Strong Second-Half Shooting Lifts WMU Past Falcons, 65-49

Wednesday, February 10

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

8-12, 4-7MAC

Western Michigan

14-10, 6-6MAC

Western Michigan

Bowling Green

Miriam Justinger drives past former high-school teammate Jessica Jessing during Wednesday's game

Photo by: Ruben Kappler, BGSU Marketing & Communications

February 10, 2016 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Broncos shoot 63% over the final two quarters to erase halftime deficit

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Visiting Western Michigan University shot nearly 63 percent from the field in the second half, erasing a five-point halftime deficit en route to a 65-49 win over the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team Wednesday night (Feb. 10). The Mid-American Conference game was held at the Stroh Center.

Four starters scored in double digits for the Broncos (14-10, 6-6 MAC), led by Deborah Meeks. Meeks had a game-high 15 points, while Jessica Jessing had 12. Breanna Mobley also scored 12 points, and had a game-high 12 rebounds along with five assists. Alex Morton added 11 points and tied Mobley for game honors with five assists.

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PHOTO GALLERY: Ruben Kappler, BGSU Mkt. & Comm.

The Falcons (8-12, 4-7 MAC) got 12 points from Miriam Justinger on the night. Ten different players made at least one field goal for the hosts, but Justinger was the only player to score more than six points in the loss.

BGSU erased an early seven-point deficit, holding the Broncos to just one field goal during a nine-minute stretch that spanned the last seven-plus minutes of the first quarter and the first minute-plus of the second. The Brown and Orange then went on a 13-4 run to take a seven-point lead of their own before a Western bucket in the final minute of the half cut the BG lead to 27-22 at the intermission.

But, the visitors scored the first eight points of the third quarter, and after freshman Carly Santoro's three-point field goal tied the score at 31-all, a 9-0 Bronco run gave Western the lead for good. BG got within seven points on several occasions, the last on a pair of Justinger free throws early in the fourth quarter, but an 11-4 run put the Broncos ahead, 57-43, midway through the period, and BG's deficit never dropped below 12 points the rest of the night.

Western Michigan outscored BGSU by a 24-10 count in the third quarter to take the lead for good. The Broncos were 8-of-15 from the field (53.3%) in that 10-minute stretch, while holding the Falcons to just a 3-of-11 (27.3%) success rate. Then, in the fourth period, Western shot 75% (9-of-12) from the floor to keep BG at bay.

The Falcons broke on top quickly, as freshman Sydney Lambert lobbed a pass inside to senior Lauren Tibbs for a layup on the game's opening possession. But, the Broncos proceeded to average three points per possession over the first three possessions of the game. Morton hit a three-pointer, then Jessing connected from long range, and Meeks converted a three-point play. With just 2:10 gone, the visitors had a 9-2 lead.

Justinger answered with a driving floater, but Mobley quickly responded with a bucket for the Broncos, making Western 4-for-4 from the field to begin the game. But, over the final 7:15 of the first quarter, WMU would go just 1-of-12 from the field.

After that Mobley basket, both teams were scoreless for close to two minutes, before Lambert hit a layup. Meeks answered with 5:16 left in the period, but the Broncos would not score again in the quarter. Meanwhile, Justinger hit a pair of free throws, and junior Abby Siefker backed her defender down and scored off glass. Siefker got herself to the line several possessions later, and split a pair of tosses, and Western's lead was 13-11 after 10 minutes.

The Falcons were 0-of-8 from three-point range in the opening quarter, and BG missed a long-distance attempt to begin the second quarter. But, the Falcons then hit two triple tries in a row.

First, however, redshirt sophomore Kennedy Kirkpatrick drove into the paint and hit a layup, drawing a foul in the process. Kirkpatrick completed the three-point play, giving BG a 14-13 lead. Mobley answered with a layup after rebounding her own miss, but Lambert fed sophomore Haley Puk for a three-ball from the left wing, then found soph Rachel Myers for a corner three, giving the Falcons a 20-16 lead as WMU used a timeout.

Jessing hit a layup, but Puk answered with a pull-up jumper. After a Mobley layup and a BG timeout, however, Justinger scored a transition bucket after Myers grabbed a defensive rebound and spotted the Falcon senior out ahead of the pack. Then, after a missed jumper, Tibbs came up with an offensive rebound near the end line and quickly fired a pass to Myers at the top of the arc. Myers' second three-pointer of the quarter gave the Falcons a 27-20 lead with just over a minute left in the half. Jessing's jumper made it a five-point game at the break.

After that 4-for-4 shooting start for the Broncos, the BG defense held WMU to just a 5-for-26 performance over the remainder of the half. Western, however, would begin the second half with scorching shooting, and this time, the visitors never really cooled off.

Meredith Shipman knocked down a jumper on the first possession of the second half, drawing a foul and hitting the ensuing free throw. After a Shipman steal, Morton's runner tied the game, and after a BG miss, Morton hit a corner three for an 8-0 run to begin the half, and a 30-27 WMU lead.

BG coach Jennifer Roos subbed in five fresh players, and the Falcons scored four of the game's next five points. Puk got herself to the line and split a pair of shots, and after a Meeks free throw, junior Rachel Konieczki fed Santoro for a long three-pointer when no one came out to guard her. THe game was tied at 31.

But, Mobley's free throws began a 9-0 run for the Broncos. That run included three-pointers from Shipman and Najee Smith, with the latter bucket giving WMU a 40-31 lead. The teams traded points over the remainder of the period, with Lambert hitting a right-side jumper, Justinger making a pair of free throws and Lambert hitting another shot. But, Western answered each set of BG points with two points of their own, and an Alexis Parks putback as the horn sounded gave the visitors a 46-37 lead after three quarters.

Justinger opened the fourth-quarter scoring by getting back to the line and hitting two tosses, but BG would draw no closer. Hoops by Meeks and Jessing produced the first double-digit lead of the night, and moments later, a Meeks three-pointer gave WMU a 55-43 lead.

The Meeks triple came after BG had regained a bit of momentum. After a missed three-point try, Puk outworked a Bronco player to come up with an offensive rebound and keep the possession alive. Then, seconds later, the sophomore split two defenders with a pass that hit a cutting Tibbs in stride for an easy layup.

After that play, the Falcons got a stop, but Shipman took the ball away from Justinger in front of the BG bench as the Falcon senior went to the ground and the home fans made their case for a foul call. That steal led to the Meeks triple and a 12-point advantage.

Western's lead reached 14 for the first time on a Morton jumper at the 4:19 mark, and a Parks layup with 2:49 to go made it a 16-point game. The lead got as high as 20 in the later stages, before buckets by sophomore Sarah Baer and Konieczki closed the scoring.

For the game, WMU shot 44.8% from the field, while holding BGSU to a 31.5% evening. The Falcons, after tying the school record with 16 three-point field goals in Saturday's (Feb. 6) Central Michigan game, went just 4-of-24 from long distance on Wednesday.

Lambert, Tibbs, Myers and Puk all scored six points vs. the Broncos, with Lambert pulling down a team-high seven rebounds. Tibbs and Siefker had six boards apiece, while Myers added five as the Brown and Orange had a 38-37 advantage on the glass.

Shipman went just 2-of-12 from the field en route to six points for the Broncos, but she had a game-high six steals.

The Falcons continue a three-game home swing on Saturday (Feb. 13), facing the University at Buffalo in the second half of a doubleheader at the Stroh. The BGSU and Western Michigan men's teams will meet at 2:00 p.m., with the BG-UB game to follow. Then, the Falcon women will host the University of Toledo next Wednesday night (Feb. 17) before playing four of five games on the road to end the regular season.