Bowling Green State University Athletics
Saturday, February 11
Toledo, OH
7:00 PM
Bowling Green State University
6-18 (2-10MAC)
59
at
74
Toledo
16-7 (7-5MAC)
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BGSU
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59
Toledo
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Abby Siefker led the Falcons with 12 points at UT Saturday night (Larry Clapper photo)
Photo by: Larry Clapper
Slow Start Too Much for Falcons to Overcome in 74-59 Loss at UT
February 11, 2017 | Women's Basketball
Rockets shoot 54% in first quarter to take early lead in latest 'Battle of I-75'
The University of Toledo got off to a strong start Saturday night (Feb. 11), taking an early lead en route to a 74-59 win over the Bowling Green State University basketball team in the latest round of the 'Battle of I-75' inside John F. Savage Arena.
The Rockets never trailed after scoring the game's first eight points, and UT shot nearly 54 percent from the field in the first quarter, taking a 20-8 lead after 10 minutes of play. The hosts extended the lead to a game-high 20 points late in the second quarter before taking a 17-point lead into the half.
LINKS
FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
POSTGAME AUDIO: Puk & Coach Roos
PHOTO GALLERY: Photos by Larry Clapper
The Falcons began the third quarter on a 9-0 run to get within single digits, but the Brown and Orange could draw no closer. UT extended the lead back out to 16 points later in the period, and the margin stayed in the low-to-mid teens throughout the entire fourth period. BG got as close as 10 points with two-and-a-half minutes to go, but UT went 9-of-12 at the free-throw line in the remaining 147 seconds.
Senior Abby Siefker led the Falcons with 12 points, and tied for the BG lead with seven rebounds on the night. Both senior Ashley Tunstall and junior Haley Puk had 11 points for the visitors, while sophomore Sydney Lambert added nine.
For the Rockets, Mikaela Boyd had game-high totals of 18 points and 11 rebounds, with Janice Monakana adding 17 points and seven boards. Monakana scored just two points in the first half, but had 13 of UT's 20 third-quarter points. In fact, after going scoreless for more than half of the third quarter, Monakana scored 13-straight UT points over the final 4:39 of the period.
"It's always fun coming here, and it's always fun playing in this rivalry," said BGSU head coach Jennifer Roos. "We got off to a slow start, but credit their aggressiveness. We got punched in the face, but our kids didn't give up.
"We came out after halftime and won the second half. We outscored them in the second half, we won the rebound category in the second  half, we kept our composure better in the second half, and we communicated better in the second half. In this type of game, you're going to have peaks and valleys, and you have to try not to get too high or too low. But, we can't afford to dig a hole as big as we did in the first half."
UT took an 8-0 lead, forcing the Falcons into a timeout with 6:34 left in the opening period. Kaayla McIntyre converted a pair of layups in that time, and Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott's layup capped the game-opening eight-point run. Siefker got the Falcons on the board, backing McIntyre down the lane and hitting an up-and-under layup, and after Boyd hit a layup, Lambert answered with a three-pointer from the left wing. BGSU trailed by just five, but that was as close as the visitors would get.
Bravo-Harriott, who had 10 points on perfect 4-for-4 shooting, connected from beyond the arc, and after Tunstall hit a long two-pointer, Bravo-Harriott scored inside for a 15-7 UT lead. That bucket began a 7-1 UT run to end the quarter, with Mariella Santucci's free throws giving the hosts a 20-8 lead after 10 minutes.
Senior Rachel Konieczki split a pair of charity tosses for the Falcons in the opening minute of the second quarter, but back-to-back baskets by Boyd gave the Rockets a 26-11 lead three minutes into the period. Junior Rachel Myers hit a right-side jumper, but Sarah St-Fort's layup was followed by a pair of Olivia Cunningham shots from the stripe. When Santucci hit a layup, UT had a 32-13 lead.
Puk took a Lambert pass and drained a three-point shot from the left wing, but hoops by Sophie Reecher and Cunningham gave Toledo a 20-point lead, the largest of the night, with 3:42 left in the half. Puk, however, was in the midst of scoring eight-straight BG points. She took a handoff from sophomore Maddie Cole and hit a rainmaker from the top of the arc, then nailed a nifty spinning shot in the paint. BG was within 15 points, but Michaela Rasmussen's layup marked the only points by either team over the final two and a half minutes of the second quarter, and the Rockets took a 38-21 lead into the intermission.
BGSU held the Midnight Blue and Gold without a point for the last 1:37 of the first half and the first 3:44 of the second. In the meantime, the Brown and Orange scored nine-straight points to start the third quarter. Siefker's inbounds pass found Lambert for a corner three, and Puk's entry pass to Tunstall resulted in a reach-in foul on the Rockets, with Tunstall splitting her tosses. After the missed shot, however, sophomore Carly Santoro corralled the rebound as Boyd crashed into her, and BG maintained possession. Siefker was fouled by McIntyre and hit two shots to cut the Rockets' lead to 11. Then, Siefker grabbed a teammate's miss and laid the ball back up and in. BG was down by nine, and after a Boyd turnover, freshman Caterrion Thompson's free throw made it a 38-30 game.
Rasmussen broke the Rockets' scoring drought of nearly five and a half minutes, but Tunstall scored inside to cut the Falcons' deficit to eight points once again. But, Boyd's three-point play began a quick 5-0 UT run, and Monakana's driving layup gave the hosts a 47-33 lead. Tunstall knocked down a three-point try, but Monakana got a layup, then a triple try, to go, and the lead was back out to 16. The margin fluctuated between 13 and 16 points over the remainder of the quarter.
In the fourth period, Santoro put back her own miss in traffic to open the scoring, then jumped a route, stole a UT pass and hit a layup with 7:48 to go. Both times, her bucket cut the UT lead to 12 points, and after the second hoop, Siefker came up with a steal at the defensive end. But, as the Falcon senior looked to fire a quick outlet pass, Boyd knocked the ball away from behind, grabbed the loose ball and hit an and-one layup. The three-point play gave the Rockets a 63-48 lead.
Siefker responded with a basket inside, and after a Lambert layup at the 3:29 mark, the sophomore hit two shots from the stripe with 2:50 to go. But, the second was waved off due to a BG lane violation.
Undaunted, the Falcons forced a Monakana turnover, and Siefker's layup cut the deficit to 10 points with 2:34 on the clock. But, the Falcons could not creep any closer. Thompson hit a jumper with 1:54 remaining, and Santoro found Tunstall for a layup 30 seconds later, but the Rockets sealed the deal at the free-throw line.
On the night, UT went 19-of-25 (76%) at the stripe, including a 10-for-15 performance in the fourth quarter.
The Rockets had a 40-24 advantage in points in the paint, and UT also enjoyed a 45-34 rebounding lead. Lambert and Puk each connected twice from three-point range, but the Falcons were just 5-of-26 from long distance. BG held UT to a 3-for-13 effort from beyond the arc, with Monakana making two of the team's three successful shots from downtown.
The Falcons now prepare for a Wednesday (Feb. 15) matchup with Western Michigan. That game will begin at 7:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.
BGSU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
REMAINING REGULAR-SEASON SCHEDULE
Wed., Feb. 15 – WESTERN MICHIGAN, 7:00
Sat., Feb. 18 – at Miami, 2:00
Wed., Feb. 22 – KENT STATE, 7:00
Sat., Feb. 25 – at Buffalo, 1:00
Wed., March 1 – at Ohio, 7:00
Sat., March 4 – MIAMI, 12:00
Â
HOME games at Stroh Center
All times are p.m. and Eastern
Schedule subject to change – check BGSUFalcons.com for the most up-to-date schedule
The Rockets never trailed after scoring the game's first eight points, and UT shot nearly 54 percent from the field in the first quarter, taking a 20-8 lead after 10 minutes of play. The hosts extended the lead to a game-high 20 points late in the second quarter before taking a 17-point lead into the half.
LINKS
FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
POSTGAME AUDIO: Puk & Coach Roos
PHOTO GALLERY: Photos by Larry Clapper
The Falcons began the third quarter on a 9-0 run to get within single digits, but the Brown and Orange could draw no closer. UT extended the lead back out to 16 points later in the period, and the margin stayed in the low-to-mid teens throughout the entire fourth period. BG got as close as 10 points with two-and-a-half minutes to go, but UT went 9-of-12 at the free-throw line in the remaining 147 seconds.
Senior Abby Siefker led the Falcons with 12 points, and tied for the BG lead with seven rebounds on the night. Both senior Ashley Tunstall and junior Haley Puk had 11 points for the visitors, while sophomore Sydney Lambert added nine.
For the Rockets, Mikaela Boyd had game-high totals of 18 points and 11 rebounds, with Janice Monakana adding 17 points and seven boards. Monakana scored just two points in the first half, but had 13 of UT's 20 third-quarter points. In fact, after going scoreless for more than half of the third quarter, Monakana scored 13-straight UT points over the final 4:39 of the period.
"It's always fun coming here, and it's always fun playing in this rivalry," said BGSU head coach Jennifer Roos. "We got off to a slow start, but credit their aggressiveness. We got punched in the face, but our kids didn't give up.
"We came out after halftime and won the second half. We outscored them in the second half, we won the rebound category in the second  half, we kept our composure better in the second half, and we communicated better in the second half. In this type of game, you're going to have peaks and valleys, and you have to try not to get too high or too low. But, we can't afford to dig a hole as big as we did in the first half."
UT took an 8-0 lead, forcing the Falcons into a timeout with 6:34 left in the opening period. Kaayla McIntyre converted a pair of layups in that time, and Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott's layup capped the game-opening eight-point run. Siefker got the Falcons on the board, backing McIntyre down the lane and hitting an up-and-under layup, and after Boyd hit a layup, Lambert answered with a three-pointer from the left wing. BGSU trailed by just five, but that was as close as the visitors would get.
Bravo-Harriott, who had 10 points on perfect 4-for-4 shooting, connected from beyond the arc, and after Tunstall hit a long two-pointer, Bravo-Harriott scored inside for a 15-7 UT lead. That bucket began a 7-1 UT run to end the quarter, with Mariella Santucci's free throws giving the hosts a 20-8 lead after 10 minutes.
Senior Rachel Konieczki split a pair of charity tosses for the Falcons in the opening minute of the second quarter, but back-to-back baskets by Boyd gave the Rockets a 26-11 lead three minutes into the period. Junior Rachel Myers hit a right-side jumper, but Sarah St-Fort's layup was followed by a pair of Olivia Cunningham shots from the stripe. When Santucci hit a layup, UT had a 32-13 lead.
Puk took a Lambert pass and drained a three-point shot from the left wing, but hoops by Sophie Reecher and Cunningham gave Toledo a 20-point lead, the largest of the night, with 3:42 left in the half. Puk, however, was in the midst of scoring eight-straight BG points. She took a handoff from sophomore Maddie Cole and hit a rainmaker from the top of the arc, then nailed a nifty spinning shot in the paint. BG was within 15 points, but Michaela Rasmussen's layup marked the only points by either team over the final two and a half minutes of the second quarter, and the Rockets took a 38-21 lead into the intermission.
BGSU held the Midnight Blue and Gold without a point for the last 1:37 of the first half and the first 3:44 of the second. In the meantime, the Brown and Orange scored nine-straight points to start the third quarter. Siefker's inbounds pass found Lambert for a corner three, and Puk's entry pass to Tunstall resulted in a reach-in foul on the Rockets, with Tunstall splitting her tosses. After the missed shot, however, sophomore Carly Santoro corralled the rebound as Boyd crashed into her, and BG maintained possession. Siefker was fouled by McIntyre and hit two shots to cut the Rockets' lead to 11. Then, Siefker grabbed a teammate's miss and laid the ball back up and in. BG was down by nine, and after a Boyd turnover, freshman Caterrion Thompson's free throw made it a 38-30 game.
Rasmussen broke the Rockets' scoring drought of nearly five and a half minutes, but Tunstall scored inside to cut the Falcons' deficit to eight points once again. But, Boyd's three-point play began a quick 5-0 UT run, and Monakana's driving layup gave the hosts a 47-33 lead. Tunstall knocked down a three-point try, but Monakana got a layup, then a triple try, to go, and the lead was back out to 16. The margin fluctuated between 13 and 16 points over the remainder of the quarter.
In the fourth period, Santoro put back her own miss in traffic to open the scoring, then jumped a route, stole a UT pass and hit a layup with 7:48 to go. Both times, her bucket cut the UT lead to 12 points, and after the second hoop, Siefker came up with a steal at the defensive end. But, as the Falcon senior looked to fire a quick outlet pass, Boyd knocked the ball away from behind, grabbed the loose ball and hit an and-one layup. The three-point play gave the Rockets a 63-48 lead.
Siefker responded with a basket inside, and after a Lambert layup at the 3:29 mark, the sophomore hit two shots from the stripe with 2:50 to go. But, the second was waved off due to a BG lane violation.
Undaunted, the Falcons forced a Monakana turnover, and Siefker's layup cut the deficit to 10 points with 2:34 on the clock. But, the Falcons could not creep any closer. Thompson hit a jumper with 1:54 remaining, and Santoro found Tunstall for a layup 30 seconds later, but the Rockets sealed the deal at the free-throw line.
On the night, UT went 19-of-25 (76%) at the stripe, including a 10-for-15 performance in the fourth quarter.
The Rockets had a 40-24 advantage in points in the paint, and UT also enjoyed a 45-34 rebounding lead. Lambert and Puk each connected twice from three-point range, but the Falcons were just 5-of-26 from long distance. BG held UT to a 3-for-13 effort from beyond the arc, with Monakana making two of the team's three successful shots from downtown.
The Falcons now prepare for a Wednesday (Feb. 15) matchup with Western Michigan. That game will begin at 7:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.
BGSU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
REMAINING REGULAR-SEASON SCHEDULE
Wed., Feb. 15 – WESTERN MICHIGAN, 7:00
Sat., Feb. 18 – at Miami, 2:00
Wed., Feb. 22 – KENT STATE, 7:00
Sat., Feb. 25 – at Buffalo, 1:00
Wed., March 1 – at Ohio, 7:00
Sat., March 4 – MIAMI, 12:00
Â
HOME games at Stroh Center
All times are p.m. and Eastern
Schedule subject to change – check BGSUFalcons.com for the most up-to-date schedule
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Team Stats
BGSU
TOLEDO
FG%
.323
.464
3FG%
.192
.231
FT%
.667
.760
RB
34
45
TO
14
16
STL
8
4
Game Leaders
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
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/ Women's Basketball
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/ Women's BasketballC
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