Pioneers Down BGSU, 78-65, Wednesday Night

Wednesday, December 28

Bowling Green, OH

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

4-8

Malone

7-4

Malone

Bowling Green

Ashley Tunstall scores 2 of her team-high 12 points (photo by Bianca Garza)

Photo by: Bianca Garza, BGSU Marketing and Communications

December 28, 2016 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Falcons open MAC portion of the schedule on Saturday afternoon vs. Ohio

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Hannah McCue scored 20 of her game-high 24 points in the first half as Malone University picked up a 78-65 win over the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team Wednesday night (Dec. 28) at the Stroh Center.

McCue, a graduate transfer from Mid-American Conference member Miami University, also led the Pioneers with seven rebounds on the night.

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PHOTO GALLERY: Bianca Garza, BGSU Mkt. & Comm.

Ashley Tunstall led the Falcons with 12 points, while fellow senior Abby Siefker had a game-high 10 rebounds as BGSU held a 44-39 advantage on the boards. Four Falcons scored eight or more points off the bench in the game, as junior Rachel Myers had nine and senior Rachel Konieczki and freshmen Caterrion Thompson and Jane Uecker eight apiece.

Four of Malone's starters scored in double digits, as Rachel Goddard -- like McCue a transfer from Miami -- had 15 points, while Baylen Dyrland and Chrissie Vaughan scored 12 apiece.

Dyrland (8-for-8) and McCue (7-of-7) combined to go a perfect 15-of-15 at the free-throw line, while Mackenzie Storlie (7-of-8) scored all seven of her points at the charity stripe for the Pioneers. Goddard was 6-of-8 at the line for the visitors, who were 28-of-33 on the night, including 16-of-18 in the fourth quarter.

"Their two Division-I transfers had fantastic nights," said BGSU head coach Jennifer Roos. "They got some momentum going early on, and we had trouble making shots and getting stops. Any time you have that, it's a bad combination no matter who you play.

"We took care of the ball and didn't foul like we did the last time out, but we missed a handful of shots and were unable to get stops early on, which led to that point differential."

The Falcons were 22-of-34 from the stripe on the night, and BGSU had sizable advantages in offensive rebounds (20-11), second-chance points (21-12) and bench scoring (38-15) vs. the Pioneers. But, Malone hit 10 three-point field goals on the night, including four in the opening quarter. MU ended the period on a 10-2 run to take a seven-point lead after 10 minutes of play, and the visitors never trailed again.

Malone shot 37.7 percent from the field to the Falcons' 31.1%. MU was 10-of-24 from three-point range, with Vaughan hitting four shots from behind the arc and McCue three.

BG was just 5-of-21 from long distance, with Uecker going a perfect 2-for-2 from downtown. Overall, Uecker made three of her four shot attempts on the night.

The Falcons scored on the first two possessions of the night, as Siefker lobbed the ball inside to Tunstall for a layup, and sophomore Sydney Lambert's inbounds pass found junior Haley Puk for a three-pointer and a quick 5-0 lead. But, the visitors tied it up on a Vaughan triple and McCue's layup.

Siefker followed with a layup, and moments later, the senior kicked the ball to Tunstall for a three-pointer and a 10-7 lead. A Tunstall pull-up jumper at the 5:41 mark gave her seven points and her team a 12-9 lead, but McCue connected from long range at the shot-clock buzzer to tie the score.

Myers was fouled and hit both shots from the line, but McCue knocked down another three-point try, giving Malone the lead for the first time. Lambert hit a layup with 2:55 left in the quarter, but McCue scored inside to give the Pioneers a lead they would never relinquish.

Storie split a pair of free throws, and jumpers by Goddard and Dyrland gave the Pioneers a six-point lead. Thompson hit two charity tosses with 20.1 seconds to go, but a late three-pointer by Holly Groff gave Malone a 25-18 lead after one period.

Malone shot 52.1% from the field in that first quarter (52.1%), including a 4-of-8 effort from three-point range.

McCue had 10 points in the first quarter, and she scored 10 more in the second. A three-point play by the senior with 8:38 left before halftime gave Malone a 30-20 lead, and after a quick five-point run by the Falcons midway through the period, the visitors extended the lead back out to 10.

That five-point Falcon run came when freshman Andrea Cecil hit a layup, and Konieczki fed Myers for a three-pointer. Malone's lead was 33-27, but McCue hit two shots from the line, and after sophomore Maddie Cole split a pair, Groff curled off of a screen, took a McCue pass and knocked down a triple try for a 38-28 MU lead. BG crept back within six points on four-straight free throws, but Malone scored six of the last eight points of the half. Cole connected on a long two-point jumper from the right side with 54 seconds to go, but Dyrland made two free throws, and Goddard got a driving layup to go with six seconds remaining. The Pioneers led, 44-34, at the intermission.

Tunstall scored the first four points of the second half, stealing the ball and converting a three-point play to get BG within six points once again. But, the visitors then scored the next seven points, capped by Vaughan's three-pointer, to take a 51-38 lead. That lead reached 14 points on another Vaughan trey with just over three minutes left in the quarter.

A Siefker blocked shot led to a Myers pull-up J with 1:44 left in the period, and the Brown and Orange went 3-of-4 from the line in the last 1:16 to cut the Malone lead to 10 points once again, 56-46, after 30 minutes.

Koniecki scored on a driving layup, then hit a right-wing jumper, cutting MU's lead to 59-50 with 7:23 remaining. But, with the shot clock winding down, Vaughan hit a contested three-point try with 6:18 left, and she then fed Goddard for another long-range shot on Malone's next possession.

Uecker hit two three-point tries in the fourth period, and Thompson knocked down a pair of jumpers in the game's final two-plus minutes, but the Falcons could not put a dent in the Pioneers' lead. Uecker (8), Thompson (6) and Konieczki (5) combined to score all 19 of BG's fourth-quarter points.

Eleven different players scored for the Falcons, with 11 players also pulling down at least one rebound. BG won the battle of the boards for the 10th time in this season's 12 games.

The Falcons now will prepare for the MAC opener, this Saturday (Dec. 31) against Ohio University. Tipoff is set for 12:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.