Falcons Roar Back in Second Half to Down EMU, 63-47

Wednesday, March 10

Cleveland, Ohio

11:00 AM

Bowling Green State University

19-5,14-4MAC

Eastern Michigan (Quarterfinals)

10-10,7-7MAC

Eastern Mich.

Bowling Green

Kenzie Lewis had a double-double & keyed BGSU's second-half comeback on Wednesday

Photo by: Scott W. Grau

March 10, 2021 | Women's Basketball

Box Score BGSU-EMU Stats MAC Tournament Championship Central BGSU-EMU Highlights Coach Fralick Postgame Interview Lewis Postgame Interview Photo Gallery

Top-seeded BGSU advances to face Buffalo Friday

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team used a stifling second-half defensive effort to erase a halftime deficit and defeat Eastern Michigan University, 63-47, on Wednesday (March 10). The game, a Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinal-round contest, was held at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in downtown Cleveland.

With the win, the Falcons (19-5) advance to Friday's (March 12) semifinal round. BGSU, the tournament's number-one seed, will meet fourth-seeded Buffalo in the semis.

Junior Kadie Hempfling led all players with 15 points, while freshman Kenzie Lewis and sophomore Elissa Brett each recorded double-doubles in the win. Lewis had 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Brett scored 13 points and added 10 boards.

BGSU outscored the Eagles by a 42-16 count in the second half.

The Eagles (10-10), the number-eight seed for the tournament, got 13 points from Ce'Nara Skanes, while Areanna Combs had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Lewis had 12 of her 14 points in the second half, and was a key performer as the Falcons forged a comeback.

BG had just 25 points with nearly 25 minutes gone, but the Falcons then went on a 23-2 run to seize control of Wednesday's game. The Orange and Brown scored 11-straight points, with nine of them coming at the free-throw line, and after Eastern answered with a bucket late in the third quarter, BG responded by scoring the game's next 12 points, with Nyla Hampton's layup putting the Falcons ahead by 11, 48-37, with just under eight minutes to go.

NOTE OF THE DAY
• BGSU now has an overall record of 45-25 in the MAC Tournament, including a 22-7 record in the building currently known as Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. However, Wednesday's win was the Falcons' first MAC Tournament victory in eight years, since a second-round win over Western Michigan in the 2013 tournament.
• The Falcons were playing a league tournament game in Cleveland for the first time since 2014.

HIGHLIGHTS / INTERVIEWS

FIRST QUARTER
• Lexi Fleming found Kadie Hempfling for a three-pointer on the first possession of the game, but that was one of just eight first-half field goals for the Falcons. EMU got a layup from Ce'Nara Skanes with nearly four minutes gone, marking the Eagles' first points of the day, but it also brought Eastern within a single point, at 3-2.
• Nyla Hampton came up with a steal and found Fleming for a nifty reverse layup in transition, but the Eagles then scored the next five points, with Areanna Combs' corner three putting EMU up, 7-5.
• Elissa Brett knocked down a three-point try, and Hempfling's and-one layup and free throw tied the game at 13-all with just over a minute left in the quarter. But, EMU ened the period on a 5-0 run to take an 18-13 lead. Jenna Annecchiarico's three-pointer broke the tie and Skanes hit a layup to end the first-quarter scoring.

SECOND QUARTER
• Hempfling fed Kenzie Lewis for a layup to begin the second-quarter scoring, but EMU's Terrysha Banner answered with a triple. Then, the teams traded hoops for the next few minutes, with Hempfling scoring on a run-out, then finding Clare Glowniak for an easy layup. Then, Glowniak took a Fleming feed and knocked down a foul-line jumper to cut the EMU lead to four, at 25-21.
• But, Combs hit a three-pointer from near the top of the arc, and Natalia Pineda's triple gave the Eagles a 10-point lead and prompted a Falcon timeout. EMU took that 31-21 advantage into the half.

THIRD QUARTER
• A Hampton steal led to a Fleming layup several minutes into the quarter, and Hempfling found Brett for a bucket, but Corrione Cardwell's foul-line jumper put the Eagles up, 35-25, with almost half of the quarter gone. But, that's why BG's comeback began.
• Lewis was fouled on a drive to the hoop, hitting a free throw to cut the deficit to nine. With the Falcons running, Brett was fouled and knocked down a pair of shots from the stripe. Then, Lewis drove and drew Skanes' fourth foul of the game, making a pair of charity tosses out of the third-quarter media timeout. BG was down by just five.
• Lewis came up with an offensive rebound, was fouled yet again (this time the fourth foul on Annecchiarico), and made two more free throws. Hempfling took a charge on an EMU player, giving the ball back to the Falcons, and the next possession resulted in a Lewis layup that made it a one-point game.
• Hempfling came up with a steal and was quickly fouled, and her free throws gave the Brown and Orange a 36-35 lead. A putback by Rayjon Harris ended BG's 11-0 run, but the Falcons quickly began another run.
• Lewis got back to the line and connected twice more, and Angela Perry added a pair of free throws with 32.3 seconds to go. When BG force an EMU miss, Lewis corralled the rebound, drove coast-to-coast and was fouled with 0.5 seconds left in the quarter. she hit a shot to give the Falcons a 41-37 lead after 30 minutes.

FOURTH QUARTER
• Hempfling drove the baseline, spun and kicked the ball to Madisen Parker for a straightaway three-pointer, and a Hempfling steal led to a driving layup by Parker. When Hampton drove and sank a layup of her own, BG's lead was 48-37.
• The Eagles snapped BGSU's 12-0 run with a free throw, and Caldwell's layup made it an eight-point game, but Olivia Trice whipped a pass to Hampton for a three-ball and a 51-40 lead, and Hempfling found a cutting Lewis for a baseline layup and a 13-point margin. At that point, the Falcons owned a 32-9 second-half scoring advantage, and the Eagles used a timeout.
• The Eagles knocked down a three-pointer, but Brett answered with two shots at the line, and after BG used all of the shot clock on the next offensive possession, Lewis grabbed another offensive board, drew a foul and knocked down a pair of charity tosses with 2:08 to go.
• BG broke a press, and Trice found Brett for a layup and a 14-point lead with under two minutes remaining, and the Falcons were on their way to Friday's semifinal round.

STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• BGSU shot 30.5% from the field for the game. After going just 11-for-49 over the first three quarters, the Falcons were 7-of-10 in the fourth.
• BGSU went 23-of-29 (79.3%) at the free-throw line, including 20-for-22 in the second half. The Falcons were 14-of-16 at the stripe in the third quarter alone.
• EMU shot 37.5% from the floor for the game, but just 26.9% (7-for-26) after halftime. The Eagles were 5-of-9 at the stripe on the day.
• Eastern made six three-pointers to the Falcons' four, with both teams shooting under 30% from the arc. The Eagles had a narrow 38-36 rebounding advantage.
• The Falcons had just eight turnovers, while forcing EMU into 23. BGSU had 13 steals in the game, with Hampton and Lewis picking up four each and Hempfling three.
• The Falcons had advantages of 20-6 in points off turnovers, 28-18 in points in the paint, 10-7 in second-chance points, 13-0 in fast-break points and 12-7 in bench scoring.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons move on to Friday's (March 12) semifinals. BGSU will meet fourth-seeded Buffalo in that day's first game, which is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m.
• The BGSU-UB winner will advance to Saturday's (March 13) championship game, which tips off at 11:00 a.m.
• Check BGSUFalcons.com for all of the latest news and updates re: the 2020-21 Falcons.

Gallery: (3-10-2021) W.Basketball v EMU - March 10 2021

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