Fourth-Quarter Surge Leads Falcons to 82-69 Win at Miami

Wednesday, March 4

Oxford, OH

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

10-19,3-14MAC

Miami

11-18,4-13MAC

Bowling Green

Miami (OH)

Photo by: Scott Kissell, Miami Athletics

March 04, 2020 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Final Stats

Four-point play propels BG to 31-point quarter in Oxford

By: by Mike Cihon, Assistant Director for Athletic Communications

The Bowling Green women's basketball team scored 31 fourth-quarter points en route to a road win over Miami University Wednesday night (March 4). The Falcons downed the RedHawks, 82-69, in Mid-American Conference action at Millett Hall.

Fourth-year Falcon Caterrion Thompson led all players in both scoring and rebounding, with 22 points and 12 rebounds, while junior Angela Perry had 21 points in the win.

Freshmen Olivia Trice and Elissa Brett combined for 27 points and 16 rebounds on the night. Brett just missed a double-double, with 13 points and nine boards, and she had a game-best plus/minus rating of +22.

Trice scored 14 points and added seven rebounds and three assists. She had nine of those 14 points in the fourth quarter.

Trice set the tone for the final period with a four-point play on the opening possession. Just 13 seconds into the quarter, Trice took a pass from sophomore Kadie Hempfling – who led BG with eight assists in the win – and knocked down a three-pointer as she was knocked to the floor in front of the BG bench.

Trice's four-point play gave the Falcons a 55-54 lead, and after MU's Savannah Kluesner answered with a pair of layups, a Perry bucket brought the Falcons back within a point.

That Perry shot began a 13-2 run for the Falcons, giving BG the lead for good. The Falcons got a defensive stop, and Brett ran the floor and kicked the ball to junior Madisen Parker for a corner three. Parker's shot gave BGSU a 60-58 lead with 7:12 to go.

After Brett hit a pair of free throws, Lauren Dickerson's layup brought the RedHawks within two points with 5:36 to go. But, Trice answered with a jumper that began an 8-0 run. Perry scored the next six points in the game, with a bucket giving the Brown and Orange a 70-62 lead with 2:38 on the clock.

The game marked a 34-point reversal from the teams' meeting just over a month ago. The 'Hawks beat the Falcons by 21 points, BG's most lopsided loss of the season, at the Stroh Center on Feb. 1 before the Falcons picked up a 13-point win on Wednesday night.

Kluesner led the RedHawks with 17 points before fouling out, while Peyton Scott added 12. Lauren Dickerson, the RedHawks' leading scorer, dished out 10 assists in Wednesday's game, but had eight points on 4-of-23 shooting from the field.

QUOTING COACH FRALICK
"I've been really proud of our team the last few weeks. I think we are playing at a higher level in a lot of areas, but what stands out most to me is that we're just making more plays outside of the script – hustle plays, loose balls and rebounds. We stepped up tonight, and we made our free throws down the stretch, which was great to see."

"I'm proud of them. It's always tough to go on the road and win in this league, and I'm proud of them for finding a way."

FIRST QUARTER
• Kluesner hit a layup on the game's opening possession, but Hempfling came right back with a driving layup, and Perry's putback gave the Falcons the lead just over two minutes in.
• Thompson knocked down a three-pointer from near the top of the arc, then connected from the left wing, putting BG up by a 10-3 score. Trice poked the ball away from a RedHawk, and sophomore Morgan McMillen grabbed the loose ball and fired it ahead to Trice for a layup and a 12-3 lead as Miami used an early timeout.
• A steal led to a Vannessa Garrelts layup for the hosts, but Thompson received Trice's 'extra pass' and knocked down another triple try, and McMillen's rainbow three gave the Falcons an 18-5 lead.
• But, the RedHawks responded by scoring the final seven points of the quarter to cut the BG advantage to six points after 10 minutes of action.

SECOND QUARTER
• Thompson connected on a smooth jumper on the opening possession, and a nifty no-look pass by Hempfling resulted in a backdoor layup by Brett moments later. When Brett found Trice for a transition three, the Falcons had a 26-16 lead.
• Kenzie Schmitz answered with a triple of her own, but Perry kicked the ball to Brett for a corner three. Schmitz, however, connected from the arc again, cutting BG's lead to five at 29-24.
• Hempfling pounded the ball into Perry for a slick turnaround one-hander, and after the 'Hawks scored, Hempfling found Brett for another corner three and a 34-26 advantage.
• A Thompson floater gave BG a 10-point lead late in the period, but Kelly McLaughlin's foul-line jumper and a Schmitz three at the horn cut the Falcons' lead to six, 39-33, at the intermission.

THIRD QUARTER
• The first possession of the second half saw Thompson knock down a left-side three, and two buckets by Perry helped the Falcons establish a seven-point advantage. But, Kluesner's second three-point play of the quarter cut into the Falcons' lead, and when Garrelts hit from beyond the arc, BG's lead was a single point.
• Scott drove and threw in a shot that gave the RedHawks an 8-0 run and a 47-46 lead just over halfway through the period. A Hempfling free throw tied the score, and the sophomore's offensive rebound led to a Thompson floater and a 49-47 BG advantage.
• Kluesner worked her way inside for a bucket, however, and Dickerson found Scott for a right-side three that capped a 7-0 spurt. Miami held a five-point lead, 54-49, in the final minute of the period.
• Perry scored after a pretty spin move with 25 seconds to go, and the Falcons got a stop to keep the deficit at three points after 30 minutes.

FOURTH QUARTER
• Trice's four-point play came on the first possession of the quarter, with the free throw giving BG a brief lead. Kluesner, as mentioned, scored the next two buckets of the game, but Perry took a Trice pass and hit a shot inside, and after a Miami miss, Brett ran the floor and found Parker all alone in the left corner. Parker's triple gave the Falcons a 60-58 lead, and the RedHawks used a timeout.
• Out of the timeout, however, the Falcons came up with a steal, and Brett was fouled on a drive. The freshman knocked down both free-throw tries for a 62-58 BG lead.
• Dickerson, who was just 2-for-18 from the field to that point, converted a layup, but Trice stepped up and made a jumper with the shot clock winding down, and Brett then took a charge, as Dickerson was whistled for an offensive foul with four minutes to go.
• Trice's entry pass resulted in a close-range bucket by Perry, and after a quick miss by Miami, Hempfling grabbed the rebound. A Brett offensive rebound kept the next possession alive, and Perry was fouled and knocked down both shots for an eight-point BG lead.
• Scott's putback cut that lead to 68-62, but Hempfling's sweet pass resulted in another Perry bucket. But, Kluesner's left-side jumper bounced in, and the Falcons threw the ball away. A Miami shot was off the mark, however, and as the 'Hawks pressed to steal the ball back, Trice grabbed it just a split-second ahead of a Miami player near midcourt and tossed the ball ahead to a wide-open Perry for a layup and a 72-64 lead with 1:40 to go.
• The ensuing possession saw Kluesner called for an offensive foul – her fifth – and after another foul, Parker's two tosses made it a 10-point game with 1:12 on the clock.
• Beginning with those Parker free throws, the Falcons went 10-of-12 from the line over the final 72 seconds, and Miami could get no closer than nine points.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• The Falcons shot nearly 50 percent (49.1%, to be exact) on the night, while holding Miami to a 36.7% effort. BGSU made three fewer shots than Miami, but the RedHawks attempted 26 more shots than the Falcons.
• BG had a 49-33 rebounding advantage in the win, with three Falcons pulling down at least nine boards.
• The Falcons were 10-of-24 from three-point range, with Thompson hitting four and Brett and Trice two apiece. Brett was a perfect 2-for-2 from long distance. Miami went 7-for-22 from the arc.
• BGSU was 20-of-29 from the free-throw line, including a 15-for-19 performance in the fourth quarter. Miami was 4-for-6 at the stripe on the evening.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons will return to the road this weekend, heading to Northeast Ohio to face Akron on Saturday afternoon (March 7). BGSU meets the Zips at Rhodes Arena in a 2:00 p.m. start
• Then, BGSU will face an opponent to be determined in the MAC Tournament. The league tourney begins with first-round contests at campus sites on Monday (March 9).

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.

HASHTAGS
#AyZiggy | #OneMore