Shorthanded Falcons Fall, 67-59, at Akron

Wednesday, January 7

Akron, OH

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

7-6, 0-2MAC

Akron

11-2, 1-1MAC

Bowling Green

Akron

Rachel Myers vs. Ball State - Jan 3 2015 - Clapper photo

Rachel Myers scored a career-high 17 points at Akron on Wednesday night

Photo by: Larry Clapper

January 07, 2015 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BGSU, with seven players in uniform, gives a valiant effort against the defending MAC Tournament champions

By: AKRON, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, with just seven players in uniform, fell to the University of Akron, 67-59, Wednesday night (Jan. 7) at UA's James A. Rhodes Arena.

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POSTGAME AUDIO: Coach Roos
HIGHLIGHTS: Courtesy BCSN

With the win, the Zips improve to 11-2 overall and 1-1 in Mid-American Conference play. The Falcons drop to 7-6 and 0-2, respectively.

"I'm proud of the effort that our kids gave," said BGSU head coach Jennifer Roos. "They really prepared hard for this game, and they really understood the game plan at both ends of the floor."

BGSU's active roster on Wednesday night included one senior, one junior, a sophomore and four freshmen. One of those freshmen, Rachel Myers, scored 17 points, the highest total of her young career. Myers was in the starting lineup for the first time in her brief BG tenure.

Senior Deborah Hoekstra had the first double-double of her career, with 12 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Hoekstra has set or tied her career rebounding best in three consecutive games.

Another freshman, Haley Puk, had 11 points against the Zips. Myers went 4-for-6 from three-point range on the night, while Hoekstra and Puk hit two triples apiece. As a team, the Falcons hit nine shots from beyond the arc.

The Zips got 20 points from Sina King, while Anita Brown added 17. Akron won for just the fourth time in the series with BGSU. The Falcons now lead that series by a 51-4 margin.

On a frigid night in Northeast Ohio, BGSU survived an equally-cold shooting start. The Falcons missed eight consecutive shots to begin the game. At the other end of the court, however, the Zips were not faring much better. Akron's only points in the first five minutes came on a pair of second-chance layups, but DiAndra Gibson and Brown, and a King bucket inside.

Trailing by that 6-0 score, the Falcons cut the lead in half as junior Miriam Justinger drove and kicked a pass to Hoekstra for a corner three. King quickly responded with another layup, giving the hosts an 8-3 lead at the first media timeout of the night.

UA extended that lead to 10-3, but sophomore Rachel Konieczki's driving layup began a 6-0 run for the Brown and Orange. The Falcons came up with a steal, and after Hoekstra's layup in traffic would not drop, she got the rebound and put the ball back up and in. Then, another Konieczki layup cut the Falcons' deficit to 10-9 with eight minutes gone, and the Zips used a timeout.

Akron nearly threw the ball away on the next possession, but a deflected pass found its way to Kerri McMahan, and her jumper was good. Redshirt freshman Kennedy Kirkpatrick found true freshman Sarah Baer inside for a layup, and after another McMahan jumper, Kirkpatrick's pass found Myers for a left-wing triple, tying the game at 14-all.

Moments later, Myers knocked down another shot from beyond the arc, and the Falcons had a 17-16 lead. McMahan got to the line and hit a pair of shots, but Justinger took a Myers pass and drained a triple try. Then, Justinger hit another long shot, this time with a toe on the three-point line, and BGSU had a 22-18 lead. With just over four minutes left in the half, Puk was fouled on a drive as the shot clock wound down. The freshman hit both of the resulting tosses, and BG's lead was six points.

The Zips, however, responded by scoring the final eight points of the period. Brown scored the first four points, and a Katie Nunan shot tied the score with 1:55 to go. The only remaining points before the intermission came when an Akron player airballed a three-point try, but the ball went to Gibson under the hoop for a layup.

The Falcon defense pressured Akron into a missed shot on the first possession of the second half, and Puk drove, drew a foul and hit two shots from the stripe to tie the game. Hoekstra went to the floor for a loose ball, with the Falcons awarded the ball on alternating possession. Justinger's scoop shot in the lane gave the Brown and Orange a 28-26 lead.

King responded quickly, with a baby hook shot, and Hannah Plybon's three-pointer -- Akron's first successful long-distance shot of the game -- gave the Zips a three-point lead. But, Puk knotted the score with a three-pointer of her own.

Kirkpatrick's free throws gave the Brown and Orange a one-point lead moments later, and Baer grabbed a teammate's missed shot and banked it home for a 35-32 BG lead. Megan Barilla made 1-of-2 free-throw tries, but Myers countered with an and-one bucket, completing the three-point play to give the Falcons a 38-33 advantage with 12:39 remaining.

The Zips, however, reeled off 12-straight points. After UA hit two buckets to close to within one, a shot by Puk was waved off as the freshman was called for an offensive foul. After a blocked shot by Brown, King scored in transition at the other end to give UA the lead. The officials went to the monitor, and a flagrant 1 foul was called against the Falcons. Brown split two free throws, and Plybon hit a corner three for a 43-38 Akron lead.

King scored inside, before Myers answered with a trey from the right wing. Akron's lead was four points with eight minutes left, but Brown scored on a drive, and King scored in the paint again. Myers took a pass from Hoekstra and hit a corner three, but UA scored the next seven points, capped by King's three-pointer that gave the hosts a double-digit lead for the first time all night. The Zips led, 56-44, with 4:48 to go.

Baer hit two shots from the line, and after a UA miss, Hoekstra came up with the rebound and was fouled. She made both ends of her one-and-one opportunity, cutting BG's deficit to 56-48 with 3:42 remaining.

BG fouled quickly, and McMahon missed the front end of her one-and-one. UA got the rebound, however, and King went to the line. The fifth-year senior missed two shots from the stripe, but the Zips again came up with the rebound. Brown went to the line and hit both tosses for a 10-point UA lead.

Hoekstra scored on a driving layup down the middle, and she blocked a McMahan layup try on the next possession. BG could not capitalize, however, but after a Falcon miss and a foul, Barilla missed two free throws. Puk got to the line with 1:32 left and hit her second shot to cut Akron's lead to 64-57.

After UA inbounded the ball, Puk quickly stole it back from King. But, Puk's layup try hung on the rim and rolled off, and Gibson grabbed one of her game-high 16 rebounds. Barilla was fouled and made one shot for an eight-point lead.

Konieczki drove the lane and dished the ball to Puk for a three-pointer from the wing, cutting the margin to five points with 1:04 remaining. But, the Zips hit just enough shots at the line to stay in front, offsetting a Hoekstra triple and a Myers jumper in the final minute.

The Falcons shot 33.3 percent from the field on the night, but BGSU went 9-for-21 from three-point range (42.9%). The Falcons made 12-of-13 shots from the free-throw line, hitting 12 in a row before finally missing.

Akron shot 41.0% from the floor, but the Zips were just 3-of-13 from three-point range (23.1%). UA hit 14-of-25 free-throw tries, a success rate of just 56.0%.

Justinger had seven points and Baer six for the Falcons. Konieczki scored four points and dished out a team-high three assists, while Kirkpatrick had two points on the night.

"We really wanted to control tempo," said Roos. "We wanted to shoot better from the arc, and we shot 43 percent from three-point range tonight. We only turned it over 10 times tonight, and we held Akron well under their scoring average. They are in the top 10 in the nation in scoring, and if not for a late flurry at the end, this game is in the 50s. It was a well-executed game by both teams.

"We had balanced scoring tonight, and with a reduced roster, we got everything we could out of our team tonight. Again, I could not be more proud of their effort."

BGSU returns to Northeast Ohio this weekend, taking on Kent State University on Saturday (Jan. 10). That game will begin at 2:00 p.m. Then, the Brown and Orange will return home to face Northern Illinois University at the Stroh Center on Wednesday, Jan. 14.