Broncos Erase Halftime Deficit, Top Falcons, 74-53

Wednesday, February 15

Bowling Green, OH

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

6-19, 2-11MAC

Western Michigan

15-9, 6-7MAC

Western Michigan

Bowling Green

Huddle - Dec 31 2016 v Ohio - Christine Nelson

Photo by: Christine Nelson, BGSU Marketing & Communications

February 15, 2017 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

WMU shoots 62.5% in second half

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Western Michigan University shot nearly 63 percent from the floor in the second half, erasing a halftime deficit and posting a 74-53 win over the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team Wednesday night (Feb. 15) at the Stroh Center.

Deja Wimby led the way for Western, with game-high totals of 23 points, 11 rebounds and five steals. Meredith Shipman scored 18 points, including 15 after halftime, for the visitors.

For the Falcons, sophomore Carly Santoro scored 11 points and senior Ashley Tunstall 10.

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The Falcons led for nearly all of the first half, and took a 32-30 lead into the break. BG led by 11 points midway through the first quarter, and the Brown and Orange enjoyed a seven-point lead on several occasions in the second period, but the Broncos scored the final five points of the first half to get within just two.

In the third quarter, a Wimby layup with three-and-a-half minutes gone in the period gave WMU the lead for good. And, with the Falcons within two points after freshman Caterrion Thompson's jumper with 2:44 left, the visitors scored the final nine points of the quarter to take a 50-39 lead after 30 minutes. Five of those nine points came at the free-throw line.

The Broncos scored 13 of the first 15 points in the final quarter to take a 22-point lead, the largest of the game. Western went 32-plus minutes without making a three-point field goal in the game, but Shipman made three triples in a span of just under two minutes in the fourth period, with her third trey giving the visitors a 63-41 lead.

Thompson and sophomores Maddie Cole and Sydney Lambert each scored six points for the Falcons, while junior Haley Puk had five and senior Abby Siefker four. Puk had a pair of blocked shots, while Siefker led the home team with nine rebounds and three assists.

"I thought we came out and took control of the tempo in the first half," said Falcon head coach Jennifer Roos. "We executed well, rebounded well at the defensive end and got them out of rhythm a little bit.

"In the last two minutes of the second quarter, we had three rushed shots in my opinion, and instead of going into the half with a lead of five points or more, their late spurt gave them momentum as we went into the half up only two.

"Then, they went 15-of-24 in the second half, and we struggled to score at the offensive end, and struggled to stop them in the paint."

On National Girls & Women in Sports Day at BGSU, the Falcons broke out to an early lead. The Falcons scored on each of the first two possessions of the night, with Puk feeding Siefker for a right-side jumper and Lambert knocking down a three-point try after Siefker's offensive rebound. BG took an 8-4 lead when Siefker kicked the ball to Santoro for a left-wing three, and that triple began a 10-0 run for the Falcons.

Siefker made a nifty move across the paint and banked home a shot, and Lambert found Tunstall for a trey from the right corner. When Tunstall made a pair of nifty moves of her own and converted a driving layup, BGSU's lead was 15-4 midway through the period. But, the Broncos would bounce back.

Wimby's layup began a 7-0 run for the visitors, with , but freshman Andrea Cecil and Cole each hit two free-throw attempts in the final minute of the first quarter, giving the Falcons a 19-13 lead after 10 minutes. Nine of WMU's 13 points in that quarter came off of BG turnovers.

Santoro hit a long two-pointer early in the second quarter, then knocked down a shot in the paint to give BGSU a 23-16 lead, but Western scored the next five points, with a LaTondra Brooks jumper cutting the Falcons' lead to just two. Santoro fed Puk for a triple, then knocked down a sweet pull-up jumper from the right side, and it was 28-21 with 4:32 left before the half.

WMU hit a pair of shots, but Cole got to the line and converted both tosses, and Santoro's layup at the 2:22 mark made it a 32-25 BG lead. But, Breanna Mobley's free throws began a 5-0 run for the Broncos, who trailed by a 32-30 score at the intermission.

Lambert knocked down a three-pointer early in the third period, and Puk answered a Mobley bucket with one of her own, giving the Brown and Orange a 37-34 lead with 6:33 left in the quarter. But, Wimby's layup began a stretch of seven-straight points for the Broncos, which was the start of a larger 18-2 run that extended into the fourth period.

Wimby scored the first six points in that run, and after Thompson's aforementioned layup with 2:44 to go, Wimby scored the final four points of the quarter to give the Broncos a 50-39 lead after 30 minutes. Shipman opened the fourth period with a layup, and after Tunstall scored inside, Wimby's free throws were followed by back-to-back-to-back Shipman triples. Shipman scored 13 points in that fourth period, and her third triple gave the Broncos a 63-41 lead with 5:40 to go.

Thompson hit a jumper in the paint, then knocked down another shot, and Tunstall's three-point play cut BG's deficit to 15, at 63-48, with 4:22 on the clock. But, BG could get no closer, as Mobley's layup was followed by two tosses from Shipman with 3:18 remaining. WMU kept the lead in the upper teens until Kamrin Reed hit a corner three with 2.4 seconds left to provide the final margin.

The Broncos shot 49.1% on the night, while holding BGSU to a 36.5% success rate. The Brown and Orange went 5-for-18 from three-point land, with Lambert hitting a pair of long-range shots, while WMU was 4-of-12 from the arc, including a 4-of-6 fourth-quarter performance. Overall, the Broncos were 8-of-10 from the field in that fourth period.

Mobley scored 11 points, while Marley Hill added 10 for the Broncos.

Western toed the line 28 times, making 18 free throws (64.3%). The Falcons shot 71.4% from the stripe, but got there only half as many times, going 10-of-14. Two players from each team fouled out in the fourth quarter.

"We were on our game in the first half," said Roos. "We were playing well, and taking them out of rhythm. But, they counter-punched in the second half. Wimby is one of the top point guards in the conference, and Mobley and Hill are very, very talented. We've got to counter the other teams' counter-punch and continue to battle in future games."

Wednesday's game was Lindsey Goldsberry Bobblehead Night, and the former Falcon standout was in attendance and addressed the crowd at halftime.

The Falcons' final five regular-season games are all against MAC East Division opponents, beginning this weekend. BGSU will head to Oxford for a Saturday (Feb. 18) game vs. Miami University, with tipoff set for 2:00 p.m. at Millett Hall.