Despite Justinger's Double-Double, Falcons Drop MAC Opener, 62-50

Saturday, January 3

Bowling Green, OH

4:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

7-5, 0-1MAC

Ball State

5-7, 1-0MAC

Ball State

Bowling Green

Miriam Justinger v Davis & Elkins - Larry Clapper photo

Photo by: Larry Clapper

Despite Justinger's Double-Double, Falcons Drop MAC Opener, 62-50

January 03, 2015 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Ball State posts a rare win in Bowling Green

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Bowling Green State University women's basketball junior Miriam Justinger recorded the first double-double of her collegiate career, but the Falcons fell, 62-50, to Ball State University Saturday afternoon (Jan. 3). The game, the Mid-American Conference opener for both teams, was held at the Stroh Center.

With the win, the Cardinals improve to 5-7 on the year. The Falcons drop to 7-5.

Justinger had game-high totals of 16 points and 10 rebounds, setting a new career best in the latter category. Senior Deborah Hoekstra very nearly had a double-double of her own, with nine points and nine rebounds vs. the Cardinals. Hoekstra's rebounding total tied a career standard that she set in BG's last game, at FIU (Dec. 30). The Falcons had a 36-34 advantage on the boards vs. BSU.

For the visitors, Renee Bennett scored 14 points off the bench, while Nathalie Fontaine and Jill Morrison had 12 points apiece. Fontaine led the Cardinals with seven rebounds, while Morrison dished out five assists and hit a game-high three three-point field goals. Calyn Hosea had six assists as the Cardinals had 21 helpers on 27 field goals in the win.

The win was just the third-ever road victory for the Cardinals against the Falcons, and was BSU's first win in Bowling Green in just under 11 years. BSU's only prior road wins against the Brown and Orange came in February of 2003 and January of '04. BG now has a record of 24-3 in home games vs. Ball State.

Saturday's game was tied on two occasions within the first three minutes, but Candyce Ussery hit a long three-pointer to break a 5-all tie and give the visitors the lead for good. Ussery, who opened the game with a triple from well beyond the arc, hit her second trey at the 17:10 mark as part of a 9-0 run for the Cards.

BSU built the lead to as many as 15 points in the first half, but the Falcons ended the period on an 11-2 run to trail by a 32-26 score at the break. BG began the second period by scoring seven of the first nine points, with a pair of free throws by sophomore Rachel Konieczki cutting the Ball State lead to just one point, 34-33, with 18:54 left. But, a Shelbie Justice layup started an 11-2 run for the visitors, extending the margin to double digits for the rest of the game.

Ussery's first triple came on the game's opening possession, but the Falcons answered with a three-point possession of their own. Freshman Haley Puk was fouled and split a pair of free throws. The ball went out of bounds off of a BSU player after the miss, and Justinger drove the left baseline and hit a shot over a defender to tie the game at 3-3.

On BG's next trip down the floor, an offensive rebound by sophomore Abby Siefker kept the possession alive, and Justinger threw the ball inside to Siefker for a turnaround one-hander and a 5-3 lead. But, Fontaine scored, and Ussery hit her second trey of the day. Fontaine scored six points during that 9-0 run, capped by back-to-back layups for a 12-5 BSU lead.

After the second layup, however, Konieczki found Hoekstra for a quick three-pointer, but the Cards scored the game's next seven points, withi Moriah Monaco's three-pointer giving the visitors a 19-8 lead. Freshman Rachel Myers slipped past a taller defender to swipe a rebound and quickly lay the ball back up and in, snapping a four-minute scoring drought for the hosts, but BSU scored the next five points for a 24-10 advantage at the 8:46 mark.

Ball State went 10-of-17 from the field, including a 4-for-5 performance from three-point range, in the game's first 11-plus minutes.

Siefker kicked the ball to Myers for a corner three, but the Cards scored six of the game's next eight points, with a Bennett layup giving the visitors a 30-15 lead with under five minutes left in the half.

The Falcons, however, proceeded to score the game's next nine points, holding Ball State scoreless for a span of 3:15. First, Myers lost her defender with a nifty spin move and hit a shot in the paint. Then, Justinger got an offensive rebound and hit a jumper as she was knocked to the ground. Her ensuing free throw cut BG's deficit to 10 points with 3:20 remaining in the period.

Hoekstra stole the ball from Bennett, and the next possession saw Fontaine foul Justinger away from the ball, BSU's seventh foul of the half. Justinger hit both ends of her one-and-one opportunity, and after BG got a defensive stop, Hoekstra was fouled near midcourt, and hit two shots from the stripe. The Falcons trailed, 30-24, with 1:23 left in the half.

After another defensive stop by the Falcons, BG missed a pair of layups that would have cut that lead to four, and BSU took advantage with a Bennett layup. But, Myers was fouled with 0.1 seconds left in the period, and her two tosses made it a six-point game once again.

BSU had 15 points off of BG turnovers in that opening period, but the Falcons went 8-of-9 from the free-throw line, while the Cards did not attempt a shot from the stripe in the first half.

Justinger scored five points in the first minute of the second half. She took a Hoekstra pass and knocked down a triple try to begin the second period. Bennett countered with yet another layup, but Justinger hit a long two-pointer, and a BSU player stepped over the line before inbounding the ball after the bucket, giving possession back to the Brown and Orange with 19:02 to go.

Konieczki was fouled on a drive, and hit two charity tosses to cut the Falcons' deficit to a single point, but Justice got free for an easy layup, and a Bennett layup gave the visitors a 38-33 lead. Hoekstra knocked down a pull-up jumper with the shot clock winding down, but that would be BG's last basket for over four minutes.

BSU's ensuing 9-0 run was capped by a Morrison three-pointer, giving the Cards a 47-35 lead with 12 minutes to go. Justinger hit a turnaround jumper, but the visitors scored the next five points, with a Morrison three-point play making it a 52-37 game. After Siefker scored inside, Morrison knocked down a triple try for a 16-point lead with under nine minutes remaining.

The Falcons got a three-pointer from Puk, a Hoekstra jumper, four-straight points from redshirt freshman Kennedy Kirkpatrick and a late putback by true freshman Sarah Baer, but BG could not get any closer than the final 12-point margin.

Myers had nine points on the afternoon, while Puk, Siefker and Kirkpatrick scored four points apiece. Konieczki led the Brown and Orange with three assists and two steals vs. the Cardinals.

The Falcons now return to the road for back-to-back games in Northeast Ohio, beginning with a Wednesday (Jan. 7) contest at Akron. That game will begin at 7:00 p.m. at UA's James A. Rhodes Arena. After a Jan. 10 game at Kent State, BG will host Northern Illinois on Wednesday, Jan. 14.