Perry's Putback Puts BG at Top of MAC

KENT, Ohio – Senior Angela Perry's layup with just 2.0 seconds remaining in overtime lifted the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team to an 80-79 victory at Kent State University on Wednesday night (Feb. 10). The Mid-American Conference thriller was held at the M.A.C. Center.

Perry's putback, combined with the efforts of her teammates, also lifted the Falcons into first place in the MAC standings. BGSU (15-4, 11-3 MAC) entered the game in second place in the 12-team conference, but leapfrogged the Golden Flashes (7-4, 6-2 MAC) with Wednesday's win.

Freshmen Lexi Fleming and Nyla Hampton each had 15 points to tie for team honors. Fleming had the first double-double of her young career with a BG-leading 10 rebounds, while Hampton sealed the win, swooping in and blocking a shot by KSU's Nila Blackford as the final horn sounded.

The game featured no fewer than 17 ties and 20 lead changes, and neither team led by more than six points during the entire 45-minute contest.

Junior Kadie Hempfling and senior Madisen Parker scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, as all nine players who saw action for the Falcons scored at least four points.

For the Flashes, Blackford had game-high totals of 23 points and 13 boards to pace four double-figure scorers. Lindsey Thall added 18 points, Katie Shumate 15 and Clare Kelly 11 for the hosts, who lost at home for the first time in 2020-21.

What a win tonight for the BGSU Women. A first place showdown in the MAC and the Falcons win a thriller 80-79. Bowling Green is now 11-3 in the conference.

Here's how it finished in OT: pic.twitter.com/DBdTcYdVz9
— Jordan Strack (@JordanStrack) February 11, 2021

NOTE OF THE NIGHT
• Wednesday night was BGSU's first overtime game of the season, and the Falcons' first OT contest since a 96-86 home loss to Kent State in double overtime late last season (Feb. 29, 2020).
• BGSU's victory was the Falcons' first OT win in over three years (since a 66-62 win at Robert Morris on Nov. 16, 2017), and the program's first overtime victory in a MAC game in over nine years (since a 77-72 triumph at Central Michigan on Jan. 28, 2012).
• BGSU had lost five consecutive OT contests and seven of the last eight such games before Wednesday's win.

BONUS NOTE OF THE NIGHT
• The Falcons beat the first-place Golden Flashes on the road despite the following...
   >> BGSU was whistled for a season-high 26 fouls, with two starters fouling out of the contest and two other starters finishing the game with four fouls
   >> KSU committed just 12 turnovers, the fewest by a BG opponent all year, and the Flashes had the most free throws made (22) and attempted (33) of any Falcon foe this season
   >> The Falcons made just four three-point field goals, tying a season low, and BG hit only one long-range shot in the game's final 37 minutes
• Despite those numbers, BGSU reached the 80-point mark for the third time this year, with all three games coming on the road

QUOTING COACH FRALICK
"This was a really gutsy win. I felt like we had a lot of tough things happen -- a lot of foul trouble and a lot of things that could have taken us out of what we like to do. And with all of those things, I was just proud of us for grinding out a win. Angela Perry's putback was obviously huge, but we had a lot of different kids step up tonight."

"So many people stepped up in different ways. Madisen Parker took a key charge, we hit some free throws down the stretch and we had some big steals in overtime. We had to grind it out, and I'm really proud of our team for keeping their composure and finding a way."

FIRST QUARTER
• The Falcons took an early 4-0 lead on layups by freshmen Kenzie Lewis and Lexi Fleming, but three-point field goals by Katie Shumate and Clare Kelly gave the Flashes a two-point advantage. Sophomore Elissa Brett answered Kelly's triple with a long-range shot of her own, off of a Lewis feed, and BG had a 7-6 lead. In a harbinger of things to come, though, freshman Nyla Hampton was called for her second foul of the game with just 4:28 gone, and Monique Smith's free throw tied the contest at the night's first media timeout.
• The Falcons proceeded to go on an 8-3 run, beginning with a Fleming three-ball. After Shumate made her second long-range shot of the night, Lewis's 'extra pass' resulted in a triple by sophomore Olivia Trice. Then, junior Kadie Hempfling found a cutting Madisen Parker, and the senior's layup made it a 15-10 BGSU lead.
• Hempfling was whistled for her second foul of the night, but after Nila Blackford made one of her two free throws, Trice answered with a charity toss. Smith's shot from the stripe cut the Falcons' advantage to four, 16-12, after 10 minutes.
• The Falcons shot just 33.3% (6-for-18) in the opening quarter, going 3-for-8 from the three-point line. The Flashes went 3-for-4 from outside the arc, but 0-of-11 from inside it.

SECOND QUARTER
• Brett, seemingly trapped underneath the basket, hit a step-through reverse layup to open the second-quarter scoring, and after Shumate hit a pull-up jumper, Trice grabbed a defensive rebound and fired a long pass to Hampton for a run-out layup and a 20-14 lead.
• Shumate was fouled on a three-point try and made all three tosses, and after a driving layup by Hampton, Blackford scored four-straight points, with her layup cutting the BG lead to one. Then, Kelly knocked down a three-pointer to give the Flashes a 24-22 advantage.
• The Falcons, though, answered KSU's 7-0 run with a 6-0 run of their own. Brett hit a quick layup after Kelly's triple, and Fleming altered a shot by Mariah Modkins, then took a Hampton pass for a layup and a 26-24 lead. Senior Angela Perry was fouled and, out of the media timeout, made both free throws for a four-point lead.
• Back came the hosts, with a corner three by Modkins capping a quick 5-0 run and giving KSU the lead. Parker was fouled and made both shots as the back-and-forth scoring continued. Fleming's nice look resulted in a wide-open Hampton layup with 1:09 on the clock, and Blackford's free throw broke a tie and gave the home side a 33-32 lead at the intermission.

THIRD QUARTER
• Fleming drove for a layup that opened the second-half scoring, and after a three-point try by Lindsey Thall rattled home, Hempfling's and-one reverse layup and the ensuing free throw gave the Falcons a 37-36 lead. Brett corralled an offensive rebound and kicked the ball out to Parker for a 40-38 advantage, and Hempfling answered buckets by Thall and Kelly, respectively, by posting up and scoring on back-to-back trips down the floor.
• But, both Hempfling and Brett picked up foul number three within the first six-plus minutes of the quarter, as BG's foul woes continued. Casey Santoro made a three-pointer to give KSU the lead, and Hempfling was called for her fourth foul of the night at the 3:12 mark.
• A nifty pass by Fleming from the baseline resulted in a Perry jumper that tied the score, but Shumate hit a runner, and – after Brett was whistled for her fourth foul of the game – Santoro's free throw was followed by a Thall putback that gave the hosts a five-point lead in the final minute of the quarter.
• Hampton responded with a driving reverse layup, drawing a foul in the process and completing a three-point play, but Kelly beat the third-quarter buzzer with a three-ball from the wing, and the Flashes' lead was back at five points, 54-49.

FOURTH QUARTER
• Senior Clare Glowniak took a Trice pass and hit an and-one layup in the opening minute of the fourth period, and her free throw cut the KSU lead to two points. Lewis knocked down a free-throw try less than a minute later, but the Flashes answered BG's scores with a Thall layup and two Blackford tosses, extending the lead back out to five with 7:56 to go.
• Hampton drove and hit a shot off glass, and Lewis swatted a Santoro shot into the basket standard at the other end, but Hampton then became the third Falcon to pick up her fourth foul with 7:18 to go.
• Hempfling's runner banked high off glass and through the hoop, cutting the Flashes' lead to one, but Brett was assessed her fifth foul with 6:26 remaining. Parker got herself to the line on two-straight trips, and went 4-for-4, but after each trip, Blackford responded by bulling her way to the hoop for a bucket. When Santoro scored with the shot clock winding down, the hosts took a 64-61 lead.
• But, Lewis quickly fired the ball ahead to Hempfling for yet another three-point opportunity. Out of the final media timeout of regulation, Hempfling's free throw tied the game with 4:10 to go.
• Thall scored inside, and BG missed a shot, but Lewis stole the ball from Blackford and fired it ahead to Fleming for a game-tying layup with 2:50 remaining. Hempfling, however, picked up her fifth foul on the next possession, but as Perry was double-teamed in the paint, she flipped the ball to a cutting Lewis for a jumper, giving BG a 68-67 lead. KSU turned it over, and Hampton blew past her defender for a layup with 1:38 to go, but a Blackford three-pointer tied the score, 70-70, with 1:07 remaining.
• Perry found Hampton breaking toward the hoop, and the freshman scored with 47.0 seconds to go. But, Blackford put back her own miss to tie the game once again with 18.8 ticks on the clock. A Hampton shot would not drop, and the Flashes rebounded the ball and called time with 2.5 seconds left, but a Shumate shot from midcourt was no good as the horn sounded, and the teams headed to overtime.

OVERTIME
• The Flashes 'won' the jump ball, as Blackford tapped it backward, but Fleming was first to reach it, and the freshman sailed in for a layup with just four seconds gone. The teams traded misses on each of the next four possessions (two each), but Fleming's offensive rebound and putback capped that stretch, with the bucket giving BG a 76-72 lead with 3:41 remaining.
• Thall made a pair of free throws to cut that lead in half, and BG missed a shot. But, Parker took a charge as Santoro drove toward the basket, giving the ball back to the Falcons. BG missed a shot, and Thall misfired at the other end, but she was fouled on the rebound, and her tosses tied the contest with 1:54 to go.
• The Falcons turned it over, but Parker deflected a Blackford pass, with Hampton grabbing the ball, heading downcourt and flipping it to a trailing Glowniak for a jumper with 1:09 on the clock. Blackford was fouled with 54.1 seconds remaining, but missed her first free-throw try before making the second.
• BG led by a point, but Hampton's layup attempt was halfway down before coming back out with 36 seconds left, and Blackford grabbed the rebound. After a KSU timeout, Blackford scored inside, putting the Flashes up, 79-78, with 10.3 seconds remaining.
• The Falcons used a timeout, and on the ensuing possession, Fleming's floater did not drop. But, Perry came up with the rebound in traffic, putting it back up and in with 2.0 seconds left.
• After a timeout, the Flashes got the ball to Blackford, who put up a shot as three Falcons converged on her. One of those defenders, Hampton, came swooping in from the side and blocked Blackford's shot as the buzzer sounded, and the Falcons had the road win.

STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• The contest marked BGSU's first overtime game of the season, but KSU's second in three days. The Flashes beat Toledo in OT at the M.A.C. Center on Monday afternoon.
• BG played an overtime contest for the first time since late last season. In the Falcons' most recent meeting with Kent State (Feb. 29, 2020), the Flashes escaped the Stroh Center with a win in double OT.
• The Falcons shot 47.7% on the night, making 31 field goals to KSU's 24. The Flashes shot just 34.3% from the floor. But, Kent State made nine three-pointers, compared to four for the Orange and Brown. KSU was 9-of-27 (33.3%) from long range, while the Falcons were 4-of-13 (30.8%).
• The home team made more free throws and grabbed more rebounds as well. KSU was 22-of-33 from the stripe – although BG had a higher success rate from the line, going 14-of-16 (87.5%) – and the Flashes had a 46-34 lead on the boards.
• KSU turned the ball over just 12 times, a season-low total for a BG opponent. But, the Falcons had just 13 turnovers, and BG had a 16-8 lead in points off turnovers.
• BGSU scored a whopping 54 points in the paint, with a 54-26 lead in that category, and the Falcons had a 26-9 advantage in bench scoring.
• The Falcons shot 72.7% from the floor in the fourth quarter, going 8-for-11, and BG was 7-of-8 (87.5%) from the line in that period, as the visitors erased a five-point deficit to force overtime.
• In the extra session, the Falcons shot 40% (4-for-10) while holding the Flashes to a 14.3% rate (1-of-7).
• In addition to the four double-digit scorers, the Falcons got seven points from Brett, while Perry had six, Lewis and Glowniak five each and Trice four.

UP NEXT
• BGSU's game at Eastern Michigan, originally scheduled for Saturday afternoon (Feb. 13) has been postponed, so the next scheduled game is a home matchup with Central Michigan next Wednesday night (Feb. 17). The Falcons and Chippewas are scheduled to meet in a 7:00 p.m. start at the Stroh Center.
• Check BGSUFalcons.com for all of the latest news and updates re: the 2020-21 Falcons.

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