Falcons Hold Off Pesky ISU, 58-54

Friday, December 19

Normal, IL

8:05 PM

Bowling Green State University

6-2

Illinois State

0-9

Bowling Green

Illinois State

Erica Donovan v Cincinnati - Dec 7 2014 - Craig Bell

Erica Donovan had game-high totals of 20 points & 15 rebounds at ISU

Photo by: Craig Bell, BGSU Marketing and Communications

December 19, 2014 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Donovan goes for 20 & 15 in Friday's win

By: NORMAL, Ill. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team withstood several comeback attempts by host Illinois State University, posting a 58-54 win on Friday night (Dec. 19). The non-conference game was held at Redbird Arena.

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With the win, the Falcons improve to 6-2 on the season, while dropping the Redbirds to 0-9 on the year.

Redshirt junior Erica Donovan led the way for the Brown and Orange, with game-high totals of 20 points and 15 rebounds. Her rebound total set a new career best. Sophomore Rachel Konieczki scored nine points for the Falcons, while fellow soph Abby Siefker and redshirt freshman Kennedy Kirkpatrick had eight points apiece.

Siefker had 12 rebounds of her own, and led all players with five assists in the win. She set new career bests in both rebounds and assists.

Donovan and Siefker combined for 14 offensive rebounds among their 27 total boards. Donovan had eight rebounds and Siefker six at the offensive end. On the night, the Falcons had a 44-37 advantage on the glass.

Freshman Rachel Myers had six points on a pair of three-point field goals, including a key triple late in the game that gave the Falcons a six-point lead.

Octavia Crump led three double-digit scorers for the Redbirds, with 17 points. Stekara Hall added 14 points and Katy Winge 11 for the hosts.

The Falcons spotted the Redbirds an early lead on a Zenobia Bess free throw, but BG then reeled off the next nine points. Siefker drove the lane and hit a layup at the 17:55 mark for the Falcons' first points. That layup was BG's first shot attempt of the game, after BG had turned the ball over on the first two possessions of the night.

ISU had already taken (and missed) five shots from the floor at that point, and the hosts' game-opening drought would reach 0-for-8 before the Redbirds would make a field goal. In the meantime, Siefker was involved in the scoring of each of BGSU's four baskets during the 9-0 run. After her layup to start that run, the sophomore kicked the ball out to senior Deborah Hoekstra for a three-pointer from the right side, and Siefker then fed Donovan for a layup. Donovan returned the favor, lobbing the ball inside to Siefker for a layup of her own and a 9-1 lead with 13:49 left in the half.

Winge's three-pointer with 13:28 left in the period broke ISU's field-goal drought, but Hoekstra threw the ball inside to Konieczki for a layup and an 11-4 lead.

That layup began an 8-0 run for the Falcons, as Donovan hit a layup, then a jumper, and Kirkpatrick followed with a driving layup for a 17-4 BG lead with nearly 10 minutes gone.

The Redbirds used a timeout, but after Crump hit a layup, Siefker, double-teamed inside, kicked the ball to Kirkpatrick for a three-pointer and a 20-6 lead. Moments later, Kirkpatrick found Myers for a triple near the top of the arc, and the Falcons had a 15-point lead, the largest of the game, at 23-8.

The hosts scored the next eight points, however, cutting that lead to seven. Winge hit a three-pointer during that stretch, and Hall scored the last three points of the run, on a steal and layup with 5:24 to go in the half, and a free throw just under a minute later.

With the shot clock winding down, Siefker hit a layup for a 25-16 BG lead with 3:04 left in the half. That shot, however, would prove to be the Falcons' only field goal over the final eight-and-a-half minutes of the period.

After an ISU miss, Konieczki's pass found Donovan slightly ahead of the pack, and she was fouled on her way to the basket. The redshirt junior split a pair of shots from the stripe, before a Colleene Smith jumper cut BG's lead to 26-18 at the half.

In that first half, the BG defense held ISU to just a 6-of-27 performance from the field (22.2 percent). At the start of the second period, however, both teams began to connect.

The Redbirds threw the ball away on the opening possession of the half, but the teams combined to score on the next five possessions. Siefker came up with a nifty offensive rebound in traffic, and her bounce pass found a cutting Miriam Justinger on the other side of the lane for a layup. Crump answered with a jumper, but Siefker backed her defender down, turned and hit a layup for a 30-20 lead.

Back-to-back jumpers by the home team cut BG's lead to six, but Donovan converted a putback, and Konieczki found her path to the basket unimpeded after a handoff. The sophomore's wide-open layup made it a 34-24 game with 16:39 to go.

Konieczki scored again, this time on a driving layup, and the lead was 12. But, Hall hit a three-pointer, and Crump stole the ball and hit an easy layup. When Mackenzie Freeman drained a triple try, the Falcons' lead was suddenly just four points, 36-32.

Konieczki scored again, however, taking a Donovan pass and knocking down a shot from beyond the arc. Hall answered with a jumper at the shot-clock buzzer, but Donovan outleaped an ISU player for an offensive rebound, laying the ball up and in for a 41-34 lead with 12:21 remaining.

But, the hosts battled back. Winge's two layups cut the Falcons' lead to three points, and Crump's 'and-one' layup gave the Redbirds the chance to tie the game with 10:17 on the clock. Her free throw would not drop, though, and Siefker grabbed the rebound. The next possession saw a Myers 'extra pass' find Kirkpatrick for a long-range shot and a 44-40 lead.

BG got a stop, but the Falcons could not score on the next possession. Smith's layup cut BG's lead in half, but Justinger's runner made it a 46-42 game with 8:45 to play.

Neither team scored for the next two minutes, before Donovan split a pair of charity tosses out of a timeout.. Hall scored at the other end, but Donovan was fouled away from the ball and knocked down both shots from the stripe for a 49-44 lead with 5:25 remaining.

But, Crump split two BG defenders for a layup, and Taylor Stewart stole the ball in front of the BG bench and sailed down to the other end for a layup with 4:16 left. As the ball went through the hoop, a technical foul was assessed to the Falcon bench. Winge hit the first of the ensuing free throws, tying the game at 49-all, but her second try was off the mark.

On the next possession, Donovan's sweet drop-step move resulted in a layup and a two-point lead. Crump split a pair of free throws at the 3:32 mark, but when she missed the second, Donovan grabbed the rebound and was immediately fouled. Donovan hit both of her shots from the stripe, making it a 53-50 game, and the redshirt junior's layup with 2:56 remaining gave the Falcons a five-point lead.

The hosts missed a shot, and BG came up with the rebound. With just over two minutes left, Hall stole the ball from Donovan, with Donovan injured on the play, and Hall was fouled on a layup try. When play resumed, Hall hit both free-throw tries.

But, on the ensuing possession, Siefker kicked the ball to Myers for a three-pointer from the left corner, and the shot was on target, doubling the Falcons' lead. With 1:42 remaining, BG was ahead by a 58-52 score.

The BG defense forced a miss, and after the Falcons used some clock before missing a shot, Crump scored inside with 47.0 seconds left. That would prove to be the final points of the game, as BG missed several free throws down the stretch, but ISU missed four shots from the floor in the final 33 seconds of play.

BGSU shot 37.7% from the field for the game, and the Falcons went 6-of-16 from three-point land. Kirkpatrick and Myers each made a pair of shots from beyond the arc in the win. Illinois State shot 35.0% from the floor, going 4-for-10 from long distance.

The Falcons remain on the road, preparing for a Sunday (Dec. 21) game against Bradley University. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. locally (3:00 p.m. Eastern) in Peoria, Ill.