Broncos Down Falcons, 74-45, in Kalamazoo

Wednesday, January 6

Kalamazoo, Mich.

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

5-6, 1-1MAC

Western Michigan

9-5, 1-1MAC

Bowling Green

Western Michigan

Carly Santoro - Dec 2 2015 v Evansville - Larry Clapper photo

Photo by: Larry Clapper

January 06, 2016 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

WMU takes advantage of early BG turnovers

By: KALAMAZOO, Mich. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Host Western Michigan University took advantage of early turnovers by the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, seizing control en route to a 74-45 win over the Falcons Wednesday night (Jan. 6). The Mid-American Conference game was held at University Arena.

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The Broncos (9-5, 1-1 MAC) scored the last 12 points of the first quarter to take a 22-9 lead after the opening 10 minutes. Western had a 10-0 advantage in points off turnovers in that first quarter.

BG scored a bucket to open the second quarter, but WMU countered with six-straight points, and the Falcons never got closer than 14 points the rest of the way.

Miracle Woods and Jessica Jessing each scored 17 points for the Broncos, with Jessing going 6-for-7 from the field including a 4-for-5 performance from three-point range.

For the Falcons (5-6, 1-1 MAC), freshman Carly Santoro scored 11 points, while senior Lauren Tibbs had eight points and eight rebounds. Junior Ashley Tunstall and sophomore Rachel Myers scored seven points apiece.

The lead changed hands five times in the first five minutes of the contest. Tunstall took a pass from freshman point guard Sydney Lambert and hit a layup to open the game's scoring on BG's second possession. At the other end, the Falcons got a pair of defensive stops before Alex Morton tied the game with a jumper on WMU's next trip down the floor.

Deborah Meeks hit a pair of free throws for the hosts, but Myers took a cross-court pass from Tibbs and drilled a three-point field goal from the left corner, giving the Falcons a 5-4 lead just over three minutes in.

Jessing came right back with a jumper, but senior Miriam Justinger lobbed the ball to a cutting Tibbs, who hit a layup for a 7-6 BGSU lead. Woods countered with a jumper that bounced in, and Meredith Shipman's bucket in transition gave the Broncos a 10-7 advantage.

Then, Justinger was whistled for an offensive foul that was questionable at best. The foul was her second of the game, and sent the senior to the bench with 4:23 left in the opening quarter.

Redshirt sophomore Kennedy Kirkpatrick hit a nice driving layup on BG's next possession, and Western's lead was down to a single point at 10-9. However, Breanna Mobley's jumper, off of a nifty touch pass by Shipman, started that 12-0 Bronco run.

Jessing hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions during the run, with the second trey giving her team an 18-9 lead. A LaTondra Brooks layup and a Woods jumper capped the first-period scoring.

The Falcons went 4-for-9 from the field, but had eight turnovers in that opening period. The Broncos committed just one turnover in the first quarter, and were not whistled for a foul until midway through the second period.

Tibbs fed Tunstall for a layup with the shot clock winding down, opening the second-quarter scoring. But, after a Brooks jumper, neither team would score for over two minutes. Shots by Meeks and Morton made it a 17-point game before Lambert drove across the lane and kicked the ball out to Tunstall for a straightaway triple.

Santoro took a pass from junior Rachel Konieczki and knocked down a triple with just over two minutes left in the first half, and a nice hustle play by sophomore Haley Puk resulted in a foul on the Broncos. Puk dove for an offensive rebound, grabbed the ball as she was headed out of bounds and flipped a pass to Abby Siefker, who was fouled under the hoop. The junior split a pair of charity tosses to make it a 33-18 game, Woods hit a jumper to close the first-half scoring.

The Broncos scored 12 points off of 10 BG turnovers in that opening half. Western committed just four turnovers in the first 20 minutes of play.

Myers opened the third-period scoring with a drive down the right side of the lane and a shot off glass, but a Woods jumper was followed by a Shipman three, and Western's lead was 40-20.

Tunstall threw the ball inside to Tibbs for a turnaround one-hander, but the hosts responded by scoring the next nine points before a Konieczki layup in the final minute of the period. The Broncos led by a 49-24 count after three quarters of play.

BGSU scored 21 fourth-quarter points, but it was too little, too late. Santoro scored eight points in that period, with Puk and Kirkpatrick each hitting long-distance shots. But, the Broncos were never headed, and picked up their first conference win of the season after a loss to defending league champion Ohio on Saturday.

The Broncos shot 47.4 percent from the field for the game, including a 5-for-10 (50%) effort from three-point range. Jessing, as mentioned, hit four of Western's five triples in the game.

Morton had eight points and five assists for the hosts, while Meeks and Mobley scored six points apiece. Meeks had a game-high 11 rebounds as the Broncos held a 44-29 advantage in that category.

The Falcons shot 33.3% both inside and outside the arc on Wednesday night. BG committed 17 turnovers, while WMU had 11, and the Broncos ended up with a 20-8 advantage in points off turnovers.

Western also had a 32-18 margin in points in the paint, while BG had 22 points off the bench, compared to the home team's 21.

The Falcons return home for the next three games, beginning with a Saturday (Jan. 9) contest vs. Ohio. That game, the second h alf of a doubleheader, is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center. The DH begins with the BG men's basketball team hosting Central Michigan at 2:00 p.m.