Second-Half Scoring Surge Not Enough as Falcons Fall, 89-76

Wednesday, January 4

Bowling Green, OH

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

4-10, 0-2MAC

Northern Illinois

9-4, 2-0MAC

Northern Illinois

Bowling Green

Ashley Tunstall v NIU - Jan 4 2017 - Larry Clapper photo

Ashley Tunstall set new BG career bests in points, rebounds & assists (Larry Clapper photo)

Photo by: Larry Clapper

January 04, 2017 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BGSU scores 52 points after halftime; four Falcons hit double digits in scoring

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team scored 52 second-half points, but it was not enough to offset a cold-shooting first half, as visiting Northern Illinois University pulled out an 89-76 win Wednesday night (Jan. 4). The Mid-American Conference matchup was played at the Stroh Center.

Ally Lehman had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead five double-figure scorers for the Huskies (9-4, 2-0 MAC), who entered the game ranked second in the nation in scoring offense. Janae Poisson had 17 points off the bench, while Courtney Woods added 16.

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For the Falcons (4-10, 0-2 MAC), sophomore Carly Santoro had 18 points and nine rebounds, while senior Ashley Tunstall had 17 points, 12 rebounds and four assists. Tunstall's double-double was the first of her Falcon career, and her point, rebound and assist totals all represented BG career bests.

Sophomore Sydney Lambert (14) and junior Haley Puk (13) also scored in double digits for the Falcons, who held a 55-45 rebounding advantage and went 8-of-18 from three-point land in the second half. Both Lambert and Puk hit three long-distance shots on the night.

Cassidy Glenn had 12 points and Kelly Smith 11 to round out NIU's double-digit scorers.

BGSU scored a season-high 42 points in the paint, and the Falcons had a 19-6 advantage in second-chance points after pulling down 19 offensive rebounds. Tunstall led the way with eight offensive boards.

The Falcons struggled mightily during a first half that saw BG shoot just 25.7 percent from the field and go 0-of-12 from three-point range. The Falcons trailed by 22 points at the intermission, but after scoring just 24 points in the first 20 minutes, BGSU opened the second half with 16 points in under five minutes to cut the NIU lead to eight.

The Falcons shot 58.8% in the third period, going 10-of-17 from the floor and 5-for-8 from long range. BG went 20-for-41 (48.8%) in the second half, including an 8-for-18 three-point performance.

"It's Jekyll and Hyde," said BGSU head coach Jennifer Roos. "I haven't seen this team play like that in the first half this year, and I haven't seen our team play like they did in the second half. We've got to figure out which team we want to be, because I think we can be like that second-half team more often. But, the Jekyll and Hyde play has to end.

"With that said, I'm proud that we put up 52 points in the second half, we outrebounded that team by 10, and we actually made more 3's than that team did as well. We did a lot of good things in the second half, but like I said, that Jekyll and Hyde effect took place. Shots weren't dropping and heads were falling in the first half, but after a gut-check at halftime they came out and played like they can and played like they should. I have no doubt they will continue to play like that from now on."

Glenn scored the game's first six points, and after senior Abby Siefker got the Falcons on the board with a driving one-hander, Northern extended the lead to 10-3 on a Lehman layup midway through the quarter. The Huskies' first-quarter lead grew as high as 12 points on a Woods three-pointer with 2:11 to go, but the Falcons scored six of the last eight points of the period. Santoro's layup in the final seconds cut BG's deficit to 22-14.

Tunstall's three-point play early in the second quarter got the Falcons within seven, but after the teams traded free throws, Woods hit another long-range shot, and buckets by Lehman and Mikayla Voigt made it a 32-18 game. Senior Rachel Konieczki stopped the bleeding momentarily with a nifty driving layup out of the second-period media timeout, but a quick 8-0 run gave the visitors a 40-20 lead with 3:06 left before halftime.

That eight-point run began and ended with triples by Woods. She went 4-of-13 from long distance on the night, including a 4-for-8 performance in the opening period. In fact, Woods scored all eight points during that run.

Konieczki converted another layup, but Renee Sladek hit a pair of shots to give the visitors a game-high 22-point lead, 46-24, at the half.

BG turned the ball over on the first two possessions of the third quarter, but after a Tunstall steal, the senior fed Puk for a left-wing three-pointer, and the Stroh Center crowd perked up.

Lambert lobbed the ball inside to Tunstall for a layup, and when Lambert went coast to coast for a layup of her own, the Falcons had a quick 7-0 run, and NIU's lead was down to 15. Smith hit a layup for the visitors, but Siefker fed Santoro for a three-ball from the left corner, and Tunstall grabbed an offensive rebound, was fouled and split a pair of free throws.

Tunstall missed the second charity toss on that trip, but Santoro came up with the offensive rebound, and that led to a sequence where the sophomore's nifty bounce pass found a wide-open Tunstall for a layup. With 5:57 left in the period, Northern's lead had been cut to 11, at 48-37.

Lambert came up with a steal, and the point guard fed Santoro for a corner three at the 5:24 mark. Suddenly, the BG run was 9-0, the deficit was down to eight points and the Huskies used a timeout.

Back-to-back buckets by Smith and Poisson put the visitors back up by 12, and after Tunstall scored inside, Poisson responded with a jumper. Tunstall grabbed one of her eight offensive rebounds and kicked the ball out to Lambert for a three-pointer, and after a putback by Smith, Lambert knocked down a triple try with 1:15 left in the period, then hit a driving layup with 45 seconds to go. The latter shot put the Falcons down by just six points, 56-50, after three quarters.

Northern, however, scored seven quick points to begin the fourth quarter, including five by Poisson. Her three-pointer with 8:33 on the clock made it a 63-50 game, and when Lehman's jumper rattled in with eight minutes to go, it was a 9-0 run and a 15-point lead for the Huskies.

Puk answered with a long-range shot from the top of the arc, but the visitors got a pair of second-chance buckets to extend the lead to 16. The margin reached 18 on a Lehman free throw with 4:40 left.

Following that charity toss, BG went on a 12-2 run to cut the NIU lead to 75-67 with 2:24 remaining. Santoro and Puk hit layups, and freshman Andrea Cecil scored inside with 3:46 left. Puk converted a crowd-pleasing reverse layup and was fouled with 2:30 to go. Her free-throw try did not drop, but Tunstall grabbed the rebound and was fouled. The senior made both of her shots to get the deficit down to eight. But, BG could draw no closer.

Beginning with a pair of free throws by Voigt with 2:18 left, the Huskies went a perfect 14-for-14 at the line to end the game. Northern was 17-of-20 from the stripe in the fourth quarter and finished 20-for-25 on the night. Lambert and Puk hit three-point tries in the late going, but the visitors salted away the win at the stripe.

For the game, NIU shot 41.9% from the field, while BG had a field-goal percentage of 38.2%. The teams combined for a total of 150 field-goal attempts on the evening.

Cecil, Konieczki and sophomore Maddie Cole all had four points for the Falcons off the bench. Siefker had eight rebounds, while Lambert had six boards and three assists in addition to her 14 points.

Lehman, one of just two players in the nation with two triple-doubles this year to date. Had a game-high seven assists to go along with her double-double.

The Falcons now hit the road for the next two games, beginning Saturday (Jan. 7) at Akron. That contest will begin at 2:00 p.m. at UA's Rhodes Arena. After a Jan. 11 game at Western Michigan, BG will return home for three-straight games, beginning with a Jan. 14 contests vs. Central Michigan. The CMU game, the second half of a Falcon hoops doubleheader, is slated to begin at 2:30 p.m. at the Stroh Center.