Falcons Race Past SFU, 81-66, for 10th Non-Conference Win

Sunday, December 29

Bowling Green, OH

2:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Saint Francis (Pa.)

December 29, 2013 | Women's Basketball

BGSU improves to 10-2, posts double-digit non-league win total for seventh time in eight years

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Erica Donovan v Saint Francis - Bianca Garza photo

Erica Donovan scored 11 of her 22 points in the first five minutes of the game, helping the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team defeat Saint Francis University, 81-66, Sunday afternoon (Dec. 29). The non-conference contest was held at the Stroh Center.

FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
HIGHLIGHTS: Courtesy WBGU-TV *
POSTGAME AUDIO: Erica Donovan | Jennifer Roos
PHOTO GALLERY: BGSU Marketing & Communications
* highlight video also available at the bottom of this page

With the win, the Falcons improve to 10-2 on the season. BGSU has won 10 non-conference games for the seventh time in the last eight seasons. The Red Flash dropped to 2-9 on the year.

Donovan, a redshirt sophomore, set a new career scoring best, and also pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. Her first 11 points helped the Brown and Orange race out to a 24-5 lead before the game was five minutes old.

Junior Deborah Hoekstra had 16 points off the bench, while sophomore Miriam Justinger scored 12 points and added a career-high nine rebounds. Seniors Jillian Halfhill and Alexis Rogers each had 10 points to round out the Falcons' quintet of double-figure scorers.

For the third time in four home games this year, BGSU never trailed. Donovan hit a three-pointer on the first possession of the game, giving the Brown and Orange the lead with just 17 seconds gone, and Rogers picked Aisha Brock's pocket at midcourt and sailed in for a layup just 25 seconds later.

Halfhill was fouled on a three-point attempt and hit each of the ensuing free throws, giving the Falcons an 8-0 lead with just over a minute and a half gone. Moments later, Halfhill took a Donovan pass and drained a three-point try from the left corner, and the hosts were up, 11-0.

After the Red Flash took a timeout, Rebecca Keegan's jumper got the visitors on the board with 2:40 elapsed. But, Rogers kicked the ball out to Donovan for a corner three, and BGSU converted back-to-back transition layups for a 19-2 advantage.

The first layup came when Rogers scored off of a nifty pass from Justinger. Then, Rogers found Donovan for an 'and-one' layup at the 16:45 mark. Donovan completed the three-point play by hitting the free throw, and the visitors used their second timeout of the game.

At that point, the Falcons had made 6-of-8 shots from the floor, including all three shots from beyond the arc, and BG was a perfect 4-of-4 from the stripe as well.

Brock knocked down a three-point shot at the 15:55 mark, but Donovan grabbed a teammate's missed shot, laying the ball back up and in, and a Rogers steal resulted in Halfhill spotting Justinger for a triple, the Falcons' fourth of the game. Just four minutes and 56 seconds into the game, the home team had a 24-5 lead.

And, for all intents and purposes, the outcome had been decided. Although the Red Flash fought valiantly the rest of the afternoon, the visitors could not cut the BGSU lead below double digits.

Alli Williams led SFU with 18 points, while Brock scored 15 and Alexa Hayward 13. Hayward sat out the entire first half, but played all 20 minutes of the second period.

BGSU enjoyed a 53-36 rebounding advantage on the day. In addition to the 10 boards by Donovan and the nine from Justinger, senior Jill Stein pulled down eight boards and Rogers seven. Hoekstra had five rebounds to go along with her 16 points.

All nine Falcons in uniform played between 17 and 28 minutes. Eight of the nine scored at least two points, and seven of the nine dished out at least one assist in the win.

With the Falcons leading by that 24-5 score, a steal and layup by Williams was followed by a Samiah Bethel free throw. But, junior Jasmine Matthews took a pass from freshman Rachel Konieczki and hit a long two-pointer, and Hoekstra stepped out beyond the arc to take a Donovan pass and sink a right-side trey. When Donovan grabbed a rebound and converted a shot in traffic in the paint, the Falcons had a 31-8 lead.

The visitors responded by scoring nine-straight points, with Brock accounting for the first five. But, moments later, the Falcons answered with a substantial scoring run of their own. Rogers drove down the right sideline, cut inside and whipped a pass to a wide-open Hoekstra in the left corner for a three-pointer to begin the run.

Justinger hit two charity tosses, and Donovan threw an inbounds pass the length of the court to Rogers for an easy layup at the 6:37 mark. Justinger got back to the line and hit a pair of shots, and Hoekstra followed her own missed shot and hit an acrobatic layup. On that play, the junior knifed through traffic, grabbed the rebound and -- as she was being knocked to the floor -- banked the ball off the square and through the hoop to give the hosts a 44-19 lead as the crowd roared their appreciation for the hustle play.

With just under five minutes left in the half, Rogers again found Hoekstra for a three-pointer. Justinger and Hoekstra each split a pair of shots from the stripe, and Justinger fed freshman Abby Siefker for a driving layup at the 3:10 mark. The run was 18-0, and the Falcons' lead was a game-high 32 points, 51-19.

It was the visitors' turn to make a run, as a three-point play by Williams began a 15-1 surge to end the half. Williams scored eight points and Brock five during that time, and a Williams layup with just seven second left before the intermission cut the Falcons' lead to 18 points, 52-34.

The Falcons' 52-point total was the highest in a half in the Jennifer Roos head-coaching era, and was the second-highest total ever recorded at the Stroh Center (BG had 60 first-half points vs. Western Kentucky in the 2011-12 season). But, BGSU's game total of 81 points on Sunday was the team's lowest in four home contests this season.

BGSU shot an even 50 percent from the field in that half, and the Falcons were 7-of-17 (41.2%) from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes.

After the Falcons scored 24 points in the first five minutes of the opening half, the Brown and Orange did not score a point for over four minutes to start the second period. Hayward got a defensive rebound and went coast to coast for a layup, and a Keegan banker narrowed the margin to 14 points early in the period.

The Falcons' first points of the half came on a Rogers putback, but that began a 13-0 run for the hosts. Williams, SFU's leading scorer, was called for an offensive foul -- her fourth of the game -- with 15:25 remaining, and Donovan converted a three-point play at the other end.

Hoekstra came up with a rebound at the defensive end of the court, then got a nifty driving layup to drop at the offensive end, giving BG a 59-38 lead. Halfhill sank a floater in the lane while drawing a foul, making the resulting shot from the line, and when Matthews took a Hoekstra pass and drilled a triple try, the Falcons' lead was 65-38 with 12:33 to go.

BG's lead remained over 20 points until a Hayward three capped a 7-0 run and put the visitors within 18, 75-57, with 2:27 left. That lead got down to 14 points on three occasions, but the Red Flash could draw no closer, and Justinger's free throw in the final seconds closed the scoring.

For the game, the Falcons shot 38.3% from the field, including just a 7-of-28 (25.0%) effort in the second period. SFU shot 37.7% on the afternoon.

BG committed 21 turnovers, tying the team's season high, on Sunday, but the Falcons forced SFU into 17 turnovers, and the home team had a 22-19 edge in points off turnovers.

The home team made 27 free throws in 35 attempts (77.1%), while the visitors were 8-of-16 (50.0%) from the stripe.

Rogers led the Falcons in both assists and steals, with a career-high four helpers and three thefts in addition to her 10 points and seven boards.

The Falcons have won at least 10 non-conference games for the seventh time in school history, all coming within the last eight years. No other Mid-American Conference team has posted double-digit win totals more than twice, although Eastern Michigan is 9-1 with one non-league game remaining.

BGSU has a record of 84-21 in non-conference games over the past eight seasons.

The Falcons begin MAC play on Saturday (Jan. 4), hosting the University at Buffalo in a 2:00 p.m. start at the Stroh.