Broncos Rally Past BG in the Final Quarter, 67-58

Saturday, December 30

Kalamazoo, MI

2:00 PM ET

Bowling Green State University

8-4, 0-1MAC

Western Michigan

8-5, 1-0MAC

Bowling Green

Western Michigan

Carly Santoro at WMU Dec 30 2017 photo by Gary Shook, WMU

Carly Santoro pulls down one of her team-high 11 rebounds (photo by Gary Shook)

Photo by: Gary Shook, WMU Athletics

December 30, 2017 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Santoro has yet another double-double

By: KALAMAZOO, Mich. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Host Western Michigan University, after trailing the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team for much of Saturday afternoon's (Dec. 30) game, used a fourth-quarter rally to down the Falcons, 67-58. The game, the Mid-American Conference opener for both teams, was held at University Arena.

Deja Wimby scored 12 of her game-high 18 points in that fourth period for the Broncos, doing much of her damage at the free-throw line. Breanna Mobley had 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for the hosts.

For the Falcons, junior Carly Santoro had yet another double-double, with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Santoro paced the Orange and Brown in points, boards and assists, with a game-high four of the latter.

Sophomore Jane Uecker had 11 points and three steals, while classmate Caterrion Thompson had eight points off the bench.

The Falcons led for over 33 of the game's 40 minutes, but the Broncos rallied back and ultimately took the lead for good on a putback by Jasmyn Walker with under five minutes to go.

LINKS
FINAL STATISTICS: PDF
POSTGAME AUDIO: Coach Roos

QUOTING COACH ROOS
"I thought we played well for most of the game today. We got to the line, we were rebounding well, taking care of the ball and executing. Our kids were very calm and efficient for much of the game. Then, in the fourth quarter, we had consecutive turnovers, didn't get some good looks to drop, and we lost our composure a little bit. And, credit Western for being able to finish."

"This one stings, but we will go back and look at the late stages of this game and figure out how we can improve from this."

NOTES

Junior Carly Santoro had her eighth double-double in 12 games this season to date. She leads the MAC and is tied for 10th in the nation in that category.
Angela Perry made her BGSU debut in Saturday's game. The freshman checked into the contest with 3:24 left in the second quarter, and hit a jumper later in that period for her first collegiate points.
Redshirt freshman Clare Glowniak had a season-high seven points on Saturday. She entered the WMU game with a total of four points on the year.
Sophomore Jane Uecker scored 11 points, just one shy of her season and career high. Uecker had 12 points in BG's other trip to the state of Michigan this year, in the Falcons' win at Detroit Mercy on Nov. 13.
Uecker had a career-high three steals in Saturday's game at WMU.

FIRST-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

The Broncos scored just 11 seconds into the game, as Jasmyn Walker found Breanna Mobley for a jumper. But, WMU then missed nine-straight field-goal attempts over the next five-plus minutes.
Meanwhile, sophomore Jane Uecker grabbed an offensive rebound and put the ball back up and in, then took a lob from junior Carly Santoro and scored inside. When junior Sydney Lambert corralled a defensive rebound, went coast to coast and whipped a pass to senior Haley Puk for a three-pointer, the Falcons had a 7-2 lead.
Mobley snapped Western's scoring drought with an and-one layup at the 4:43 mark, but out of the day's first media timeout, her free-throw attempt was off the mark. Moments later, a Uecker steal resulted in Lambert's pull-up jumper.
That Lambert shot began BG's second 7-0 run of the quarter. Sophomore Caterrion Thompson hit a jumper from the right side, and Lambert pushed the tempo, finding Uecker with a no-look pass. Uecker was fouled and split her charity tosses, but freshman Sierra Thompson came up with the rebound and found Uecker for a layup and a 14-4 lead.
WMU scored to snap that run, but Lambert hit a step-back three from the right wing, giving the Falcons a 17-6 lead. LaTondra Brooks knocked down a pair of free-throw tries with 2.8 seconds left in the period to cut BG's advantage to nine points.
BGSU forced eight WMU turnovers in that first period, and all five Falcon starters had one steal in the quarter. The Falcons had a 7-2 lead in points off turnovers in the opening 10 minutes.

SECOND-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

The Broncos got off to a fast start in the second quarter, as Najee Smith drilled catch-and-shoot three-pointers on each of Western's first two possessions. Suddenly, BG's lead was just three points, 17-14.
But, WMU then went scoreless for over four minutes, and the Falcons went to work. Santoro grabbed an offensive rebound and kicked the ball to Uecker for a short right-side jumper, and Santoro then hit a nifty driving layup.
Redshirt freshman Clare Glowniak, less than a minute after checking into the game for the first time, swatted a Brooks layup at one end of the court, then ran the floor, was fouled in the act of shooting and split her tosses for a 22-14 BG lead.
The bank was open for Kamrin Reed, who saw her jumper go off glass and in, but Santoro found an open Glowniak for a layup, and Cecil was fouled after coming up with a rebound. Cecil made her first free throw, then missed the second, but Santoro's board kept the ball in BG's possession, and Glowniak found Cecil for a jumper and a 27-16 lead.
WMU scored five of the next seven points, cutting BG's advantage to eight points, but freshman Angela Perry took a sweet pass from Lambert and banked home a short jumper for her first points as a Falcon.
Santoro was fouled and made a pair of shots from the stripe, but Marley Hill's putback at the first-half buzzer cut BG's lead to 10 points, 33-23, at the break.
Eight different Falcons scored in the opening half, led by Uecker's nine points. Santoro had six points and game-high totals of seven rebounds and three assists in the first half.

THIRD-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

The Broncos scored on the first two possessions of the half, cutting BG's lead to 33-27, and Deja Wimby's layup at the 7:35 mark made it a four-point game. But, Uecker found Cecil inside for an and-one layup as she was fouled by Mobley. Cecil's free throw gave BG a 36-29 lead.
Moments later, Santoro's lightning-quick drive down the lane resulted in a layup, and the junior then faked a shot and found a cutting Uecker for an easy layup and a 40-30 BG lead.
But, Jordan Walker hit a three-pointer, and a Mobley layup at the 4:02 mark cut BG's advantage to 40-36.
Santoro took a pass from Lambert and hit a corner three, and Santoro then was fouled on a jumper and hit a pair of free throws for a 45-37 lead. A Caterrion Thompson driving layup was followed by Glowniak's offensive board and jumper, and Sierra Thompson's free throw with 56.7 seconds left in the period capped a 5-0 run and gave the Falcons a 50-39 lead after 30 minutes.

FOURTH-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

The Broncos scored the first five points of the quarter, with Wimby's three-point play cutting the Falcons' lead to six, 50-44, with 8:13 to go. Caterrion Thompson came up with a nifty offensive rebound in traffic and was fouled underneath the hoop. The sophomore's free throws gave BG an eight-point lead.
With 6:47 on the clock and BG up by six, a key play went in the Broncos' favor. Cecil drove and hit a jumper over Mobley as the whistle blew. The bucket was nullified due to an offensive foul call, and the foul was Cecil's fifth. Instead of an eight-point lead and a free throw upcoming, the ball went back to Western and BG's second-leading scorer on the season was out of the game.
Wimby's three-point play was followed by Brooks' transition layup, and suddenly, the Falcons' lead was down to a single point with 6:17 to go.
Neither team scored for nearly two minutes, but when Jasmyn Walker rebounded her own miss and laid the ball back up and in with 4:32 to go, the Broncos led for the first time since the game's opening minute.
Wimby split a pair of free throws, and Santoro did the same, and Western had a 54-53 lead with under four minutes to go. But, Mobley then scored the game's next six points.
Mobley hit two free throws, then scored on a second-chance layup. After a BG miss and a Western rebound, the Falcons fouled and Mobley made both shots from the stripe with 1:44 to go.
Glowniak took Puk's pass and scored inside, and after Wimby split two free throws, a pair of Santoro tosses cut Western's lead to four, 61-57, with 1:23 to go. But, the Falcons could draw no closer. The hosts went 6-for-8 from the line over the last 62 seconds of the game.

FINAL STATISTICS

Both teams had a pair of double-figure scorers, as Deja Wimby (18) and Breanna Mobley (13) scored in double digits for the hosts and Carly Santoro (14) and Jane Uecker (11) for the Falcons.
Mobley and Santoro each had a double-double on Saturday afternoon.
The Falcons shot 37 percent from the field, while WMU shot 36.1%. Both teams struggled from beyond the arc, as the squads combined for just six three-point field goals made.
BGSU's total of three successful three-pointers tied a season low, and the Falcons also had a season-low 17 long-range attempts.
WMU's total of three made treys was a season low for a BG opponent. And, the Broncos' 16.7% three-point percentage also was the lowest of the season for a Falcon foe.
The Broncos outrebounded the Falcons, 44-39, and BGSU had a season-high 21 turnovers.
WMU's totals of free-throws made (20) and attempted (30) were the highest by a BG opponent this season.

UP NEXT

The Falcons begin the 2018 calendar year and the home portion of the MAC schedule on Wednesday evening (Jan. 3), when BGSU hosts Eastern Michigan. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.
Then, the Brown and Orange will face Ball State next Saturday (Jan. 6), with that contest set to start at 2:00 p.m. at the Stroh.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS

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