Falcons' Valiant Effort Falls Just Short; Akron Escapes with 79-71 Win

Saturday, March 7

Bowling Green, OH

2:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

9-20, 2-16MAC

Akron

22-7, 12-6MAC

Akron

Bowling Green

Photo by: Brad Phalin, BGSU Marketing and Communications

Falcons' Valiant Effort Falls Just Short; Akron Escapes with 79-71 Win

March 07, 2015 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Zips post first-ever win in Bowling Green; Falcons to face WMU in MAC Tournament

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

For the second-straight game, the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team fought valiantly against one of the top teams in the Mid-American Conference. But, for the second consecutive game, the Falcons came up just short, as the University of Akron escaped the Stroh Center with a 79-71 victory Saturday afternoon (March 7). The game was the final regular-season contest for both teams.

The Falcons (9-20, 2-16 MAC) will be the 12th seed for the MAC Tournament, which begins Monday night (March 9), and BGSU will head to Kalamazoo to face fifth-seeded Western Michigan University. Monday's game will begin at 5:30 p.m.

Sina King led the Zips (22-7, 12-6 MAC) with 29 points and 18 rebounds. She was a perfect 10-of-10 from the free-throw line, making six of those shots in the final minute of play to seal Akron's first-ever win in Bowling Green.

Hannah Plybon scored 20 points for the Zips, hitting six three-point field goals on the afternoon, while Anita Brown scored 14 points and dished out five assists. Brown had 13 rebounds as well.

The Zips locked up the third seed for the conference tournament, and Akron earns a bye into the third round of the tourney. Buffalo, who the Falcons hosted on Wednesday night (March 4), will be the fourth seed for the tourney, also earning a double bye. But, as was the case with the Bulls on Wednesday, the Zips got all they could handle from the Brown and Orange at the Stroh.

The Falcons got 18 points from junior Miriam Justinger, who was 4-of-6 from three-point range on Saturday, while senior Deborah Hoekstra had a double-double for the third consecutive game. On Senior Day at the Stroh, Hoekstra scored 17 points and pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds. The double-double was her seventh of the season.

Freshman Rachel Myers rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points, while classmates Sarah Baer and Haley Puk had nine and eight points, respectively. Baer's point total was a career high.

On Senior Day at the Stroh, Falcon seniors Hoekstra, Jasmine Matthews and Erica Fullenkamp, along with student manager Nick Fine, were recognized in pregame ceremonies. It was also Perrysburg Community Day, and Baer, a Perrysburg native, sang the National Anthem prior to tipoff.

Once the game began, the teams combined for 20 three-point field goals, including 11 by the Falcons. BGSU went 11-of-31 from long distance, while the Zips were 9-for-27.

UA took the lead on a Kerri McMahon layup on the game's first possession, but the Falcons tied the score as sophomore Rachel Konieczki got to the line and hit a pair of free throws with just under two minutes gone. BGSU was 14-of-18 from the stripe (77.8%) on the afternoon.

Plybon answered with the first of her six triples, but redshirt freshman Kennedy Kirkpatrick got herself to the line and hit a pair of shots. After a layup by King, the Falcons scored six-straight points, with a nifty offensive rebound by Hoekstra leading to the last three points in that stretch.

First, Myers tied the game with a long-distance make. Then, after a teammate's missed shot, Hoekstra alertly tapped the ball out to a teammate to keep the possession alive. Konieczki, who had assisted Myers on her triple, found an open Justinger for a trey from the right wing, giving the Brown and Orange a 10-7.

Plybon hit a long jumper, and the Falcons had a one-point lead at the game's first media timeout. Plybon's shot was originally ruled a three-pointer before the officials reviewed the video and changed it to a two-point bucket at that timeout.

Hoekstra had six rebounds prior to that timeout, which came at the 14:29 mark.

Out of the timeout, the Zips got back-to-back layups, and Brown's jumper gave the visitors a 15-10 lead. But, Hoekstra scored in the paint, and Justinger's entry pass found Baer for a layup. Baer was 3-for-4 from the field en route to her career-high scoring effort.

After that Baer layup, however, Plybon came right back and hit a three at the other end. But, Justinger took a Myers pass and hit a three-ball of her own, and on the next possession, the junior scored again, this time after Hoekstra drove and kicked the ball to her at the left elbow. Justinger's second triple in a 40-second span gave BG a 20-18 lead.

Back came Plybon and the Zips, as the sophomore hit another long-range shot. But, with the shot clock precariously close to zero, Myers flipped a pass to Hoekstra, who hit a shot from well beyond the three-point line, and the home team had a 23-21 lead with just under eight minutes left in the period.

After an Akron turnover, Puk drove the line and bounced a pass to an open Baer for a layup and a four-point lead, and after McMahon's putback, Puk drove into the paint again, this time scoring herself. The Falcons had a 27-23 advantage with 6:31 left in the half.

The Zips, who wound up with a 56-32 rebounding advantage for the game, went to the glass, with both Brown and King getting offensive rebounds and layups. King's shot tied the score, but Hoekstra answered with a foul-line jumper after taking a pass from Fullenkamp at the 3:10 mark.

Hoekstra's hoop began a 7-0 run for the Brown and Orange. After Konieczki went to the ground to tie up an Akron player for a jump ball, the ball was awarded to BG via alternate possession. Baer was fouled and hit two shots. Then, Puk dribbled around the top of the arc, pulled up and launched a three-point try that hit nothing but net. With 1:36 left in the period, the Falcons had a 34-27 lead.

After an Akron miss and a Konieczki rebound, a BG three-point try did not drop, and Brown came down the court and hit a three of her own. But, as the ball went through the hoop, UA's DiAndra Gibson was whistled for a dead-ball contact foul with 45.5 seconds left before the half. Myers went to the line and made a pair of shots for a 36-30 advantage, and BG kept possession of the ball. A Falcon layup try was unsuccessful, but BG's defense allowed only an Akron three-point attempt that missed everything as the first-half horn sounded.

BG went 6-of-14 from three-point range in that first half, and the Falcons committed only two turnovers in the opening 20 minutes. The Falcons had an 11-2 advantage in bench scoring in that half en route to a 17-5 margin in that category for the game.

Justinger was a perfect 3-for-3 from long distance in the first half, and scored nine points in the period. Plybon scored 11 first-half points for the Zips, and both Hoekstra and King had nine rebounds in the period.

BG scored on the first two possessions of the second half to take a double-digit lead, before the Zips came roaring back. Justinger knocked down a three-point shot -- her fourth long-range make in as many attempts -- with just 11 seconds gone. After Akron failed to convert on three attempts at the other end, Hoekstra scored for a 41-30 lead. The senior, who had started down the lane before kicking the ball to Justinger on the previous possession, pulled up and hit a mid-range jumper at the 19:01 mark.

Akron, though, scored the next seven points as part of an 11-2 run. BG's only bucket in that stretch was a pull-up jumper by Myers. McMahan followed with a jumper of her own, however, and after a BG miss, Brown's transition layup cut the Falcons' lead to 43-41 with 16 minutes to go.

Hoekstra hit a triple on the next possession, but Plybon and King each scored from beyond the arc, with the latter shot giving the Zips a 47-46 lead. Baer, however, took Puk's entry pass and knocked down a shot from inside, and Baer was fouled at the 13:31 juncture, splitting her two tosses for a 49-47 BG advantage.

After King tied the game, Kirkpatrick's one-hander restored the home team's lead, and a Gibson putback was followed by three BG free throws, giving the hosts a 54-51 lead midway through the period. King, however, tied the contest with an 'and-one' layup, followed by a free throw with 9:03 to go.

But, Puk -- now wearing uniform number 32 instead of her customary 33 due to having gotten blood on her jersey earlier in the half -- knocked down a shot from long range, giving the lead back to BG with 8:42 to go. Konieczki's up-and-under layup made it a five-point game, but the Zips answered with eight-straight points, including a three-point play from Katie Nunan and a triple by Plybon.

Hoekstra snapped that run with a floater, but King converted another three-point play, and UA had a 65-61 lead with 4:17 to go. Justinger cut that lead in half, though, and out of the final media timeout of the day, Hoekstra fed Myers for a three-pointer that gave the Falcons the lead once again, 66-65.

The Zips missed a shot at the other end, and Gibson grabbed the rebound but was called for travelling with 3:14 left. BG missed a jumper, and the ensuing possession saw Akron miss four shots but come up with the rebound each time. Finally, King hit a layup, and the visitors led by a point with 2:19 to go.

A BG three-point try was off the mark, and Brown was fouled after grabbing the rebound, hitting both ends of the ensuing one-and-one opportunity. UA's lead was 69-66 with 1:57 remaining. The next possession saw BG miss a jumper, but as King rebounded the ball, she stepped out of bounds. Justinger drove the lane, was fouled by Gibson and hit two tosses to cut Akron's advantage to a single point with 1:16 left.

Plybon, however, hit a huge shot on UA's next trip down the floor, draining a triple try with 54.7 seconds on the clock. After a BG miss, King hit a pair of free throws, but Hoekstra cut Akron's lead in half with a corner three off of a Myers pass. The Falcons, trailing by a 74-71 score, used a timeout with 31.6 seconds to go.

BG quickly fouled King on the inbounds pass, but the fifth-year senior made both shots, and the lead was five points. On the next possession, King tipped the ball away from Kirkpatrick and drew a foul, hitting two more shots with 21.3 left. Brown split two late free throws to close the scoring.

Matthews, who was limited to just 35 minutes of action during the MAC portion of the schedule, checked into the game for the first time with just 9.6 seconds to go. Fullenkamp, who played three minutes in the game, checked back in at that time as well, and Hoekstra came out of the contest to a large ovation from the crowd of over 1,700 fans.

King had 23 of her points in the second half alone, while Hoekstra (10) and Justinger (nine) combined for 19 second-half points for the Falcons.

BG shot 38.3% from the field, including 40% in the second half, while holding UA to a 36.8% success rate. The Falcons had just seven total turnovers for the game.

As mentioned, BGSU will face Western Michigan on Monday at 5:30 p.m. The game will be the first half of a doubleheader at University Arena, as the WMU men's basketball team will take on Ohio University in the second game.