Ohio Squeaks Past Falcons, 76-68, with Fourth-Quarter Run

Saturday, March 9

Athens, OH

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

9-20

Ohio

25-4

Bowling Green

Ohio

Photo by: BGSU Marketing and Communications

March 09, 2019 | Women's Basketball

Box Score BGSU-Ohio Box Score

Lambert posts double-double, Parker scores a career-high 16 on the road vs. MAC East champs

By: ATHENS, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team gave the Mid-American Conference East Division champions all they wanted and more on the road. But, Ohio scored 10-straight points to break a fourth-quarter tie and go on to a 76-68 win Saturday afternoon (March 9) at the Convocation Center.

Cierra Hooks had 22 points to lead four double-digit scorers for the Bobcats, while Amani Burke scored 17 and Erica Johnson added 15.

For the Falcons, senior Sydney Lambert had a double-double with a team-leading 17 points and a game-high total of 10 rebounds. Sophomore Madisen Parker scored a career-high 16 points, while Andrea Cecil had 15 points and a career-high six assists.

The Falcons, the number-12 seed for the Mid-American Conference Tournament, will travel to North-east Ohio to face fifth-seeded Kent State University in league tourney first-round action on Monday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the M.A.C. Center.

FIRST QUARTER
• The Falcons got off to a slow start, to say the least. Ohio scored the game's first nine points, holding BG off of the scoreboard for over four minutes.
• After Kendall Jessing opened the scoring, Dominique Doseck threw in a long three-pointer at the shot-clock buzzer, making it a 5-0 game. Cierra Hooks knocked down a pair of free throws, then hit a transition layup, forcing the Falcons to use an early timeout.
• Out of that timeout, however, senior Sydney Lambert drained a long three-point try from the right wing, and sophomore Madisen Parker took a pass from freshman Kadie Hempfling and hit a triple from the left wing.
• Amani Burke answered with a corner three for the hosts, but Parker hit an and-1 jumper, with the ensuing free throw making it a 12-9 game.
• Burke hit another three, but senior Maddie Cole took a pass from junior Andrea Cecil and hit a reverse layup. Then, Lambert drove and drew a foul – Burke's third of the game – and the senior's free throws at the 3:23 mark cut Ohio's lead to 15-13.
• Moments later, Parker appearance to be trapped in the corner, but the soph made a nifty behind-the-back pass along the baseline, finding Cole for a layup.
• Erica Johnson answered with a three-pointer, and Deesh Beck split a pair of charity tosses with 22 seconds to go. But, with the clock winding down, freshman Morgan McMillen faked a three, created some space for herself and hit a step-back three to cut the Ohio lead to 21-18 after 10 minutes.

SECOND QUARTER
• Gabby Burris connected from the arc on the first possession of the quarter, but Cole answered with a three-point play, and after a Johnson layup, Parker drilled a left-wing three-pointer, cutting Ohio's lead to 26-24 with just over a minute gone. Then, Cecil drove and found Angela Perry with a bounce pass, and the sophomore's layup tied the score at 26-all.
• Burris converted a three-point play after Ohio nearly turned the ball over, picking it up and laying it in, and Hooks scored five-straight points, with a three-pointer followed by a steal and a pair of free throws. Ohio's lead was 34-26 with 6:14 left in the quarter.
• Lambert was fouled on a three-point try, making the last two of her tosses, and Hempfling hit a nifty driving up-and-under layup in traffic, cutting the deficit to four.
• After a Bobcat bucket, freshman Molly Dever's pass found an open Parker, who knocked down her third three-pointer in as many tries. Ohio's lead was 36-33.
• Cecil backed down her defender for a short turnaround banker, and Parker hit yet another three-point try, giving the Falcons a 38-36 lead with 2:14 on the clock.
• Johnson responded with a three-point play, but Lambert came right back with a right-wing three. The 'Cats, however, got a pair of late buckets to take a 43-41 lead into the intermission.
• Parker had set a new career scoring high by halftime. She scored 15 first-half points, going a perfect 5-for-5 from the field including four shots from the arc.
• Lambert scored 10 points, going 2-for-2 from long range, while Cole had seven points in the opening half.
• BGSU shot 63.6 percent from the floor, with that 14-of-22 effort including a 7-for-9 (77.8%) performance from three-point land.

THIRD QUARTER
• Hempfling's pass led to a Cecil three that opened the second-half scoring and gave BG a one-point lead, but Burke came right back with a triple of her own. Hempfling grabbed a teammate's missed shot and quickly laid the ball back up and in, tying the contest at 46-46. Then, Cole's nice look resulted in a Cecil layup that tied the game at 48-all.
• Hempfling's pass led to a Cole layup, and Cecil drove, stopped and hit a jumper in the paint for a 52-49 lead.
• Doseck answered from the arc, and Johnson's three-point play gave the 'Cats a 55-52 lead with 2:06 on the clock.
• Dever drove downcourt and hit a pull-up jumper, and after Ohio answered, Cecil took a pass at the top of the arc and drove through, past and around a host of would-be defenders for a layup.
• Again, the 'Cats scored at the other end, but Cecil's 'extra pass' led to a Lambert three-ball in the final seconds. After three quarters, the Falcons and Bobcats were tied, 59-59.
• BG shot 56.4% (22-of-29) from the field, including a 9-for-17 (52.9%) performance from the arc, in the first three quarters.

FOURTH QUARTER
• Burris began the final quarter with a three-point play, but out of an early timeout, Cole found classmate Lambert for a three-pointer from the right wing, knotting the score once again.
• After that triple, though, the Falcons went over five minutes without a point. The Bobcats took the lead on a putback by Burke, who then hit a corner three for a 67-62 lead with 8:02 left.
• Burris somehow threw a shot up and in, despite solid defense by Cole, and moments later, Johnson's three made it a 10-0 run and a 10-point game, 72-62, with 4:15 to go.
• BG threw the ball away, but the Falcons drew an offensive foul, and Lambert threw it in to Cecil for a quick layup.
• Then, the Falcons forced a shot-clock violation with 2:08 on the clock, and Cecil hit a jumper in the paint. But, after the Bobcats nearly threw the ball away,, Burke picked up the ball and drained a corner three, giving the hosts a 75-66 lead with just 1:24 to go. BG got back within seven after a pair of free throws, but the Falcons could get no closer.

FINAL STATISTICS
• BGSU shot 48.1% from the field for the game, to Ohio's 43.3% success rate. The Falcons went 10-of-22 from three-point range (45.5%), while the 'Cats were 11-of-33 (33.3%).
• BG held a 34-31 lead on the glass, with Lambert pulling down a game-high 10 boards.
• In additioin to the Falcons' three double-figure scorers, Cole had nine points on perfect 4-for-4 shooting. Hempfling had four points and four assists for the Orange and Brown.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons will face Kent State on Monday (March 11), in first-round action in the MAC Tournament. The BGSU-KSU winner will advance to face fourth-seeded Buffalo in Wednesday's (March 13) quarterfinal round.
• The KSU game will begin at 7:00 p.m. Monday evening inside the M.A.C. Center, and the game is scheduled to be streamed via ESPN+.

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.