Rockets Rally Past Falcons, 62-56

Saturday, March 4

Toledo, Ohio

2:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

25-5,14-4MAC

Toledo

25-4,16-2MAC

Bowling Green

Toledo

Photo by: Haley Boehm, UT Athletics

March 04, 2023 | Women's Basketball

Box Score BGSU-UT Stats

BGSU will be #2 seed for MAC Tournament; Falcons will face EMU on Wednesday

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

TOLEDO, Ohio – In a battle between the top two teams in the Mid-American Conference, the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team dropped a 62-56 decision on the road against the University of Toledo Saturday afternoon (March 4). The game was played at Savage Arena.

Elissa Brett scored a game-high 23 points for the Falcons (25-5, 14-4 MAC). Brett hit seven three-point field goals – just one shy of the school single-game record – against the Rockets. Allison Day had 14 points on Saturday afternoon.

Jocelyn Tate had seven points and seven rebounds, with Nyla Hampton and Lexi Fleming scoring five points apiece. Fleming paced the Falcons in rebounds (eight) and steals (four), and added four assists.

The Falcons will be the number-two seed for the MAC Tournament, which begins Wednesday (March 8). BGSU will face seventh-seeded Eastern Michigan University in the quarterfinal round.

Sammi Mikonowicz scored 17 points for the Rockets (25-4, 16-2 MAC) to pace three double-digit scorers.

Tate played just 24 minutes in the game due to foul trouble. BGSU was whistled for 24 fouls in the contest, with one player fouling out and four others finishing the game with four fouls apiece.

FIRST QUARTER
• The Rockets took an early, lead, with Sammi Mikonowicz hitting a three-pointer to give the hosts a 5-0 lead with less than two minutes gone. UT then would go 31 minutes before hitting another triple.
• BG got on the board when Lexi Fleming found Allison Day for a three-point play, and the teams traded hoops over the next few minutes. Jessica Cook scored with the shot clock winding down, and after Elissa Brett answered with a jumper, Cook's putback gave the Rockets a 9-5 lead.
• But, that Cook hoop with 3:54 left in the quarter proved to be the Rockets' final points of the period. BGSU went on a 9-0 run to end the quarter. Sophie Dziekan kicked the ball out to Brett for a triple, Nyla Hampton drove and laid the ball off glass and in, and Day made a baby hook shot with 35 seconds left in the quarter. The Falcons forced a Toledo turnover, and Amy Velasco threw the ball inside to Day for a last-second layup and a 14-9 lead.
• BGSU shot 40 percent from the field in the opening quarter, and held the Rockets to just over a 30-percent rate.

SECOND QUARTER
• Jocelyn Tate drove and drew a foul on Mikonowicz, her second of the game, and Tate split a pair of free throws. UT answered with a charity toss to end BG's 10-0 run, but Day kicked the ball out to Brett for a three-pointer and an 18-12 lead. After roughly two scoreless minutes, Fleming drove, was fouled and made a pair of shots for a 20-12 advantage.
• But, in the span of less than a minute, Day was whistled for her second foul of the game, and Dziekan was assessed her third. UT converted free throws after each foul to cut BG's eight-point lead in half.
• Hampton found Brett out top for a three-pointer, and after Cook scored inside, Tate hit a foul-line jumper, then put back a teammate's miss to give the Falcons a 27-18 lead at the half.
• The Rockets shot an even 30% in the first half, while BGSU shot just 21.1% in the second quarter and 29.4% in the opening half. But, the Falcons attempted 34 shots to UT's 20 in the first 20 minutes.

THIRD QUARTER
• The Falcons got out to a fast start in the second half. Tate found Fleming for a triple on the opening possession, and after a Khera Goss layup, Fleming drove and fired a bounce pass to an open Day for a layup. Then, with BG out and running, Fleming's pass resulted in a Brett three-pointer, and Tate backed her would-be defender into the paint and hit a shot off glass for a 37-20 lead.
• But, after BG started the third quarter on a 10-2 run, UT ended the period on a 20-8 surge. The Rockets made four free throws before Quinesha Lockett hit back-to-back buckets, making a free throw after the latter hoop to cut BG's lead to 37-29.
• Hampton answered with an and-one hoop of her own, and after Mikonowicz scored, Brett knocked down a three-point try from the corner for a 43-31 lead.
• But, Dziekan and Tate each were given their fourth foul of the game in the third period, and the Rockets made another run. UT scored nine-straight points, with Lockett's layup cutting the Falcon lead to just three. BG responded as Fleming found Day for a last-second bucket, giving the Orange and Brown a 45-40 lead after 30 minutes.

FOURTH QUARTER
• UT held BGSU off of the scoreboard for nearly four minutes to begin the quarter, scoring 10-straight points in the process. Nan Garcia hit a pair of shots, and a Sophia Wiard three-pointer late in the run was followed by a Mikonowicz free throw to give the hosts a 50-45 lead.
• Day got to the line and made a free throw with 5:59 to go, and BG got a pair of stops, forcing a shot-clock violation before Fleming drew a charge on Goss. Velasco drove and hit a layup, but the play was negated due to a BGSU offensive foul call. Instead of a 50-48 game, it was a four-point contest.
• BG got another stop, though, as Hampton tied up Lockett for a jump ball, with the possession arrow pointing BG's way. Hampton found Brett for a corner three that cut the UT lead to a single point with 4:14 to go.
• Garcia scored inside, however, then hit a long two-point jumper with 2:22 remaining to make it a five-point game. A Rocket defensive rebound led to Lockett's and-one layup with 1:49 to go. She missed the free-throw try, and Day hit a hook shot at the other end to cut UT's lead to 56-51.
• An offensive foul on Goss gave the ball back to the Falcons with 1:15 remaining, but after a BG miss, a tie-up on the rebound gave the ball back to the Rockets with just under a minute left. Fleming went to the ground for a steal, but a BG shot was blocked, and a three-point try seconds later was off the mark.
• Velasco hit a pair of free throws with 7.5 seconds left, and Brett hit yet another three, but UT went 6-for-6 at the free-throw line in the final 20 seconds to seal the win.

STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• Toledo shot 47.5% from the field for the game, going 19-for-40. BGSU was +8 in the turnover column, and the Falcons had 13 offensive rebounds compared to six for the Rockets. BG attempted 28 more shots than UT, but the Falcons shot just 29.4%.
• Elissa Brett hit seven three-pointers, setting a new career best and falling just one shy of the school record, en route to a game-high 23 points.
• The Falcons went 8-for-23 (34.8%) from the arc, while the Rockets were 2-of-10.
• Toledo attempted 30 free throws, making 22, while BG shot just 10 free throws, sinking eight.
• BG forced UT into 21 turnovers, with Fleming coming up with four steals. The Falcons had 11 steals as a team, and BG committed 13 turnovers.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons, as mentioned, will be the second seed for the MAC Tournament, which begins Wednesday (March 8) with quarterfinal-round matchups at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in downtown Cleveland.
• BGSU will face seventh-seeded Eastern Michigan in the third game of the day, which is scheduled to begin at approximately 4:00 p.m.

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