Friday, December 4
Nashville, TN
7:00 PM CT
Bowling Green State University
66
at
60
Vanderbilt
Junior Tracy Pontius scored a game-high 19 points in the Falcons' win at Vanderbilt
Falcons Knock Off #14/16 Vanderbilt, 66-60
December 04, 2009 | Women's Basketball
BGSU's first win over a nationally-ranked team since 2007
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team shot over 56 percent from the field en route to a 66-60 win over nationally-ranked Vanderbilt University Friday night (Dec. 4). The non-conference game was held at VU's Memorial Gymnasium.
BGSU 66, VANDERBILT 60 - Final Stats
BGSU 66, VANDERBILT 60 - PDF Boxscore
POSTGAME AUDIO: Miller & Pontius
WATCH A VIDEO REPLAY - courtesy VUCommodores.com
With the win, the Falcons improve to 5-2 on the year, and BGSU has won four consecutive games. The Commodores, ranked #14 in the nation in the USA Today ESPN poll and #16 by the Associated Press, drop to 7-1 on the year.
It marked BGSU's first win over a nationally-ranked team since a win over Vandy in March of 2007. The teams' last meeting came in the second round of the 2007 NCAA Championships in East Lansing, Mich., with the Brown and Orange pulling off a 59-56 upset.
On Friday, junior Tracy Pontius scored a game-high 19 points to pace three players in double digits. Pontius hit three three-pointers in the game, all coming in the early going as the Falcons exploded to a 22-4 lead out of the gate.
Senior Tamika Nurse had 15 points, while junior Lauren Prochaska added 14. Both Nurse and Pontius were 3-of-4 from three-point land as the Falcons made 7-of-11 triples on the night.
Junior Jen Uhl had eight points and a game-high eight rebounds, helping the Falcons post a 32-29 rebounding margin in the game.
For the Commodores, Jence Rhoads had 17 points while Lauren Lueders added 11.
BG could not have gotten off to a better start, scoring 22 of the game's first 26 points. Nurse drained a three-pointer in the game's first minute, and junior Maggie Hennegan blocked Hannah Tuomi's shot attempt on the next possession, grabbing the rebound for good measure.
Nurse drew Vanderbilt fouls on each of the next two possessions, hitting a free throw for a four-point lead. The hosts got on the scoreboard with 3:07 elapsed on Tuomi's jumper in the lane, but Pontius took a pass from Uhl and hit a three-pointer, giving the Falcons a 7-2 lead and prompting VU head coach Melanie Balcomb to take a timeout.
The timeout did nothing to slow the visitors from Ohio, however. BG forced a miss, and Hennegan hit a turnaround one-hander for a 9-2 lead. Another missed shot by the hosts and another Falcon defensive rebound later, Pontius took a pass from Nurse and hit her second triple of the evening.
The onslaught continued. Uhl grabbed a teammate's miss and laid the ball back up and in. 14-2, Falcons. The Falcons forced a turnover, and junior Chelsea Albert's entry pass to Uhl resulted in another layup. 16-2.
After another VU miss, the Falcons scored on the ensuing possession, as Prochaska drove to the hoop and hit a tough layup. 18-2, BG.
Finally, the hosts got another hoop, snapping a 14-0 Falcon run. A layup by Rhoads at the 12:42 mark broke Vanderbilt's scoreless drought of over four minutes (4:11, to be exact). But, freshman Allison Papenfuss scored a 'second-chance' layup for the visitors, and Pontius picked Rhoads' pocket at midcourt and sailed in for a layup. The score was 22-4, BG, and the home team took a second timeout with 11:56 left in the half.
Vanderbilt responded by going on a 5-0 run, but Pontius hit her third trey of the night for a 25-9 BG advantage. Tuomi hit a layup, but the Falcons scored the next four points, with Hennegan's free throws giving the visitors an 18-point lead once again, 29-11.
The Commodores went on another 5-0 run, then cut BG's lead to 10 points on two Merideth Marsh free throws with 37 seconds left in the half. But, Prochaska took Uhl's pass and drilled a three-pointer with 24 seconds left, then stole the ball from Lueders and hit an 'and-one' layup with just 1.5 seconds on the clock. Her resulting free throw gave BG a 39-23 lead at the half.
The home team was far from finished, however. VU scored the first six points of the second half, pounding the ball inside for three layups in the first two minutes. But, Hennegan spotted Uhl for a layup, and then hit a layup of her own. When Nurse took a Prochaska pass and hit a triple from the left corner, the Falcons' lead was 17 points.
Again, though, Vandy scored six-straight points. Another Nurse triple stopped the run, but VU went on yet another mini-run, with six more points. Leuders capped that run with a putback that cut BG's lead into single digits, 49-41, with 12-and-a-half minutes remaining.
Prochaska hit a driving layup, but Tiffany Clarke quickly answered with a jumper, sparking a 7-0 run. Rhoads made a three-pointer at the 10:09 mark, and Jessica Mooney's layup cut the Falcons' lead to only three points with eight minutes still remaining.
Nurse converted a shot while being fouled, and made the ensuing free throw out of the 7:05 media timeout. BG's lead was six points, at 56-50. But, momentum still seemed to be on the Commodores' side.
Layups by Clarke and Rhoads cut the Falcons' advantage to a single basket with 6:29 on the clock. Neither team would score for the next few minutes, before Pontius made both ends of a one-and-one opportunity with 4:49 remaining.
But, Lueders drilled a shot from beyond the arc, and BG's lead was a single point. Then, the hosts forced a shot-clock violation, getting the ball back, and a Rhoads layup gave the home team its first lead of the game, 59-58, with 3:25 left.
And, the Falcons turned the ball over on the next possession, giving the ball back to Vandy. Lueders misfired on a three-point try, though, and Uhl grabbed the rebound. The ensuing possession saw Pontius hit a layup with 2:26 remaining in the game, giving the Falcons the lead once again.
After another VU miss and another Uhl rebound, senior Tara Breske hit a tough jumper with 2:01 left. Breske, playing for the first time in several weeks, gave the Falcons a lift with 16 minutes of action off the bench.
The 'Dores got an offensive rebound after a three-point miss, but Breske swatted a layup try by Rhoads. The home team got to the line, and Mooney split her tosses with 1:25 remaining. Off her miss, the hosts got the offensive rebound, however. The Commodores worked the ball to Leuders, who fired a three-point shot that would have given her team the lead once again. The shot was off target, though, and Pontius pulled down the rebound and was fouled. She went to the line and hit both shots, giving BG a four-point lead with 45.6 seconds left.
VU missed a shot attempt, and Breske grabbed the rebound and was fouled. Her foul shots did not go down, but Lueders missed a pair of shots, with Uhl getting the rebound after the second miss. She passed the ball to Pontius, who was fouled with five seconds on the clock. The Falcon junior hit both free-throw attempts to provide the final margin, and a last-second three-point shot by Marsh was blocked by Prochaska.
BGSU forced Vanderbilt to go 0-of-8 from the field down the stretch.
The Falcons shot over 50 percent in each half, including a 60.0% rate in the second half. The Commodores shot 38.1% from the field for the game. BGSU was an efficient 7-of-11 (63.6%) from three-point land, while holding VU to just a 3-of-17 (17.6%) long-distance performance.
BG got to the line more than the hosts, making 13-of-18 free-throw tries to the Commodores' 9-of-13 effort.
Hennegan had six points in the win, while Breske and Papenfuss scored two apiece. The hosts got nine points from both Tuomi and Mooney, while Clarke chipped in with eight.
The Falcons now return to the Midwest to prepare for a Wednesday (Dec. 9) game at the University of Detroit Mercy. The Detroit game will be the second in a five-game road swing for the Brown and Orange.
FALCON NOTES
* BGSU and Vanderbilt now are tied, 2-2, in the all-time series between the teams ... BG has won the last two meetings, including a 59-56 win in East Lansing, Mich., in the second round of the 2007 NCAA Championships (March 20, 2007).
* That 2007 win marks the last time -- prior to Friday, obviously -- that the Falcons defeated a nationally-ranked team ... that Vanderbilt team was ranked #7/8 in the nation in the polls, while the Falcons (# 19/20) were ranked as well.
* BGSU is now 2-11 all-time against Southeastern Conference ... but, the Falcons have won the last two meetings vs. SEC opponents.
* Friday night marked Vanderbilt's first home loss to a non-ranked opponent in nearly two years, since a 62-51 setback against Colorado on Dec. 9, 2007.
* Prior to Friday night, Vanderbilt had been 4-0 at home this year ... the Commodores were 15-1 in home games last season, with the only loss coming to #6/12 Notre Dame (59-57; Dec. 30, 2008) ... in fact, over the last three-plus seasons, VU has a home record of 47-6 ... the losses during that time have come to Tennessee (twice; once when UT was ranked #4, and once when the Vols were ranked #1), Colorado, Old Dominion (ranked #23 in one poll at the time), Notre Dame and BGSU.
* The Falcons have outrebounded the opponent in six of this year's seven games, including each of the last five ... BG was outboarded only against #3 Ohio State.
BGSU 66, VANDERBILT 60 - Final Stats
BGSU 66, VANDERBILT 60 - PDF Boxscore
POSTGAME AUDIO: Miller & Pontius
WATCH A VIDEO REPLAY - courtesy VUCommodores.com
With the win, the Falcons improve to 5-2 on the year, and BGSU has won four consecutive games. The Commodores, ranked #14 in the nation in the USA Today ESPN poll and #16 by the Associated Press, drop to 7-1 on the year.
It marked BGSU's first win over a nationally-ranked team since a win over Vandy in March of 2007. The teams' last meeting came in the second round of the 2007 NCAA Championships in East Lansing, Mich., with the Brown and Orange pulling off a 59-56 upset.
On Friday, junior Tracy Pontius scored a game-high 19 points to pace three players in double digits. Pontius hit three three-pointers in the game, all coming in the early going as the Falcons exploded to a 22-4 lead out of the gate.
Senior Tamika Nurse had 15 points, while junior Lauren Prochaska added 14. Both Nurse and Pontius were 3-of-4 from three-point land as the Falcons made 7-of-11 triples on the night.
Junior Jen Uhl had eight points and a game-high eight rebounds, helping the Falcons post a 32-29 rebounding margin in the game.
For the Commodores, Jence Rhoads had 17 points while Lauren Lueders added 11.
BG could not have gotten off to a better start, scoring 22 of the game's first 26 points. Nurse drained a three-pointer in the game's first minute, and junior Maggie Hennegan blocked Hannah Tuomi's shot attempt on the next possession, grabbing the rebound for good measure.
Nurse drew Vanderbilt fouls on each of the next two possessions, hitting a free throw for a four-point lead. The hosts got on the scoreboard with 3:07 elapsed on Tuomi's jumper in the lane, but Pontius took a pass from Uhl and hit a three-pointer, giving the Falcons a 7-2 lead and prompting VU head coach Melanie Balcomb to take a timeout.
The timeout did nothing to slow the visitors from Ohio, however. BG forced a miss, and Hennegan hit a turnaround one-hander for a 9-2 lead. Another missed shot by the hosts and another Falcon defensive rebound later, Pontius took a pass from Nurse and hit her second triple of the evening.
The onslaught continued. Uhl grabbed a teammate's miss and laid the ball back up and in. 14-2, Falcons. The Falcons forced a turnover, and junior Chelsea Albert's entry pass to Uhl resulted in another layup. 16-2.
After another VU miss, the Falcons scored on the ensuing possession, as Prochaska drove to the hoop and hit a tough layup. 18-2, BG.
Finally, the hosts got another hoop, snapping a 14-0 Falcon run. A layup by Rhoads at the 12:42 mark broke Vanderbilt's scoreless drought of over four minutes (4:11, to be exact). But, freshman Allison Papenfuss scored a 'second-chance' layup for the visitors, and Pontius picked Rhoads' pocket at midcourt and sailed in for a layup. The score was 22-4, BG, and the home team took a second timeout with 11:56 left in the half.
Vanderbilt responded by going on a 5-0 run, but Pontius hit her third trey of the night for a 25-9 BG advantage. Tuomi hit a layup, but the Falcons scored the next four points, with Hennegan's free throws giving the visitors an 18-point lead once again, 29-11.
The Commodores went on another 5-0 run, then cut BG's lead to 10 points on two Merideth Marsh free throws with 37 seconds left in the half. But, Prochaska took Uhl's pass and drilled a three-pointer with 24 seconds left, then stole the ball from Lueders and hit an 'and-one' layup with just 1.5 seconds on the clock. Her resulting free throw gave BG a 39-23 lead at the half.
The home team was far from finished, however. VU scored the first six points of the second half, pounding the ball inside for three layups in the first two minutes. But, Hennegan spotted Uhl for a layup, and then hit a layup of her own. When Nurse took a Prochaska pass and hit a triple from the left corner, the Falcons' lead was 17 points.
Again, though, Vandy scored six-straight points. Another Nurse triple stopped the run, but VU went on yet another mini-run, with six more points. Leuders capped that run with a putback that cut BG's lead into single digits, 49-41, with 12-and-a-half minutes remaining.
Prochaska hit a driving layup, but Tiffany Clarke quickly answered with a jumper, sparking a 7-0 run. Rhoads made a three-pointer at the 10:09 mark, and Jessica Mooney's layup cut the Falcons' lead to only three points with eight minutes still remaining.
Nurse converted a shot while being fouled, and made the ensuing free throw out of the 7:05 media timeout. BG's lead was six points, at 56-50. But, momentum still seemed to be on the Commodores' side.
Layups by Clarke and Rhoads cut the Falcons' advantage to a single basket with 6:29 on the clock. Neither team would score for the next few minutes, before Pontius made both ends of a one-and-one opportunity with 4:49 remaining.
But, Lueders drilled a shot from beyond the arc, and BG's lead was a single point. Then, the hosts forced a shot-clock violation, getting the ball back, and a Rhoads layup gave the home team its first lead of the game, 59-58, with 3:25 left.
And, the Falcons turned the ball over on the next possession, giving the ball back to Vandy. Lueders misfired on a three-point try, though, and Uhl grabbed the rebound. The ensuing possession saw Pontius hit a layup with 2:26 remaining in the game, giving the Falcons the lead once again.
After another VU miss and another Uhl rebound, senior Tara Breske hit a tough jumper with 2:01 left. Breske, playing for the first time in several weeks, gave the Falcons a lift with 16 minutes of action off the bench.
The 'Dores got an offensive rebound after a three-point miss, but Breske swatted a layup try by Rhoads. The home team got to the line, and Mooney split her tosses with 1:25 remaining. Off her miss, the hosts got the offensive rebound, however. The Commodores worked the ball to Leuders, who fired a three-point shot that would have given her team the lead once again. The shot was off target, though, and Pontius pulled down the rebound and was fouled. She went to the line and hit both shots, giving BG a four-point lead with 45.6 seconds left.
VU missed a shot attempt, and Breske grabbed the rebound and was fouled. Her foul shots did not go down, but Lueders missed a pair of shots, with Uhl getting the rebound after the second miss. She passed the ball to Pontius, who was fouled with five seconds on the clock. The Falcon junior hit both free-throw attempts to provide the final margin, and a last-second three-point shot by Marsh was blocked by Prochaska.
BGSU forced Vanderbilt to go 0-of-8 from the field down the stretch.
The Falcons shot over 50 percent in each half, including a 60.0% rate in the second half. The Commodores shot 38.1% from the field for the game. BGSU was an efficient 7-of-11 (63.6%) from three-point land, while holding VU to just a 3-of-17 (17.6%) long-distance performance.
BG got to the line more than the hosts, making 13-of-18 free-throw tries to the Commodores' 9-of-13 effort.
Hennegan had six points in the win, while Breske and Papenfuss scored two apiece. The hosts got nine points from both Tuomi and Mooney, while Clarke chipped in with eight.
The Falcons now return to the Midwest to prepare for a Wednesday (Dec. 9) game at the University of Detroit Mercy. The Detroit game will be the second in a five-game road swing for the Brown and Orange.
FALCON NOTES
* BGSU and Vanderbilt now are tied, 2-2, in the all-time series between the teams ... BG has won the last two meetings, including a 59-56 win in East Lansing, Mich., in the second round of the 2007 NCAA Championships (March 20, 2007).
* That 2007 win marks the last time -- prior to Friday, obviously -- that the Falcons defeated a nationally-ranked team ... that Vanderbilt team was ranked #7/8 in the nation in the polls, while the Falcons (# 19/20) were ranked as well.
* BGSU is now 2-11 all-time against Southeastern Conference ... but, the Falcons have won the last two meetings vs. SEC opponents.
* Friday night marked Vanderbilt's first home loss to a non-ranked opponent in nearly two years, since a 62-51 setback against Colorado on Dec. 9, 2007.
* Prior to Friday night, Vanderbilt had been 4-0 at home this year ... the Commodores were 15-1 in home games last season, with the only loss coming to #6/12 Notre Dame (59-57; Dec. 30, 2008) ... in fact, over the last three-plus seasons, VU has a home record of 47-6 ... the losses during that time have come to Tennessee (twice; once when UT was ranked #4, and once when the Vols were ranked #1), Colorado, Old Dominion (ranked #23 in one poll at the time), Notre Dame and BGSU.
* The Falcons have outrebounded the opponent in six of this year's seven games, including each of the last five ... BG was outboarded only against #3 Ohio State.
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