Bulls Best BG, 61-50, Wednesday Night

Wednesday, January 18

Bowling Green, OH

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

5-13, 1-5MAC

Buffalo

13-4, 3-3MAC

Buffalo

Bowling Green

Photo by: Larry Clapper

January 18, 2017 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Falcons outscore Buffalo in 3rd and 4th quarters but can't overcome halftime deficit

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team outscored the University at Buffalo in both the third and fourth quarters, but a 15-point halftime deficit proved too much to overcome Wednesday night (Jan. 18). The visiting Bulls posted a 61-50 win in Mid-American Conference action at the Stroh Center.

The Falcons had a higher field-goal percentage than the Bulls, and BGSU made more free throws than UB attempted. But, Buffalo had nearly 30 more field-goal attempts than the hosts, and the visitors pulled down 12 offensive rebounds in the first half.

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UB also committed just seven turnovers while forcing the Falcons into 19, including 11 in the opening half. The Bulls capitalized on a pair of BGSU turnovers for back-to-back buckets in the final minute of the second quarter, opening up a 33-18 lead at the intermission. BG crept as close as eight points in the third period, but could narrow the margin no further.

"You can't dig yourself a hole against anyone in this conference, much less against Buffalo," said Falcon head coach Jennifer Roos. They had 20 more shot attempts than we did at the half, they had almost as many offensive rebounds as we had total rebounds, and we were turning the ball over. That's a bad combination.

"I told the team at the half that I knew we'd win the second half, and we did. But, we just can't dig ourselves a hole like that. We've got to play all 40 minutes the way we did in the second half tonight."

All 11 BGSU players in uniform found the scoresheet, led by sophomore Sydney Lambert's 10 points. Lambert also had seven rebounds vs. the Bulls. Sophomore Maddie Cole and freshman Andrea Cecil each scored seven points, while senior Abby Siefker added six.

Soph Carly Santoro had five points and tied for game honors with 10 rebounds, as the Falcons had a 43-40 advantage on the boards.

JoAnna Smith led three double-digit scorers with 18 points for the Bulls, while Stephanie Reid added 14. Theresa Onwuka had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the visitors.

After making a season-high 12 three-point field goals in Saturday's (Jan. 14) overtime loss to MAC-leading Central Michigan, the Falcons were held to a season-low two long-range makes vs. the Bulls. BGSU went just 2-of-13 from the arc. The Bulls were not much better, going just 4-for-22 from three-point land, but UB had 72 overall field-goal attempts to BG's 44, and the visitors made 26 shots from the floor to the Falcons' 16.

The Falcons took an early 3-2 lead on Wednesday night, but Cassie Oursler's layup was followed by a Smith three-pointer that put the Bulls on top by four midway through the opening quarter. Cole and Siefker worked the inside-outside game to perfection, as Cole threw the ball to Siefker in the paint, then took the senior's return pass and knocked down a three-point try with 3:40 left in the period.

But, moments later, Reid answered with a long-distance shot at the other end. Santoro made a nifty slicing drive through the paint and threaded the needle with a pinpoint pass to Siefker, and the resulting layup cut the UB lead to 10-8. But, the Bulls would score the final four points of the first quarter to take a 14-8 lead after 10 minutes.

UB scored four of the first five points of the second period before Cecil drove the lane and scored at the 6;56 mark. But, a Buffalo free throw was followed by buckets from Smith and Oursler, and the visitors' lead was 12 points, at 23-11, midway through the quarter.

Cecil faked a three-point try and scored on a baseline drive, and two Santoro free throws cut the Bulls' lead to eight. BGSU went 16-of-24 at the free-throw line, while UB was just 5-for-14 from the stripe on Wednesday night.

The UB lead was still eight points after a nifty double-clutch layup from Cecil, but the Bulls then ended the half on an 8-1 run. Smith poked the ball away from a BG player from behind, ran the floor and took a return pass for an open layup with 49 seconds left, and after another Falcon turnover, Summer Hemphill took Gabi Bade's inbounds pass and hit a short jumper as time expired in the period. UB had a 33-18 lead at the break.

The third period saw both teams go without a point until Cole grabbed an offensive rebound in traffic and put the ball back up and in. Then, Lambert corralled a defensive rebound, brought the ball across midcourt and fed Siefker for a quick foul-line jumper. The UB lead was down to 11.

But, Reid scored inside, and a steal led to a transition bucket by Onwuka, restoring UB's 15-point advantage. The Falcons answered, as Santoro fed Lambert for a three-pointer from in front of the BG bench, and Siefker found Cole in the paint. Cole, facing away from the basket, faked one way, spun the other way, and found herself wide open for an easy layup that cut the Falcons' deficit to just 10 points at 37-27.

After a UB timeout, Reid hit a triple, but BG made three free throws, and a driving layup by junior Rachel Myers made it a 40-32 game with 2:11 left in the quarter. But, the visitors went on a 7-0 run, with Smith scoring the last five of those seven points, and her layup gave the Bulls a 15-point advantage in the final minute of the period. The Falcons could draw no closer than 11 points over the game's final 10-plus minutes.

Buffalo had advantages of 15-3 in points off turnovers and 16-10 in second-chance points on the night. The BGSU bench outscored the Bulls' reserves by a 25-7 count, and all 11 Falcons to see action in the game had at least one rebound in addition to at least one point.

The Falcons will be back in action at the Stroh on Saturday (Jan. 21), facing Ball State University in the first half of a doubleheader that also sees the BGSU men host BSU. The women's game begins at noon, with the first 500 fans receiving a free BGSU women's basketball T-shirt. The men's game is scheduled to begin at approximately 2:30 p.m.