Zips Ground Falcons, 71-61, Saturday at the JAR

Saturday, March 5

Akron, Ohio

2:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

10-17, 6-12MAC

Akron

17-12, 11-7MAC

Bowling Green

Akron

Lauren Tibbs v Toledo - Feb 17 2016 - Scott Grau photo

Lauren Tibbs, despite being in foul trouble, led BG with 11 points in 16 minutes at Akron

March 05, 2016 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BGSU will face Buffalo in Monday's MAC Tournament First Round

By: AKRON, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Anita Brown scored 23 points as the University of Akron downed the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team Saturday afternoon (March 5). The Mid-American Conference game, the final regular-season contest for both teams, was held at James A. Rhodes Arena.

The Falcons (10-17, 6-12 MAC) now head to Western New York to face the University at Buffalo in MAC Tournament first-round action on Monday evening (March 7).

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Hannah Plybon added 18 points and DiAndra Gibson 12 for the Zips (17-12, 11-7 MAC). Plybon hit five of her team's seven three-point field goals.

Senior Lauren Tibbs, despite battling foul trouble nearly the entire afternoon, led the Falcons with 11 points, while classmate Miriam Justinger and redshirt sophomore Kennedy Kirkpatrick had 10 apiece. Justinger also had six rebounds and five assists in the contest, and was 2-of-3 from three-point land.

The Falcons held a 38-31 rebounding advantage, got to the free-throw line nine more times than the Zips, and committed just 10 turnovers. But, UA turned the ball over only five times, and the Zips had a 12-2 advantage in points off turnovers.

The lead changed hands several times in the early going. Plybon hit a long three-pointer to open the scoring, but Justinger took a pass from sophomore Haley Puk and knocked down a triple try from the right wing. Then, Justinger drove and dished a pass to Tibbs for an easy layup and a 5-3 Falcon lead.

Moments later, sophomore Rachel Myers spotted Tibbs for a quick foul-line jumper, but Gibson hit a corner three to give the Zips an 8-7 lead with just three minutes gone.

Then, with 6:34 left in the opening quarter, Tibbs was whistled for her second foul of the game, and headed to the bench. Justinger found Myers for a three-ball from the left corner, though, giving the Brown and Orange a 10-9 lead midway through the period. But, a quick catch-and-shoot three by Plybon restored the hosts' two-point advantage.

Late in the period, Puk drove from left to right toward the paint, stopped and hit a turnaround jumper, putting the Falcons within a point. Freshman Sydney Lambert split a pair of free throws with 1:17 left in the quarter, but Gibson banked home a shot in the lane for an 18-14 UA lead.

Kirkpatrick, who had success getting to the free-throw line all day, was fouled and hit both shots at the 38-second mark, but Gibson put another shot off glass and in, and the hosts led by a 20-16 score after 10 minutes.

Gibson had nine of her 12 points in that opening quarter, while Plybon scored six.

The Falcons got within a point as the second quarter began, when junior Rachel Konieczki drilled a three-point try fron the left wing. Ali Ball's layup was answered by a Myers driving layup, but Brown hit back-to-back shots to give UA a 26-21 lead. Justinger threw the ball inside to sophomore Sarah Baer, who banked a shot off glass, but a Brown layup was followed by a Lilli Piper bucket off of a steal. The Zips' lead was seven as BG took a timeout with 4:29 left in the half.

But, Piper hit another layup, and after a free throw by freshman Maddie Cole, Brown's shot gave the Zips a 10-point lead, 34-24.

Tibbs, back in the game, grabbed a teammate's missed shot and laid the ball up and in before her would-be 'defender' even saw the ball. But, on the next possession, she was assessed her third foul of the game. After Brown hit two charity tosses, Kirkpatrick's three-point play cut UA's lead to seven. Junior Abby Siefker hit a free throw with 1:19 left in the period, and the Falcons trailed by a 36-30 count, but Plybon's triple put the home team on top by nine at the half.

Brown scored 10 of her team's 19 second-quarter points, going 4-of-6 from the field in that period. She had 13 total points at the half, while Gibson and Plybon had nine each.

For BGSU, both Kirkpatrick and Tibbs had six points in the half, with Tibbs scoring those six points in just four minutes.

The third quarter began with Tibbs dishing a nifty pass to Puk, who was cutting down the lane for an easy layup. BG got a stop and a defensive rebound, but Brown immediately stole the ball and hit a short jumper. A Tibbs putback cut UA's lead to seven again, but a Plybon three made it a 44-34 game.

BG looked to mount a rally, as a Myers up-and-under layup was followed by a Justinger triple from the top of the arc. Akron's advantage was just five, at 44-39, but the hosts scored the next four points. Justinger knocked down a foul-line jumper, and Tibbs hit a layup off of a Puk feed. But, Plybon had converted a driving layup, and a Gibson three-ball gave UA a 10-point lead once again.

Siefker backed her defender down, and put a shot off the square and in, but after the teams exchanged free throws, Brown's layup gave the Zips a 56-46 lead after 30 minutes.

Neither team scored for the first 80 seconds of the fourth quarter, but a steal and layup by Alex Ricketts gave the home team a 12-point lead, the largest of the game to that point. Tibbs hit a free throw, but Brown's layup was followed by a Megan Barilla three-point play, and UA's lead was 16 points, at 63-47, with 6:05 to go.

That lead reached 18 on several occasions. The Falcons attempted to rally, as Kirkpatrick fed Siefker for a layup, Konieczki found Kirkpatrick for a shot inside, and freshman Carly Santoro made an 'and-one' layup and knocked down the ensuing free throw. But, the Zips scored just enough to keep the visitors at bay.

The Zips shot 46.6 percent from the field on the day, and UA was 7-for-21 from three-point land. The Falcons shot 37.5% from the floor and 4-of-20 from the arc. BG had 26 points off the bench to the Zips' 12, and the Brown and Orange had a 9-4 advantage in second-chance points.

The Falcons, as mentioned, will play Buffalo on Monday night (March 7) as the MAC Tournament begins. Tipoff for that game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at UB's Alumni Arena. The winner will advance to Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland to face Ohio in Wednesday's (March 9) quarterfinal round, with that contest beginning at 12:00 p.m.