Bowling Green State University Athletics
Friday, November 13
Bowling Green, OH
7:30 PM
Bowling Green State University
76
vs
41
Chicago State
Tamika Nurse scored a game-high 21 points in her BGSU debut
Nurse, Falcons Run Past Chicago State, 76-41, in Preseason WNIT
November 13, 2009 | Women's Basketball
BGSU's win sets up second-round game vs. #3 Ohio State
In her Bowling Green State University women's basketball debut, senior Tamika Nurse scored a game-high 21 points to help the Falcons run past Chicago State University, 76-41, Friday night (Nov 13). The game, a first-round contest in the Preseason WNIT, was held at venerable Anderson Arena.
STUFF TO CLICK
BGSU 76, CHICAGO STATE 41 - HTML | BGSU 76, CHICAGO STATE 41 - PDF
Postgame Audio: Head Coach Curt Miller | Tamika Nurse
PHOTO GALLERY - Photos by Brad Phalin & Dave Kielmeyer, BGSU Marketing & Communications
The win was the regular-season opener for both teams.
With the victory, the Falcons set up a second-round Preseason WNIT date with the third-ranked team in the nation, Ohio State. The Brown and Orange will face the Buckeyes on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 15), in a 2:00 p.m. tipoff, at OSU's Value City Arena.
The Falcons used a first-half run to erase an early deficit and take a double-digit lead, and BG never looked back.
Junior Lauren Prochaska, the reigning Mid-American Conference Player of the Year, had 13 points, six rebounds and five assists in the win. Prochaska tied for game rebounding honors, and led all players in assists.
Juniors Jen Uhl and Tracy Pontius added 11 and 10 points, respectively, to round out the Falcons' double-figure scorers. Uhl had her 11 points in just 13 minutes off the bench, adding three steals. Pontius dished out four assists on the evening.
Senior Tara Breske had six points and tied Prochaska for the team lead with six rebounds. Breske also had four steals and three blocked shots to lead all players in both categories. Sophomore Jessica Slagle had six points and four assists for the Brown and Orange.
Courtney Waldon led the Cougars with 15 points and six boards, while Jael Pena had 10 points.
Pena had scored the first four points of the night, on a pair of layups. Pontius cut the Falcons' deficit to a single point with a three-pointer, but Courtney Waldon answered her with a three-ball of her own, and the visitors had a 7-3 lead.
But, after scoring those seven points in the game's first 2:17, Chicago State would score just nine more points over the final 17:43 of the half.
Prochaska began the Falcons' comeback by scoring five-straight points. After hitting a right-elbow three-pointer that barely moved the net, the junior made a pair of free throws to give the home team the lead.
Elana Wroten answered with a layup, but Breske hit a jumper at the 15:46 mark, and the Falcons were (figuratively and literally) off and running. Beginning with Breske's shot, the Falcons scored 13 consecutive points as part of an 18-2 run. When the smoke had cleared, BG had a 21-9 lead midway through the half.
The Falcons were literally off and running soon after Breske's hoop, as Nurse stole the ball from Caneka Davis and sailed in all alone for a layup. Then, Breske swiped the ball from Courtney Waldon and flipped a pass to Pontius, who found junior Maggie Hennegan ahead of the pack for another easy layup. That gave the Falcons a 14-9 edge.
A Nurse pull-up triple on the fast break gave BG an eight-point lead, and a Breske layup out of the second media timeout of the night put the Falcons up by double digits. Nurse capped the 13-0 run with a jumper at the 10:33 mark.
Laureen Pierson stopped BG's run with a layup, but Prochaska rattled home another three-pointer off Breske's cross-court pass, and the Falcons had a 24-11 advantage. Still, the Cougars battled back, with a pair of layups cutting BG's lead to single digits with 7:29 left before halftime.
But, a steal and jumper by Breske would put the lead into double figures for good, and the jumper also began a 13-1 run to end the half. Nurse hit a pair of long-distance shots in a span of 1:24, with the second triple giving the Falcons a 32-16 lead. Five BG free throws extended the margin to 21 points at halftime.
After Pena's layup with 7:29 on the clock, the Falcons held the Cougars without a field goal over the remainder of the half.
Nurse scored 16 of her 21 points in that opening half, while Prochaska also hit double digits by the break, with 10 first-half points.
Just as in the first half, the Cougars opened up the second period with four-straight points, on layups by Courtney Waldon and Pena. After a BG turnover, Falcon head coach Curt Miller took a timeout.
Out of that timeout, the Falcons would force Chicago State into turnovers on the Cougars' next four possessions. Pontius took the ball away from Wroten and wound up hitting a layup on the ensuing possession. Then, Nurse picked Pena's pocket and made a layup of her own, putting the Falcons ahead by a 41-20 score with 17 minutes left.
The visitors cut the deficit to 18 points on a Tressa Beckel triple, but would not get any closer. Two Pontius free throws were followed by a Prochaska three-pointer, the result of a nifty passing sequence that left her wide open. The Falcons had a 46-23 lead.
When Nurse hit a right corner three, BG's lead was 49-26 at the 12:21 mark. Nurse made seven of 11 shots from the field, including a 4-for-8 effort from long range.
The visitors had only 36 points with under a minute to play, before scoring five points in the final 38 seconds to surpass the 40-point mark.
BGSU shot 45.6 percent for the game, including a 14-of-25 (56.0%) effort in the second half. The Falcons held CSU to only seven field goals and a 24.1% success rate in the first half of play. The Cougars shot 31.4% for the game.
The Falcons hit 11 three-pointers on the night, with Nurse making four, Prochaska three and Pontius two. BG was 13-of-14 from the free-throw line (92.9%) as well.
The Brown and Orange forced the Green and White into 28 turnovers, and held a 34-10 advantage in points off turnovers. BG also had 13 fast-break points to the Cougars' two.
The Falcons are guaranteed at least three total games in the Preseason WNIT. The winner of the BGSU-Ohio State game will take on the winner of the West Virginia-Marist game, with that third-round date and site to be determined. Friday's first-round results, and the second-round matchups for the eight winning teams, are listed below.
FALCON NOTES
* The members of the 2008-09 team received their MAC championship rings in ceremonies held prior to Friday's game ... the lone seniors on that '08-09 squad, Lindsey Goldsberry and manager Randall Clark, were on hand for the ceremonies.
* The entire team also participated in a banner unveiling prior to tipoff as well ... the '08-09 team went 29-5 overall and 15-1 in MAC regular-season play, and advanced to the third round of the Postseason WNIT.
PRESEASON WNIT RESULTS & SCHEDULE
FIRST-ROUND GAMES
Friday, November 13
at BGSU 76, Chicago State 41
at Ohio State 91, Eastern Illinois 68
at West Virginia 79, Towson 42
at Florida Gulf Coast 66, UTEP 54
at Oklahoma State 67, Arkansas-Little Rock 58
at Georgia Tech 63, Winthrop 30
at Marist 80, North Carolina A&T 64
at New Mexico 81, Northern Colorado 59
SECOND-ROUND GAMES
Sunday, November 15
Bowling Green at Ohio State, 2:00 p.m. ET
Georgia Tech at Oklahoma State, 3:00 p.m. ET
Florida Gulf Coast at New Mexico, 4:00 p.m. ET
Monday, November 16
Marist at West Virginia, 7:00 p.m. ET
STUFF TO CLICK
BGSU 76, CHICAGO STATE 41 - HTML | BGSU 76, CHICAGO STATE 41 - PDF
Postgame Audio: Head Coach Curt Miller | Tamika Nurse
PHOTO GALLERY - Photos by Brad Phalin & Dave Kielmeyer, BGSU Marketing & Communications
The win was the regular-season opener for both teams.
With the victory, the Falcons set up a second-round Preseason WNIT date with the third-ranked team in the nation, Ohio State. The Brown and Orange will face the Buckeyes on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 15), in a 2:00 p.m. tipoff, at OSU's Value City Arena.
The Falcons used a first-half run to erase an early deficit and take a double-digit lead, and BG never looked back.
Junior Lauren Prochaska, the reigning Mid-American Conference Player of the Year, had 13 points, six rebounds and five assists in the win. Prochaska tied for game rebounding honors, and led all players in assists.
Juniors Jen Uhl and Tracy Pontius added 11 and 10 points, respectively, to round out the Falcons' double-figure scorers. Uhl had her 11 points in just 13 minutes off the bench, adding three steals. Pontius dished out four assists on the evening.
Senior Tara Breske had six points and tied Prochaska for the team lead with six rebounds. Breske also had four steals and three blocked shots to lead all players in both categories. Sophomore Jessica Slagle had six points and four assists for the Brown and Orange.
Courtney Waldon led the Cougars with 15 points and six boards, while Jael Pena had 10 points.
Pena had scored the first four points of the night, on a pair of layups. Pontius cut the Falcons' deficit to a single point with a three-pointer, but Courtney Waldon answered her with a three-ball of her own, and the visitors had a 7-3 lead.
But, after scoring those seven points in the game's first 2:17, Chicago State would score just nine more points over the final 17:43 of the half.
Prochaska began the Falcons' comeback by scoring five-straight points. After hitting a right-elbow three-pointer that barely moved the net, the junior made a pair of free throws to give the home team the lead.
Elana Wroten answered with a layup, but Breske hit a jumper at the 15:46 mark, and the Falcons were (figuratively and literally) off and running. Beginning with Breske's shot, the Falcons scored 13 consecutive points as part of an 18-2 run. When the smoke had cleared, BG had a 21-9 lead midway through the half.
The Falcons were literally off and running soon after Breske's hoop, as Nurse stole the ball from Caneka Davis and sailed in all alone for a layup. Then, Breske swiped the ball from Courtney Waldon and flipped a pass to Pontius, who found junior Maggie Hennegan ahead of the pack for another easy layup. That gave the Falcons a 14-9 edge.
A Nurse pull-up triple on the fast break gave BG an eight-point lead, and a Breske layup out of the second media timeout of the night put the Falcons up by double digits. Nurse capped the 13-0 run with a jumper at the 10:33 mark.
Laureen Pierson stopped BG's run with a layup, but Prochaska rattled home another three-pointer off Breske's cross-court pass, and the Falcons had a 24-11 advantage. Still, the Cougars battled back, with a pair of layups cutting BG's lead to single digits with 7:29 left before halftime.
But, a steal and jumper by Breske would put the lead into double figures for good, and the jumper also began a 13-1 run to end the half. Nurse hit a pair of long-distance shots in a span of 1:24, with the second triple giving the Falcons a 32-16 lead. Five BG free throws extended the margin to 21 points at halftime.
After Pena's layup with 7:29 on the clock, the Falcons held the Cougars without a field goal over the remainder of the half.
Nurse scored 16 of her 21 points in that opening half, while Prochaska also hit double digits by the break, with 10 first-half points.
Just as in the first half, the Cougars opened up the second period with four-straight points, on layups by Courtney Waldon and Pena. After a BG turnover, Falcon head coach Curt Miller took a timeout.
Out of that timeout, the Falcons would force Chicago State into turnovers on the Cougars' next four possessions. Pontius took the ball away from Wroten and wound up hitting a layup on the ensuing possession. Then, Nurse picked Pena's pocket and made a layup of her own, putting the Falcons ahead by a 41-20 score with 17 minutes left.
The visitors cut the deficit to 18 points on a Tressa Beckel triple, but would not get any closer. Two Pontius free throws were followed by a Prochaska three-pointer, the result of a nifty passing sequence that left her wide open. The Falcons had a 46-23 lead.
When Nurse hit a right corner three, BG's lead was 49-26 at the 12:21 mark. Nurse made seven of 11 shots from the field, including a 4-for-8 effort from long range.
The visitors had only 36 points with under a minute to play, before scoring five points in the final 38 seconds to surpass the 40-point mark.
BGSU shot 45.6 percent for the game, including a 14-of-25 (56.0%) effort in the second half. The Falcons held CSU to only seven field goals and a 24.1% success rate in the first half of play. The Cougars shot 31.4% for the game.
The Falcons hit 11 three-pointers on the night, with Nurse making four, Prochaska three and Pontius two. BG was 13-of-14 from the free-throw line (92.9%) as well.
The Brown and Orange forced the Green and White into 28 turnovers, and held a 34-10 advantage in points off turnovers. BG also had 13 fast-break points to the Cougars' two.
The Falcons are guaranteed at least three total games in the Preseason WNIT. The winner of the BGSU-Ohio State game will take on the winner of the West Virginia-Marist game, with that third-round date and site to be determined. Friday's first-round results, and the second-round matchups for the eight winning teams, are listed below.
FALCON NOTES
* The members of the 2008-09 team received their MAC championship rings in ceremonies held prior to Friday's game ... the lone seniors on that '08-09 squad, Lindsey Goldsberry and manager Randall Clark, were on hand for the ceremonies.
* The entire team also participated in a banner unveiling prior to tipoff as well ... the '08-09 team went 29-5 overall and 15-1 in MAC regular-season play, and advanced to the third round of the Postseason WNIT.
PRESEASON WNIT RESULTS & SCHEDULE
FIRST-ROUND GAMES
Friday, November 13
at BGSU 76, Chicago State 41
at Ohio State 91, Eastern Illinois 68
at West Virginia 79, Towson 42
at Florida Gulf Coast 66, UTEP 54
at Oklahoma State 67, Arkansas-Little Rock 58
at Georgia Tech 63, Winthrop 30
at Marist 80, North Carolina A&T 64
at New Mexico 81, Northern Colorado 59
SECOND-ROUND GAMES
Sunday, November 15
Bowling Green at Ohio State, 2:00 p.m. ET
Georgia Tech at Oklahoma State, 3:00 p.m. ET
Florida Gulf Coast at New Mexico, 4:00 p.m. ET
Monday, November 16
Marist at West Virginia, 7:00 p.m. ET
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