League-Leading RedHawks Able to Withstand BGSU Rally

Saturday, February 23

Oxford, OH

2:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

8-17

Miami

21-4

Bowling Green

Miami (OH)

Kadie Hempfling drives the baseline during first-half action (photo by MU Athletic Communications)

February 23, 2019 | Women's Basketball

Box Score BGSU-Miami Box Score

Miami tops Falcons, 75-62, in Oxford

By: OXFORD, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team gave the Mid-American Conference leader a battle, but host Miami University was able to come away with a 75-62 win Saturday afternoon (Feb. 23) at Millett Hall.

Junior Andrea Cecil had another stellar game for the Falcons, who drop to 8-17. Cecil scored 23 points to pace three BG players in double figures, and she added six rebounds and a blocked shot.

NEXT HOME GAME
• The Falcons are home for a pair of games next week, beginning with a Wednesday (Feb. 27) matchup vs. Akron at the Stroh Center. That contest is BGSU's annual Pink Game, and fans are encouraged to wear pink in support of breast cancer awareness.

Freshman Kadie Hempfling scored 14 points, the highest total of her young career, on Saturday. Hempfling also had a BG-best seven rebounds and a game-high five assists. Senior Sydney Lambert added 10 points for the Brown and Orange.

Lauren Dickerson scored 25 points to lead four double-figure scorers for the RedHawks (21-4). Kendall McCoy had 13 points and Savannah Kluesner and Leah Purvis added 11 apiece for the hosts.

Kluesner had a game-high 14 rebounds, although the Falcons owned a 38-35 advantage on the glass.

The Falcons trailed for most of the game, but after falling behind by as many as 15 points midway through the second quarter, BG rallied back to within one point in the third quarter.

It was still a two-point game after a Jane Uecker bucket early in the fourth, before the hosts slowly extended that lead. Miami went 11-of-16 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter alone to help keep the Falcons at arm's length.

FIRST QUARTER
• BGSU shot 40 percent in the opening quarter, but the Falcons missed several layups that could have made it a closer game after those first 10 minutes.
• BG opened the scoring on a second-chance layup by senior Maddie Cole, but the RedHawks scored the game's next six points.
• Cecil grabbed a defensive rebound, headed to the other end and hit a quick layup, and the junior then took a lob from freshman Morgan McMillen and hit a layup that tied the game at 6-6.
• Dickerson, however, hit a jumper, then knocked down a three-pointer to give her team an 11-6 lead. A Purvis back-door layup and another Dickerson hoop capped a 9-0 run for the hosts.
• Cecil stopped that RedHawk run with a quick hoop, and when Lambert pulled up on the break and hit a shot from the arc, MU's lead was 17-11 with just under two-minutes left in the period.
• The teams traded buckets, with Hempfling scoring inside for the Falcons, and a Kristin Levering layup gave the hosts a 22-13 lead after the opening quarter.

SECOND QUARTER
• Cecil, who scored six first-quarter points, led all players with 10 points in the second period.
• The quarter began with Hempfling hitting a layup on the first possession, and moments later, Clare Glowniak's foul-line jumper cut the RedHawks' lead to five, at 22-17.
• Dickerson's corner three gave the hosts an eight-point lead, and began a quick 7-0 run that put MU up by 12. The lead reached a game-high 15 points before Cecil hit a three-pointer from the top of the arc with a defender's hand in her face. The junior then answered a Levering bucket with another hoop of her own, and after Hempfling saved the ball after a near turnover, the freshman found Cecil for an 'and-one' layup with 2:30 remaining in the half. Cecil hit the ensuing free throw to cut BG's deficit to nine points, 37-28.
• Hempfling found Uecker for a foul-line jumper, and Cecil scored yet again, cutting the MU lead to 39-32. But, McCoy hit a layup, and after Hempfling converted a reverse layup, Dickerson beat the first-half buzzer with a short-corner jumper, giving the hosts a 45-34 lead at the break.

THIRD QUARTER
• The Falcons played an inspired third quarter, cutting into the league leaders' lead. BG got a stop on the first possession of the quarter, and Lambert corralled the rebound and found a streaking Hempfling ahead of the pack for a layup, a Miami foul and a three-point play.
• Moments later, Lambert hit a pull-up jumper, and Cole took a Hempfling pass and scored inside. Cole's bucket made it a 49-41 game.
• To that point, the teams had been trading baskets, for the most part, in the quarter. But, BG forced a miss, and Hempfling hit a driving layup. When Cole pounded the ball inside to Cecil for a layup, the Falcons trailed by only four points, 49-45, and the 'Hawks used a timeout.
• BG got another stop, but a Falcon three-pointer that would have made it a one-point game rattled out. Again, though, the BG defense held, and Lambert spotted Cecil for a right-wing three-ball, cutting the MU lead to 49-48.
• Miami split a pair of free throws before Purvis hit a banker. Hempfling's driving, spinning layup made it a 52-50 game. McCoy hit a triple, but Uecker came right back and scored, and BG trailed by just three points after 30 minutes.

FOURTH QUARTER
• BG got within two points when Uecker, with a defender draped all over her, still was able to convert a shot at the 9:03 mark.
• It was a 56-54 game, but McCoy hit another three, and after a BG miss, Dickerson's layup gave the hosts a seven-point lead.
• Cecil got a running one-hander to go, and BG got a stop. A Hempfling shot was blocked, but as she was falling out of bounds, the Falcon freshman was able to knock the ball off of a Miami player. It was BGSU's ball with just one second showing on the shot clock.
• Lambert inbounded the ball to a cutting Uecker, who immediately shot a layup that bounced around the rim and dropped through the hoop. The officials, however, stopped play to review the shot, and ruled that the shot clock had expired before Uecker got the shot off. Instead of a three-point game, the score remained 61-56 in favor of the hosts.
• BG got another stop, but a McMillen runner was halfway down before bouncing back out. Kluesner hit a pair of free throws at the 4:10 mark, and after a turnover, she made a jumper to give the RedHawks a nine-point lead as BG used a timeout with 3:38 to go.
• The Falcons got within seven points on a pair of McMillen free throws, but BG could get no closer. The RedHawks made enough charity tosses down the stretch to close out the victory.

FINAL STATISTICS
• The RedHawks shot 45.0 percent from the field to the Falcons' 41.3%. MU made 27 field goals to BG's 26.
• Both teams shot below 30% from the arc, with Miami going 5-for-18 and BG 4-of-17. But, the RedHawks made 10 more free throws than the Falcons, going 16-of-22 at the stripe to BGSU's 6-of-9.
• The Falcons had a 38-35 rebounding advantage, but BG committed 17 turnovers to Miami's nine. The RedHawks had a 17-4 advantage in points off turnovers.
• Uecker had six points, three rebounds and two steals in 13-plus minutes off the bench. She went 3-of-5 from the floor and had another field goal taken away on the shot-clock violation ruling midway through the fourth quarter.
• Cole had five points, six rebounds, an assist and a steal.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons close out the home portion of the 2018-19 schedule with a pair of games at the Stroh in the coming week. BG will face Akron on Wednesday (Feb. 27) and Kent State next Saturday (March 2) at the Stroh Center.
• The UA game, BGSU's Pink Game, will begin at 7:00 p.m. Saturday's KSU contest will start at 1:00 p.m. at the Stroh, and it will be Senior Day, with Cole and Lambert recognized in ceremonies prior to tipoff.
• Then, BGSU will end the regular season with road contests vs. Buffalo (March 6) and Ohio (March 9).

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.