Falcons Surge Past Panthers, 87-64, to Move to 8-1 on the Year

Sunday, December 8

Bowling Green, OH

2:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

UW - Milwaukee

December 08, 2013 | Women's Basketball

Hoekstra scores a career-high 19 points to pace five players in double figures

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Deborah Hoekstra v Milwaukee - Dec 8 2013

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team used a big first-half run to surge past the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Sunday afternoon (Dec. 8), as the Falcons posted an 87-64 win in non-conference action at the Stroh Center.

FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
HIGHLIGHTS: Courtesy WBGU-TV
PHOTO GALLERY: Courtesy Bianca Garza, BGSU Mkt. & Comm.
POSTGAME AUDIO: Deborah Hoekstra | Jennifer Roos
POSTGAME VIDEO: Deborah Hoekstra | Jennifer Roos

Junior Deborah Hoekstra set a career scoring high for the second consecutive game, and four of her teammates also hit double figures in the points column as the Falcons improved to 8-1 on the season. The Panthers drop to 2-6 on the year.

Hoekstra had 19 points in the win, making 8-of-11 shots from the field. The East Lansing, Mich., native was a perfect 7-for-7 from two-point range, and also set a career rebounding high, with six boards on Sunday.

Hoekstra's 'old' career scoring best was 18 points, set in the Falcons' previous game, vs. Monmouth last Sunday (Dec. 1) in Springfield, Mass. Hoekstra has averaged 16.0 points and made 19-of-25 shots (76.0%) over the last three games.

Senior Alexis Rogers had a double-double, with 16 points and 12 rebounds as the Falcons enjoyed a 47-31 advantage on the boards. Rogers also had a game-high four steals.

Junior Jasmine Matthews chipped in with 12 points, while redshirt sophomore Erica Donovan scored 11. Senior Jill Stein had 10 points and nine rebounds in the win.

BGSU shot better than 50 percent in each half, en route to a season-best 55.9% success rate for the game. The Falcons' 33-of-59 performance included a 17-of-29 effort (58.6%) in the second period.

The Panthers' Ashley Green scored 15 points to pace three double-figure scorers for the visitors. Macie Dorow and Emily Decorah had 12 and 11 points, respectively, for Milwaukee.

The BG defense, led by sophomore Miriam Justinger, held UWM's leading scorer, Angela Rodriguez, to seven points on 3-of-15 shooting. Rodriguez entered the game averaging 20.0 points per contest on the season. Rodriguez did dish out a game-high nine assists vs. the Falcons.

The first few minutes of the game featured two ties and four lead changes. With the teams tied at 10-all, the Falcons went on an 8-0 run to take the lead for good. Hoekstra scored six of the eight points during that run, splitting a pair of free throws at the 12:05 mark, then hitting a corner three less than 30 seconds later.

Senior Jillian Halfhill made an 'and-one' layup with exactly 11 minutes left in the period, giving the Falcons a 16-10 lead. Halfhill missed the ensuing free throw, but Matthews grabbed the rebound to keep BG on offense, and Hoekstra sliced through several defenders for a right-side layup and an eight-point advantage.

That 8-0 run was the start of an 18-2 run for the home team. After Dorow hit a layup with 10:20 to go in the period, Hoekstra attacked the hoop -- this time from the left side -- and scored while drawing a foul. The junior's charity toss put BG up by a 21-12 margin.

Moments later, Rogers scored four-straight points, with a putback followed by a run-out layup off of a long pass from freshman Rachel Konieczki. The latter hoop gave the Falcons a 25-12 lead and prompted a Milwaukee timeout with 7:25 left in the half.

Out of the timeout, however, the Falcons forced a miss, and Stein whipped a pass to Justinger for a three-pointer from the right corner and a 28-12 BG advantage.

The lead grew as high as 20 points late in the period before the Brown and Orange took a 44-25 lead into the intermission.

In the second period, the Panthers hung around for the first few minutes, as both teams shot the ball well to begin the half. Milwaukee made 6-of-8 shots to start the period.

But, the Falcons hit 5-of-6 shots to begin the second half, and UWM never could cut the BG lead to fewer than 16 points. With just over four minutes gone in the period, Halfhill's layup began a 10-0 BG run to extend the margin to 26 points.

Hoekstra again was key during that stretch, scoring six of the 10 points, including the last four. Her offensive rebound and layup with 13:09 to go made it a 63-37 game.

After Decorah broke her team's scoring drought with a bucket, Hoekstra drove the lane and dished a pass to a wide-open Donovan for a 65-39 lead.

Milwaukee scored eight of the game's next 10 points to get back within 20, but the visitors would draw no closer. Rogers took a Stein pass and hit a layup with just over five minutes to go, giving BG a 27-point lead, the Falcons' largest of the game.

Dorow counted with a three-pointer for the visitors, but after a Milwaukee miss moments later, Matthews pulled up and hit a triple of her own in transition, giving the Falcons an 81-54 lead with 3:37 to play. The Panthers scored 10 points in the final few minutes, but the outcome had been determined long before that late flurry.

Halfhill scored seven points and added six rebounds and a BG-leading four assists in the win. Freshman Abby Siefker had six points, while Justinger scored five points and was one of three Falcons with three assists. Matthews and Stein each had three helpers as well.

BGSU scored 52 points in the paint, and the Falcons had a 38-18 advantage in bench scoring vs. the Panthers.

The Falcons return to the Stroh Center court next Sunday afternoon (Dec. 15), facing the University of Massachusetts in a 2:00 p.m. start. All of BGSU's December games are Sunday contests.