Falcons Race Past CSU, 89-62, in Season Opener

Wednesday, November 6

Bowling Green, OH

6:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Cleveland State

Photo by: Elsye Jones, BGSU Mkt. & Comm.

November 06, 2019 | Women's Basketball

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BGSU shakes off slow start, stuff the stat sheet at the Stroh

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team got off to a slow start Tuesday night.

Once the Falcons got going, though, there was no stopping them.

The Falcons rallied from an early 10-point deficit to post an 89-62 win over Cleveland State University at the Stroh Center, in the regular-season opener for both teams. BGSU shot 52.8% from the field in the win, with three players scoring 20 or more points, another flirting with a triple-double and still another falling just one steal short of matching the school record.

Junior Madisen Parker hit seven three-pointers in the victory, scoring a game-high 25 points. Classmate Angela Perry and redshirt junior Caterrion Thompson each scored 20 points. Perry hit her first eight shots of the night and finished 10-of-12 from the field, while Thompson hit nine field goals in her first game back after missing all of last season due to injury.

In her first game as a Falcon, junior Mari Hill had nine steals, falling just one shy of tying that school single-game record. Sophomore Kadie Hempfling had six points along with 13 rebounds and 10 assists.

The Vikings got 16 points from Mariah Miller, while Mariah White had 15 and Savanna Crockett had 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Cleveland State shot 75% from the field in the opening quarter and took a double-digit lead, yet the Vikings wound up trailing by a point after 10 minutes.

BGSU trailed, 10-0, going scoreless for over four minutes before Hempfling hit a layup to get the home team on the board. The Falcons missed seven-straight shots to start the game, then went 11-for-12 over the remainder of the period.

After missing those first seven shots, BG hit the next eight, and after a shot was blocked, the Falcons knocked down three-straight shots to end the quarter with a 25-24 lead.

BG maintained a narrow advantage in the early stages of the second quarter, before a Perry layup began a 14-0 run for the hosts. When Parker hit a layup in the last minute of the half, the Falcons had a 42-28 lead.

CSU scored five points to end the period, but the Falcons pushed the lead out to 17 points in the third period. After CSU rallied to within nine points in the fourth quarter, a Thompson jumper put the lead back into double digits for good. BG pushed the lead over 20 points on a Perry bucket with 3:31 to go, and slowly extended the advantage out to the final 27-point margin.

FIRST QUARTER
• The Vikings got on the board early, turning defense into offense. A rebound led to a Mariah White fast-break layup, and a block shot led to a run-out bucket for Savanna Crockett and a 4-0 lead in the first minute of the game.
• The visitors got back-to-back buckets from Mariah Miller, and the Falcons used a timeout with under three minutes gone. But, moments later, a Crocket jumper made it a 10-0 game.
• Finally, Kadie Hempfling grabbed an offensive rebound and laid the ball back up and in. With 4:14 gone in the opening quarter, BG was on the board.
• A steal by Mari Hill led to a layup by Caterron Thompson, and Hempfling found Madisen Parker for a three-pointer that cut CSU's lead to 12-7.
• Thompson knocked down a three, Hempfling hit a reverse layup and Thompson hit a shot in the paint. Then, freshman Kaillie Hall stole the ball on her first-ever possession as a Falcon, and the promptly hit an and-one layup with 3:00 to go in the period. Hall's free throw gave BG a 17-16 lead.
• CSU quickly regained the lead, and a Miller jumper put the Vikes up by three with 1:44 left in the period. Hill's putback was answered by a Crocket bucket, but Angela Perry scored inside, and Hill stole the ball and found Thompson for a fast-break layup in the final seconds of the quarter, giving BGSU a 25-24 lead.
• CSU shot 75% (12-for-16) in the opening period, but the Falcons, as mentioned, went 11-for-12 from the field after missing seven shots to start the game.

SECOND QUARTER
• The teams traded baskets over the first four minutes of the period, but after the Vikings cut the BGSU lead to one, Parker found Perry for a bucket and a 31-28 lead with 6:07 left before the half. Then, Parker knocked down a triple try, and Hempfling hit Jane Uecker inside for a layup and a 36-28 lead.
• Hempfling assisted on three-straight buckets, finding Parker out top for another three-ball. Then, the sophomore scored herself, hitting a layup after yet another Hill steal. When Thompson's pass led to a Parker right-side layup, BG's run was 14-0 and the Falcons' lead was 43-28.
• CSU regained some momentum,scoring five-straight points to end the period. JaMiya Braxton hit a three, and a steal led to a last-second layup by White, cutting BG's lead to 43-33 at the intermission.
• BGSU shot 50% in the second quarter, going 8-for-16 from the floor, while holding the visitors to a 4-for-16 second-period effort.

THIRD QUARTER
• Hempfling drove and kicked the ball to Parker for another three, and a Thompson layup was followed by a Uecker free throw that gave BG a 16-point lead.
• CSU scored five quick points, with a Dana Degraffenreid triple cutting the Falcons' advantage to 49-38, but BG responded with five points, including back-to-back baskets from Perry. Freshman Elissa Brett hit a driving layup, and a Parker three-ball gave BG a 59-42 lead with 3:22 left in the period.
• The lead was 17 once again after a Hall free throw, but the Vikings ended the quarter on a 7-2 run to cut that margin to 12 points after 30 minutes.

FOURTH QUARTER
• CSU crept as close as eight points on a pair of free throws by White, but Thompson hit a pull-up floater, and Parker followed with another three-pointer for a 13-point lead.
• Parker pulled up and hit a jumper, and Perry knocked down a jump shot as well, giving BG a 73-58 lead at the fourth-quarter media timeout. Then, BGSU put the game on ice.
• Thompson hit a driving layup out of that break, and Hempfling's defensive rebound led to a fast-break layup by Thompson. Perry got a shot to go in the paint, and when Hempfling found Parker for a corner three, BG's lead was suddenly 24 points, 82-58, with three minutes to go.

FINAL STATISTICS
• For the game, the Falcons shot 52.8% from the floor, while CSU went 42.4% from the field.
• After the Vikings went 12-for-16 in the first quarter, the BG defense held the visitors to just a 13-for-43 performance (30.2%) over the final 30 minutes.
• The Falcons outrebounded the Vikings, 43-33, and BG had 20 assists on 38 baskets.
• Parker led the way with 25 points, hitting seven three-point field goals on the night. The other players in the game combined for five successful triples.
• Perry and Thompson each had 20 points in the win. Perry made her first eight shots of the night and wound up going 10-for-12, adding seven rebounds. Thompson, in her first game since the 2017-18 season, was 9-of-17 from the floor and added two rebounds, two assists, two steals and a team-leading plus/minus of +21.
• Hempfling flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 13 rebounds and 10 assists to go along with six points.
• Hill had seven first-half steals and finished with nine for the game. She fell just one shy of the school record, in her first game as a Falcon.

Gallery: (11/6/2019) W.Basketball v Cleveland St - Nov 6 2019

UP NEXT
• The Falcons continue a three-game homestand on Saturday (Nov. 9), when Morehead State comes to town. TIpoff is set for 2:00 p.m. at the Stroh.
• Then, BGSU will be idle until a home matchup with Notre Dame College on Monday, Nov. 18.

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