Falcons Make Plays at Crunch Time, Post 64-54 Win at NIU

Wednesday, February 2

DeKalb, ILL.

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

10-8,5-4MAC

Northern Illinois

8-11,5-6MAC

Bowling Green

Northern Ill.

Photo by: Stephen Linsky, BGSU Athletics

February 02, 2022 | Women's Basketball

Box Score BGSU-NIU Stats

Brett scores career-high 22; BGSU ends game on 12-1 run in DeKalb

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

DeKALB, Ill. – The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, trailing with under two minutes left, ended the game on a 12-1 run, defeating Northern Illinois University, 64-54, Wednesday night (Feb. 2). The Mid-American game was held at the NIU Convocation Center.

Junior Elissa Brett scored a career-high 22 points, and a cast of Falcons made key plays down the stretch to help BGSU (10-8, 5-4 Mid-American Conference) secure the road victory.

Freshman Jocelyn Tate scored nine points, while seniors Kadie Hempfling and Madisen Parker had eight apiece. Parker hit two three-point field goals in the fourth quarter, while Hempfling had seven of BG's 12 points during the game-ending run.

A'Jah Davis led the Huskies (8-11, 5-6 MAC) with 14 points. Davis split a pair of free throws with 1:53 left in the fourth quarter, but freshman Amy Velasco got herself to the line with 1:18 remaining, and hit the tying and go-ahead free throws.

Then, Kadie Hempfling's defensive effort forced Davis to commit a traveling violation with 1:02 on the clock. On the next possession, Velasco found Hempfling at the top of the arc, and the senior drained a three-point try to give the Falcons a four-point advantage with 52.5 seconds left.

NIU missed a three-point attempt, with Hempfling grabbing the rebound. Velasco was fouled and split a pair of shots at the stripe. Davis made 1-of-2 free throws with 29.1 ticks left, but the Falcons went a perfect 6-for-6 at the stripe from that point on, with Brett hitting two and Hempfling the final four.

After going just 3-for-16 from three-point range in the game's first three quarters, the Falcons were 5-of-7 from the arc in the fourth. Both Brett and Parker were a perfect 2-for-2 from the arc in the final quarter.

NOTE OF THE NIGHT
• For BG, the win broke a seven-game losing streak to the Huskies. The Falcons are now 19-8 in MAC regular-season contests and 21-9 overall against conference teams since the start of the 2020-21 season.
• In that time, BGSU had beaten 10 of the other 11 MAC teams – every conference opponent except for Northern Illinois.
• Wednesday night's win was the Falcons' first against the Huskies since a Jan. 20, 2016, victory in DeKalb.

QUOTING COACH FRALICK
"We showed great resilience on the road tonight. I was proud of the way multiple players on our team stepped up and made big plays."

FIRST QUARTER
• Nyla Hampton came up with steals on the first two Huskie possessions of the night. After the first one, she found Elissa Brett for a quick three-pointer and an early lead. NIU tied the game at 4-4 on an A'Jah Davis hoop in the paint, but Brett's driving layup gave the lead back to the Falcons.
• Davis picked up her second foul of the contest with just 2:43 gone, and was forced to leave the game. But, Janae Poisson's three-pointer gave NIU a 7-6 lead just over a minute later. Morgan Sharps answered with a floater before Poisson hit a pair of free throws with 4:15 left in the quarter.
• That 9-8 lead would be the Huskies' last until late in the fourth period. BGSU proceeded to hold Northern scoreless over the final 4:15 of the first quarter, although the Falcons could muster only four points of their own in that time.
• Hampton hung in the air and hit a jumper at the 2:05 mark, and Jocelyn Tate scored inside with 1:11 remaining, and the Falcons had a 12-9 lead after one.
• The Falcons held NIU to just a 2-for-14 shooting performance in the first quarter, while BG made five field goals in 14 attempts. The teams combined to go just 2-of-15 from the arc (BGSU 1-of-7, NIU 1-for-8).

SECOND QUARTER
• Poisson's three-pointer tied the game at the 7:44 mark, and was the first scoring of the second period. Sharps took a pass from Amy Velasco and knocked down a long-range shot to give BG the lead once again at 15-12.
• After an NIU bucket, Hempfling fed Brett for a three-pointer, before Zoe Miller scored the game's next six points. The freshman twice scored off of feeds from Brett, before working against her defender and scoring yet again. The latter bucket gave the Falcons a 9-0 run and a 24-14 lead.
• Nia Ahart snapped the run with a layup, but Miller got to the line and split her charity tosses, giving her seven-straight BG points.
• Brett capped the first-half scoring withi a driving layup at the 1:12 mark, and the Falcons had a 27-18 lead at the intermission.
• NIU was just 4-for-16 from the floor in the second quarter and 6-of-30 (20.0%) in the first half.

THIRD QUARTER
• NIU scored the first three points of the quarter, before a Hampton steal led to a spinning layup by Brett. But, Jayden Marable's jumper was followed by a Sidney McCrea three-pointer, cutting BGSU's lead to three.
• Hampton laid the ball off to Brett, who split two defenders for a layup, and Madisen Parker took a Kenzie Lewis pass and hit a long two-pointer. Tate hit an and-one layup and completed the three-point play with a free throw at the 1:42 mark.
• But, the Huskies had an answer for each BG bucket, and another McCrea three-pointer cut BGSU's lead to three, 36-33.
• Tate hit a driving layup, but a second-chance hoop by Davis trimmed the Falcon advantage to three points after three quarters.

FOURTH QUARTER
• Marable scored her team's first two buckets of the quarter, beginning with a jumper that made it a one-point game. Parker took a Hempfling pass and drilled a three-point try, before Marable hit another jumper. After a BG miss, Poisson's step-back jumper tied the game at 41-all.
• Parker knocked down another triple try, again off of a Hempfling assist, but McCrea's third trey in as many attempts on the night tied the game again.
• Tate blocked a shot and grabbed the rebound, and the ensuing possession resulted in Parker finding Brett for a long-range make and a 47-44 BG lead.
• Davis scored inside, but Brett hit Tate for a layup. Castro's three-ball tied the game before Hampton spotted Brett for another long-distance shot and a 52-49 advantage with 4:16 to go.
• Davis scored on the next possession, cutting the BG lead to one. That shot, with 3:48 to go, would be NIU's final successful field goal. But, BG was in the midst of a scoreless stretch, and Davis split a pair of charity tosses with 2:13 left and again at the 1:53 mark. The latter free throw gave the Huskies a 53-52 lead and set the stage for the Falcons' aforementioned game-ending 12-1 run.
• NIU went 0-of-6 from the field to end the game, while BGSU went 5-for-7 from the arc and 9-of-12 from the stripe in the fourth quarter.

STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• Brett, as mentioned, had a career-high 22 points, topping her previous best of 21 vs. Ohio just under a year ago (Feb. 6, 2021).
• Brett had eight points in the fourth quarter, going 2-for-2 from the three-point line. She was 4-for-6 from the arc in the game.
• Tate had nine points, four rebounds, two steals, two blocks and a plus/minus rating of +12 in just over 20 minutes of action.
• Hempfling had eight points, eight rebounds, three assists and a block. She had seven points, five boards and two assists in the fourth quarter alone. For the game, she tied Tate for game honors with a +12 plus/minus rating.
• Parker scored eight points, and like Brett was a perfect 2-for-2 from long range in the fourth period.
• Sharps had five points, and Lewis had seven rebounds. Hampton led the Falcons with four assists and three steals.
• Davis had a game-high 15 rebounds to go along with her NIU-leading 14 points. Poisson scored 10 points, McCrea nine and Marable eight.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons return to the road this weekend, heading to Muncie, Ind., to meet Ball State on Saturday (Feb. 5). That game will begin at 1:00 p.m. at Worthen Arena.
• Then, the Orange and Brown will meet NIU for the second time in as many Wednesdays when the Huskies come to the Stroh for a Feb. 9 rematch. That game will begin at 7:00 p.m., and will be the Falcons' Play 4Kay Game.
• Log on to BGSUFalcons.com for all of the latest news and updates re: the 2021-22 Falcons.

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