Epic Second-Quarter Run Lifts BGSU Past NIU, 58-43

Wednesday, January 20

DeKalb, Ill.

8:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

6-9, 2-4MAC

Northern Illinois

8-9, 1-5MAC

Bowling Green

Northern Illinois

Kennedy Kirkpatrick v South Dakota State - Dec 21 2015 - Larry Clapper

Kennedy Kirkpatrick scored 10 points off the bench at NIU (Larry Clapper photo)

Photo by: Larry Clapper

January 20, 2016 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Falcons score final 21 points of first half en route to road win

By: DeKALB, Ill. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team ended the first half on a 21-0 run, seizing control of Wednesday night's (Jan. 20) game en route to a 58-43 win over Northern Illinois University. The Mid-American Conference game was held at NIU's Convocation Center.

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Senior Lauren Tibbs led the Falcons (6-9, 2-4 MAC) with 15 points, and had a game-high 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Redshirt sophomore Kennedy Kirkpatrick joined Tibbs in double figures in the scoring column, with 10 points off the bench.

Sophomore Haley Puk had eight points for the Falcons, while junior Abby Siefker had seven points and freshman Sydney Lambert six. Siefker, Kirkpatrick and senior Miriam Justinger each had six rebounds in the win, while Lambert had five steals, the highest total of her young BGSU career.

The Falcons led by a 13-11 score after one quarter of play, but NIU's Mikayla Voigt hit a three-point field goal on the opening possession of the second quarter. Then, however, the Brown and Orange held the Huskies off the scoreboard for the remainder of the quarter, scoring 21-straight points to take a 34-14 lead into the intermission.

BGSU still led by 20 points after three quarters, allowing the hosts to score just 23 total points over the first 30 minutes, before NIU got 20 fourth-quarter points to surpass the 40-point plateau for the game. The hosts had 29 points with four minutes to go, before scoring 14 points in the last 3:57 of the contest.

Voigt led the Huskies (8-9, 1-5 MAC) with 15 points, while Lacia Gorman had eight. No other NIU player scored more than four points.

The Falcons held NIU's top-two scorers, Ally Lehman and Kelly Smith, without a field goal. Lehman entered the game with an average of 13.3 points per game, while Smith was scoring 11.6 ppg. But, the duo went a combined 0-for-18 from the field on Wednesday night. Smith had one point in 21 minutes of action, while Lehman was scoreless in 35 minutes. Lehman did lead the Huskies with eight rebounds and five assists.

The Huskies' 43 points was the lowest total allowed by the Falcons this season to date. NIU made 16 field goals and shot just 26.7 percent from the field, both season-low totals/averages for a BG opponent.

Wednesday's win was BGSU's first double-digit victory on the road since a 61-47 win over Bradley in December of 2014. It was the Falcons' first double-digit road win in a MAC game since a 73-56 triumph at Miami in March of '14.

BG broke out to an early 4-0 lead. The Falcon defense got stops on Northern's first two possessions of the night, and Tibbs scored inside before Siefker hit a long two-point jumper. NIU got on the board on a Gorman layup with just under two minutes gone, but Tibbs grabbed an offensive rebound after a teammate's miss, and kicked the ball out to Siefker for a three-ball from the right corner.

That three-pointer was the first of Siefker's career, and the Falcons had a 7-2 lead.

But, the Huskies battled back, and five-straight points by Voigt capped a 7-0 run. Her jumper gave NIU a 9-7 lead midway through the period. But, Northern would score just five points over the remaining 15:01 of the first half.

Sophomore Rachel Myers took a Justinger pass and knocked down a corner three, giving the Brown and Orange a 10-9 advantage. The teams then played through a scoreless drought of over three minutes, before Gorman's jumper at the 1:07 mark gave NIU the lead once again. Lambert, however, drained a three-ball at the first-quarter buzzer, giving the Falcons a 13-11 advantage after 10 minutes of play.

Voigt hit a three-pointer on the first possession of the second quarter, giving NIU a 14-13 lead with only six seconds gone. But, over the final 9:54 of the quarter, the Huskies would not score a single point. Northern went 0-for-12 from the field and turned the ball over five times.

Kirkpatrick answered Voigt's triple with a nice driving layup, and BGSU had the lead for good. BG got a stop, and Kirkpatrick again drove down the lane. This time, she deftly flipped a pass to a wide-open Tibbs for a layup and a 17-14 lead.

Tibbs missed a layup, but junior Ashley Tunstall came up with the offensive rebound, and Kirkpatrick found Tibbs for a three-pointer and a six-point advantage. Then, Kirkpatrick scored on a nifty pull-up jumper.

BG worked the inside-out game to perfection, as Siefker took an entry pass and kicked the ball to Puk in the far corner for a three-pointer and an 11-point Falcon lead. Then, junior Rachel Konieczki drove the lane and passed the ball to Siefker for a jumper off glass and a 27-14 lead with three minutes left before halftime.

Kirkpatrick scored on another driving layup, and Lambert promptly stole the NIU inbounds pass. BG did not score, but after NIU grabbed the rebound, Lambert proceeded to come up with another steal, diving to the floor to tie up Lehman for a jump ball with the possession arrow favoring the Falcons. Puk fed Justinger for a triple from the right win, and then Puk scored on a jump-stop jumper with 30 seconds left before halftime, giving BG a 34-14 lead.

The Falcons shot 50% from the field in the second quarter, going 9-of-18.

Amber Gray's jumper on NIU's opening possession of the third quarter ended her team's long scoring drought, but Tibbs answered with a layup. Gray scored again moments later, however, and a three-pointer by Myers was negated by a foul on the Falcons. But, Tunstall scored on a layup after a BG offensive rebound, and the Falcons had a 38-19 lead with 6:30 left in the quarter.

Jazmine Harris scored on a putback, and Ally May's jumper with 3:37 left in the period cut BG's lead to 15. Neither team scored for several minutes, before the Falcons had a late-quarter scoring surge. Myers came up with steals on back-to-back NIU possessions, and after the second steal, Lambert hit a straightaway trey with 52 seconds to go. BG got another defensive stop, and Justinger threw the ball inside to Tibbs, who scored in the final seconds of the quarter to give BG a 43-23 lead.

BG's lead reached 22 points after two buckets in as many possessions by Tibbs, who hit a banker in the center of the paint, then scored on a baby hook for a 47-25 lead. Kirkpatrick scored on a floater, then hit a jumper for a 52-29 advantage, and the Falcons' lead reached a game-high 24 points on a Konieczki triple with 3:40 remaining. The Huskies then ended the game on a 12-3 run to make the score somewhat more respectable, but it was far too little and much too late.

BGSU held a 51-38 rebounding advantage in the win, and the Falcons pulled down 13 offensive boards. BG had advantages of 18-12 in points in the paint, 18-9 in points off turnovers, 13-6 in second-chance points and 24-15 in bench scoring.

The Falcons return home for the next two games, beginning with a Saturday (Jan. 20) afternoon contest vs. Kent State University. That game begins at 2:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center, and is the program's annual Alumnae Day game. Saturday's game is the first half of a doubleheader which will see the Falcon men's basketball team host KSU as well.