Puk's Late Triple Caps Falcons' Furious Fourth-Quarter Comeback at Akron

Saturday, January 13

Akron, OH

4:30 PM ET

Bowling Green State University

9-7, 1-4MAC

Akron

6-10, 0-5MAC

Bowling Green

Akron

Photo by: Brad Phalin, BGSU Marketing and Communications

Puk's Late Triple Caps Falcons' Furious Fourth-Quarter Comeback at Akron

January 13, 2018 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Senior dials long distance with 19.9 seconds left to lift BG to 66-64 win

By: AKRON, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Senior Haley Puk's clutch three-pointer with 19.9 seconds to go capped a furious fourth-quarter rally and lifted the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team to a 66-64 win over the University of Akron Saturday afternoon (Jan. 13). The Mid-American Conference matchup was held at Rhodes Arena.

LINKS
BGSU-UA STATS: PDF
POSTGAME AUDIO: Puk | Coach Roos

The Falcons (9-7, 1-4 MAC) built a double-digit lead in the first half, but the Zips rallied back, taking the lead with a 10-0 run to begin the third period. Akron led by three points after 30 minutes, then extended that lead to 12 points with just 6:53 remaining in the fourth quarter.

UA still led by seven points with under three minutes to go, as Haliegh Reinoehl's three-pointer made it a 63-56 game with 2:23 on the clock, before the Falcons rallied back for the road win.

Junior Carly Santoro led the Falcons with 19 points, scoring 15 in the fourth quarter alone, while classmate Sydney Lambert had 14 and Puk 13.

Akron's Alyssa Clay led all players with 22 points, while Shaunay Edmonds had 15. Clay had 18 points in the first half, hitting six three-pointers before the break, but made just one field goal in each of the final two quarters.

With the victory, the Falcons have topped the win total for all of last season.

THE COMEBACK

Following Reinoehl's three, Santoro quickly drove and hit an and-one layup with 2:08 to go. The ensuing free throw did not drop, but the Falcons forced a miss, Santoro rebounded the ball and was fouled by Edmonds. Santoro split her charity tosses to make it a 63-59 game with 1:45 left.
On the next possession, Lambert stole an Edmonds pass, and the junior point guard knocked down a three-point try with 1:13 remaining, cutting Akron's lead to a single point.
UA's Greta Burry missed a jumper, but another Lambert long-range attempt would not drop. The Zips got the rebound, and Burry was fouled and went to the line with 27.5 seconds to go. Burry made her first toss, but missed the second, with sophomore Andrea Cecil grabbing the rebound.
BG came down, and Puk fired a long-distance shot from the left wing, in front of the BGSU bench. That shot found nothing but net, giving BG a 65-64 lead with 19.9 seconds to go.
After a timeout, Edmonds drove down the left side of the paint, but her shot was altered by Cecil. Santoro rebounded the miss and was fouled with 6.1 seconds left. Santoro made her first shot from the stripe, but missed the second, and the Zips came up with the rebound and called timeout with 6.4 seconds on the clock.
Clay's layup attempt was off the mark, and Reinoehl tracked down the rebound, but could not get a shot off before the final horn sounded.

QUOTING COACH ROOS
"We have struggled to finish in the fourth quarter in a couple previous MAC games, but I think those experiences helped give us the resilience and toughness to finish in the fourth quarter today. This win took everybody today. We got contributions from a lot of people."

"We did a much better job of taking care of the ball today, and credit goes to our kids. They finished, and I thought our energy was fantastic. It was fun to walk into that locker room after the game."

QUOTING HALEY PUK
"(Andrea Cecil) got that awesome rebound, and she was pushing it up. I was running the wing, she made a great pass and I saw the girl flying out at me, so I did a shot fake and took that three. I'm just so happy it went in, and thank goodness for my teammates for getting us in position to get back in the game in the first place."

FIRST-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

Lambert scored on BG's first two possessions of the day, pulling up for a long two-pointer, then grabbing a long rebound of a teammate's miss and firing a three-pointer that found nothing but net.
Redshirt freshman Clare Glowniak put back her own missed shot for a 7-5 BG lead, and after Clay connected from beyond the arc, Puk's foul-line jumper began a 9-0 run for the Falcons.
Lambert hit a three-point try with the Falcons on the run, and freshman Angela Perry took Puk's pass and hit a turnaround one-hander just seconds after checking into the game for the first time. Santoro rebounded an Akron miss and went coast to coast for a nifty up-and-under layup and a 16-8 lead just over midway through the quarter.
Another Clay triple snapped that run, and after the teams combined for 27 points in the first 6:03 of the period, there would be a total of three points scored in the final 3:57.
Those points came when Perry corralled an offensive board and kicked the ball out to Cecil for a three-pointer with 2:57 remaining in the period. The Falcons still held that 19-11 lead when the quarter ended.

SECOND-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

Clay knocked down a corner three on Akron's first possession, but Lambert – who was 2-for-2 from the arc in the opening quarter – faked a three, drew two defenders to her and found a wide-open Puk for a triple and a 22-14 BG lead
That shot began an 8-0 run for BG, as Glowniak posted up and hit a sweet turnaround shot. Then, the redshirt freshman took a Lambert pass and drilled a three-point try from the right side. BG's lead was 27-14, and the Zips burnt a timeout with 7:19 on the clock.
Clay, though, responded with a three-pointer from the corner. After Puk spotted sophomore Jane Uecker for a layup, Clay connected again from long distance.
BG hit three free throws over the next minute-plus, but Clay knocked down another trey. A late UA free throw cut the Falcons' lead to eight, 32-24, at the half.
Clay scored 18 of UA's 24 first-half points, going 6-for-7 from three-point range.
The Falcons enjoyed a 15-0 advantage in points off turnovers, as well as a 9-0 lead in second-chance points, during the first half.

THIRD-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

Akron scored the first 10 points of the quarter, including a three-point play by Caitlin Vari, a Clay jumper and a three-point make by Lauren Hung. When Edmonds made a jumper at the 5:52 mark, the Zips had a 34-32 lead.
Puk came right back with a three-pointer, but Vari's layup gave UA the lead once again, and Kynnedy Azubike's layup made it a 38-35 Zip lead with 3:42 on the clock.
Lambert hit a triple just over a minute later, cutting Akron's lead to 39-38, and after UA increased the lead at the free-throw line, Lambert drove the paint and flipped the ball to junior Maddie Cole for a layup that got BG within two points, 42-40.
Burry hit a pair of free throws, but Santoro drove and got a tough layup try to drop in the final minute. Sophomore Caterrion Thompson jumped the route and picked off Edmonds' errant pass, and the UA guard was forced to foul Thompson, who went 1-for-2 at the line. But, Edmonds hit a layup in the final seconds to give the hosts a 46-43 lead.

FOURTH-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

Edmonds hit a three-pointer on the first possession of the fourth quarter, beginning a run that would lift the Zips' lead into double figures. Buckets by Clay and Azubike made it a 10-point game, and Edmonds' free throws completed an 11-0 run that gave UA a 55-43 advantage with 7:41 to go.
Santoro grabbed a teammate's miss and was fouled, making both shots at the stripe, but two Destiny Perkins free throws gave the home team a 57-45 lead with 6:51 remaining.
Santoro got herself back to the line, making her first shot before missing the second. But, BG wound up with the rebound, and Santoro's layup made it a 57-48 game with 6:35 left.
Puk rebounded a BG miss, drew a foul and hit two shots, but Azubike's layup put UA back up by nine.
Santoro countered with a tough driving layup, and after Perry blocked a UA shot, Lambert rebounded the ball and found Santoro ahead of the pack for another layup. UA took time as the Falcons were within five, 59-54, with exactly four minutes to go.
After Edmonds split a pair of free throws, Santoro was fouled yet again, hitting two tosses with 2:36 left. Reinoehl then took an Azubike pass and knocked down a long-distance shot, giving UA a 63-56 lead and setting the stage for the Falcons' furious fourth-quarter flurry.

UP NEXT

The Falcons return home for the next two games, beginning with a Wednesday (Jan. 17) matchup with Kent State. That game begins at 7:00 p.m., with the first 500 fans through the doors receiving a bobblehead of former Falcon great Liz Honegger.
Then, the Brown and Orange will host Ohio next Saturday (Jan. 20) in a 1:00 p.m. start. That game is the first half of a Falcon hoops doubleheader at the Stroh, and will feature a T-shirt giveaway for the first 500 lucky fans.
BG will play three of the next four games inside the friendly confines of the Stroh. After a midweek trip to Muncie for a matchup with Ball State (Jan. 24), the Falcons return home to face arch-rival Toledo on Saturday, Jan. 27.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS

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