Falcons Can't Quite Overcome Early Deficit at Akron

Saturday, March 7

Akron, OH

2:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

10-20,3-15MAC

Akron

15-14,8-10MAC

Bowling Green

Akron

Madisen Parker scored a game-high 23 points, breaking the BG record for 3-pointers in a season in the process

Photo by: Jeff Harwell

March 07, 2020 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Final Stats

Parker breaks 3-point record, but Falcons fall, 70-61

By: by Mike Cihon, Assistant Director for Athletic Communications

The Bowling Green women's basketball team came nearly all the way back from a 19-point deficit, but the Falcons couldn't quite get over the hump, dropping a 70-61 decision at Akron on Saturday (March 7). The Mid-American Conference game, the final regular-season game for both teams, was held at James A. Rhodes Arena.

BGSU will face Western Michigan on Monday night (March 9), in a MAC Tournament first-round game. The Falcons and Broncos will meet in a 7:00 p.m. start at WMU's University Arena.

Junior Madisen Parker led all players with 23 points, breaking the BGSU single-season three-point record in the process. Classmate Angela Perry added 10 points, while sophomore Kadie Hempfling had nine points and nine rebounds.

Soph Morgan McMillen scored seven points on perfect 3-for-3 shooting off the bench, while freshman Elissa Brett had five points, a team-high 11 rebounds and a game-high seven assists.

For Akron, Alyssa Clay scored 16 points, with Jordyn Dawson adding 14 and Shaunay Edmonds 13.

The Falcons fell behind by 19 points midway through the second quarter before roaring back. A 10-0 run to end the half put the Falcons within single digits at the break.

Then, after the Zips began the third quarter by scoring the first eight points, BG ended the quarter on a 21-5 run. Parker was a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point range in the third period, and single-handedly outscored the Zips in that quarter. Freshman Olivia Trice's two free throws with 20.8 seconds left in the period cut the Akron lead to a single point.

But, UA began the fourth quarter with another run, extending the lead out to eight points. The Zips' lead fluctuated between seven and nine points for the next few minutes, but a Parker three-point play, followed by a McMillen jumper, made it a four-point game with just over three minutes to go.

Dawson, however, answered with a layup on the next possession, and her three-pointer restored the Zips' nine-point lead.

QUOTING COACH FRALICK
"Our start was really slow, and I feel like that's something we had been doing well recently. To be honest, I thought we got a lot of great looks, and we've got to be able to knock those down."

"We fought back -- we were down 19 at one point and cut it to one -- but we can't dig holes like that."

"It's now a new season for everybody. We've got to do a really good job of regrouping, and get ready to play our best on Monday."

PARK FROM THE ARC!
• Junior Madisen Parker went 6-for-8 from three-point range on Saturday. Her first triple of the game tied the school record for three-pointers in a season, and her second triple broke that mark.
• Parker now has made 97 three-pointers this season to date, breaking the old record of 92 by Lauren Prochaska in 2009-10.

FIRST QUARTER
• The Zips got off to a hot-shooting start on Saturday, going 4-for-5 from three-point land to begin the game. Shaunay Edmonds hit a triple on the game's first possession, and after junior Angela Perry scored on a turnaround one-hander, the hosts scored the next eight points. Shayna Harmon and Alyssa Clay each hit from the arc, giving the hosts an 11-2 lead.
• Madisen Parker knocked down a driving layup with the shot clock winding down, but another Clay triple gave the Zips a double-digit lead.
• Perry hit a long two-pointer, but the hosts kept coming. Jordyn Dawson muscled a shot home, and a straightaway triple by Colleen Neitzel gave UA a 21-6 lead. Parker drove and kicked the ball to fourth-year Falcon Caterrion Thompson for a three-pointer to cap the first-quarter scoring.

SECOND QUARTER
• Freshman Olivia Trice hit a right-side jumper, but Dawson knocked down a three and Clay hit a runner. Parker drained a three-point try, but Haleigh Reinoehl made a long-range shot, then a layup, and the Falcons called a timeout.
• Another bucket boosted the Zips' lead to 19 points, at 33-14, before the Falcons began to claw their way back.
• Freshman Elissa Brett hit a corner three, and Perry scored off of a feed by sophomore Kadie Hempfling. Hempfling then found fellow soph Morgan McMillen for a triple, and McMillen's driving layup gave the Falcons a 10-0 run to end the half. BG trailed by nine, 33-24, at the break.

THIRD QUARTER
• Akron scored the first eight points of the third quarter, with an Edmonds three-ball giving the Zips a 41-24 lead. But once again, BG battled back.
• The rally began with Parker's record-breaking three. Her second triple of the game and her 93rd of the season, started an 8-0 run. Parker proceeded to hit another trey, and Hempfling knocked down a foul-line jumper.
• With the lead at nine, the Zips used a timeout, and out of that break, a Dawson putback snapped the Falcons' run. Parker came right back with another three-ball, but Clay answered with a long-range shot at the other end.
• But, Parker's corner three began a 10-0 run to end the quarter. Hempfling scored inside, and Parker faked a three, took a dribble and made a three to cut the Akron lead to just three points. Freshman Olivia Trice was fouled with 20.8 seconds left in the quarter, knocking down both shots from the stripe to cut the Zips' lead to 46-45 after 30 minutes.

FOURTH QUARTER
• Dawson threw a shot off glass and in, and Gabrielle Brown-Mitchell's three-pointer was followed by a Kendall Miller jumper. Quickly, the Zips had surged ahead by eight.
• Brett found Perry for a bucket, but after a near-turnover, the ball bounced to Reinoehl, who hit a foul-line jumper. Hempfling converted a tough layup, but Clay's floater bounced around and in.
• Perry's nifty turnaround jumper was answered by a Caitlin Vari layup, but Parker hit an and-one layup off of a baseline drive, finishing the three-point play, and McMillen swished a long two-pointer. The Falcons were within four points with three minutes to go.
• But, Dawson scored off glass, and after a BG turnover, Dawson knocked down a trailing three to put the Zips up by nine with 2:10 remaining. Brett's layup made it a seven-point game with a minute to go, but the Falcons could get no closer.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• BGSU shot 36.4 percent from the floor, while the Zips had a 40.9% field-goal percentage. Akron was 12-for-30 from three-point land (40%), while BG went 9-of-29 (31.0%) from the arc.
• The teams combined for just 11 free-throw attempts, and none in the game's first 29-and-a-half minutes. BG was 4-of-5 and Western 4-for-6 from the stripe.
• Akron had a 43-39 advantage on the boards.

UP NEXT
• BGSU, the number-12 seed for the MAC Tournament, will head to Kalamazoo to face fifth-seeded Western Michigan on Monday night (March 9). That game will begin at 7:00 p.m. at University Arena.
• The BGSU-WMU winner will advance to Cleveland for a quarterfinal-round match vs. fourth-seeded Ohio on Wednesday (March 11).

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.

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