BGSU Shoots Past Evansville, 74-56

Wednesday, December 2

Bowling Green, Ohio

6:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

4-2

Evansville

1-5

Evansville

Bowling Green

Rachel Myers hit 4 3-pointers en route to a season-high 14 points (Larry Clapper photo)

Photo by: Larry Clapper

December 02, 2015 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Myers keys three-point barrage as Falcons move to 4-2

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

For the second-straight game, the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team got a solid shooting performance from both inside and outside the three-point arc. On Wednesday night (Dec. 2), the Falcons rode that hot-shooting effort to a 74-56 win over the University of Evansville in non-conference action at the Stroh Center.

With the win, BGSU improves to 4-2 on the young season, and the Falcons are now a perfect 3-0 at home.

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Wednesday's win marked the second consecutive game that the Brown and Orange shot better than 50 percent from the field and over 40 percent from three-point range. The Falcons were 8-of-13 from three-point land in the second half and 11-of-25 from long distance in the game.

All 13 players on the active roster saw action for the Falcons, and 12 of those 13 found the scoresheet. The home team had 18 assists on 27 baskets, with 10 different players handing out at least one assist.

Twelve Falcons had at least one rebound in the game, as BGSU had a 39-25 advantage on the glass.

The Falcons shot 65.2% from the field in the second half, going 15-for-23, and BGSU was 27-of-48 (56.3%) on the night. The home team shot 61.5% from three-point range after halftime en route to a long-range success rate of 44.0% over the 40 minutes.

Senior Lauren Tibbs was a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor en route to a team-leading 15 points. In just her third game in the Stroh Center, she set an arena record for field-goal percentage. Sophomore Rachel Myers hit four of the Falcons' 11 three-pointers en route to 14 points, while freshman Carly Santoro rounded out BG's double-figure scorers with 10 points off the bench.

Camille Coleman had a game-high 19 points for the Purple Aces (1-5), while Aaliyah Gaines scored 10.

Before a crowd of nearly 2,000 -- a crowd that included the entire Falcon Marching Band -- the Aces took an early lead, on a Coleman three-pointer less than a minute into the contest. Erica Donovan found fellow fifth-year senior Tibbs for a layup, but the teams then battled through three minutes of scoreless play.

Sara Dickey, the Aces' leading scorer entering the game, hit a layup for a 5-2 UE lead with just over four minutes gone, But, Myers immediately responded with her first triple of the night, and the Falcons never trailed again.

That Myers three began a 13-0 run for the Falcons, as BGSU held UE without a point for nearly five minutes.

Junior Abby Siefker gave BG the lead for good midway through the period, hitting an 'and-one' layup and knocking down the ensuing free throw to complete the three-point play and give the hosts an 8-5 lead. Junior Ashley Tunstall spotted Santoro for a three-ball from the right wing, and Tibbs then scored four-straight points, including a short one-hander off glass from junior Rachel Konieczki's inbounds pass. When Tibbs split a pair of free throws at the 1:21 mark, the Falcons had a 15-5 lead.

Gaines snapped the Falcons' 13-point run, hitting a layup with just over a minute left in the quarter, but redshirt sophomore Kennedy Kirkpatrick's entry pass resulted in a Tibbs layup with 25 seconds to go. Tibbs outscored the Aces by herself in the opening 10 minutes, scoring eight points as BGSU took a 17-7 lead after one period.

The Falcons shot 60% in the opening quarter, going 6-for-10 from the field. BG held UE to just three buckets in 16 attempts (18.8%), including a 1-for-9 effort from three-point range, in that period.

Gaines opened the second-quarter scoring, hitting a jumper with just over two minutes gone, but Myers threw in a runner in the lane, and the Falcons took a 21-9 lead midway through the period on a second-chance layup by Tunstall. That bucket came after Tibbs grabbed an offensive rebound, then flipped a bounce pass across the lane to her fellow first-year transfer for the easy hoop.

Kenyia Johnson answered with a layup for the visitors, but sophomore Haley Puk drilled a three-pointer, and a Tibbs putback gave the Brown and Orange a 26-11 lead as the Aces used a timeout.

With just under a minute left, Coleman converted a three-point play, but freshman Sydney Lambert drove coast-to-coast and hit Santoro for a transition layup. When Lambert canned a jumper off glass, the Falcons' lead was 31-14, but UE scored the final three points of the period, the last two on Dickey's layup after a steal with just a few seconds to go. BG took a 31-17 lead into the break.

Evansville made just 1-of-15 three-point attempts in the first half, a success rate of just 6.7%. The Falcons were only 3-of-12 from long distance in the first 20 minutes, but that would change in quarter number three.

BGSU hit 4-of-6 three-point tries to begin the second half. In the early stages of the third quarter, however, the Aces matched the Falcons' output. In fact, UE got as close as 10 points as Coleman sandwiched a pair of triples around a layup by senior Miriam Justinger. The second trey in that stretch cut the BG lead to 33-23.

Then, however, Donovan took a pass from Justinger and hit a three from the top of the arc. And, when Lambert drove and kicked the ball to Myers for another triple, the Falcons had a 39-23 lead.

The Aces countered with a Dickey jumper, but Lambert came right back with a layup. Gaines hit a trey midway through the quarter, but Lambert drove into the lane and kicked the ball to Justinger for a corner three. Then, Lambert knocked down a rainbow three of her own, and the Falcons suddenly had a 20-point lead, 48-28.

The visitors battled back once again, however, going on a 10-2 run over the next three-plus minutes. BG's only points during that time came on a Kirkpatrick layup. But, when Erin Sinnott scored in the paint with 1:21 left in the quarter, the Falcons' lead had dwindled to 12 points. Tunstall lobbed a pass inside to Siefker for a layup, but another Sinnott jumper made it a 52-40 game after 30 minutes.

But, the Falcons put some impressive numbers together in the fourth period to seal the win. BGSU shot 77.8% from the field in that quarter, going 7-of-9, and the Falcons held a 10-1 rebounding advantage. The Brown and Orange went 4-of-6 from three-point land in the fourth quarter after going 4-of-7 in the third.

Coleman hit a pair of free throws for the visitors to open the fourth-quarter scoring, but Donovan took a pass from Puk and knocked down her second trey in as many tries, and Myers fed Tibbs for a layup and a 15-point lead. Kerri Gasper connected from long distance, but Konieczki drove the lane and kicked the ball to Myers in the corner for a trey.

Lauren Friday answered with a long-range shot for the visitors, but Myers found Tibbs for a triple, and the Falcons' lead was 60-45. At that point, BGSU was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field, including 3-of-3 from three-point range, in the quarter.

Less than a minute later, another Myers three-ball -- off of another Konieczki assist -- made it a 66-48 game, and Santoro sliced through traffic for a layup and a 20-point lead with 4:28 to go. Two Santoro free throws gave the Falcons a 70-48 advantage, the largest of the game for either team.

The Aces would get as close as 14 points with just over a minute left, but freshman Maddie Cole knocked down a pair of free throws and sophomore Sarah Baer hit a layup to provide the final margin.

Tibbs and Tunstall had six rebounds apiece for the Falcons, while Justinger and Konieczki each pulled down five. Three Falcons -- Konieczki, Lambert and Tunstall -- had three assists each, while Donovan led BG with two steals and two blocked shots.

BGSU now hits the road for the next two games, beginning with a Saturday (Dec. 5) contest vs. Cleveland State. That game will begin at 1:00 p.m. at Quicken Loans Arena.