Falcons Come Through in the Clutch, Downing Akron, 62-58

Saturday, January 7

Akron, OH

2:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

5-10, 1-2MAC

Akron

7-7, 0-3MAC

Bowling Green

Akron

Andrea Cecil v Ohio - Dec. 31 2016 - Christine Nelson photo

Andrea Cecil hit a key field goal, then blocked back-to-back shots in the final minute of play

Photo by: Christine Nelson, BGSU Marketing & Communications

January 07, 2017 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Tunstall's 3, Cecil's jumper keep the Zips at bay down the stretch

By: AKRON, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Big buckets by senior Ashley Tunstall and freshman Andrea Cecil fueled the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team's fourth-quarter effort, as the Falcons picked up a 62-58 win over the University of Akron Saturday afternoon (Jan. 7). The Mid-American Conference game was held at UA's James A. Rhodes Arena.

The Falcons (5-10, 1-2 MAC) got 12 points from both Tunstall and junior Carly Santoro, pacing a balanced offensive effort. Junior Haley Puk scored nine points and senior Abby Siefker eight in the win.

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Tunstall was a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range, with her third trey giving the Falcons a 58-51 lead with 2:20 remaining in the game. The Zips responded with a pair of buckets to get within three, but Cecil hit a key jumper with 35.3 seconds to go, then blocked back-to-back shots by the Zips' Hannah Plybon at the other end of the court on the next possession. Akron (7-7, 0-3) split a pair of free throws with 13.4 seconds to go, but BG made a pair of free throws to take a 62-56 lead before the hosts hit a layup as the final horn sounded.

"Our kids did a great job of playing from start to finish today," said Falcon head coach Jennifer Roos. "We've had games where things went off-kilter, to say the least, but today we put together four quarters against a team that is very difficult to prepare for. Our kids responded, made a lot of shots late in the shot clock in the second half and played through some foul trouble. There were so many storylines in this game, but in the end, our team did what we asked them to do.

"The last five things we wrote on the board (in the locker room) were: we wanted to play smart, we wanted to play together, we wanted to play with confidence, we wanted to play hard and we wanted to play for each other. We told them, 'if you can do those things, you can get the result that you want.' They prevailed today against a team that can out-execute anybody in this league."

Alex Ricketts led the Zips with a game-high 17 points, while Greta Burry added 10. Plybon scored nine, but the Falcons held the Zips' leading scorer more than 10 points under her seasonal average. Plybon, who entered Saturday's contest averaging 19.1 points per game, went just 4-for-21 from the field against the BG defense.

Plybon did have a game-high 12 rebounds, but four Falcon starters had six or more boards as BG held a 46-42 rebounding advantage in the win.

The Falcons never trailed on Saturday, and BGSU took a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter. But, the Zips scored the first three points of the period, beginning with a layup by Shayna Harmon just eight seconds in. Santoro hit a jumper, but a layup by Ricketts was quickly followed by a steal and bucket by Shaunay Edmonds. The Falcons' lead was down to five points, and head coach Jennifer Roos used a timeout.

A BG shot was blocked on the next possession, however, and after the teams each got a defensive stop, Burry's basket with 7:47 to go cut the Falcons' lead to 50-47.

Puk took a pass from Tunstall and hit a corner three -- one of eight three-pointers for the Falcons in the win -- and BG's lead was back up to six points with 6:04 remaining. Edmonds answered with a layup, but after a BG miss, Tunstall came up with a huge layup underneath the basket, and the senior muscled a shot up and in with 5:21 to go.

But, UA answered with a Megan Sefcik jumper, and after BG missed a foul at the other end, Siefker was whistled for her fifth foul as she battled for the rebound with 3:11 to go. The ball went back over to the Zips, but the BG defense got a stop.

On the next possession, the Falcons used nearly all of the 30-second shot clock, before Santoro found Tunstall in front of the BGSU bench. The senior, who was already 2-for-2 from three-point range on the day, fired a high-arching shot that found nothing but net. The rain-making triple gave the Falcons a 58-51 advantage with 2:20 to go, and the Zips used a timeout.

Out of the timeout, Plybon got a layup to drop, and after a BG miss on the next possession, Plybon lobbed the ball inside to Burry for a layup, cutting the Falcons' lead to three points with 1:06 to go.

But, on BG's next trip down the floor, Cecil received a pass on the left wing, and the freshman faked a three-point shot, got her defender in the air, took a few dribbles and knocked down a 10-foot jumper with 35.3 seconds remaining. The Falcons' lead was back up to five points, 60-55, and the Zips used another timeout.

The next possession saw Cecil block not one, but two Plybon layup attempts, with the ball going out of bounds after the second rejection with 21.7 seconds left. BG forced an Edmonds miss, but Cecil was called for a foul with 13.4 seconds left, and Burry split a pair of free throws.

The Falcons called a timeout to advance the ball to halfcourt, and the Zips -- who had been whistled for just one foul during the fourth quarter -- quickly committed foul after foul. Four times, BG successfully inbounded the ball, and each time, the hosts fouled the player receiving the pass. The fourth such foul came with 10.5 seconds left, sending Cecil to the line. She missed her first free-throw try, but made the second for a five-point BG lead.

Akron quickly raced downcourt, but as she neared the end line, Edmonds lost the handle and the ball went out of bounds with 4.0 seconds left. BG inbounded the ball, Tunstall was fouled and the senior split two charity tosses. Edmonds hit a layup at the buzzer, but for the Zips, it was too little, too late.

On the strength of a 9-for-18 shooting performance in that fourth quarter, the Zips had a slim advantage in field-goal percentage. UA shot 33.8% for the day, compared to 32.8% for the Falcons. But, BGSU made eight triples to the home team's four, and the Brown and Orange went 12-for-15 (80%) at the free-throw line, while Akron was just 8-for-16 (50%) at the stripe.

The game was tied five times, all in the first quarter. Tunstall and Siefker each scored six points and blocked a shot in that period, and BG took the lead for good when sophomore Sydney Lambert found Puk for a transition three-pointer from the left wing with 1:54 to go. Santoro's free throws in the final minute gave the Falcons a 17-12 lead after 10 minutes.

The Zips cut the lead to three points on two occasions early in the second period, but Lambert fed Siefker for a nice turnaround shot off glass, and moments later, Siefker drove across the paint and kicked the ball to Lambert for a three-ball from the right side, giving the Falcons a 26-19 lead.

Lambert's triple began an 8-0 run for the Falcons. Freshman Caterrion Thompson rebounded a teammate's missed shot and hit an 'and-one' layup and the ensuing free throw with 3:09 left in the half. Then, junior Rachel Myers knocked down a floater, and BG's lead was 31-19.

A Ricketts three with 1:01 left in the period snapped a scoreless streak of 4:36 for the Zips, and Caitlin Vari's free throws with 45 seconds to go cut BG's lead to seven, but Santoro's long three-pointer gave the Brown and Orange a 34-24 lead at the half.

The Falcons held the Zips to just a 25% (9-for-36) success rate from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.

Seven different Falcons hit one field goal apiece in the second quarter, as BG outscored UA by a 17-12 count for the second-straight period. Ricketts had eight of the Zips' 12 points in that second stanza.

UA scored the first four points of the third quarter, but Puk split a pair of shots at the line, and Santoro came up with a nifty steal in front of the Akron bench, and headed downcourt for a layup and a 37-28 lead. After Vari split a pair of tosses, Myers hit two shots from the stripe, and Lambert did the same, giving the Falcons a 41-29 lead.

Harmon scored inside for the Zips, but Lambert came up with a defensive rebound, and with the Falcons off and running, the sophomore fired a nifty bounce pass to a wide-open Myers for a layup and another 12-point advantage.

In the final minute of the period, Siefker kicked the ball to Santoro for a three-pointer from well beyond the arc, giving BG a 12-point lead once again. Burry's layup in the final seconds of the period cut that lead to 48-38 and set the stage for the final 10 minutes.

In addition to her eight points, Siefker had a team-leading nine rebounds along with three assists, a block and a steal. Santoro had eight boards, a block and a steal of her own, while Lambert had seven boards and three assists.

Tunstall's six rebounds included a BG-leading three offensive boards, and she had a steal and a block as well.

Myers scored six points off the bench, while Thompson had five points and five rebounds in seven minutes of action. Cecil's three points all came in the final minute of the game, and she had a career-high three blocked shots, matching her total for the entire season to date.

"We got contributions from everybody today," said Roos. "Every member of the team was involved in this win. We got in some foul trouble and used a few lineups that we've had in practice, but haven't seen in a game. I thought our players really stepped up. It was just a fantastic effort by this group, and things really came together at both ends of the floor."

The Falcons return to the road to face Western Michigan on Wednesday (Jan. 11), before hosting Central Michigan next Saturday (Jan. 14) as part of a Falcon hoops doubleheader at the Stroh Center.