Falcons Fall Just Short at NIU, 73-68

Saturday, February 10

DeKalb, IL

1:00 PM CT (2:00 PM ET)

Bowling Green State University

10-14, 2-11MAC

Northern Illinois

13-11, 5-8MAC

Bowling Green

Northern Illinois

Andrea Cecil v Kent State - January 2018

February 10, 2018 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Cecil's 20-point day, Santoro's double-double not quite enough

By: DeKALB, Ill. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team hit 11 three-point field goals and outrebounded Northern Illinois University on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 10), but the host Huskies got two key rebounds in the final minute to help seal a 73-68 win over the Falcons. The Mid-American Conference cross-divisional matchup was held at the Convocation Center.

BGSU-NIU STATISTICS: PDF

Sophomore Andrea Cecil, after being held scoreless over the last two games, exploded for a team-high 20 points vs. the Huskies, her highest total in MAC play. Junior Carly Santoro had her 11th double-double of the season, with 12 points and a team-high 10 rebounds, as BGSU held a 48-44 advantage on the glass. Santoro had five offensive rebounds as the Falcons had 15 as a team.

After Cecil's three-point play cut the NIU lead to three points with 1:13 to go, the Falcon's defense forced a pair of missed shots, but the Huskies came up with the offensive rebound each time. Finally, BG was forced to foul, and the hosts clinched the narrow victory at the free-throw line.

Courtney Woods led the Huskies with 29 points and 12 rebounds. She was a perfect 10-for-10 at the stripe, as NIU was 21-for-24 as a team.

Abby Woollacott had 19 points and Mikayla Voigt 15 for Northern, while junior Sydney Lambert added 11 and freshman Kennedy Williams nine for the Falcons. Cecil and Williams each made three three-pointers in the game, while Lambert hit two. BG made seven more triples than NIU, but the Huskies got to the line 15 more times than the Falcons, who attempted just nine free throws on the day.

Senior Haley Puk had seven points, six rebounds, a team-high four assists and two blocked shots. Angela Perry, one of four freshmen hailing from the state of Illinois on the BG roster, blocked three Huskie shots as the Falcons had a season-high eight rejections as a team. Cecil and Perry each had seven rebounds in the game.

QUOTING COACH ROOS
"Our kids did a good job with transition defense, taking care of the basketball and building a lead and taking it into halftime. But, Woods started to take over in the third quarter and got to the free-throw line. She can score in a variety of ways, and today it was there."

"Even though we won the rebounding battle for the game, we were unable to secure one more defensive rebound after our defense forced a missed shot with under 40 seconds to go in a one possession game."

FIRST-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

Freshman Angela Perry blocked a shot on NIU's first possession – the first of a season-high eight blocks for the Falcons – and junior Carly Santoro hit a driving layup. But, back-to-back three-pointers by Courtney Woods and Mikayla Voigt gave the Huskies a 6-2 lead.
That lead reached 8-2 before Santoro threw in a runner, and junior Sydney Lambert knocked down a jumper. After an NIU putback, Santoro knocked down a long three-point try, giving her seven of the Falcons' first nine points. Then, Lambert corralled a defensive rebound, came downcourt, pulled up and hit a long triple try of her own for a 12-10 BG lead.
Abby Woollacott had back-to-back buckets, but freshman Sierra Thompson got an offensive board and layup in traffic to tie the score at 14-all.
Woollacott scored again on a wide-open layup after a near-turnover by NIU, but freshman Madisen Parker fed Lambert for a corner three and a 17-16 BG lead. Sophomore Andrea Cecil's nifty driving up-and-under layup in traffic capped the first-period scoring.

SECOND-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

BG spotted the Huskies a layup, but sophomore Caterrion Thompson found Cecil for a three-pointer after a BG offensive board. Then, freshman Kennedy Williams knocked down a long-range try. When Santoro split a pair of free throws, the Falcons had a 26-18 lead.
Woollacott, playing the game of her life, scored on a nice finish, but Perry found Williams for another three, and Cecil hit a tough driving shot off glass. The Falcons were up, 31-20, and BG took that lead into the second-quarter media timeout.
Four players – Lambert (eight), Santoro (eight), Cecil (seven) and Williams (six) – scored six or more points for the Falcons in the game's first 15 minutes.
Woods hit a layup at the 3:40 mark, ending a scoring drought of nearly four minutes for the Huskies, and after a BG foul, Woods hit a pair of free throws.
Senior Haley Puk was tripped, got up and hit two shots at the stripe, and a Perry steal led to a Santoro layup for a 35-24 BG lead.
But, the Huskies ended the half on a 6-0 run. Voigt hit two free throws, Woods scored in the paint, and Woods then made two charity tosses with 6.8 seconds left, cutting BG's lead to 35-30 at the intermission.

THIRD-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

The Huskies drew first blood in the second half, but Santoro's nifty spin move resulted in a layup and a 37-32 lead. Lambert was whistled for her third foul at the 8:36 mark, however, and just over a minute later, a Woods three-pointer tied the game.
Williams came right back, however, hitting a three, and after Woods got to the line, Puk fed both freshman Madisen Parker and Cecil for long-range makes. The "Three-cil" triple gave BG a 46-41 lead.
But, the Huskies battled back, getting five points – all at the line – to tie the score. Williams picked up her third foul at the 4:29 mark, but remained in the contest.
Caterrion Thompson briefly gave the Falcons the lead once again, but Woollacott's two shots from the stripe tied the score before a Voigt jumper gave NIU the lead, 50-48, with 3:20 left in the period. It marked the Huskies' first lead since late in the first quarter.
Lambert was fouled with 1:34 left in the quarter, splitting the two resulting free throws, but Voigt scored the final six points of the quarter to give the hosts 56-49 lead. She hit a layup, made two more NIU free throws, then scored on another layup with 22 seconds to go.

FOURTH-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

The teams traded misses before Cecil hit a layup with 8:49 remaining. NIU answered, but Perry took a Puk pass and hit a nice foul-line jumper. Then, Perry blocked a Northern shot, and Cecil grabbed the rebound and went coast to coast, splitting a pair of would-be defenders for a layup that brought the Falcons back within three points.
Puk knocked down a three-point try with 7:38 to go, tying the score momentarily. Woods answered with a layup, but Lambert found Cecil for another BG long-distance make, and the Falcons had the lead, 61-60, with just over seven minutes on the clock.
Gabby Nikitinaite, however, gave the hosts the lead with a layup roughly 80 seconds later. Neither team scored for nearly two minutes, before Woods finished off glass with 3:40 remaining. Then, Woods stole a cross-court pass and hit a layup for a 66-61 NIU lead.
Out of a timeout, a Santoro jumper did not drop, but Voigt missed a three-point try with 2:45 left. Lambert hit a tough pull-up jumper over a taller defender, cutting NIU's lead to three points with 2:33 on the clock.
NIU missed a shot, but a BG shot attempt was blocked, with the Huskies rebounding the ball. Woods hit a three-pointer with 1:44 remaining to give the hosts a six-point lead, 69-63.
A three-point try was off the mark, but Santoro came up with an offensive board, and Puk's nifty bounce pass found Cecil underneath the hoop for an and-one layup with 1:13 left. Her ensuing free throw made it a three-point deficit once again.
But, the Falcons could not get the key defensive rebound they needed. After Voigt missed a three-pointer with 52 seconds to go, Riley Blackwell came up with the offensive board in traffic. Then, Woods missed a shot with 24 seconds to go, but Woollacott got the rebound, and the Falcons were forced to foul. Voigt hit two shots with 20 seconds to go.
Puk rebounded a teammate's miss and hit a layup with 10.6 seconds to go. But, after timeouts by each team, NIU inbounded the ball to Nicole Orr in the frontcourt. She was quickly fouled, and hit both charity tosses with 9.9 seconds left, providing the final five-point margin.

NOTES / STATS

For the third consecutive game, BGSU's starting lineup consisted of Puk, Lambert, Santoro, Caterrion Thompson and Perry. Lambert, Puk and Santoro each have started all 24 games this year.
The teams' field-goal percentages were nearly identical, as NIU shot 35.8% from the field compared to the Falcons' 35.6% success rate.
BGSU went 11-for-32 (34.4%) from three-point range, while Northern was just 4-of-24 (16.7%). But, the hosts were 21-of-24 at the free-throw line (87.5%) to BG's 5-for-9 day at the stripe.
NIU had a narrow 35-32 advantage in points in the paint, and the points off turnovers, second-chance points and fast-break points categories all were very close.
BG got 34 points from the five starters and 34 points from players off the bench in the NIU game.

UP NEXT

The Falcons now have a midweek bye before returning to action next weekend. BGSU will head to Athens for a Saturday (Feb. 17) matchup with Ohio University, beginning at 1:00 p.m.
Beginning with the Ohio game, BGSU's final five regular-season contests all are against fellow MAC East Division members.

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