Scorching Second-Half Start Sends BGSU Past WMU, 72-50

Wednesday, February 5

Bowling Green, OH

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Western Michigan

February 05, 2014 | Women's Basketball

Falcons begin second period on an 18-2 run to move to 19-3

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Leading by two points at the half, the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team began the second half on an 18-2 run to race past visiting Western Michigan University, 72-50, Wednesday night (Feb. 5). The Mid-American Conference game was held at the Stroh Center.

FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
POSTGAME AUDIO: Jillian Halfhill | Jennifer Roos
PHOTO GALLERY: Brad Phalin, BGSU Marketing & Communications
BGSU-WMU HIGHLIGHTS: Courtesy WBGU-TV

With the win, the Falcons improve to 19-3 on the year, and BGSU is now 9-1 in MAC play. The Broncos drop to 9-12 and 5-5, respectively.

All nine BGSU players in uniform scored at least two points and pulled down at least one rebound in the win. BG is now a perfect 9-0 at the Stroh Center this season.

The Falcons actually trailed, 30-29, late in the opening half after a Jessica Jessing three-pointer, but senior Jillian Halfhill answered with a trey -- one of her career-high six triples in the game -- to give the Brown and Orange the lead at the intermission. Then, BGSU ran away from the Broncos at the start of the second period.

Halfhill led three double-digit scorers for the Brown and Orange, scoring a game-high 22 points in Wednesday's win. Fellow senior Alexis Rogers had 16 points, including 14 in the second half, while redshirt sophomore Erica Donovan added 12.

For the Broncos, Miracle Woods had a double-double, with 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. After scoring 12 points in the opening half, though, Woods did not score in the second half until just three seconds remained in the game.

Jessing had 11 points for the Broncos, while A.J. Johnson had 10 to round out the game's double-figure scorers.

After shooting 6-of-11 from three-point land in the first half, the Falcons came out on fire in the second period. BG scored on the first four possessions of the period, with three of the four buckets coming from beyond the arc. Rogers, Donovan and Halfhill each connected from long distance, and the Falcons' lead was 43-30 before the half was three minutes old. Western never cut the deficit below double figures the rest of the night.

For the game, the Falcons were 12-of-26 (46.3%) from three-point range, hitting six triples in each half. BGSU held WMU to just a 2-for-14 success rate from long distance, including an 0-of-6 effort in the second period.

The Falcons outscored Western by a 40-20 count in the second half. BGSU outrebounded the Broncos, 24-14, after the intermission after trailing in that category in the opening period. For the game, BG had a 41-36 advantage on the glass.

The Falcons scored first, as Rogers hit a driving layup, but WMU's Jazmine Windham answered with a trey to give the visitors a 3-2 lead at the first media timeout of the night.

Out of that timeout, however, the home team scored seven points in just a minute's time. Senior Jill Stein fed Donovan for a left-wing triple, and after a WMU miss, sophomore Miriam Justinger found Halfhill for a back-door layup. When Rogers kicked the ball out to Halfhill for a three-ball, the Falcons had a 10-3 lead at the 14:29 mark.

The teams traded buckets until freshman Rachel Konieczki drove inside for a layup and a 16-9 lead out of the under-12-minute media timeout. But, Woods and the Broncos battled back, as the sophomore sandwiched a pair of baskets around an Alex Morton layup. When Wood hit her second hoop in a 62-second span, it was suddenly a 16-15 game.

The Falcons responded, as Halfhill dribbled around the top of the arc and knocked down a three-pointer for a four-point lead. Jessing quickly answered with a layup, but Halfhill again connected from long distance, giving the Brown and Orange a 22-17 lead with 5:50 left in the period.

The lead stayed between three and five points for the next few minutes. After the seas parted for Halfhill's left-side driving layup, Johnson hit two free throws for the visitors, to cut BG's lead to 26-23. Justinger drove the baseline, however, finding junior Deborah Hoekstra in the far corner for a three-pointer and a six-point lead with 2:09 left in the half.

But, back battled the Broncos. Western went on a 7-0 run to take the lead late in the period. Woods hit two shots at the line, then got a layup to drop, and BG's lead was down to two, 29-27, with 1:22 on the clock. The Falcons turned the ball right back over to the Broncos on the ensuing inbounds pass, and Jessing's three-pointer with 54 seconds left in the period gave the visitors a 30-29 lead.

In the Falcons' first eight games at the Stroh Center this season, BG trailed for just 8:19 of the 320 total minutes. The Falcons had not trailed later than the 12:40 mark of the first half. But, Jessing's trey gave the Broncos a lead over BG in the final minute of Wednesday's opening half.

WMU led for a total of 2:36 in the first half Wednesday, but after that Jessing shot, it took Halfhill and the only 19 seconds to erase the deficit for the final time. Freshman Abby Siefker found Halfhill for yet another trey with 35 seconds on the clock, and the home team never trailed again. Beginning with that triple, the Brown and Orange scored 14-straight points bridging the halftime break.

Halfhill had 16 of BG's 32 points in that opening period, going 4-of-6 from three-point land in the first 20 minutes.

In the second half, the Falcons got a stop on the opening possession of the period, and Justinger found Rogers for a left-side three-pointer. Then, Stein blocked a Morton jumper, and Halfhill's pass resulted in a Donovan triple from the right side of the court. The home team had a 38-30 lead, and the visiting team used a timeout with 18:34 left in the period.

Out of the timeout, though, the Broncos missed another shot, and Justinger spotted Rogers cutting down the lane for a layup and a 10-point lead. That lead reached 13 points when Halfhill hit the Falcons' third three-pointer of the period at the 17:07 mark.

Marquisha Harris canned a jumper for Western's first points of the half with 15:44 to go, but BG answered with three buckets in just over a minute. Rogers hit a layup off of a Halfhill inbounds pass, and Rogers then knocked down a three-point try. When Stein scored inside, the Falcons had a 50-32 lead.

BG began the second half by going 7-of-9 from the field, including 4-of-5 from three-point range, while holding WMU to a 1-for-11 effort from the floor to start the period.

A Jessing jumper made it a 50-34 game, but Western then would go exactly six minutes without scoring. The Falcons cooled down offensively as well, but BG's lead still reached 23 points on a Justinger jumper with just under eight minutes left.

The Broncos cut the BG lead to 18 points with less than six minutes to go, but three-pointers by Halfhill and junior Jasmine Matthews gave the Falcons a game-high 26-point lead, 70-44, with 2:15 on the clock.

While Halfhill scored 16 points in the first half, Rogers scored 14 in the second.

In addition to Rogers' game total of 16 points, she had seven rebounds and a BG season-high five steals. Stein had seven points and team-leading totals of nine rebounds and two blocked shots, while Halfhill and Justinger had six rebounds apiece.

The Falcons remain home this weekend, facing Miami University on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 9). Tipoff is set for 2:00 p.m., and the game is the first half of a BGSU hoops doubleheader at the Stroh Center, with the men's basketball team taking on Akron in a 6:00 p.m. start.

FALCON NOTES
* Wednesday night marked BGSU's annual Play 4Kay game in support of breast cancer awareness ... the Falcons wore white jerseys with pink trim, and each fan in attendance received a pink rally towel, courtesy of Kroger.

* There were several number changes for the home team due to the usage of the alternate jerseys ... freshman Rachel Konieczki, who normally wears uniform #12, wore #13 on Wednesday night ... another freshman, Abby Siefker, wore #42 instead of her usual #43.