Falcons Lead from Wire to Wire in 82-46 Win Wednesday

Wednesday, December 7

Bowling Green, OH

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

4-5

Ohio Valley

3-5

Ohio Valley

Bowling Green

Rachel Myers hits a 3 after receiving a pass from Rachel Konieczki (Ruben Kappler photo)

Photo by: Ruben Kappler, BGSU Marketing & Communications

December 07, 2016 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Konieczki leads a balanced BG attack against Ohio Valley

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team took an early lead and never looked back Wednesday night (Dec. 7), downing Ohio Valley University, 82-46, in non-conference action at the Stroh Center.

Senior Rachel Konieczki paced a balanced BG attack with 13 points in the win. The 5-3 guard added five rebounds, two assists and three steals in 23 minutes off the bench.

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Sophomores Sydney Lambert and Carly Santoro joined Konieczki in double digits, scoring 12 points apiece, while three of their teammates had at least eight points in the victory.

All 12 Falcons on the active roster played at least nine minutes in the win, with Konieczki's 23 minutes leading the way. Eleven of the 12 players scored at least two points, and 11 players grabbed one or more rebounds in the win.

Senior Abby Siefker had nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds as the Falcons held a 54-37 advantage on the glass. Freshman Andrea Cecil also scored nine points in the win, while junior Rachel Myers had eight.

The Falcons controlled the game throughout, but an epic 21-0 run spanning the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth sealed the deal once and for all.

BGSU scored first in all four quarters. In the opening period, the Falcons got out to a 6-0 lead en route to a 19-9 advantage after 10 minutes of play. The Falcon defense held the Fighting Scots to just 13.3 percent shooting from the field, as OVU was 2-of-15 from the floor in that first period.

Lambert hit a three-pointer -- one of eight triples for the Brown and Orange on the night -- to open the second quarter. BG, leading by a 40-23 score at the half, would score the first seven points of the third period.

The Falcons also scored the last seven points of the third quarter, taking a 60-34 lead after 30 minutes. That lead ballooned to a game-high 40 points as the hosts scored the first 14 points of the final period to complete the aforementioned 21-0 run.

BGSU shot just 35.7% from the floor in the game, but the Falcons hit a season-high 24 free throws in 31 attempts. BG had advantages of 25-6 in points off turnovers and 47-13 in bench scoring.

The Falcons allowed OVU to shoot just 29.1% from the floor, and the Fighting Scots went 2-of-11 from three-point range. Ariel Johnson, Cydney Franklin and Anee' Braswell each scored nine points for the visitors, with Johnson adding eight rebounds to tie for the team lead.

Lambert got the scoring started, hitting a layup with just under a minute gone, then coming up with a steal and another layup for a 4-0 lead. Santoro's jumper after a nifty spin move made it a six-point game, and after ShiCole Watts got the visitors on the board, Santoro scored again off of a steal by junior Haley Puk.

Free throws by Siefker and a Lambert three-pointer gave the Brown and Orange a 13-4 lead midway through the quarter, and freshman Clare Glowniak and Konieczki each hit a pair of shots from the stripe to put the hosts ahead by a 17-6 count with two minutes left in the quarter.

After taking a 10-point lead after 10 minutes, Lambert and the Falcons upped the lead to 13 as Santoro found Lambert for a corner three on the first possession of the second period. Lambert, Myers and Cecil each hit a pair of long-range shots on Wednesday night.

The Fighting Scots responded with three-straight points, but Siefker fed Myers for a three-pointer from the left side, then found Santoro for a triple from the right side. Santoro's shot gave the hosts a 28-14 lead.

Midway through the period, senior Ashley Tunstall came up with a steal, one of 14 for BG in the win, and the next possession saw Tunstall lob the ball inside to Glowniak for a layup. When Konieczki stole the ball, took a return pass from Myers and hit a long-distance try, the Falcons' lead was 33-15.

Just over a minute later, Konieczki and freshman Caterrion Thompson teamed up to steal the ball from Haley Ackerman. Thompson found Konieczki for a layup and a 35-17 lead with 2:24 left before halftime.

The visitors would score six points over the remainder of the period, but the Falcons got a Cecil three and another Konieczki bucket to take a 17-point lead into the break. Konieczki's bucket came after she crossed over her would-be defender, who fell to the ground as the senior point guard went by her and knocked down a long two-pointer.

The Falcons had a 10-1 advantage on points off turnovers in the second period alone, as BG forced OVU into six turnovers in that quarter.

Siefker, who was a perfect 5-for-5 at the free-throw line, was fouled on the opening possession of the second half and hit two shots from the stripe, and after a steal by Puk, Santoro's layup gave BG a 44-23 lead with less than a minute gone. Three more BG free throws closed out that 7-0 run to open the period.

The Fighting Scots scored five-straight points, including a three-point play by Braswell, but after the teams traded points over the next few minutes, the Falcons scored seven points in the final minute of the quarter. Santoro hit a layup, Siefker grabbed a teammate's missed shot and laid the ball back up and in as part of a three-point play, and Konieczki was fouled with four seconds left in the quarter and went 2-for-2 at the line. She was 6-for-7 from the stripe in the win.

BG had a 60-34 lead as the fourth quarter began, and Cecil's three-pointer began the scoring in that final period, and continued the Falcons' 21-point run. Puk got to the line and made both shots, and after coming up with a steal, Cecil faked a three and hit a driving layup for a 67-34 lead.

Myers took a Konieczki pass and drained a corner three, and Thompson rebounded her own miss and scored inside. When Konieczki knocked down two more shots from the line, BG's lead was 74-34. Finally, with 4:35 remaining in the game, Johnson's layup gave the Fighting Scots their first points in a span of 7:50.

That bucket began a 6-0 run for OVU, but Thompson hit a layup with 3:02 to go, and after the visitors answered with a layup, Cecil found Uecker for a short-corner jumper and a 78-42 lead with 2:22 remaining. Sophomore Maddie Cole scored four points to offset four points by the Fighting Scots over the remainder of the contest.

The BG point guards fueled the first-half scoring, as Lambert had seven first-quarter points, while Konieczki scored seven points in the second period. Siefker led the Falcons with seven points in the third period, adding eight rebounds in that quarter alone.

The Falcons had at least five offensive rebounds in each of the four quarters. Siefker had seven offensive boards in the win. She has had four double-figure rebounding games this season to date, and has had at least six offensive boards in three of the last five games.

Uecker scored five points, while Cole, Glowniak and Thompson had four apiece. Cole had a career-high nine rebounds, while Thompson led all players with four steals, the highest total of her brief career.

Cole had a career total of 23 rebounds entering Sunday's Virginia game, but set a career high with five rebounds vs. the Cavaliers, then shattered that total with nine boards on Wednesday night. She had six offensive rebounds vs. the Fighting Scots.

The Falcons now hit the road for the next two games, beginning with a Sunday (Dec. 11) matchup with Virginia Tech. The Hokies are currently ranked 25th in the nation in this week's Associated Press poll.