Falcons School Xavier Before Record Crowd

Wednesday, December 6

Bowling Green, OH

11:00 AM ET

Bowling Green State University

7-1

Xavier

4-3

Xavier

Bowling Green

Game action - Kids Day School Day crowd - Dec 6 2017

Photo by: Brad Phalin, BGSU Marketing and Communications

December 06, 2017 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BGSU moves to 7-1 with 63-53 win on Kids Day

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team hit five three-point field goals in the first quarter alone, taking an early lead and seizing control of Wednesday's (Dec. 6) game against Xavier University. The Falcons moved to 7-1 on the season with a 63-53 win over the Musketeers before a large and raucous Kids Day crowd.

A total of 4,130 fans attended the game, the largest for a BGSU women's basketball game in Stroh Center history and the second-largest home attendance in BGSU women's basketball annals.

The game was not as close as the final score might indicate. BGSU went 5-of-7 from three-point range in the first quarter, building a 21-9 lead after 10 minutes. XU crept as close as six points early in the second period, but three consecutive long-range buckets gave the Orange and Brown a 34-19 lead, and the margin remained in double digits for the remainder of the game.

BG led by 20 points with under five minutes to go, before a late Xavier run got the Musketeers within 10 points at the final horn.

Sophomore Caterrion Thompson had a game- and career-high 19 points to pace three double-digit scorers for the Falcons. Classmate Andrea Cecil scored 14 points, while junior Carly Santoro had 12.

A'riana Gray and Princess Stewart each scored 10 points for the visitors.

LINKS
BGSU-XAVIER STATISTICS: PDF
POSTGAME AUDIO: C.Thompson | Coach Roos
POSTGAME VIDEO: C.Thompson | Coach Roos
PHOTO GALLERY: Photos by Brad Phalin, BGSU Mkt. & Comm.
BGSU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL...: Schedule | Giveaways / Promotions | Spark Page
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NOTE OF THE DAY

The crowd of 4,130 on Wednesday, as mentioned, marked the largest attendance for a BGSU women's basketball game in the history of the Stroh Center. And, it was the second-largest home crowd in program history.
The only larger crowd to see the Falcons play in Bowling Green was a throng of 4,408 for a game against Florida at venerable Anderson Arena on St. Patrick's Day of 1993. That was an NCAA Tournament contest between the Falcons and Gators.
The largest Stroh Center crowd for the BGSU women, prior to Wednesday, came on Jan. 31, 2015, when 3,498 fans saw the Orange and Brown take on arch-rival Toledo.
The only larger crowds to see a women's basketball game came during the 2012 NCAA Championships, when number-one Baylor downed UC-Santa Barbara in the first round en route to a 40-0 record and a national title. That game drew a crowd of 4,205, and the second game of the day, which saw Florida down Ohio State, had an announced attendance of 4,195.

TURNING POINT

The Falcons, as mentioned, took a 21-9 lead after the first quarter. Xavier, however, began the second period by scoring 10 of the first 14 points, with an Aaliyah Dunham layup cutting BG's lead to just six points, 25-19, with 5:46 left before the half.
On BG's next trip down the floor, however, junior Sydney Lambert knocked down a three-pointer, and sophomore Caterrion Thompson then hit back-to-back triples to give the Brown and Orange a 34-19 lead with just over three minutes left in the quarter.
That BG lead grew as high as 22 points early in the second half, and never fell below double digits the rest of the morning/afternoon. BG still led by 20 in the fourth quarter, before the Musketeers ended the game on an 11-1 run.

QUOTING COACH ROOS
"It was an unbelievable environment today. I can't thank the fans enough, as well as the administrators, both here at BGSU and at the local schools. One thing that makes Bowling Green special is the collaboration, between academics, athletics and all areas of campus. We have a great relationship with the community, and that affects everyone positively. It's a fun place to be, and our players really responded to the atmosphere today."

"We got a lot of contributions from different people today, especially Rion Thompson with her five 3's off the bench. We had a lot of penetration and made the extra pass, and I thought our kids did a great job of executing today. We've seen a lot of different defenses over the last two games, but our kids did a great job of executing the offense."

FIRST-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

The Falcons turned the ball over on the first two possessions, and missed a shot on the third. But, just over two minutes into the game, senior Haley Puk took a pass from sophomore Andrea Cecil and knocked down a three-point try from the right win. Forty seconds later, junior Sydney Lambert hit a trey from the left wing, and the Falcons led, 6-4.
Xavier's Deja Ross responded with a long-range shot of her own, but Puk found Cecil at the top of the arc for another long-distance make for the Falcons, and BG led by a 9-7 score. The Falcons never trailed again.
That Cecil triple began a 15-2 run for the Falcons over the remainder of the quarter. Puk hit a three-pointer after a Lambert steal, and Lambert fed junior Carly Santoro for a jumper and a 14-7 lead.
Princess Stewart countered with a layup, but Cecil came right back with a nice driving layup to put the hosts up by a 16-9 count. With the Falcons out and running, Santoro pulled up to take a Lambert pass and drill a three-pointer from the right wing, and Santoro went coast to coast for a layup in the final seconds of the quarter, giving the hosts a 21-9 lead.

SECOND-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

An A'riana Gray three-pointer began the second-quarter scoring, getting the visitors within single digits. Santoro got a runner to drop, but Gray countered with a layup, and an Ashley Gomez triple cut BG's lead to 23-17.
The teams traded layups, with a Gomez hoop cutting the Falcons' advantage to six points once again. But, Lambert knocked down a three-point attempt, and just over a minute later, sophomore Caterrion Thompson drained a shot from the top of the arc for a 31-19 lead. Another Thompson triple at the 3:13 mark gave the hosts a 34-19 lead and forced the Musketeers to burn a timeout.
Gray stopped the Falcons' 9-0 run with a layup, but Santoro banked home a shot on a possession which saw the hosts grab two offensive rebounds.
Kindell Fincher's three-ball cut BG's lead to 12, but Caterrion Thompson drew Anniina Aijanen's third foul of the day with 31.1 seconds left in the half, hitting two free throws to make it a 38-24 lead at the intermission.

THIRD-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

A Santoro steal on the opening possession of the quarter resulted in another Lambert three-pointer, and when the point guard found Puk for a right-wing trey on the break, the Falcons' lead was 20 points.
Xavier called a quick timeout, but out of the break, Lambert stole the ball from Aly Reiff and hit Cecil for a transition layup and a 46-24 advantage, the largest of the game.
Cecil hit a layup midway through the period, maneuvering around a much taller defender, then got a sweet reverse layup to drop for a 50-31 lead with 3:33 left in the period. Cecil fed Caterrion Thompson for a corner three and a 20-point lead roughly 30 seconds later, and another Thompson triple made it a 21-point game in the last minute of the period.

FOURTH-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

Caterrion Thompson, having already made four three-pointers in the game, faked a three-point try to get her would-be defender in the air, took a quick dribble and knocked down a long two-point attempt for a 58-39 lead.
That would prove to be BG's lone field goal of the first five-plus minutes of the quarter, but the Falcons allowed only three points in that time, before a Na'Teshia Owens steal and layup made it a 59-42 game. Thompson responded immediately, taking a pass from sophomore Jane Uecker and knocking down her fifth three-pointer of the day for a 62-42 lead with 4:22 to go.
The Musketeers cut that 20-point deficit to a more respectable 10 points by the final horn, with Ross making a pair of treys over the last two-plus minutes.

C.THOMPSON POSTGAME INTERVIEW

COACH ROOS POSTGAME INTERVIEW

#WINNING

The Falcons are off to one of the best starts in school history.
This season marks the seventh time in program history that BGSU has won at least seven of the first eight games of the season.
Five of those seven seasons have come since Jennifer Roos arrived in BGSU, with two coming since she assumed the head-coaching job.
Only the 2005-06 team was undefeated after eight games. Six teams – the 1974-75, 1991-92, 2006-07, 2010-11, 2013-14 and the current squad – have been 7-1 at this juncture.
Last year, BGSU's seventh win of the season came on February 18.

So proud of our students and the partnership with @BGathletics ! Great day and everyone had a blast! @BGSchools @bemoose @bgsu pic.twitter.com/L6kbVCuldc
— BGCitizens (@BGOHCitizens) December 6, 2017

A FEW KEY STATISTICS FROM WEDNESDAY'S WIN

The Falcons set season bests in three-point field goals made (13) and three-point FG percentage (.542; 13-of-24) in the win over Xavier.
BG shot .426 from the field on the day, compared to Xavier's .373.
In two of the game's four quarters, the Falcons made more three-point field goals than the Musketeers made total field goals.
Xavier was 4-of-17 from the floor in the first quarter, while BG's 8-for-17 period included a 5-for-7 effort from the arc.
In the third period, BG was 7-of-14 overall and 4-of-8 from long distance, while Xavier was 3-for-12 and 0-for-3, respectively.
Sophomore Caterrion Thompson had eight of her game-high 19 points in the second quarter, going 2-for-2 from both three-point range and the free-throw line.
The Falcons turned the ball over 17 times to Xavier's 16, but BG had an 18-11 advantage in points off turnovers.
BG had a narrow 34-33 rebounding advantage in the win. No Falcon had more than seven rebounds, but four Falcons had at least five boards.
Sophomore Andrea Cecil was one of those two BG players with seven rebounds. She also had 14 points and four assists, tying for game honors in the latter category.
Junior Sydney Lambert's well-rounded stat line included nine points, seven rebounds, four assists and five steals.
Caterrion Thompson was 5-for-6 from three-point range, while Lambert and senior Haley Puk each made three shots from the arc. Puk was 3-for-4 from downtown en route to nine points, while Lambert was 3-for-6.

Thank you to @BGSUwbb and @bgsuathletics for keeping our students engaged and having a great time at the game today! Congrats on the WIN!! This was an experience the students will never forget! ?? @bemoose @francis_scruci pic.twitter.com/hi1YdC1yI6
— Jeremy Koehler (@JKoehlerBGCS) December 6, 2017

NOTES

BGSU has led at halftime of all eight games this season to date.
The Falcons' three-point field goal percentage was the team's best in close to two years, since BG shot .593 (16-of-27) from long range at Central Michigan on Feb. 6, 2016.
Sophomore Caterrion Thompson scored a career-high 19 points. Her previous best was 16 points on two occasions last year, at both Eastern Michigan and Ball State.
Thompson more than doubled her previous career best in three-point field goals made. She had hit two triples in a game on five occasions as a Falcon, before knocking down five in six attempts on Wednesday.
On the season, Thompson is shooting .636 from the arc, having made seven treys in 11 tries.
Sophomore Andrea Cecil set a career best with four assists vs. Xavier.
Junior Sydney Lambert tied her career high with five steals. She also had five steals last season at Northern Illinois.

Caterr-THREE-on Thompson! She hits her fifth triple of the game! pic.twitter.com/JJXiQKijVp
— BGSU WBB (@BGSUwbb) December 6, 2017

UP NEXT

The Falcons fly to Brookings, S.D., to face South Dakota State on Saturday (Dec. 9). Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. local time (8:00 p.m. ET) at Frost Arena.
Then, after taking a break for fall semester exams, BGSU will return to the Stroh Center court to face Ferris State on Monday, Dec. 18.

Today's attendance -- 4,130.

THANK YOU! pic.twitter.com/LITVIwuePq
— BGSU WBB (@BGSUwbb) December 6, 2017

FOLLOW THE FALCONS

For more information on all things BGSU women's basketball, follow the Falcons on Twitter (@BGAthletics and @BGSUwbb), Instagram (@bgsuwbasketball) and Snapchat (BGSU Falcons) as well as on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.