Donovan, Falcons Surge Past Iona, 80-59

Tuesday, November 18

Bowling Green, OH

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Iona

Erica Donovan (21) tied her career high with 24 points in Tuesday's win over Iona

Photo by: Bianca Garza, BGSU Marketing and Communications

November 18, 2014 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Redshirt junior has 24 points to pace five double-digit scorers

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Redshirt junior Erica Donovan scored in double figures in each half as the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team broke into the win column with an 80-59 win over Iona College Tuesday night (Nov. 18). The non-conference game was held at the Stroh Center.

With the win, the Falcons improve to 1-1 on the young season, while dropping the Gaels to 1-2.

Donovan scored 24 points to lead five double-digit scorers for the hosts, and paced the Brown and Orange with seven rebounds in the win. Sophomore Abby Siefker had a career-high 12 points on the night, while a trio of Falcons scored 10 points apiece. That group included junior Miriam Justinger and freshmen Rachel Myers and Haley Puk.

Donovan's point total tied her career high, while both Myers and Puk hit double digits in the scoring column for the first time in their two-game BGSU careers.

Joy Adams led the Gaels with 24 points and 12 rebounds, while Damika Martinez scored 18 points. Martinez is Iona's career scoring leader with 1,930 points entering the game, and was averaging 32.0 points on the young season. But, Justinger and the Falcons limited her to a 6-for-16 shooting performance at the Stroh.

"There were a lot of keys to tonight's win," said BGSU head coach Jennifer Roos. "I thought we had better tempo today. We came out in the first four minutes with a different energy than in the last game. We had fewer turnovers, we had more rebounds, we got on the floor more than we did in the first game, but the biggest key is that we scored the basketball. Bottom line, we scored the basketball.

"We shot 50 percent against a team that has a chance to win the Metro Atlantic."

The Falcons, after shooting only 29 percent from the floor in Friday's season-opening loss to Bucknell, shot 48.2% from the field vs. Iona, including a 50% rate in the second half. The hosts went 17-of-23 from the free-throw line, while the Gaels were 6-of-10 from the stripe.

BGSU led from wire to wire on Tuesday night. After scoring the first seven points of the evening, the Falcons saw the Gaels go on a 5-0 run, and BG's lead was cut to a single point on two occasions. With the score 13-12, however, the Brown and Orange proceeded to score 12-straight points while holding the Gaels scoreless for nearly three minutes. The lead never dropped below 10 points again.

The Falcons led by a 38-26 score at the intermission after a Justinger floater in the paint beat the halftime buzzer. Then, with BG holding an 11-point lead early in the second period, the home team went on a 13-0 run, holding Iona without a point for nearly five minutes and taking a 55-31 lead. The visitors got within 12 points on two occasions, but would draw no closer.

Justinger keyed that 7-0 run to begin the game, throwing the ball inside to Siefker for a pair of layups, and hitting a left-wing three-pointer in between the two assists. Adams scored five-straight points, and the game remained 7-5 for nearly two minutes.

Donovan, who was held scoreless against Bucknell, took a pass from senior Deborah Hoekstra and hit a straightaway triple at the 14:41 mark. Beginning with that bucket, Donovan would score 10 points over the next four-plus minutes.

Back-to-back jumpers by Adams made it a 10-9 game, before Myers hit a triple. Martinez answered with a three-pointer of her own, but Myers stole the ball from Marina Lizerazu and went coast-to-coast for a layup, sparking the Falcons' 12-0 run.

Donovan followed suit with a steal and length-of-the-floor drive for a layup of her own, and the Falcons had a 17-12 lead as IC used a timeout. The Falcons got a stop on defense, however, and Donovan took Myers' inbounds pass and hit an and-one layup, knocking down the free throw for a 20-12 lead.

Then, Myers kicked the ball out to senior Jasmine Matthews for a three, and another transition layup made it a 25-12 game as the Gaels used another timeout.

Hoekstra's corner three gave the Falcons a 28-14 lead, and moments later, the senior drove the paint and kicked the ball out to Myers for a triple and a 33-19 advantage. That try was followed by Puk's driving layup, but BG then went more than four minutes without scoring.

During that time, though, the Falcons only allowed five points, all coming from Aaliyah Robinson. A Myers free throw in the final minute of the half was answered by a Karynda DuPree layup, but Justinger took a pass from Matthews and knocked down a floater in the paint as the halftime buzzer sounded, giving the Brown and Orange a 38-26 advantage.

In the second period, the teams traded points in the first few minutes, as Donovan's free throws were answered by an Adams layup. Donovan fed Siefker for a bucket inside, but Martinez found Adams for a three-pointer. But, Matthews hit Donovan for a triple, sparking BG's 13-0 stretch. Sophomore Rachel Konieczki spotted an open Justinger beyond the arc, and the junior's trey made it a 48-31 lead.

That lead reached 20 points for the first time as Donovan got to the line on back-to-back BG possessions, hitting three of the four free throws. Justinger knocked down a jumper from just inside the three-point line, and Hoekstra hit from the right side. Suddenly, the lead was 55-31 with just under 14 minutes left.

Moments later, Siefker's jumper in the lane gave BG a 25-point lead, the largest of the game. But, the visitors battled back. Five quick points by Martinez cut the lead to 20, and Puk's charity tosses were followed by a Martinez three-point play. When Adams scored midway through the half, BG's lead was 59-42.

Puk hit a corner three after Konieczki made the 'extra' pass, but Iona scored six of the game's next seven points. Donovan's three-point play with 6:30 to go made it a 66-48 game, and she drew the fourth foul on Martinez in the process. But, the visitors would put together a quick 7-1 run, capped by a Cassidee Ranger transition three, and the Falcons' lead was down to 12 points, 67-55, with just over five minutes remaining.

Donovan scored in the paint, but Adams hit a layup with 3:18 left. On the next possession, however, the Falcons got offensive rebounds by Justinger and Siefker, and Siefker followed up her offensive board with a layup at the 2:45 mark. BG forced a miss by Adams, and Hoekstra threw in a one-hander from the right side, giving BG a 73-57 advantage. After Martinez hit a pair of shots from the stripe with 2:08 to go, the Falcons scored the last seven points of the night, with the first five coming at the line, to seal the deal.

The Falcons had a 29-7 advantage in points off the bench, keyed by the freshmen duo of Myers and Puk. Hoekstra scored seven points off the bench for the home side.

Six different players made a three-pointer as the Falcons went 9-for-19 from long range. Donovan, Justinger and Myers each connected twice from beyond the arc.

In addition to Donovan's seven rebounds, Konieczki had six boards and Justinger, Myers and Siefker five apiece. No Falcon had more than three assists, but six BG players had at least two helpers apiece.

BGSU now hits the road for eight of the next nine games, beginning with a Saturday (Nov. 22) contest at Milwaukee. Tipoff is set for 11:00 a.m. local time (noon Eastern). The Falcons' next home game is Dec. 7 vs. Cincinnati.