Central Michigan Bounces Falcons from MAC Tournament, 81-48

Thursday, March 14

Cleveland, OH

12:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Central Michigan (third round)

March 14, 2013 | Women's Basketball

BGSU commits 34 turnovers in Thursday's loss in Cleveland

By: CLEVELAND, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Central Michigan University repeatedly turned Bowling Green State University turnovers into points on Thursday afternoon (March 14), rolling to an 81-48 win over the Falcons in Mid-American Conference Women's Basketball Tournament third-round action. The game was held at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland.

LINKS
FINAL STATISTICS: PDF
POSTGAME AUDIO: Jennifer Roos, Alexis Rogers & Jill Stein
POSTGAME VIDEO: Roos, Rogers & Stein *
BGSU-CMU PHOTO GALLERY: Brad Phalin, BGSU Marketing & Communications
THE BRACKET: Updated MAC Tournament Bracket through Thursday
* courtesy MAC Digital Network

With the win, the Chippewas improve to 19-11 on the season. Central, the fourth seed for the tournament, advances to Friday's semifinal round to take on top-seeded Toledo. The Falcons, the tourney's fifth seed, drop to 22-10.

The Chippewas forced BGSU into 34 turnovers, by far a season-high total for the Falcons, and CMU had a 39-9 advantage in points off turnovers. Central went on an early 11-0 run to take a 16-7 lead, and after BGSU hit a three-point field goal, the Chippewas scored no fewer than 21-straight points for a 37-10 advantage.

Crystal Bradford scored 11 of her game-high 23 points during that 21-0 run, including nine-straight points during one stretch.

Junior Jill Stein had eight points, including a pair of three-point field goals, over the last 4:35 of the first half, as BG closed the period on a 14-3 run. Stein ended the half with a three-pointer with 16 seconds to go, cutting CMU's lead to 40-24 at the break.

But, the Chippewas scored eight of the first 10 points of the second period to take a 48-26 lead. BG narrowed the gap just slightly, to 19 points, but Central went on a 14-2 run, capped by back-to-back Jessica Schroll triples, to extend the lead to 31 points with 12:01 left in the game.

BG never got closer than 27 points thereafter, and Central's lead reached a game-high 36 points in the final minute, before a late Falcon trey closed the scoring.

Bradford was joined in double digits by Brandie Baker, who had 14 points and seven assists, and Schroll, who scored 10 points. CMU shot 43.5 percent for the game, including a 48.3% rate in the first half.

The Falcons shot 34.5% for the day, and turned the ball over 18 times in the first half and 16 in the second.

Redshirt junior Alexis Rogers led the Falcons with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Stein had 10 points and junior Jillian Halfhill eight. Halfhill also had seven rebounds as BG held a 41-30 advantage on the boards.

Baker hit a three-pointer on the opening possession of the game, the lone scoring for either team in the first two-plus minutes. The Falcons and Chippewas combined to fire 61 three-point attempts on the day, with Central going 10-of-28 from long distance (35.7%) and BG 8-for-33 (24.2%).

After three unsuccessful possessions for the Falcons, Halfhill took a pass from freshman Miriam Justinger and knocked down a three-point try from the right wing at the 17:36 mark. After a Schroll layup, Rogers scored four-straight points, hitting a jumper off of another Justinger feed, then hitting a layup after a drive and dish by Halfhill. That 7-5 lead would be BG's only advantage of the day.

Just 13 seconds after the Falcons took the lead, Bradford got a crazy-looking runner to drop, knotting the score. The Chippewas would go to the free-throw line on each of the next two possessions, going 4-for-4 in that stretch to take an 11-7 lead.

On the day, Central was 17-of-19 from the stripe. By contrast, the Falcons were awarded just two free-throw attempts, making both.

Taylor Johnson hit a three-ball for the Chippewas, extending the lead to 14-7 and prompting the first of three first-half timeouts by the Falcons. Baker hit a jumper for a nine-point CMU lead, before Falcon freshman Bailey Cairnduff was on target with a three-point try. Cairnduff's shot got BG within six points, at 16-10, with 12:47 to go before halftime.

That shot, however, was BG's lone bucket in a span of 11 minutes and five seconds. When the smoke had cleared, the Chippewas had scored 21 consecutive points to cap a 32-3 run over that 11:05 span.

Bradford scored the first nine points of that 21-0 run, converting in a variety of ways. She hit a layup, a three-pointer and two free throws, then converted another layup for a 28-10 Central lead.

Baker's steal and easy layup made it 30-10, and a steal led to a Bradford layup at the 7:01 mark. Baker knocked down a three, and Jalisa Olive's steal and layup gave Central a 37-10 advantage with 5:37 to go before halftime. That Olive steal marked BGSU's seventh consecutive possession with a turnover, as the Falcons did not attempt a shot for a span of from the 8:44 mark to the 4:35 mark.

To their credit, though, the Falcons battled back, going on that 14-3 run to end the period. Stein scored five-straight points, with a three-pointer with 4:35 left in the period, and a nice driving layup with just under three minutes on the clock.

Central threw the ball away, and Rogers scored inside. Senior Chrissy Steffen assisted on that Rogers bucket, and Rogers returned the favor seconds later. The two combined to knock the ball away from Johnson near midcourt, and Rogers fired the ball ahead to the streaking Steffen for a layup.

BG's run continued, as Rogers drove and hit a shot over Bradford for the Falcons' 10th and 11th points in a row. Niki DiGuilio then hit her lone bucket in eight tries on the day, making a three-pointer, but Rogers found Stein for her second triple in just over four minutes, and BG trailed by a 40-24 count at the break.

The Falcons had a 22-10 rebounding advantage in that first half, but committed 18 turnovers in the 20 minutes.

Bradford stole the ball on the first possession of the half, heading downcourt and missing a layup. But, Johnson was there for the putback. Moments later, Bradford rebounded her own miss, laying the ball up and in for a 20-point lead. Rogers went around her defender for a layup, but Schroll's two free throws were followed by an uber-acrobatic layup by Bradford, who swooped down the lane, took a pass from Schroll and laid the ball in off glass. Central's lead was 22, 48-26.

Halfhill and Rogers sandwiched buckets around a CMU free throw, with the Rogers layup cutting the deficit to 19 points. But, Central responded with the next six points and, after an up-and-under layup by Stein, two Bradford charity tosses were followed by the back-to-back three-pointers from Schroll. The Chippewas had a 63-32 lead and were never headed.

BGSU's lone trip to the line came with 11:37 left, when senior Allison Papenfuss hit both shots to make it a 63-34 game. Cairnduff hit another three after Justinger rebounded the ball, dribbled the ball roughly 70 feet and kicked it to her fellow freshman.

Steffen, Rogers and junior Katrina Salinas hit three-pointers down the stretch, but it was not nearly enough to cut into the CMU lead. Central had a 21-0 margin in points off turnovers in the second half alone, en route to that 39-9 advantage for the game.

The Falcons now await their postseason tournament fate, Following the announcement of the NCAA Championships field on Monday (March 18), the WNIT will finalize the 64-team field for that tourney later Monday night. The Postseason WNIT bracket is scheduled to be announced between 11:00 p.m. and midnight Eastern Time, and the bracket will be posted on the web at www.womensnit.com at that time.