumper with 3:35 on the clock, and Donovan's three-pointer with 2:33 left gave BG a 73-55 advantage. Stein's layup a minute later put the Falcons ahead by a game-high 20 points and BG salted away the win.

The Falcons now prepare for a Sunday (Nov. 24) game vs. host Ohio State, with tipoff scheduled for approximately 3:30 p.m.

BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME CHALLENGE
(all games at Value City Arena; Columbus, Ohio)
Friday, Nov. 22
Marist 74, Bowling Green 60
Ohio State 75, Old Dominion 60

Saturday, Nov. 23
Bowling Green 77, Old Dominion 58
at Ohio State 62, Marist 59

Sunday, Nov. 24
Marist vs. Old Dominion, 1:00 p.m.
Bowling Green at Ohio State, 3:30 p.m.