Rockets Rally for a Win at the Stroh, 64-48

Saturday, January 31

Bowling Green, OH

4:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

9-11, 2-7MAC

Toledo

12-7, 5-3MAC

Toledo

Bowling Green

Photo by: Larry Clapper

January 31, 2015 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Toledo hits five-straight three-pointers to start the second half

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The visiting University of Toledo, trailing at the half, hit five consecutive three-point attempts to begin the second half Saturday afternoon (Jan. 31), rallying for a 64-48 victory over the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team before a record crowd at the Stroh Center.

Senior Deborah Hoekstra led the Falcons with 15 points, while junior Miriam Justinger added 14 for the Brown and Orange.

For the Rockets, Brenae Harris had 17 points to lead three players in double figures. Both Inma Zanoguera and Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott scored 14 points on Saturday.

The attendance for Saturday's game was 3,498, the sixth-largest home crowd in BGSU women's basketball history, and the largest gathering to see a BG game at the Stroh Center in the history of the building, now in its fourth season.

"This is a great rivalry," said BGSU coach Jennifer Roos. "It's great for the community, it's great for the alums, and our fans were great tonight.

"We played really well in the first half, and took that lead into halftime. We talked about how the first four minutes of the second half would be key, but I thought the thing that swayed the score was their ability to get the ball inside. They kept it very simple, went high-low, and were able to get a lot of shots inside. They obviously responded to the halftime talk that they received."

The Falcons led, 25-21, at halftime, holding the Rockets to just a 1-for-9 effort from three-point range in the first 20 minutes. But, each of Toledo's first five long-distance attempts in the second half were on the mark as the visitors took the lead for good.

Toledo shot better than 60 percent from the field in the second half, hitting 14 of 23 shots in the final 20 minutes. The Rockets were 5-of-8 from three-point range after halftime, hitting 6-of-17 long-distance shots on the day.

BGSU went 22-for-30 from the free-throw line, but the Brown and Orange hit just 11 total field goals in the game. BG shot 30.6% from the floor for the game, compared to UT's 43.1%.

The Rockets scored the game's first points, before Hoekstra took a pass from sophomore Rachel Konieczki and knocked down a triple try from the right wing. But, the visitors scored the next two buckets to take a 6-3 lead into the game's initial media timeout.

Hoekstra hit a pair of free throws out of that timeout, cutting her team's deficit to a single point, but Bravo-Harriott scored five-straight points, including a three-point play that gave the visitors an 11-5 lead with just over seven minutes gone. But, the Falcons would respond.

BGSU proceeded to score the next six points, and after UT hit a three-pointer, the Falcons reeled off nine more points. When the smoke had cleared, the run was 15-3 and the home team's lead was 20-14.

That stretch started innocently enough, with a pair of free throws from freshman Rachel Myers. Then, after a Konieczki steal, senior Erica Fullenkamp drove into the lane, executed a nifty spin move and hit a jumper over a defender. The crowd-pleasing bucket by the former Falcon volleyball standout cut the women's basketball team's deficit to two points, 11-9.

BG forced another turnover, and Justinger hit a foul-line jumper to tie the score. Zanoguera hit a long three-pointer with the shot clock winding down, but redshirt freshman Kennedy Kirkpatrick found Hoekstra in the right corner, and the senior drained a three-point try of her own, tying the score once again.

Moments later, Konieczki split a pair of free throws, and Kirkpatrick fed Justinger for a left-corner three and an 18-14 lead. When Hoekstra was fouled out top and made two charity tosses, BG's advantage was six points with seven minutes left until halftime.

Harris hit a jumper, but Konieczki got to the line and hit both ends of a one-and-one opportunity. Zanoguera's three-point play cut BG's six-point lead in half with 2:16 on the clock, but Justinger's jumper in the lane was good, and BG led by a 24-19 count. Harris hit two charity tosses before Justinger got to the line and made one-of-two free-throw attempts with 6.4 seconds left in the period, giving BG a 25-21 halftime edge.

The second half began with Konieczki canning a pull-up jumper on the opening possession, giving the Brown and Orange a 27-21 lead. But, the Rockets then went on an 11-0 run to take the lead for good. After missing a shot on the possession after Konieczki's jumper, UT would hit seven-straight shots, including four from beyond the arc.

The 11-0 run included three-straight three-pointers, including a pair by Harris. Hoekstra took a Konieczki pass and hit a three-pointer of her own out of the under-16-minute media timeout, cutting UT's lead to two points, but Bravo-Harriott scored five consecutive points, including the Rockets' fourth trey of the half, and the lead was 37-30.

Those five points began a 10-0 UT run, capped by a Jada Woody layup after she rebounded her own miss, and the score was 42-30 with under 13 minutes to go. Kirkpatrick drove inside for a layup, but a Zanoguera triple made it a 45-32 contest.

"Any time you shoot nearly 61 percent (in the second half), you have to give them a lot of credit for making big shots," said Roos. "With that said, I think we can execute better. There were a handful of plays that we did not execute or run well enough, and even though we got to the line 30 times, I thought we needed to get there a few more times if we were going to be successful tonight."

Hoekstra made a pair of shots from the stripe, and a Myers free throw cut UT's lead to 10 points midway through the period, but the visitors scored the next nine points, including five from the free-throw line, to seize control.

Konieczki scored seven points and led the Falcons with three assists on Saturday, while Kirkpatrick scored five points. Hoekstra and Justinger each had seven rebounds to tie for team honors.

For the Rockets, Ana Capotosto pulled down eight rebounds as UT had a 36-27 advantage on the boards.

The Falcons remain at home, concluding a two-game homestand with a Wednesday (Feb. 4) contest vs. Central Michigan University. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Stroh.