Slow Start Too Much for Falcons to Overcome in 79-69 Setback at Ohio

Saturday, January 25

Athens, OH

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

8-11,1-6MAC

Ohio

12-6,5-2MAC

Bowling Green

Ohio

Olivia Trice v Davis & Elkins - Dec 30 2019

Photo by: Isaiah Vazquez/BGSU Athletics

Slow Start Too Much for Falcons to Overcome in 79-69 Setback at Ohio

January 25, 2020 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Final Stats

BGSU hosts Miami next Saturday at the Stroh

By: by Mike Cihon, Assistant Director for Athletic Communications

A slow start was too much for the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team to overcome Saturday afternoon (Jan. 25), as the Falcons fell, 79-69, to Mid-American Conference preseason favorite Ohio University at the Convocation Center.

Fourth-year Falcon Caterrion Thompson scored 20 points, tying her season high, while junior Madisen Parker added 15, including five three-point field goals.

A trio of Falcons – juniors Mari Hill and Angela Perry and freshman Olivia Trice – scored nine points apiece. For Trice, it was the highest total of her young career.

Cece Hooks and Erica Johnson combined for 47 points for the Bobcats. Hooks had a game-high 25 points and added eight assists and seven rebounds, while Johnson hit five triples en route to 22 points.

The Bobcats scored the first nine points of the game and held leads of 19-4 and 23-9. BGSU outscored the hosts, 60-56, over the final three quarters, but could not quite get over the hump.

Trailing by 13 at the half, the Falcons began the third quarter on an 8-0 run. After the 'Cats snapped that run with a bucket, Hill's corner three cut the Ohio lead to just four, at 47-43. But, Hooks hit a pair of free throws to begin a six-point run for the hosts.

The Ohio lead reached a game-high 17 points early in the fourth quarter before the Falcons went on a 9-0 spurt. Hill scored the last four points in that stretch, with her layup making it a 68-60 game with 5:36 to go.

But, Caitlyn Kroll's line-drive three-pointer extended the Bobcats' lead back out to double digits. BG crept within seven on a Trice bucket, but for the most part, the hosts were able to use the shot clock to their advantage down the stretch to keep the Falcons at arm's length.

QUOTING COACH FRALICK
"The bad start really put us in a hole. I thought we fought back, but we've got to have a better start than that, and we've got to take better care of the basketball."

"With that being said, we got within striking distance multiple times in the third and fourth quarter. Again, we showed good fight, but we have to have a better start, and we've got to continue to work."

FIRST-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS
• The Bobcats scored the first nine points of the day, beginning with Katie Barker's quick three-pointer. Erica Johnson scored four points during that run.
• BGSU got on the board when Caterrion Thompson connected from the top of the arc, but Johnson answered with a step-back three.
• Ohio's lead reached 15 points when Cece Hooks hit a layup off of a BG turnover to make it a 19-4 game. But, Thompson found Olivia Trice for a three-pointer, then hit a pull-up jumper to cut the lead to 10. Ohio, however, scored the final four points of the period, with Barker's runner in the final seconds making it a 23-9 game after 10 minutes.

SECOND-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS
• Madisen Parker hit a three-pointer on BG's first possession, and Angela Perry's three-point play brought BG within 11 points. Thompson got to the line and hit a pair of shots, and after scoring nine points in the first quarter, the Falcons had eight in the opening 1:19 of the second.
• Moments later, Mari Hill stole the ball in the Ohio end of the court, took a return pass from Morgan McMillen and hit a short jumper.
• Gabby Burris answered with a three-pointer, but McMillen's entry pass found Perry for a short banker. Then, Parker took a McMillen pass and knocked own a three-ball to cut the Ohio lead to 32-25. Moments later, McMillen hit from behind the arc, and it was a 34-28 game as the teams reached the media timeout.
• The 'Cats hit a pair of free throws, however, and Barker's triple put the hosts back up by 11. Multiple Falcons went to the floor chasing a loose ball moments later, and Trice was fouled and hit two shots from the stripe. Thompson went to the line and was perfect with 49.8 seconds left in the half, getting the Falcons within nine, but Ohio scored the final four points of the period, including a Hooks layup in the final seconds, for a 45-32 lead at the break.

THIRD-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS
• BGSU scored the first eight points of the second half as part of an 11-3 run. The Falcons got a stop, and a Perry pass gave Thompson a wide-open layup. Ohio threw the ball away, and Thompson hit a jump-stop layup. The 'Cats were called for traveling, and Kadie Hempfling lobbed the ball inside to Perry for a bucket.
• Perry put back her own miss, cutting the BG deficit to five points. Finally, the Bobcats hit a shot, as Burris scored in the paint, but Hempfling drove the baseline and kicked the ball to Hill for a corner three that cut the Ohio lead to four, at 47-43.
• But, the hosts had an answer. Hooks hit a pair of shots at the line, to begin a 6-0 run. Her steal and bucket gave the 'Cats a 53-43 lead. And, Ohio extended the lead out to 15 points, 60-45, on a Johnson triple with 3:20 left in the quarter.
• A monstrous block by Perry led to a break for the Falcons, and Hempfling spotted Parker in the left corner. From directly in front of the Marching 110, Parker knocked down a three-ball. Johnson hit another trey, but Parker connected from the same spot to make it a 63-51 game.

FOURTH-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS
• Hooks hit a three to begin the scoring, but Trice faked a three, drove and hit a floater. Then, the freshman found Parker hanging out near the band once again, and the sharpshooter knocked down yet another three-ball. When Hill made a pair of free throws, the Ohio lead was 10, and when Hempfling's bounce pass found Hill for an easy layup, it was a 68-60 game with six minutes to go.
• But, Caitlyn Kroll's line-drive three-point try was on target, giving the hosts a double-digit lead once again. The Falcons threatened, with free throws by Thompson and McMillen making it a single-digit game, and Trice's layup with 2:19 to go cut the BG deficit to seven, at 71-64.
• The hosts, however, got a three-pointer from Johnson with 1:58 remaining, and from there, Ohio was able to close out the victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Ohio shot 49.2 percent from the floor to the Falcons' 46.0%. BGSU was 9-for-27 (33.3%) from three-point range, while the 'Cats went 10-for-32 (31.3%) from the arc.
• BG was 14-for-19 from the free-throw line, compared to Ohio's 9-of-11, and the Falcons had a 35-26 rebounding advantage.
• But, the Falcons turned the ball over 22 times, with the Bobcats coming up with 22 points off of turnovers. Ohio had 13 turnovers, which BG converted into 19 points.
• In addition to her team-high 20 points, Caterrion Thompson led the Falcons with eight rebounds. Madisen Parker had 15 points and seven boards, while Angela Perry had seven boards to go along with her nine points.
• Kadie Hempfling had a team-high seven assists, while Morgan McMillen had five points and a career-high five assists in 16 minutes of action off of the bench.
• Ohio got 25 points, seven boards and eight assists from Cece Hooks, while Erica Johnson had 22 points and corralled six caroms.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons will play three of the next four games at home. After a midweek bye, the Orange and Brown will host Miami the next Saturday (Feb. 1). It will be Pride Day at the Stroh Center, with tipoff at 2:00 p.m.
• Then, BGSU will hit the road to face Kent State on Wednesday, Feb. 5, before returning home to take on Northern Illinois (Feb. 8) and Eastern Michigan (Feb. 12).

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.