Ball State Shoots Past Falcons, 73-55, in MAC Tourney

Friday, March 14

Cleveland, OH

12:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Ball State

March 14, 2014 | Women's Basketball

BGSU, 27-4 overall, awaits national postseason fate

By: CLEVELAND, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Erica Donovan v Ball State - Phalin photo

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team ran into a hot-shooting Ball State University club Friday afternoon (March 14). The Cardinals hit 11 three-point field goals en route to a 73-55 win over the Falcons in Mid-American Conference Tournament semifinal-round action at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland.

FINAL STATS: HTML | PDF
POSTGAME AUDIO: Donovan, Halfhill & Roos
POSTGAME VIDEO: Donovan, Halfhill & Roos (courtesy MAC office)
PHOTO GALLERY: Brad Phalin, BGSU Mkt. & Comm.

With the win, the Cardinals improve to 18-15 on the season. Ball State, seeded fifth for the 12-team tournament, has won four tourney games in five days, and will face Akron in Saturday's championship game. The third-seeded Zips defeated second-seeded Central Michigan, 85-69, in Friday's second semifinal.

The Falcons, now 27-4 on the year, await their national postseason tournament fate. BGSU, the MAC's regular-season champion, is guaranteed at least a bid in the WNIT, but will hope for an at-large berth to the NCAA Championships. Both the NCAA and WNIT fields will be announced Monday night.

Shelbie Justice scored 16 of her game-high 21 points in the first half to stake the Cardinals to a six-point lead at the break. Justice hit 7-of-11 shots from the field on the day, including a 5-for-7 effort from three-point range.

As a team, the Cardinals hit 11 three-point buckets in 24 attempts on the day (45.8%), including an 8-for-15 performance in the first 20 minutes.

All five BSU starters wound up scoring in double digits, as Brandy Woody had 16 points, Brittany Carter 13 and Nathalie Fontaine and Katie Murphy 10 apiece.

For the Falcons, redshirt sophomore Erica Donovan had 17 points and eight rebounds, while senior Jillian Halfhill scored 14 points and dished out a team-high four assists.

Senior Alexis Rogers and junior Jasmine Matthews had nine points each, with Rogers pulling down a game-best 10 rebounds, including six at the offensive end. The Falcons had a 37-32 advantage on the boards.

The Falcons scored just 11 seconds into the game, as Mathews fed Rogers for a layup and a quick lead. After Woody hit a three-pointer at the other end, Halfhill's cross-court pass found Donovan for a triple from the left side, giving BG a 5-3 lead with just under two minutes gone.

But, Carter knocked down a three-ball, and Justice hit a pair of triples just 32 seconds apart, and the Cardinals had a 12-5 lead as the Falcons used a timeout at the 15:10 mark. Rogers drove the lane and threaded a nifty bounce pass through traffic to an open Donovan for a layup, but Fontaine answered with a layup.

Then, however, it was the Falcons' turn to hit some long-range shots, as Halfhill fed sophomore Miriam Justinger for a triple, before the senior point guard took a pass from classmate Jill Stein and drained a three-point try of her own. BG was within a point, at 14-13, with just over eight minutes elapsed.

After a Ball State free throw, Matthews drove down Main Street and converted a finger-roll layup, and the game was tied at 15. Justice responded with a pair of tough shots, though, hitting a driving shot with a defender in her face, then getting a layup to go down.

Matthews hit a trey from the right corner, however, and Donovan's acrobatic offensive board and layup gave the Brown and Orange a 20-19 lead with 7:54 left in the half. Rogers stole the ball and was fouled, hitting a pair of free throws out of the under-eight-minute media timeout for a 22-19 advantage.

Woody answered with a layup on the next possession, but Matthews drilled a corner three in transition, and the Falcons had a 25-21 lead with six minutes left in the half.

As they would all day, however, the Cardinals had an answer. Carter and Justice hit three-pointers to give BSU the lead once again. Stein was fouled after Matthews kept a BG possession alive with an offensive rebound, and Stein's free throws tied the game at 27-27 with 3:05 to go. But, Carter found Justice for a three-pointer, then hit one of her own, and the Cardinals had a six-point lead. BSU took that 33-27 lead into the intermission.

Justice was 4-of-5 from three-point range in the opening half, while Carter made three of her four long-distance attempts in the first 20 minutes of play.

The second half saw Matthews fouled on BG's first possession, and the junior split a pair of charity tosses. Fontaine made a shot inside, but Donovan scored on a right-side baseline drive, and BSU's lead was 35-30.

Woody scored five-straight points, however, to put the lead into double figures for the first time, and after Halfhill got a tough shot in the lane to drop, Carter came right back with a banker for a 42-32 BSU lead.

Donovan spotted Halfhill for a right-wing three, and Justinger split a pair of shots at the stripe, making it a six-point game with 15:11 remaining. But, Fontaine scored off glass despite solid defense by Rogers, and Woody's spinning layup gave the Cards a 46-36 lead.

Try as they might, BG could not cut into the Ball State advantage. Donovan put back her own miss to cut the lead to eight, but Justice made a pair of free throws. Donovan got to the line and hit one of her two shots, but Woody's drive resulted in a layup and a 50-39 lead. That layup began a 6-0 run for the Cardinals, with Fontaine's layup making it a 54-39 game with just under 10 minutes left.

The Falcons showed signs of life with a four-point possession. Donovan was fouled after a steal, and hit the first of two free throws. She missed the second, but Rogers grabbed the rebound and fired the ball to Justinger in the left corner. Justinger made the 'extra pass,' whipping the ball to Halfhill for a left-wing triple, and the BSU lead was 11.

The BG defense forced a miss, and Justinger threw the ball inside to Rogers for a layup, cutting the Falcons' deficit to nine points, 54-45, with 7:44 remaining. But, BSU went on a 6-0 run, hitting three free throws before Jill Morrison's fast-break three-pointer at the 6:39 mark.

Halfhill's left-side three snapped that run, and freshman Rachel Konieczki's steal led to a Donovan layup with 5:33 to go. After a Ball State miss, Konieczki's inbounds pass resulted in a Donovan baseline jumper, and the Falcons were within eight points, at 60-52, with 4:50 left.

It was not to be, however. The Cardinals used all of the shot clock on the next possession, and BG nearly came up with a steal. BSU retained possession, though, and with the Falcon defense scrambling around after nearly coming up with the ball, Justice knocked down a three-point try as the shot-clock horn sounded. The Ball State lead was 11, 63-52, with 4:18 remaining.

Rogers scored the game's next three points, but her putback with 2:23 left would prove to be the Falcons' final points on the day. That 'and-one' shot made it an eight-point game, and after Rogers missed the free-throw try, Donovan came up with the offensive rebound in traffic. She was quickly double-teamed in the paint, however, and Justice ripped the ball away.

The ensuing BSU possession resulted in a Carter jumper at the two-minute mark, and BG missed a pair of three-point tries on the next possession. BSU rebounded the ball, and Woody was fouled and went to the line. She split two free throws, but that sequence began a game-ending stretch in which the Cardinals went 8-of-10 from the stripe in a span of less than a minute.

BSU made 16-of-20 shots at the line on the day, led by a 10-for-12 effort from Carter. The Falcons were 9-of-15 from the stripe and 8-of-32 from three-point land, with Halfhill hitting a team-high four long-distance shots.

As mentioned, the Falcons are guaranteed a trip to national postseason play, but must wait several days to learn their fate. The NCAA Championships field will be revealed on Monday evening, with the WNIT field announced later that night.