Falcons Down Zips, 74-61, to Move into First-Place Tie in MAC East

Jillian Halfhill v Akron - Brad Phalin photo

Redshirt junior Alexis Rogers had a double-double in the second half alone, helping the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team to a 74-61 win over the University of Akron Wednesday night (Feb. 20). The Mid-American Conference game was held at the Stroh Center.

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POSTGAME AUDIO: Alexis Rogers   |   Danielle Havel   |   Jennifer Roos
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BGSU-UA HIGHLIGHTS: Courtesy WBGU-TV
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With the win, the Falcons move into a tie with the Zips for first place in the MAC's East Division. Both teams are now 17-8 overall and 8-4 in conference play.

Rogers had 16 points and a game-high 12 rebounds on the night. She had 14 points and 10 boards after halftime, as the Falcons held a 25-17 second-half rebounding advantage.

Senior Chrissy Steffen led all players with 17 points, and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Fifth-year senior Danielle Havel scored 13 points to round out BGSU's double-digit scorers.

Havel went 3-for-5 from three-point land, matching her career high for three-pointers made. She had set that record in BG's last game, at Northern Illinois on Saturday (Feb. 16).

The Falcons now lead Akron, 49-3, in the all-time series, and BGSU is a perfect 26-0 in home games vs. the Zips. One of BG's three series losses, however, came three weeks ago (Jan. 31, 2013) at UA's Rhodes Arena. A loss to the Zips on Wednesday night would have put the Falcons two games behind Akron in the East Division race, with UA holding the tiebreaker.

Sina King had a double-double for the Zips on Wednesday, with 15 points and 10 boards, while Rachel Tecca had 13 points. UA held a 42-41 advantage on the boards for the game.

The game was tied on six first-half occasions, but a Steffen layup with 3:23 left before the half sparked a personal 6-0 run to end the half. Steffen added a free throw and knocked down a triple try to give the Brown and Orange a 37-31 halftime advantage.

The Zips got as close as three points early in the second period, but a 10-0 run by the Falcons gave BG a 50-36 lead with just over 12 minutes to go. Rogers had the first eight points in that run.

UA crept as close as seven points on two occasions in the final four minutes, but the Falcons held the Zips scoreless over the final 1:59, hitting six free throws to salt away the win.

BG shot 45.5 percent for the game, hitting 15 field goals in each half. The Falcons held UA to a 32.8% success rate on the night.

In fact, after the Zips made 8-of-10 shots to begin the game, the BG defense held the visitors to just 13 field goals in 54 attempts the rest of the night (24.1%). Akron scored 20 points in the first six minutes of the game and 41 over the remaining 34-plus minutes.

The Zips did, however, become the first MAC team to score over 60 points in the brief history of the Stroh Center. The Falcons have played a total of 14 games vs. conference foes in the building, now in its second season.

Both teams shot the ball well to begin the game. The Falcons and Zips each scored on their first two possessions of the night. Havel hit a three, and Tecca answered with a jumper. After junior Jillian Halfhill drove down the lane ans scored, a King Jumper was followed by two Tecca free throws, and the Zips had a 6-5 lead before the game was two minutes old.

Havel knocked down another triple try, and after a Tecca layup, Steffen's step-back three-ball gave the Falcons an 11-8 lead. Tecca put back her own miss, and Kacie Cassell's three-pointer put UA up by a 13-11 score. Freshman Miriam Justinger tied the game with a layup, but Hanna Luburgh quickly answered with a layup of her own. The teams had combined for 28 points in just 3:28.

That Luburgh layup began a 7-0 run for the Zips, as King hit a three-pointer, then a layup for a 20-13 Akron advantage. After an offensive rebound by Halfhill, the junior fed classmate Jill Stein for a three-pointer, and Stein then knocked down a short-corner jumper, again from a Halfhill pass. BG's deficit was two points, at 20-18.

Senior Allison Papenfuss deflected an Akron pass, and Halfhill came up with the ball, giving the Falcons a two-on-one break. Halfhill fed Papenfuss for a layup that tied the game, 20-20, with 10:55 left before halftime. Then, Halfhill knocked down a jumper less than a minute later to give the hosts the lead.

Cassell knotted the score for the fifth time with a layup, but sophomore Deborah Hoekstra found junior Katrina Salinas for a jumper, sparking a 7-0 BG run.

Hoekstra had two assists and a blocked shot in the span of 33 seconds, as she got her hands on an Akron shot, then fed Havel for a three-pointer on BG's next possession. Salinas promptly stole the Zips' inbounds pass, and after Rogers grabbed a teammate's miss and laid the ball off glass and in, BGSU's lead was 29-22 with 7:06 to go before halftime. That Rogers putback capped a 16-2 run for the Brown and Orange.

UA scored the next three points, before Halfhill threw the ball inside to Stein for a layup and a 31-25 lead. Carly Young cut that lead in half when she banked home a three-pointer, and Taylor Ruper then pulled the visitors into a 31-all tie with a three-ball of her own. But, the seas parted for Steffen, and the senior drove down a suddenly wide-open lane for an easy layup with 3:23 to go before intermission, giving the Falcons the lead for good.

Steffen split a pair of free throws, then took a pass from Havel and hit a three-pointer that barely moved the net. The Falcons took a 37-31 lead into the locker room.

Despite getting just two offensive rebounds in the first half, the Falcons tied the Zips, 5-5, in second-chance points. BG had a 9-1 advantage in first-half points off turnovers.

The second half begin with the Falcons missing a three-point try, and Ruper quickly connecting from long range to bring the Zips within three points. A Halfhill free throw and a Havel layup in traffic gave BG a 40-34 lead, but King hit two charity tosses at the 18:21 mark. Rogers, however, was about to take over.

The redshirt junior, who had assisted on the Havel bucket, scored the next eight points of the game, all in the paint, as BGSU went on a 10-0 run. She put back her own missed shot, scored after Steffen threw the ball inside, converted after Havel made the 'extra pass' and got another offensive board and putback. When Havel hit a turnaround jumper, the Falcons' lead was 50-36.

Ruper hit another triple, but Steffen saw a right-side runner get over the rim and drop through the hoop. After Cassell split a pair of shots from the stripe, another Rogers laup was followed by a Stein jumper. BG's lead was 56-40 with 10:36 remaining.

UA scored four-straight points, but freshman Bailey Cairnduff answered with four points in a row. First, Cairnduff tracked down her own missed shot, connecting on her second try. Then, after a UA missed shot and foul, the Falcons broke Akron's press, and Rogers found Cairnduff for a transition layup.

Seconds later, Steffen stole a Cassell pass and cruised downcourt for a wide-open layup, giving BG its largest lead of the game, 62-44, with 7:24 remaining.

UA quickly scored four consecutive points, and after the teams traded buckets, the Zips put together a 9-0 run to get within seven. Luburgh scored five in a row, with a putback and a three-pointer, and Young took a Cassell pass and hit a straightaway trey. BG's lead was just 66-59 with 3:31 left.

The Falcons again withstood Akron's pressure defense, however, and Cairnduff hit a layup for a nine-point advantage. Cassell misfired on a three-point try, but BG committed a shot-clock violation. King got to the line and hit both shots with 1:59 to go. Those would be UA's final points of the game.

BG missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity, but Ruper's three-point try was off target, and Steffen grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 1:44 left. She hit a pair of charity tosses to begin a game-ending 6-0 run for the hosts.

All six of those points came from the line, with Halfhill hitting two shots at the 1:18 mark and Steffen knocking down two more attempts with just under a half-minute left.

Stein had nine points and a game-high three blocked shots, as the Falcons blocked seven shots in the win.   Halfhill had a well-rounded stat line, with seven points, four rebounds and a game-high seven assists, while Cairnduff scored six points off the bench.

That BG bench, after scoring a season-low three points in the first UA meeting, combined for 19 points on Wednesday night.

Luburgh and Ruper had nine points each for the Zips, with Cassell adding seven points and five assists. Young had six of UA's eight bench points.

Akron entered the game ranked 11th in the entire nation in scoring offense, averaging 75.7 points per game. The Zips' total of 61 points on Wednesday was the team's lowest in MAC play this season. UA's only lower point total came in a 90-59 loss to Dayton back on Dec. 18. (That UD team, by the way, is 22-1 on the season, with the Flyers' only loss coming to the Falcons, 65-40, on Dec. 30.)

BGSU now prepares for a weekend trip to Oxford, Ohio, as the Falcons take on Miami University on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 23). Tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at MU's Millett Hall.

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