Falcons Thwart Jacksonville's Comeback Bid

Saturday, November 28

Wilmington, N.C.

12:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

3-2

Jacksonville Univ.

2-4

OT 1

Jacksonville

Bowling Green

Kennedy Kirkpatrick v Illinois State Nov 13 2015 Ruben Kappler photo

Kennedy Kirkpatrick scored a game- and career-high 19 points vs. JU

Photo by: Ruben Kappler, BGSU Marketing & Communications

November 28, 2015 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Kirkpatrick scores 19 to pace four double-digit scorers in 72-69 OT victory

By: WILMINGTON, N.C. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team built a big lead, saw Jacksonville University come all the way back, then ran past the Dolphins in the overtime period. The result was a 72-69 BGSU win on the final day of the UNCW Hampton Inn Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 28).

With the win, the Falcons improve to 3-2 on the year, and BGSU snaps a brief two-game losing streak. The Dolphins drop to 2-4 on the year.

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Redshirt sophomore Kennedy Kirkpatrick led all scorers with a career-high 19 points, pacing four Falcons in double figures. Seniors Miriam Justinger and Lauren Tibbs had 14 points apiece, while sophomore Rachel Myers scored 11.

Tibbs had a double-double, with a game-high 10 rebounds in the OT win.

Justinger led a three-point barrage for the Falcons, who were 10-of-21 (47.6%) from long distance in the win. Justinger went 4-of-5 from three-point land, with Myers hitting three long-range shots and Kirkpatrick two.

Brandi Buie scored 15 points for the Dolphins, while Sherranda Reddick had 13 and Kayla Gordon 12.

The Falcons shot 66.7% from the field in the second half, going 12-for-18, but JU battled back from 18 points down to force the extra session.

BGSU never trailed during the entire 40 minutes of regulation. On the afternoon, Jacksonville led for a total of 18 seconds (early in the overtime period), while the Falcons led for 43:18.

BG surged out to an early lead, as Myers took a pass from freshman Sydney Lambert and scored on the game's opening possession. Justinger doubled the lead, hitting a three from out top with two minutes gone.

The Dolphins got on the board at the 6:01 mark as Loliya Briggs threw in a shot in the lane, but senior Erica Donovan kicked the ball out to Justinger for another triple and a 9-2 lead.

A technical foul was assessed to the Jacksonville coach at the 4:10 mark, and Myers stepped up and hit a pair of free throws. JU countered with a bucket, but junior Abby Siefker lobbed the ball inside to classmate Ashley Tunstall, who hit a hesitation layup in traffic for a 13-4 BGSU lead.

The Falcons were whistled for a foul with just one second left in the period, but JU's Jillah Moede made just one of her three free throws, and BG led by a 13-5 score after the first 10 minutes.

Kirkpatrick heated up early in the second period. Junior Rachel Konieczki came up with a steal on the first possession of the quarter, and Konieczki found Kirkpatrick in the left corner for a three-point try. Kirkpatrick was fouled as her shot hit nothing but net, and the redshirt soph completed the four-point play to give the Brown and Orange a 17-5 lead.

Moments later, Kirkpatrick scored on a driving left-side layup, and she then fed sophomore Sarah Baer for a short jumper off glass. The Falcons led, 21-9, with just under eight minutes left in the half.

With the lead at 10 points, Justinger drove and dished the ball to Myers for a three-pointer and a 24-11 advantage. Then, Justinger hit a long-distance shot of her own for a 16-point BG lead with 2:36 remaining in the period. The Dolphins scored the last five points of the half to cut the deficit to 11, 27-16, at the intermission.

BGSU was 6-of-11 from three-point range in that opening half, with Justinger (3-of-4), Myers (2-of-3) and Kirkpatrick (1-for-1) combining to go 6-for-8 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes.

That BG lead ballooned to 18 points midway through the third quarter, as the Falcons spotted the Dolphins a layup, then went on a 13-4 run. The Falcons worked the inside-out game to perfection, as Tibbs took a pass in the paint and kicked the ball out to Lambert for a right-elbow three-ball.

Donovan lobbed a pass inside for an easy Tibbs layup, and Tibbs found Myers for a three-pointer and a 35-20 lead. Moments later, Tibbs took another Donovan pass and scored on another shot from inside. JU got a layup from Gordon to snap a 7-0 BG run, but a Justinger three made it a 40-22 game and prompted the Dolphins to take a timeout.

BGSU began the second half by making 5-of-7 total shots, including 3-of-4 from three-point land.

But, JU began to battle back. Buie hit a layup, and Reddick knocked down a three-point try. Konieczki drove and kicked the ball to Tibbs for a foul-line jumper, but the Dolphins then got back within 11 with a 6-2 mini-run.

Konieczki put a layup off glass and in after a Tibbs handoff, but six quick points by JU made it a 46-39 game with just under two minutes left in the period. But, Siefker faked a jumper, drove into the lane and flipped a pass to Tunstall for a layup and a three-point play with just 4.4 seconds left in the quarter. The Falcons led, 49-39, after three periods.

The lead reached 12 points when Kirkpatrick hit a pair of free throws to begin the fourth quarter. But, Jasmyn Brown knocked down a three-point try, and it was a single-digit game for the rest of the afternoon.

A Briggs layup made it a seven-point contest with 7:49 to go. Tibbs countered with a layup, but Brown found a cutting Gordon for a layup at the other end. Kirkpatrick scored on a drive with the shot clock winding down, but Brown quickly scored at the other end. When Christin Mercer split a pair of free throws, the Falcons' lead was just 55-49 with 3:21 remaining.

Mercer missed her second toss, but the Dolphins got the rebound, and another BG foul resulted in two Buie free throws, cutting the JU deficit to 55-51 with 2:44 to go.

With just over two minutes left, Kirkpatrick drilled a three-point try, opening up a seven-point lead. But, the Dolphins were not finished. Buie hit an 'and-one' layup, and she missed the free throw, but after grabbing the rebound BG turned the ball back over. Reddick's fast-break layup made it a 58-55 contest with 1:32 remaining.

The Falcons were called for an offensive foul with 1:01 left, but Reddick missed a jumper, then fouled Kirkpatrick after the BG redshirt soph got the rebound. Kirkpatrick hit two shots from the stripe with 37.3 seconds to go, putting the Falcons up by a 60-55 count.

But, Brown scored on a putback and was fouled with exactly 30.0 seconds remaining, and the free throw cut BG's advantage to just two points. Then, with 25.1 seconds on the clock, JU tied BG up in the backcourt, and the possession arrow favored the Dolphins. And, Reddick's turnaround jumper tied the score with just 15.8 seconds remaining.

Again, the Dolphins forced a turnover, and JU took a timeout with 11.6 seconds to go. But, Reddick missed a layup try, and JU could not get another shot off before the clock ran out. The teams headed to overtime.

In the OT, the Dolphins took the lead for the first time all day when Reddick split a pair of free throws with 4:21 to go. But, Tibbs was fouled as she grabbed an offensive board at the other end, and the fifth-year senior hit two charity tosses with 4:02 on the clock.

From there, neither team scored until just 1:49 remained, when Justinger spotted Tibbs for a wide-open layup. The Dolphins made 1-of-2 free throws, but Kirkpatrick found Tibbs for another layup and a 66-62 lead with 55.6 seconds left.

Then, Kirkpatrick came up with a steal, went coast to coast and hit a layup for a six-point edge with 36 seconds to go. Reddick hit a corner three with 21.8 seconds left, but Justinger was fouled in the backcourt and made two shots with 18.7 seconds remaining.

Again, JU hit a layup, but Justinger found Konieczki with a long inbounds pass, and Konieczki scored an easy layup with seven seconds on the clock. A harmless last-second layup by Reddick closed the scoring.

BGSU returns home to face Evansville on Wednesday night (Dec. 2) at the Stroh Center. That game, the first half of a Falcon hoops doubleheader, is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m.