#FalconsInCuba: Day Five

Sunday (Aug. 14) morning saw the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team take the court for the final time in Cuba, and the afternoon saw the travel party board the bus, leave Havana and head to Varadero.

DAY FIVE PHOTO GALLERY

The Falcons left the Parque Central Hotel for a 9:30 a.m. game against the Cuban National Team, and the contest went right down to the wire before the hosts pulled out a narrow win. After returning to the hotel and having lunch, the travel party took the two-and-a-half-hour bus ride – learning more about Cuba along the way from Carlos Hernandez, the superb guide who was with the team during the Havana portion of the trip – to Varadero.

The team and boosters checked into the Laguna Azul Hotel at approximately 4:00 p.m. and had the rest of the day to check out the beach, the multiple pools and the many amenities available at the all-inclusive resort.

As for the game, the Falcons fell behind by as many as 15 points in the third quarter, then stormed back, getting within a single point before falling by a 51-47 final.

BGSU's three seniors paced the Falcons' scoring attack on Sunday. Ashley Tunstall led the team in both scoring and rebounding, with nine points and eight boards. Abby Siefker had seven points and seven rebounds, adding two assists, two steals and two blocked shots, while Rachel Konieczki had six points along with five rebounds – four at the offensive end – and four assists. Siefker paced the Falcons in both steals and blocks, while Konieczki led the team in assists and offensive rebounds.

Junior Rachel Myers had six points, while sophomore Carly Santoro scored five and freshman Rion Thompson four. Five Falcons scored two points apiece as 11 of the 12 players on the active roster found the scoresheet. Eleven players also grabbed at least one rebound, with freshmen Andrea Cecil and Clare Glowniak each pulling down six.

BG got on the board quickly, as junior Haley Puk found Siefker for a layup. The Cuban National Team scored the next four points before Siefker's pass resulted in a layup by freshman Jane Uecker. Then, Santoro's short jumper gave BG a 6-4 lead. The hosts answered with a 5-0 run, but Thompson hit a three-pointer, and a Glowniak layup gave the Falcons an 11-9 advantage.

An 8-0 run that bridged the break between quarters erased that BG lead, but BG then scored five-straight points, with three free throws and a Santoro layup. But, the hosts extended the lead out to nine points late in the half before a Tunstall driving layup made it a 27-20 game at the half.

In the third quarter, Konieczki scored an early bucket on a driving layup, but the Cubans scored 10 of the game's next 13 points. A 6-0 run gave the hosts a 14-point lead, and after Konieczki found Tunstall for a three-ball, four more points made it a 40-25 game.

Siefker scored off of a Cecil pass, and after a jumper by the home team, Cecil scored a bucket of her own. Still, the Falcons trailed by a 42-29 score after three periods.

In the fourth, however, the Brown and Orange nearly came all the way back. Siefker found Tunstall for a layup, and Konieczki followed her own miss, rebounded the ball and put it back up and in. When Siefker stole the ball at midcourt and beat the other nine players downcourt for a layup, the Falcons trailed by just seven, at 42-35.

The home team answered with a jumper, but Konieczki executed a nifty shot fake, took a few more dribbles and flipped a pass to sophomore Maddie Cole for a layup. Then, the senior fed Myers for a three-pointer that cut the BG deficit to just four points.

The Cubans answered with a layup, however, and a pair of free throws moments later gave the hosts a 48-40 advantage. But, the Falcons had one more run left in them.

The Orange and Brown scored the next seven points, beginning with another Myers triple. Sophomore Sydney Lambert's driving layup cut the home team's lead to just three points, and Tunstall's offensive rebound and layup made it a 48-47 game with 1:16 to go.

The Falcons forced a miss, with Lambert grabbing the rebound, but BG could not convert on the next possession. A shot was blocked out of bounds with 55 seconds left, and after the ensuing inbounds pass, the Falcons turned the ball over and the Cuban team hit a layup with 36 seconds remaining. The hosts got a stop and split a pair of free throws with 16 seconds left to close the scoring.

The Falcons' trip sees the team remain at the resort in Varadero – with a possible excursion or two on the docket – until the travel party leaves for the airport bright and early Wednesday morning (Aug. 17). A photo gallery from Sunday's game will not be available until Tuesday or Wednesday.

Tunstall, head coach Jennifer Roos and video coordinator Heidi Schlegel each took a few moments to talk about Sunday's events and their overall experiences on the trip so far.

Senior Ashley Tunstall
"The playing style was a lot different here in Cuba than what we are used to back home. It was a lot faster, and the rules are definitely different. But, we got used to it and adjusted over the three games, and we got a chance to play well together and learn each of our teammates' tendencies. That will help us in the future.

"Everyone has been very friendly and welcoming to us on this trip. Also, without having wifi all the time, the players on the team are always together and have really gotten to know each other a lot better."

Video Coordinator Heidi Schlegel
"This has been a great experience so far. It's been really fun to spend time together with the team, the coaches and the boosters, and it's been a great learning experience and opportunity for everyone to see what the Cuban culture is like, and to realize that there are different cultures in the world. Things are different outside of America, and I think it's been a really good thing for everyone to see that and experience that.

"My favorite parts of this trip so far have involved working with the kids. The coaches did a clinic on Thursday, working with some girls from the local university team, and that was a lot of fun to see their smiles. Even though we couldn't communicate, it was a really good time. And, on Friday, it was great to see our girls out there on the court playing with the young kids, giving them high fives and encouraging them. That's been my favorite experience so far; being able to give back to the kids here in Cuba."

Head Coach Jennifer Roos
"We were down double digits in the third quarter today, and I was pleased that we came back and made it a one-possession game. But, these three games were not about winning or losing. We played several different lineups, everyone played essentially the same amount of minutes, and the competition level is so vastly different than the competition we played in Costa Rica in 2009 (on BG's only other foreign tour). It's just so much better here. The team we played in two of the three games have players in their twenties and ranging to age 35. They are experienced in international competition, and we are very fortunate that we had the opportunity to learn that style of play and go toe-to-toe with a country's national team for two games. At the end of the day, we came away healthy, and that was another big goal of ours. I'm not worried about the score of any of these three games; I'm just happy we could compete against such quality competition on the international level.

"We completed our stay in Havana and began our trip to Varadero this afternoon. During that drive, we went through the countryside as well as through some small towns, and we were able to see a lot of the culture of Cuba on that drive. Our tour guide spoke during much of the trip, answering any questions we had about the nation and the culture of Cuba, as well as anything we saw on the trip. I think our players and the rest of our group have really learned a lot about the country and the culture, and I think our travel party has gained a greater appreciation of what we have in the United States. Things like that are more important than the results of any games we played on this trip."

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Andrea Cecil

Maddie Cole

Clare Glowniak

Rachel Konieczki

Sydney Lambert

Rachel Myers

Haley Puk

Carly Santoro

Abby Siefker

Caterrion Thompson

Ashley Tunstall

Jane Uecker

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