Bulls Charge Past Falcons, 63-50

Saturday, February 13

Bowling Green, Ohio

4:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

8-13, 4-8MAC

Buffalo *

12-11, 4-8MAC

Buffalo

Bowling Green

Lauren Tibbs drives to the basket for 2 of her team-high 15 points (photo by Christine Nelson)

Photo by: Christine Nelson, BGSU Marketing & Communications

February 13, 2016 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BGSU looks to bounce back vs. Toledo Wednesday night

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The University at Buffalo shot the lights out in the even-numbered quarters on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 13), and the Bulls rebounded the ball well all game long. The result was a 63-50 win over the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team at the Stroh Center.

Stephanie Reid had a game-high 21 points for the visitors, who shot a combined 6-for-27 (22.2%) in the first and third quarters, but 18-for-28 (64.3%) in the second and fourth. UB shot 78.6% from the field in the second quarter to take the lead, and the visitors shot an even 50% in the fourth to slowly pull away.

LINKS
FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
POSTGAME AUDIO: Tibbs | Coach Roos
VIDEO: BGSU-UB Highlights
PHOTO GALLERY: Christine Nelson, BGSU Mkt. & Comm.

Joanna Smith and Mirte Scheper each added 11 points for Buffalo. For the Falcons, senior Lauren Tibbs had 15 points, going 7-for-10 from the field.

For the game, UB shot 43.6% from the floor, while the Falcons shot 31.4%. The Bulls had a 50-26 rebounding advantage, with Smith pulling down a game-high nine boards.

BGSU led by a 14-6 score after the first period, allowing the visitors to go just 2-of-11 (18.2%) from the field. But, the Bulls scored 31 points in the second quarter, taking the lead with a 7-0 run to end the half. In the third period, the visitors' lead stayed between two and six points for the first seven-plus minutes, before the Falcons crept within a single point twice in the last 2:48. But, after taking a four-point lead to end the third quarter, the Bulls went on another 7-0 run early in the fourth to extend the lead to double figures.

The latter seven-point run was part of a 13-1 run that spanned most of that final quarter. Scheper's jumper with 2:03 remaining gave UB a game-high 16-point lead, before the Falcons scored the game's final three points.

Both teams struggled to get the offense going in the early stages of the contest. Scheper, who was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field on the day, opened the scoring with a layup, and Tibbs answered with an 'and-one' bucket with 7:22 left in the period. Another Scheper layup put the visitors in front, but senior Miriam Justinger scored the next four points, and BG led for nearly all of the remainder of the half. Justinger knocked down a pull-up jumper, then got to the line and hit a pair of free throws for a 6-4 lead.

Out of the game's first media timeout, sophomore Haley Puk took a cross-court pass from Tibbs and knocked down a three-point try. Then, an offensive rebound by freshman Sydney Lambert led to a second-chance driving layup by Tibbs, giving the Brown and Orange an 11-4 lead.

That lead increased to nine points when Puk drove the right side of the paint and hit a layup as she was knocked to the ground. The ensuing free throw did not drop, but the Falcons had a 13-4 advantage with 2:29 left in the period.

UB went 7:45 without a field goal, including the last 5:57 of the opening quarter. The Bulls' only points during that first-quarter stretch were a pair of free throws, and a Kennedy Kirkpatrick charity toss with 4.6 seconds left in the quarter gave BG a 14-6 advantage after 10 minutes.

Neither team scored for nearly two minutes to begin the second quarter, before Smith's jumper in the paint broke UB's field-goal drought of nearly eight minutes. Then, Reid's three-pointer cut BG's lead to 14-11. Junior Ashley Tunstall lobbed a pass inside to Tibbs for a hesitation layup, but Reid answered with a layup of her own. Sophomore Rachel Myers was fouled on a drive and converted both shots from the stripe, but Reid knocked down another triple, and BG's lead was 18-16.

But, the Falcons proceeded to go on an 8-0 run. Tibbs kicked the ball out to Lambert for a three-pointer, and freshman Carly Santoro picked the pocket of Katherine Ups near midcourt and sailed in for a layup. Puk fed Tibbs for an 'and-one' layup, and out of the media timeout, Tibbs' free throw was good, giving BG a 10-point advantage at 26-16.

After Brittany Morrison stopped the run with a layup, Santoro came right back with a three-ball, and BG's lead was 29-16 with 4:16 left before halftime.

Reid scored four-straight points, splitting a pair of free throws, then knocking down a three-pointer after UB rebounded her free-throw miss.

With the score 29-22, Santoro drilled another three-pointer, but the shot was waved off as a foul was called away from the ball on the Falcons. Instead of a 10-point lead, the ball went back to Buffalo, and four free throws on the next two UB possessions made it a three-point game.

Justinger got herself to the line and hit both shots, but Ayoleka Sodade's jumper was followed by a Reid layup. Junior Abby Siefker was fouled and made a pair of tosses with 1:31 on the clock, but UB went on that aforementioned seven-point run, with Smith involved in all seven points. She canned a jumper, then hit a three-pointer in transition. With 23 seconds left in the period, Smith fed Scheper for a layup and a 37-33 lead at the intermission.

Reid opened the third-quarter scoring on a give-and-go play that began with her own inbounds pass, but Lambert's driving banker cut UB's lead to four points, and Tunstall fed Tibbs for a jumper over her would-be defender to cut the lead in half.

Smith, however, answered with a three-point play, but Lambert rattled home a shot from beyond the arc, making it a 42-40 UB lead. Smith's free throw would be followed by a scoreless drought of more than three minutes, before Tibbs took a Justinger pass and threw in a one-hander. Morrison answered with a bucket, but a Lambert pass found its way through traffic and into the hands of Tibbs under the basket, and the senior banked it home as she was fouled with 1:31 left in the quarter.

That bucket made the score Buffalo 45, BG 44, but the ensuing free throw did not drop, and UB scored the final three points of the quarter, with a Mariah Suchan layup making it a 48-44 contest after 30 minutes.

In the fourth period, Tunstall answered a Scheper layup by driving down the lane unimpeded and laying the ball off glass and in. But, Reid's three-pointer was followed by a Karin Moss jumper, and a bucket by Reid gave the Bulls a 57-46 lead with 6:43 to go.

Tunstall hit a free throw, but a Moss jumper was good with 5:58 remaining, and after several scoreless possessions at each end of the court, Suchan's layup with 2:45 to go gave the Bulls a 61-47 advantage. Scheper's bucket after a Moss steal made the margin a game-high 16 points, before a Tunstall free throw snapped a scoreless stretch of nearly five minutes for the Falcons. Sophomore Sarah Baer's two shots from the stripe closed the scoring with 1:01 left.

In addition to scoring, Tibbs also led the Falcons in rebounding, witih six boards, and assists, with three helpers. Lambert had eight points and five caroms, while Justinger had six points and three steals. Santoro also came up with three steals as the Falcons had 11 as a team.

UB committed 18 turnovers to the Falcons' 15, but the Bulls still had a 23-7 advantage in points off turnovers. The visitors' 50 total rebounds included 17 at the offensive end.

The Falcons conclude a three-game home swing on Wednesday night (Feb. 17), when the arch-rival University of Toledo comes to town. Tipoff is scheduled for shortly after 7:00 p.m. at the Stroh.