Prochaska Breaks BGSU Scoring Record as Falcons Down Ball State, 61-46

Saturday, February 5

Bowling Green, Ohio

2:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Ball State

Lauren Prochaska (center) is joined by Jackie Motycka Mossing (left) and head coach Curt Miller in a postgame ceremony on Saturday afternoon (photo by Brad Phalin)

Prochaska Breaks BGSU Scoring Record as Falcons Down Ball State, 61-46

February 05, 2011 | Women's Basketball

Senior standout scores 21 points on Alumnae Day at Anderson Arena

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

In front of an Anderson Arena crowd that included some of the greatest players in Bowling Green State University women's basketball history, one of the current Falcon stars etched her name in the record book yet again.

BGSU senior Lauren Prochaska scored a game-high 21 points, breaking the school's career scoring record in the process, as the Falcons downed Ball State University, 61-46, Saturday afternoon (Feb. 5).

FINAL STATS - HTML | BOXSCORE - PDF
POSTGAME AUDIO: Curt Miller | Lauren Prochaska
BGSU vs Ball State Photo Gallery (photos by Brad Phalin)
All-Anderson Team & Alumnae Day Photo Gallery
Scroll down for video of Prochaska's record-breaking basket, as well as the postgame ceremony; Video of postgame interviews with Prochaska and head coach Curt Miller can also be found at the bottom of the page

Prochaska's feat came on the team's annual Alumnae Day, when many former BGSU women's basketball players were in attendance. Additionally, the All-Anderson Team was recognized in pregame ceremonies. The All-Anderson Team consists of 13 of the top BGSU players ever to play in "The House That Roars." The 2010-11 season is the Falcon women's basketball team's last in Anderson, as BG will move into the brand-new Stroh Center in time for the 2011-12 campaign.

The All-Anderson Team included not only Prochaska, but the woman who held the BGSU career scoring record entering Saturday's action. Jackie (Motycka) Mossing was in attendance to see Prochaska break her record.

The stellar senior became the University's all-time scoring leader early in the second half, posting up to take a pass from classmate Maggie Hennegan and hit a layup over her defender with 16:39 left in the game.

Prochaska scored 12 of her game-high 21 points in the first half, including 10 in a six-minute span as BG shook off a frigid start to take the lead for good.

Along with those 21 points, Prochaska had nine rebounds in the game. Fellow senior Jen Uhl had her second double-double of the season, with 14 points and a game-high 12 boards.

Jazmin Hitchens led the Cardinals with 10 points on the afternoon.

BGSU scored just four points in the first seven-plus minutes of the game, and the Falcons trailed by nine points, 14-5, with 12 minutes left before halftime. But, a moment later, the home team then went on a 17-3 run to take the lead for the rest of the day. BG scored seven-straight points, surrendered a three-point field goal, then went on a 10-0 run to go ahead by a 24-19 count.

The Cardinals had scored the first six points of the game, hitting layups on three-straight possessions. The last two hoops came from Hitchens. She came up with a steal and a transition layup for a 4-0 lead, then, after another BSU steal, put back a teammate's miss for a 6-0 advantage. Hennegan responded with a jumper, but the Cards came right back with a Katie Murphy shot in the paint for an 8-2 lead. With 17:25 left before halftime, Falcon coach Curt Miller took a timeout.

Miller subbed four players into the game at that timeout, but nothing seemed to help the Falcons. BGSU had four turnovers in the first 4:04 of the game, and after Hennegan's basket, the Brown and Orange missed five consecutive shot attempts. Finally, after a missed shot, Uhl grabbed an offensive rebound and laid the ball back up and in at the 15:21 mark.

A jumper by BSU's Ty'Ronda Benning, however, was followed by a steal and Murphy's jump-stop layup with the Cardinals on the run. The visitors had a 12-4 lead, and Miller used his second timeout of the day with just 6:30 gone.

Hennegan got to the line and split a pair of free throws, but Brandy Woody's layup gave the Cards a 14-5 lead at the second media timeout of the day.

Given the statistics at that timeout, a nine-point deficit didn't seem so bad from a BGSU standpoint. The Falcons were shooting just 20 percent (2-for-10) from the field with six turnovers, while Ball State was shooting 50% (7-of-14) with just one turnover in the first seven-plus minutes.

Prochaska got on the scoreboard with a layup at the 11:13 mark, but Benning came up with a steal and hit a layup in traffic for a 16-7 BSU lead. Then, however, the BG offense began to click.

Hennegan fed Uhl for a jumper, and Hennegan then tied up Hitchens, giving the ball back to the Falcons. After a BG miss, Prochaska got the offensive rebound to keep the possession alive. And, the possession ended with a left-side jumper by freshman Jillian Halfhill, cutting BSU's lead to five points.

Another steal led to more BGSU offense. Uhl stole the ball from Shanee' Jackson, and Halfhill fired a pass to Prochaska, who spotted up for a fast-break three-pointer from the left elbow. Suddenly, BSU's lead was down to two points, 16-14, with eight minutes left in the half.

BGSU came up with a steal for the third time in as many Ball State possessions. While BG did not get any points on the ensuing possession, the Falcons had come to life and the large Anderson Arena crowd was back into the game.

Emily Maggert briefly quieted the crowd with a three-pointer -- Ball State's only trey of the day -- but Prochaska got to the line and made a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 19-16.

Those free throws enabled Prochaska to set yet another school record, as she broke the BGSU mark for career free throws made.

Additionally, those free throws began a 10-0 run. After a steal by Uhl, the senior slipped her defender on the next possession. Sophomore Chrissy Steffen lobbed the ball inside to Uhl for an easy layup.

A minute later, defense again led to offense as Uhl's block and defensive rebound got the Falcons off and running. Senior Tracy Pontius spied Prochaska on the right wing. Prochaska, who has been BGSU's career leader in three-point field goals made for a year now, added to her total with the shot that gave her team the lead for good. BG took a 21-19 lead with 4:12 left before halftime.

After a missed jumper by Hitchens, the Falcons again scored in transition. This time, Steffen's pass led to Uhl's three-pointer, and BG had a 24-19 lead as the Cardinals used a timeout.

Ball State scored out of the timeout, but a moment later, Prochaska's coast-to-coast drive resulted in a running layup to give BG a five-point margin once again. With just over a minute left in the half, Pontius saw her three-point try bounce around the rim and in. Benning's jumper was answered by Uhl's shot in the lane, off of a pass from senior Kelly Zuercher, and the Falcons took a 31-23 lead into the intermission.

The Cardinals scored the first two points of the second half, but the Brown and Orange answered with the next seven, taking a 38-25 lead. A long pass by Pontius resulted in Hennegan's layup, and Prochaska then rebounded her own miss and put the ball back up and in for an 'and-one' layup. She hit the free throw, then scored a historic layup on BG's next possession.

That layup, with 16:39 left in the game, came after she posted up her defender and received Hennegan's entry pass. When that shot went off the glass and through the hoop, Prochaska became BGSU's all-time leading scorer.

The teams traded hoops over the next few minutes, before Steffen hit a trey off of Hennegan's drive and dish, giving the Falcons a 43-29 lead. Uhl followed with a triple on the next possesion, and BG's lead was a game-high 17 points.

The Cardinals looked to close that gap, and BSU got within 12 points on Hitchens' jumper at the 7:42 mark.

Prochaska responded with a pair of free throws, breaking two school records (career points and career FTM) with each shot, and the Falcons were back up by 14, 50-36. But, BSU got back-to-back jumpers, from Murphy and Amber Crago, cutting BG's lead to 10 points with 5:22 left. And, after a BG miss, Ball State got the ball back.

In fact, the Cardinals had two chances to cut the lead into single digits, but a missed layup was followed by an offensive foul, and Prochaska's driving layup gave BG a 52-40 lead with under five minutes remaining.

The lead never got lower than 11 points thereafter, and five-straight points (a Hennegan three-pointer and Steffen's baseline layup) put the Falcons back up by 16 before Benning split a pair of free throws to close the scoring.

The Falcons shot 38.6% from the field in the game, but held the Cardinals to a field-goal rate of 37.5%. BGSU held a 41-32 advantage on the boards, with Prochaska and Uhl combining for 21 rebounds.

Steffen had nine points, six rebounds and three assists, while Hennegan had eight points, five boards and three helpers of her own. Hennegan was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field in the win.

Benning scored nine points and had a game-high four assists for BSU, while Murphy and Ebony Jackson had eight points apiece.

The Falcons are now idle from competition for a week. BGSU closes cross-divisional play with a game at Eastern Michigan next Saturday (Feb. 12).

BGSU NOTES
* The All-Anderson Women's Basketball Team was recognized in pregame ceremonies at Anderson Arena ... the team, announced in October, is part of the celebration of the final year of Anderson, as BG is "Closing the Doors of The House That Roars" ... the team consists of Kate Achter, Lori Albers, Paulette Backstrom, Angie Bonner, Stephanie Coe, Liz Honegger, Ali Mann, Megan McGuire, Jackie Motycka, Lauren Prochaska, Sara Puthoff, Talita Scott and Chris Tuttle.

* Saturday also was Alumnae Day for the BGSU women's basketball Falcons, as a number of former Falcon players, coaches and support staff were recognized at halftime of the BGSU-Ball State game.

* Prochaska, as mentioned, is now the BGSU career scoring leader ... she has a career total of 2,127 points as a Falcon ... Motycka had 2,122 points in her storied BGSU career (1985-89).

* Prochaska now ranks fifth in MAC history in career scoring ... her next target on that list is former Toledo star Mimi Olson, who had 2,144 points from 1993-97 ... WMU great Carrie Moore (2003-07) currently resides in third place with 2,224 career points.

* Prochaska broke another record on Saturday ... her first free throw gave her the BGSU career record for free throws made ... Achter had held that record with 551 FTM ... Prochaska, who tied that record in Tuesday's (Feb. 1) win at Northern Illinois, went 5-for-5 from the stripe on Saturday, and now has hit 556 free throws in her career to date.

* Prochaska made a pair of three-pointers in the Ball State game, giving her 293 as a Falcon ... she is now the BGSU career leader in points, free throws made and three-point field goals made ... Prochaska also currently sits in first place on the BG career list for free-throw percentage, having gone 556-for-612 (90.8%) from the stripe.

* Jen Uhl's double-double in Saturday's game was her second of the season and the fifth of her career ... Uhl has scored in double digits 10 times this season, including three times in the last four games .... her total of 12 rebounds tied her season best ... she has had 12 boards in two of the last three games.