Broncos Escape the Stroh with 84-82 Win in MAC Opener

Saturday, January 5

Bowling Green, OH

2:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

7-5, 0-1MAC

Western Michigan

7-5, 1-0MAC

Western Mich.

Bowling Green

Maddie Cole had 5 points, 6 rebounds & a team-best +15 plus/minus on Saturday

January 05, 2019 | Women's Basketball

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Lambert scores 22 to pace four Falcons in double digits

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team dropped a nail-biter on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 5), falling to Western Michigan University, 84-82. The game, the Mid-American Conference opener for both teams, was held at the Stroh Center.

Senior Sydney Lambert led all scorers with 22 points in the narrow loss, and the point guard also had six rebounds and six assists. Freshman Morgan McMillen scored 17 points for the hosts, while junior Andrea Cecil and sophomore Angela Perry added 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Kamrin Reed and Jasmyn Walker each had 17 points for the Broncos, with Walker pulling down a game-high 15 rebounds. Deja Wimby scored 15 points and Leighah-Amori Wood 13 for the visitors.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The game featured seven ties and 13 lead changes.

BGSU trailed by seven points with under six minutes remaining in the game, and after McMillen hit a three-pointer, Walker answered with a layup for a 77-71 Bronco lead with 4:53 to go. The Falcons, however, responded with a 7-0 run to take the lead, with Perry converting a pair of layups and Lambert hitting a baseline layup. Perry's second bucket in that stretch tied the score, and freshman Kadie Hempfling's free throw with 2:10 remaining gave the Falcons a one-point advantage.

But, Walker hit a layup with the shot clock winding down, giving the Broncos an 81-80 lead, and after BG missed a three-point try, Wool drove the lane and scored with 1:07 on the clock.

BG missed another shot, but the Falcons forced a shot-clock violation, getting the ball back with 26.3 seconds to go. Lambert threw the ball inside to Perry for a one-hander that cut the Western lead to a single point with 16.0 seconds remaining.

The Falcons committed a pair of fouls to reach the five-foul mark for the quarter. The second of those fouls sent WMU's Nina Farkic to the free-throw line with 12.7 seconds left. Farkic missed the first shot, but made the second for a two-point Bronco lead.

The ensuing possession saw Lambert's contested layup attempt hit the rim and bounce away, with Farkic grabbing the rebound and dribbling toward midcourt. But, an offensive foul was called on the Broncos away from the ball, giving it back to the Falcons with just 2.9 seconds to go.

However, on the ensuing possession, BG was whistled for an offensive foul with just 1.1 seconds remaining, and possession went back to the Broncos. BG fouled Maxine Moore after WMU inbounded the ball, with just 0.3 seconds to go. Moore missed both of the ensuing free-throw tries, and Hempfling rebounded the ball, but did not have time to get a shot off before time expired.

FIRST-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS
• The Falcons scored on the first three possessions of the game. Redshirt Clare Glowniak opened the scoring with a three-point play, and freshman Morgan McMillen threw the ball inside to Kadie Hempfling for an easy layup and a 5-2 lead. Then, Hempfling kicked the ball out to senior Sydney Lambert for a three-pointer.
• But, the Broncos scored on each of the first three trips down the court as well, and BG had just a one-point lead, 8-7, after only two minutes of action.
• Glowniak scored on a nice turnaround banker 10-7, but a Kamrin Reed three-ball tied the score. Then, Leighah-Amori Wool connected from long range on back-to-back trips, with the second giving the visitors a 16-12 lead.
• The Falcons forged their way back, as Hempfling's bounce pass found an open Angela Perry for a layup, and McMillen made a nifty move for a transition layup and an 18-17 lead.
• Sophomore Madisen Parker entered the game for the first time, and promptly knocked down a three-point try from a Perry pass, giving the hosts an 8-0 run and a 21-17 lead.
• After Western banked home a long-range try to snap that run, McMillen hit from downtown. The Broncos hit back-to-back jumpers before Glowniak's free throw gave BG the lead once again. But, Western's Meredith Miller's long three-pointer capped the first-period scoring and gave the Broncos a 27-25 lead after an eventful first 10 minutes.

SECOND-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS
• The Broncos scored the first four points of the quarter, with Reed's steal and layup giving the visitors a 31-25 lead.
• Lambert, however, hit a pair of three-pointers, with the second cutting the Falcons' deficit to two points. Then, junior Andrea Cecil stole the ball in BG's defensive end, took a pass from Lambert and knocked down a long-range shot to give the Falcons a 34-33 advantage.
• Senior Maddie Cole, who did not play in the first 13-plus minutes of Saturday's contest, came up with a pair of offensive rebounds on the same possession, laying the ball up and in after the second board, and BG's lead was 36-33.
• Then, after a McMillen steal, Cecil drove downcourt and hit a layup to give the Brown and Orange a 10-0 run and a 38-33 lead with 3:09 left in the half.
• Reed stopped that run with a jumper, but the Falcons then scored the final seven points of the quarter. Cecil hit a driving shot off glass, Hempfling's nifty pass underneath found Cole for a layup, and Cole grabbed another offensive board and kicked the ball out to Cecil for a corner three and a 45-35 lead at the intermission.

THIRD-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS
• The Broncos erased that 10-point halftime deficit in a hurry, with a 15-2 run to begin the third quarter. Deja Wimby scored eight points, including the first six, during that stretch, while Jasmyn Walker hit a pair of free throws to cap an 8-0 run that began the period. After Perry scored inside for the Falcons, Wool scored five-straight points, giving the Broncos a 50-47 lead.
• WMU went a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line during that four-minute stretch, while BG was just 1-of-10 from the field.
• After a BG miss and Bronco defensive rebound, however, Hempfling came up with a quick steal and found Parker for a three-pointer that tied the game at 50-50. Then, Perry's free throw was followed by a McMillen triple, giving BG a 54-50 advantage at the 4:36 mark.
• The Broncos rallied once again, and Reed's corner three gave the visitors a brief lead, but Lambert immediately answered with a long-distance make, giving the Falcons a 59-57 lead.
• The lead changed hands four times in the final 2:08 of the quarter. Cole split a pair of free throws, and Lambert hit a layup after a Hempfling steal, but Miller's three-pointer gave Western a 64-62 lead after 30 minutes.

FOURTH-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS
• Walker scored inside on the first possession of the final period, and after another Hempfling steal led to another Lambert run-out, back-to-back Bronco buckets gave the visitors a 70-64 lead with eight minutes to go.
• And, Reed's three-ball at the 7:19 mark put the Broncos up by seven, 73-66.
• The teams played nearly two scoreless minutes before Lambert was fouled and hit both shots from the stripe. Walker's layup, though, restored that seven-point margin with 5:33 to go, setting the stage for the aforementioned frantic finish.
• The final two minutes of the game featured several replay reviews by the officiating crew. The first came with 1:56 to go when, after Hempfling's free throw gave BG an 80-79 lead, the Broncos appeared to throw the ball out of bounds. But, after a lengthy review, it was ruled that the pass was touched by a BG player, and the Broncos maintained possession.
• The other review came with 26.3 seconds to go, when the shot clock expired to end a Bronco possession. Wool had missed a layup before Walker grabbed the rebound. The shot clock reached zero before Walker could attempt a putback, and the officials reviewed the play to make sure that Wool's shot had not hit the rim. The call was upheld, and it was BG ball.

STATISTICS & LEADERS
• The Broncos shot 53.1 percent from the field on Saturday, making 34 of 64 shots. BG went 41.7% from the floor, hitting 30 field goals in 72 attempts.
• BGSU made 11 three-point field goals to Western Michigan's 10. The Falcons were 11-of-34 from long distance (32.4%), while WMU went 10-for-27 (37.0%).
• After that 6-for-11 long-range performance in the first quarter, the Broncos were just 4-for- 16 from the arc over the final 30 minutes of the game.
• Lambert led all players with four three-pointers made, while McMillen hit three and Cecil and Parker two apiece for the Falcons.
• Wool and Reed each had three long-range makes for the visitors.
• WMU had a narrow 38-37 rebounding advantage. Walker had a game-high 15 boards to go along with her 17 points.
• Hempfling had 12 rebounds for the Falcons, and she also had six assists and five steals.
• Lambert pulled down six rebounds and tied Hempfling for game honors with six assists.
• Senior Maddie Cole had five points and six rebounds in 15 minutes of action. Cole led the Falcons and tied for game honors with four offensive rebounds.
• BGSU turned the ball over 13 times, but the Falcons forced the Broncos into 19 turnovers. BG had a 27-11 advantage in points off turnovers in the game.

RANDOM NOTES, NUMBERS & NUGGETS
• The Broncos, who entered the game averaging 7.1 three-point field goals per contest, went 6-for-11 from the arc in the first quarter alone.
• Seven different Falcons had at least two points and one rebound in the first quarter.
• Cecil single-handedly outscored the Broncos in the second quarter, with 10 points. The Falcons outscored the Broncos, 20-8, in the second period.
• Western's Wimby had 10 points in the third period, as the Broncos were 11-of-16 from the floor in that quarter.
• The fourth quarter saw Western's Walker and BG's Perry score eight points apiece. Perry had six points in the final period, while Hempfling had six fourth-quarter rebounds.
• WMU led for 17:56 of the game's 40 minutes, while BG held the lead for 17:53.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons will hit the road for the next two games, taking on Ball State on Wednesday (Jan. 9) and Akron next Saturday (Jan. 12). The BSU game will begin at 11:00 a.m. in Muncie, with the UA contest set for a 2:00 p.m. start.
• BG's next home game is set for Wednesday, Jan. 16, when Northern Illinois comes to the Stroh Center for a 7:00 p.m. cross-divisional contest.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• For more information on all things BGSU women's basketball, follow the Falcons on Twitter (@BGAthletics and @BGSUwbb), Instagram (@bgsuwbasketball) and Snapchat (BGSU Falcons) as well as on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.