Bowling Green State University
Hampton
Falcons Sink Lady Pirates
December 29, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2007
AMES, Iowa - The Falcons starting five had noteworthy nights both at the offensive and defensive ends of the court as Bowling Green State University won their day-two game of the Cyclone Shootout. BGSU battled the Hampton University Lady Pirates to a 79-70 finale in the third game of the holiday tournament inside the Hilton Coliseum on the campus of Iowa State University on Saturday (Dec. 29) night.
On the night, the starting five combined for 67 of the Falcons' 79 points with Lindsey Goldsberry leading the charge swishing 17 points. Lauren Prochaska, Kate Achter and Tara Breske were also in the double-digit scoring figures. Achter led all players with seven assists; Prochaska and Goldsberry added five and three, respectively.
On the defensive side, Crystal Murdaugh had a career-high three blocks while Breske also added one of her own. Murdaugh went on to grab four defensive boards in her half-hour of play.
As a result of the win, BGSU improves to 9-3 overall with two games remaining before the Mid-American Conference season begins on Wednesday, January 9 in Anderson Arena versus Akron. Hampton is 5-5 on the season. Each squad has now won and lost a game in the shootout.
The victory also helps BGSU head coach Curt Miller take one step closer to reaching Jaci Clark's 135 win plateau over a seven year coaching career with the Orange and Brown; currently Miller (133-62) is within two wins of Clark (135-65). If he eclipses Clark, Miller will be the second winningest coach in BGSU women's basketball history. Former head coach Fran Voll sits atop the coaching list with his 144-60 overall win record.
Hampton, an athletic team from the state of Virginia, came out pressing the Falcons after their first made field-goal - a jumper by Quanneisha Perry one-minute into the game.
Two Prochaska free throws pushed the Falcon lead to two at 17:56, but it was soon negated as Rachel Butler hit a three-point field-goal when a BG defender was caught in a screen near the extened-curving line. Point guard Artavia Burns followed Butler's shot with a steal, but the Lady Pirates were unable to record the points off the turnover.
To say the least, the game was being played at a fast-paced sprinting tempo.
The Lady Pirates took a two-point lead on the designated home squad, 6-4, but after the first four-minute spurt, the teams were even at 6-points a piece as they took a break at the 16-minute media timeout.
Prior to the TO, Achter was fouled in the lane as she sunk one of her four field-goals of the night. Out of the break she began what would become a perfect 8-of-8 night from the free throw line draining the bonus shot. Next, the point guard's steal at 15:07 was turned into a BGSU three-point field-goal three-seconds later when, as a result of a Hampton double-team, the senior found Prochaska trailing the play.
The Falcons, in the early stages of a 14-point run, also saw long distance points from Goldsberry. In the past two games, the junior has hit three trey's each night.
Yet, it was Prochaska who contributed the majority of the run to the scoreboard netting six points after Goldsberry's three. Finishing a bit of a chaotic play, the freshman drove the lane with less than five seconds left on the shot clock and was awarded a FT due to a Hampton foul on the play. On the ensuing trip down the court, Prochaska, now a defender, stole a pass which she took deep into Falcon territory. Once again she was fouled and made the three-point play look easy. The third offensive play in the series was a charm for the Falcons as Tracy Pontius was also fouled on her right-handed drive. Pontius made her first FT and the Falcons were ahead 20-6 at the 12:40 mark.
Hampton scored their second two-point field-goal of the game at 12:14 on an Ashlee Finley short jumper from the weak side. HU would then score on their next two possessions down the floor. Each of the makes, coming from the left side, quickly cut the BG lead to eight points, 20-12 at 10:49 provoking the Falcons to take a 30-second timeout.
Obviously the correct modifications were made to the Falcons game plan as Achter scored a jumper in the paint from Prochaska on BGSU's possession immediately out of the adjustment session. Much to their dismay, the Falcons were unable to get a stop at the defensive end and BGSU's once 14-point lead (at 12:40) had been slashed to just four, 29-25, by 5:32.
Between 10:38 and 5:32, six Hampton players contributed baskets to bring the game back within reach, but BGSU preformed yet another run on the MEAC member and had a comfortable 12-point lead with 3:25 minutes until the conclusion of the first half.
In the closing two-minutes of the half, both Breske and Jennifer Uhl drew charges as Whitney Hill attempted to power her way toward the rim. In total, three different BG players stood there ground long enough to earn a player control foul.
Burns, who finished the night with 14 points, once again cut the Falcons' lead to single digits by the means of her long bomb with just six-seconds left until the intermission. Bowling Green took a 39-32 lead with them to the locker room as the initial 20-minutes expired.
In what was a tough half, characterized not only by the 18 total fouls (11-Hampton, 7-BGSU), but also the numerous bodies on the floor jockeying for possession of loose balls at any given moment, each team committed more than 10 turnovers (12-Hampton, 11-BGSU) and finished with close to two handfuls of steals (9-Hampton, 8-BGSU).
Showing that they were `in-it-to-win-it', Hampton took precious little time to score in the opening seconds of the second half. In fact, it took just nine-seconds for Burns to land her preliminary shot of the latter 20-minutes in the paint at 19:51. Murdaugh responded with her own jumper in a similar area and BGSU was back to a plus-seven margin. Subsequent jumpers of the two-and three-point variety by Prochaska helped BG to go ahead 12 by the 18:44 mark.
In the next six minutes, the Falcons and Lady Pirates traded a number of baskets, but despite a 12-9 outing, Sharella Leslie lessened the 17 point BG profit to 15 when knocking down two charity stripe chances due to a Breske foul.
Highlighted in the six-minute span was a Murdaugh block against Butelr which resembled a volleyball player ending a volley with a spike en route to the dismissal of any thought of a made basket. Pontius also scored five of her six points to cap the Falcons' 12-point effort. She was also responsible for another two field-goals in that timeframe contributing the assists on made Breske and Goldsberry baskets.
With Achter back in the game, in light of playing with three fouls, the senior positioned herself near mid-court appearing as if she was going to set the BGSU offense in motion. She then entered the ball to Breske on the low block with a hard pass that no one but Breske expected. The points in the paint set the Orange and Brown ahead 13, however the Lady Pirates were still refusing to give-up with less than 10-minutes being read on the official game clock.
Butler, an offensive catalyst for Hampton, knocked down her second three of the night off a series of passes from an inbounds pass and was followed by a steal and lay-in from Finley to again cut the previous double-digit lead to two field-goals. Finley then fouled BG on the next trip down the court and with Achter's made free throws the Falcons maintained a narrow 64-58 lead on the Blue Team at 6:12.
Although Butler's matching free throws less than a minute later voided the BG lead back down to four points, the Falcons went ahead in the closing four-minutes of the match keeping their edge between 8-10 points.
As the final day of the Iowa State Cyclone Shootout approaches, the Falcons will now look to prepare for the Skyhawks of the University of Tennessee-Martin. Tip-off for netural site match is set for 1:00 p.m. In the second game of the day, and fourth of the shootout, UT-Martin was downed by host Iowa State 63-39. Iowa State is undefeated in the Cyclone Shootout while the Skyhawks are winless in two tires.
Falcon Notables:
*Post-Christmas, both Lauren Prochaska and Kate Achter are scoring an average of 17 ppg while Lindsey Goldsberry has been good for 13 ppg. The triplets are a combined 18-19 from the charity stripe. Additionally, Goldsberry and Prochaska have contributed six three-pointers in the past two games. The duo have also done a bit of work on the inside leading the Falcons with 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively.
*Bowling Green not only beat Hampton, but they also celebrated the birthday of assistant coach Kevin Eckert. Eckert, a self-proclaimed late-twenty-something, is the second BGSU assistant to see the Falcons win on, or near, his date of birth this season. Assistant coach Brandi Poole also commemorated her Nov. 22 birthday with a win over St. Bonaventure (Nov. 24, 68-61) earlier in the season.
##BGSU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL##
