Comeback Kids Win at Buffalo, 64-62

Saturday, February 25

Buffalo, NY

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

8-20 (4-12MAC)

Buffalo

19-8 (9-7MAC)

Bowling Green

Buffalo

Photo by: BGSU Strategic Communications

February 25, 2017 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BGSU twice rallies back from double-digit deficits

By: BUFFALO, N.Y. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team battled back from a double-digit deficit on not one, but two occasions Saturday afternoon (Feb. 25), posting a 64-62 win over the University at Buffalo. The Mid-American Conference thriller was held at UB's Alumni Arena.

Sophomores Sydney Lambert and Carly Santoro combined for 35 points for the Falcons, with Lambert scoring 18 and Santoro 17. Senior Abby Siefker had a double-double, with 10 points and a team-high 13 rebounds.

JoAnna Smith, the Bulls' lone senior, had a game-high 25 points on Senior Day. Stephanie Reid added 16 points for the hosts.

Lambert made five of the Falcons' eight three-point field goals on the day, while Smith hit five of UB's eight long-range shots on the day.

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POSTGAME AUDIO: Coach Roos

The Falcons fell behind by 12 points late in the first quarter, but promptly went on a 12-0 run to tie the game early in the second period. Smith scored the last five points of the first half, then fueled a third-quarter surge that gave the Bulls a 14-point lead late in the period. But, the Falcons battled all the way back to capture the victory.

BGSU outrebounded the Bulls, 48-38, in the win. And, the Falcons had 19 offensive rebounds on the afternoon. Eleven of those offensive caroms came in the fourth quarter alone, including seven on one possession in which the Falcons were on offense for an incredible one minute and 56 seconds.

"We had a lot of resiliency from everyone on our team, no matter if they were in the game or on the bench, and I'm really proud of our effort," said BGSU head coach Jennifer Roos. "We outrebounded them by 10, I thought we did a good job of limiting our turnovers when they pressed for the majority of the game, and we also made key shots down the stretch."

A third-quarter offensive explosion by Smith lifted the Bulls to a game-high 14-point lead, 47-33, with 3:57 left in that period. Smith, who scored 10 first-half points, had 12 in the first 6:03 of the third period. But, the Brown and Orange began to battle back.

The teams traded points over the next few minutes, as the Falcons attempted to mount a comeback, only to be thwarted by a Bulls bucket at the other end. But, Santoro grabbed an offensive board and put the ball back up and in, and Siefker found fellow senior Ashley Tunstall for a tough layup in the final minute of the quarter. Reid answered with a layup for the hosts, but junior Haley Puk's pull-up jumper in the paint with eight seconds to go cut the UB lead to 53-45 after three periods.

The Falcons allowed the Bulls to shoot just 3-for-16 (18.8%) from the field in the fourth quarter. Siefker converted a layup on the first possession of the period, and her offensive board kept BG's next possession alive, as Tunstall kicked the ball out to Lambert for a three-pointer. After Puk rebounded a teammate's miss on BG's next trip down the floor, Santoro found Tunstall for a short-corner jumper. UB's lead was down to a single point, 53-52, at the 8:15 mark.

Cassie Oursler hit a short jumper with the shot clock winding down, but Siefker's putback again made it a one-point game. Then -- following Reid's missed layup and Tunstall's defensive rebound -- the Falcons seemingly went on the power play.

Reid's miss came with 6:48 left in the game, and to use a phrase from yet another sport, Buffalo's defense could not get off the field. By the time UB possessed the ball once again, just 4:52 remained. BG's possession lasted nearly two minutes, and included offensive rebounds by Puk, Lambert, Siefker, Siefker again, Puk again, Santoro, and a team rebound after the ball went out of bounds off of a UB player.

That last play took the teams into the final media timeout of the day, and when play resumed, Lambert drained a three-point try from the left wing. BGSU led, 57-55.

"Abby didn't score in the first half, and picked up her third foul," said Roos. "We made the decision to keep her on the bench at the start of the second half (because of that foul trouble), but when she went back in, she ended up with 10 points and seven rebounds in the second half alone, and did not foul out. There was a possession where we kept the ball alive. We would shoot, miss and Abby would go get it. Shoot, miss and Abby would go get it.

"Buffalo was on their heels, playing defense for almost two minutes, and that can be deflating, especially when we hit a big shot at the end of that possession. The effort and resiliency that she showed in the second half was exactly what we needed, and we got that type of effort from multiple players."

Neither team scored for nearly three minutes, although the teams traded possessions this time. Finally, though, the Falcons took a four-point lead when Siefker faked a shot from the right baseline, drove and banked a shot off glass and in.

That Siefker bucket came with 1:58 remaining. Then, Puk's defense forced Reid to miss a shot, with Puk grabbing the rebound. With 1:30 to go, UB began to foul. Lambert went to the line and made her first free-throw try, but missed the second. On the ensuing rebound, as Siefker and UB's Courtney Wilkins battled for the ball, the whistle blew. Initially, the call was a foul on the Bulls, but after the officials conferred, it was changed to a jump ball, with the possession arrow favoring UB.

Reid scored inside to cut BG's lead to three, and after another foul -- Smith's fourth -- Puk split a pair of free throws with 1:19 to go. But, Smith knocked down a shot from the top of the arc, cutting the Falcons' lead to 61-60, and UB used a timeout with 1:06 on the clock.

Following another timeout, Santoro dribbled the ball into the frontcourt and was fouled with 56.1 seconds left. She split a pair of free throws, but the sophomore was called for a foul on UB's next possession. With 49.4 seconds to go, Theresa Onwuka missed her first toss, but made her second. BG's lead was one point again, at 62-61.

The Falcons used nearly all of the shot clock on the next possession, but with 22.0 seconds remaining, Santoro was fouled in the corner. She hit one of her two tries to give BG a 63-61 lead. The next possession saw Smith miss a three-pointer, but her teammates came up with three offensive rebounds. After the third, by Summer Hemphill, a foul was called and the UB freshman went to the line. She missed her first attempt, but made her second, and the Falcons used a timeout.

Following the timeout, Tunstall inbounded the ball near the BG bench. She got the ball to Santoro, who was fouled by Smith. It was the Buffalo senior's fifth foul, and she checked out of the game for the final time with 7.5 seconds remaining.

Santoro made her first free-throw attempt, but her second bounced off of the rim and was corralled by Onwuka as the Bulls immediately called timeout with 6.2 seconds left.

Reid's shot on UB's final possession was no good, and a hurried follow try by Hemphill was off the mark as well. As the teams battled for that rebound, the horn sounded and the Falcons clapped it up for a road win.

The Bulls came out hot to start the game. UB took a 7-0 lead just 1:35 into the contest, with Katherine Ups scoring five of those seven points. Puk's corner three got BG on the board, but Smith answered with a three of her own, for a 10-3 UB advantage.

Time passed, and things happened, but for over four minutes, neither team would score. Finally, Reid hit a jumper at the 3:05 mark, and after freshman Andrea Cecil hit a pull-up jumper in the paint, Smith scored again. A Wilkins triple gave the Bulls a 17-5 lead with 1:37 left in the opening quarter.

BG was just 1-of-13 from the floor prior to that Cecil jumper, but after falling behind by 12, the Falcons would make four of the next six shots, all from beyond the arc. Lambert hit a left-wing triple try, and Santoro took a pass from Cecil and hit a step-back three in the final minute of the quarter. BG trailed, 17-11, after 10 minutes.

Lambert knocked down three-pointers on back-to-back BG possessions early in the second period, and the second one tied the contest at 17-all. UB responded, as Katherine Ups hit a layup, then a long two-pointer, but Santoro drove the paint and swished a teardrop jumper over the taller Oursler. And, after UB hit a pair of charity tosses. Santoro took a Tunstall handoff and hit a trey to cut the hosts' lead to 23-22.

Siefker blocked a Smith shot on the next possession, but a BG layup try -- with a chance for the lead -- would not drop. Reid's three-point play resulted in Siefker's third foul, and the senior headed to the bench for the remaining 3:24 of the half.

Again, Santoro hit a jumper over a taller defender, and after an free throw, Lambert connected on a floater from the foul line. When Puk was fouled and hit two free throws at the 1:55 mark, BG led for the first time, 28-27.

But, Smith responded with five points in the final minute of the half, converting a tough baseline drive, then pulling up and hitting a three-pointer with 34 seconds to go. UB took a 32-28 lead into the break.

Cecil scored on the first possession of the third quarter, but Smith hit a pair of shots for a six-point UB lead. After a Tunstall free throw, Smith was open beyond the arc, and her three-pointer made it a 39-31 game.

Cecil drove and dished a pass to Tunstall for a jumper, but Reid answered with a quick layup, and another Smith triple, seemingly out of nowhere, gave the Bulls a 44-33 lead. Moments later, Smith pulled up and knocked down a long two-pointer, and the hosts had an 8-0 run and a 47-33 lead with 3:57 left in the quarter.

Siefker hit a layup after a Cecil steal, and Santoro knocked down a pair of free throws. Siefker scored inside again, but the Bulls were answering each successful possession. Gabi Bade's long triple with 1:53 left in the period gave UB a 51-39 advantage, setting the stage for BG's comeback.

Puk had eight points and Tunstall seven in the win. Santoro pulled down seven rebounds, while Cecil had six boards to go along with four points.

For the Bulls, Katherine Ups had nine points, while Hemphill had a game-high 16 rebounds.

"We've been in several close games," said Roos. "We've had two overtime games, and another game where a shot at the buzzer didn't go, so our record could be significantly different than what it is. But, those experiences may have been what we needed to be able to finish out this game today. It was a total team effort, as cliché as that sounds, but we needed everyone on our team to win this game today."

BGSU will return to the road for one final time in the regular season, heading to Athens for a Wednesday (March 1) contest vs. Ohio University. Then, the Brown and Orange will return home to face Miami on Saturday, March 4. The MU game will be Senior Day for the Falcons, with Siefker, Tunstall, Rachel Konieczki and Leah Bolton recognized in ceremonies prior to tipoff.