Wednesday, December 1
Bowling Green, Ohio
7:00 PM
Bowling Green State University
79
vs
68
#23 Vanderbilt
Lauren Prochaska had a season-high 31 points in the Falcons' win over No. 23 Vanderbilt (photo by Brad Phalin)
Falcons Close Out the 'Dores at The House That Roars
December 01, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Prochaska has 31 points as BGSU shoots down #23 Vanderbilt
Senior Lauren Prochaska scored 31 points as the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team downed nationally-ranked Vanderbilt University, 79-68, Wednesday night (Dec. 1). The non-conference game was held at venerable Anderson Arena.
FINAL STATS - HTML | BOXSCORE - PDF
BGSU POSTGAME AUDIO: Coach Curt Miller | Lauren Prochaska & Jen Uhl
VANDERBILT POSTGAME AUDIO: Coach Melanie Balcomb
PHOTO GALLERY: Photos by Brad Phalin, BGSU Photo Services
Scroll to the bottom of the page for video of the BGSU postgame interviews (our apologies, as only the last few minutes of the Curt Miller press conference is available on the video. The above audio link contains the Miller press conference in its entirety.)
With the win, the Falcons improve to 7-1 on the season, and BGSU has won seven consecutive games. The Commodores drop to 4-2 this year.
Prochaska went 8-of-16 from the field, including a 5-of-9 effort from three-point range, and hit all 10 of her free-throw attempts on the night. She increased her streak of consecutive FT attempts made to 53, breaking her own school record.
Senior Jen Uhl had 15 points, while sophomore Chrissy Steffen had 11. Uhl made 7-of-9 shots from the floor, and was a perfect 6-for-6 from inside the three-point line.
The Falcons' other two starters, seniors Maggie Hennegan and Tracy Pontius, scored nine points apiece. Hennegan, who pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds, just missed a double-double.
Three Vanderbilt players -- Jasmine Lister, Jence Rhoads and Hannah Tuomi -- scored 14 points each, while Stephanie Holzer chipped in with 10 points in 10 minutes. Tuomi and Holzer each spent much of the night in foul trouble.
For BGSU, the win was just the fourth in program history against a nationally-ranked team. BG is 4-28 in such games. Three of those wins have come against Vanderbilt, all within the last five years.
The Falcons are now 2-3 all-time against nationally-ranked opponents at Anderson Arena, and BGSU is 3-9 in such games in the Curt Miller Era.
The first half featured seven ties and seven lead changes. In front of a loud and raucous crowd at "The House That Roars," each team struggled through the first few offensive possessions. Both the Falcons and Commodores missed a shot and had a turnover in the first two trips down the floor.
Tuomi was called for an offensive foul on Vandy's third possession, but rebounded her own miss and laid the ball back up and in on the next possession. Just over two minutes into the game, the visitors took a 2-0 lead.
BG answered with a floater by Hennegan to tie the score, and after Christine Foggie hit a three-pointer, Pontius knocked down a shot from beyond the arc to knot the score at 5-5.
Tuomi hit another layup, but Steffen grabbed and offensive rebound and converted the putback try, and Prochaska then stole the ball from Lister and fired it ahead to Uhl for a layup and a 9-7 BG lead with just over four minutes gone. Nine seconds later, Tuomi was called for an offensive foul, her second foul of the game, and headed to the bench at the 15:47 media timeout.
After VU's Tiffany Clarke hit a jumper, Prochaska drove under the basket and fired a pass to Uhl at the top of the arc. The Wadsworth, Ohio, native hit a straightaway three-pointer for a 12-9 lead.
The 'Dores countered with a pair of baskets, but Prochaska got to the foul line and converted both shots to give BG a 14-13 lead with 12:13 on the clock. Those free throws enabled her to tie her own school record for consecutive free throws made. That record would be broken less than two minutes later.
Holzer, who had replaced Tuomi in the game, hit back-to-back layups for a 17-14 VU advantage, but she was called for her second foul with 10:25 left in the half. Off of the ensuing inbounds pass, Prochaska was fouled in the act of shooting a three-pointer. The senior made all three free throws to tie the game and move her streak to 48-straight makes.
Lister countered with a long three-pointer, but junior Jessica Slagle hit a pull-up jumper to cut VU's lead to one point midway through the half. Lister scored again, hitting a layup, but Slagle got a tough right-side runner to drop. BG forced a miss at the other end, and Pontius fired a long pass ahead to Hennegan for a layup and a 23-22 BGSU lead.
The Commodores scored the next four points, including a three-pointer by Elan Brown, but two hoops by Uhl began a 10-0 run that gave BGSU the lead for good. Uhl's jumper brought the Falcons within a point, and Prochaska then rebounded her own miss and skipped a bounce pass to a wide-open Uhl for a 27-26 lead with 5:05 left before the half. BG would not trail again.
Prochaska was fouled and knocked down two charity tosses (50 in a row), and Pontius faked a shot and found Uhl, open yet again, for a layup and a 31-26 lead, prompting a VU timeout with 4:11 left in the period.
Out of the timeout, however, Prochaska stole the ball from Angela Puleo and scored on a transition layup for a 33-26 advantage.
Rebecca Silinski scored for the visitors, but Steffen converted an 'and-one' layup with 2:10 on the clock, beginning an 11-4 run to end the half.
Holzer made two tosses, but a long two-pointer by Steffen restored the Falcons' eight-point advantage with 1:40 left.
After a steal by Uhl, a cross-court pass by Pontius found Prochaska for a three-pointer from the left elbow. When that shot swished through the hoop, the Falcons had a double-digit lead, 41-30.
Holzer scored on a layup with 23 seconds left, but Prochaska found Pontius for a three-pointer as the final seconds ticked away, and BGSU held a 44-32 lead at the intermission.
The Falcons forced 14 VU first-half turnovers, while committing just four themselves. BG had a 14-4 advantage in points off turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
Clarke made two free throws to open the second half, and the Commodores' defense denied Pontius the ball on the next possession. Steffen brought the ball upcourt, taking it all the way into the lane and dished to Uhl for an easy layup.
Then, Pontius drained a triple try, and BG's lead was a game-high 15 points, at 49-34.
Back came the visitors, though, scoring 10-straight points. Rhoads scored the last seven points of that run, concluding with a three-point play at the 16:19 mark. Just like that, BG's lead was down to five points.
During that stretch, however, Tuomi and Holzer each picked up their third fouls within 10 seconds of one another, with Holzer's foul coming with 16:48 left.
Hennegan broke VU's run, backing down her defender and banking home a shot, but Foggie split a pair of free throws, and Lister's three-pointer cut BG's advantage to only three points, 51-48, with 14:31 remaining. That's when Prochaska took over.
The two-time MAC Player of the Year scored her team's next six points, and scored 14 of the Falcons' next 16, as BG built the lead to 17 points over the next five-and-a-half minutes.
BGSU went on a 16-2 run during that time, as Prochaska hit three treys, a jumper and three free throws. Her first shot was a Pontius-esque triple, as Prochaska dribbled around the arc, pulled up and fired a long-distance shot with 14:04 left.
Rhoads answered with a jumper, cutting the BG lead to 54-50, but the Falcons then scored the next 13 points. Prochaska was fouled while attempting a three-pointer for the second time in the game. And, for the second time on Wednesday night, she hit all three shots from the stripe, moving her streak to 53 in a row.
Steffen's driving layup at the 12:41 mark gave BG a 59-50 lead, and a three-pointer by Prochaska off of Slagle's inbounds pass increased the lead into double digits for good with 10:26 remaining.
Prochaska took Uhl's pass and nailed a three-pointer with 9:07 remaining, then hit a pull-up jumper with 8:35 left. BGSU's lead was 17 points, at 67-50.
Lister hit a rainbow three-pointer, but Steffen's free throws gave BG a 16-point advantage. The Falcons had an answer for each Vanderbilt basket, as the lead did not drop below 13 points until the final minute of the game.
Prochaska topped the 30-point mark with a straight-on three-pointer with just under five minutes left, giving the Brown and Orange a 77-60 lead. VU scored the next four points, before Hennegan got to the line and hit two tosses with 1:52 remaining. Tuomi scored twice on layups, but the Falcons' lead was secure.
Prochaska scored 19 of her points in the second half, making four treys in that period. For the game, she was 5-of-9 from long range. She tied her career best with six assists, all coming in the opening half.
VU had advantages in rebounding (34-26), points in the paint (32-24) and second-chance points (18-9), but the Falcons had the aforementioned advantages in turnovers and points off of turnovers. BG also had 11 fast-break points to Vandy's four.
The Commodores shot an even 50 percent in each half en route to a 25-for-50 effort on the night. BGSU shot 46.6% from the floor and went 9-of-21 from three-point land.
The Falcons conclude a brief two-game homestand with a Saturday (Dec. 4) game vs. Cal State Fullerton. Tipoff is 1:00 p.m. at "The House That Roars."
FALCON NOTES
* BGSU now leads Vanderbilt, 3-2, in the all-time series between the teams, and the Falcons have won three consecutive meetings ... BG has won one home game, one road game and one neutral-site contest during that stretch.
* VU has been nationally ranked at the time of all five meetings with BGSU, including wins in back-to-back seasons in the early 1990s ... the Falcons downed VU, 59-56, in the second round of the 2007 NCAA Championships in East Lansing, Mich. (March 20, 2007), then picked up a 66-60 win in Nashville last season (Dec. 9, 2009).
* Falcon head coach Curt Miller is 3-0 against Vanderbilt in his BGSU career.
* The Falcons, as mentioned, are now 4-28 against nationally-ranked teams ... in addition to the three wins over Vanderbilt, BG downed 10th-ranked Purdue in Anderson Arena in Jaci Clark's head-coaching debut (Nov. 23, 1991) ... that was BG's only home win over a ranked team prior to Wednesday.
* Senior Lauren Prochaska, as mentioned, has now made 53 consecutive free throws ... that broke her own school record of 45, set in her sophomore year of 2008-09 ... Prochaska is just four successful free throws shy of matching the MAC record of 57 consecutive tosses, set by Central Michigan's Jody Beerman in the 1986-87 season ... the NCAA record is 66-straight FT makes, by Ginny Doyle of Richmond in 1991-92.
* BGSU has won 34 consecutive regular-season games at "The House That Roars" ... the Falcons' last regular-season loss came vs. Western Michigan on Jan. 30, 2008 ... overall, BG has won 18 home games in a row, and 37 of the last 38 ... the lone loss in that stretch came to Indiana in the third round of the 2009 WNIT.
* BGSU had won 19-straight home games before losing to IU, then beginning the current 18-game streak ... 32 of the Falcons' 37 wins in that span have come by double figures.
FINAL STATS - HTML | BOXSCORE - PDF
BGSU POSTGAME AUDIO: Coach Curt Miller | Lauren Prochaska & Jen Uhl
VANDERBILT POSTGAME AUDIO: Coach Melanie Balcomb
PHOTO GALLERY: Photos by Brad Phalin, BGSU Photo Services
Scroll to the bottom of the page for video of the BGSU postgame interviews (our apologies, as only the last few minutes of the Curt Miller press conference is available on the video. The above audio link contains the Miller press conference in its entirety.)
With the win, the Falcons improve to 7-1 on the season, and BGSU has won seven consecutive games. The Commodores drop to 4-2 this year.
Prochaska went 8-of-16 from the field, including a 5-of-9 effort from three-point range, and hit all 10 of her free-throw attempts on the night. She increased her streak of consecutive FT attempts made to 53, breaking her own school record.
Senior Jen Uhl had 15 points, while sophomore Chrissy Steffen had 11. Uhl made 7-of-9 shots from the floor, and was a perfect 6-for-6 from inside the three-point line.
The Falcons' other two starters, seniors Maggie Hennegan and Tracy Pontius, scored nine points apiece. Hennegan, who pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds, just missed a double-double.
Three Vanderbilt players -- Jasmine Lister, Jence Rhoads and Hannah Tuomi -- scored 14 points each, while Stephanie Holzer chipped in with 10 points in 10 minutes. Tuomi and Holzer each spent much of the night in foul trouble.
For BGSU, the win was just the fourth in program history against a nationally-ranked team. BG is 4-28 in such games. Three of those wins have come against Vanderbilt, all within the last five years.
The Falcons are now 2-3 all-time against nationally-ranked opponents at Anderson Arena, and BGSU is 3-9 in such games in the Curt Miller Era.
The first half featured seven ties and seven lead changes. In front of a loud and raucous crowd at "The House That Roars," each team struggled through the first few offensive possessions. Both the Falcons and Commodores missed a shot and had a turnover in the first two trips down the floor.
Tuomi was called for an offensive foul on Vandy's third possession, but rebounded her own miss and laid the ball back up and in on the next possession. Just over two minutes into the game, the visitors took a 2-0 lead.
BG answered with a floater by Hennegan to tie the score, and after Christine Foggie hit a three-pointer, Pontius knocked down a shot from beyond the arc to knot the score at 5-5.
Tuomi hit another layup, but Steffen grabbed and offensive rebound and converted the putback try, and Prochaska then stole the ball from Lister and fired it ahead to Uhl for a layup and a 9-7 BG lead with just over four minutes gone. Nine seconds later, Tuomi was called for an offensive foul, her second foul of the game, and headed to the bench at the 15:47 media timeout.
After VU's Tiffany Clarke hit a jumper, Prochaska drove under the basket and fired a pass to Uhl at the top of the arc. The Wadsworth, Ohio, native hit a straightaway three-pointer for a 12-9 lead.
The 'Dores countered with a pair of baskets, but Prochaska got to the foul line and converted both shots to give BG a 14-13 lead with 12:13 on the clock. Those free throws enabled her to tie her own school record for consecutive free throws made. That record would be broken less than two minutes later.
Holzer, who had replaced Tuomi in the game, hit back-to-back layups for a 17-14 VU advantage, but she was called for her second foul with 10:25 left in the half. Off of the ensuing inbounds pass, Prochaska was fouled in the act of shooting a three-pointer. The senior made all three free throws to tie the game and move her streak to 48-straight makes.
Lister countered with a long three-pointer, but junior Jessica Slagle hit a pull-up jumper to cut VU's lead to one point midway through the half. Lister scored again, hitting a layup, but Slagle got a tough right-side runner to drop. BG forced a miss at the other end, and Pontius fired a long pass ahead to Hennegan for a layup and a 23-22 BGSU lead.
The Commodores scored the next four points, including a three-pointer by Elan Brown, but two hoops by Uhl began a 10-0 run that gave BGSU the lead for good. Uhl's jumper brought the Falcons within a point, and Prochaska then rebounded her own miss and skipped a bounce pass to a wide-open Uhl for a 27-26 lead with 5:05 left before the half. BG would not trail again.
Prochaska was fouled and knocked down two charity tosses (50 in a row), and Pontius faked a shot and found Uhl, open yet again, for a layup and a 31-26 lead, prompting a VU timeout with 4:11 left in the period.
Out of the timeout, however, Prochaska stole the ball from Angela Puleo and scored on a transition layup for a 33-26 advantage.
Rebecca Silinski scored for the visitors, but Steffen converted an 'and-one' layup with 2:10 on the clock, beginning an 11-4 run to end the half.
Holzer made two tosses, but a long two-pointer by Steffen restored the Falcons' eight-point advantage with 1:40 left.
After a steal by Uhl, a cross-court pass by Pontius found Prochaska for a three-pointer from the left elbow. When that shot swished through the hoop, the Falcons had a double-digit lead, 41-30.
Holzer scored on a layup with 23 seconds left, but Prochaska found Pontius for a three-pointer as the final seconds ticked away, and BGSU held a 44-32 lead at the intermission.
The Falcons forced 14 VU first-half turnovers, while committing just four themselves. BG had a 14-4 advantage in points off turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
Clarke made two free throws to open the second half, and the Commodores' defense denied Pontius the ball on the next possession. Steffen brought the ball upcourt, taking it all the way into the lane and dished to Uhl for an easy layup.
Then, Pontius drained a triple try, and BG's lead was a game-high 15 points, at 49-34.
Back came the visitors, though, scoring 10-straight points. Rhoads scored the last seven points of that run, concluding with a three-point play at the 16:19 mark. Just like that, BG's lead was down to five points.
During that stretch, however, Tuomi and Holzer each picked up their third fouls within 10 seconds of one another, with Holzer's foul coming with 16:48 left.
Hennegan broke VU's run, backing down her defender and banking home a shot, but Foggie split a pair of free throws, and Lister's three-pointer cut BG's advantage to only three points, 51-48, with 14:31 remaining. That's when Prochaska took over.
The two-time MAC Player of the Year scored her team's next six points, and scored 14 of the Falcons' next 16, as BG built the lead to 17 points over the next five-and-a-half minutes.
BGSU went on a 16-2 run during that time, as Prochaska hit three treys, a jumper and three free throws. Her first shot was a Pontius-esque triple, as Prochaska dribbled around the arc, pulled up and fired a long-distance shot with 14:04 left.
Rhoads answered with a jumper, cutting the BG lead to 54-50, but the Falcons then scored the next 13 points. Prochaska was fouled while attempting a three-pointer for the second time in the game. And, for the second time on Wednesday night, she hit all three shots from the stripe, moving her streak to 53 in a row.
Steffen's driving layup at the 12:41 mark gave BG a 59-50 lead, and a three-pointer by Prochaska off of Slagle's inbounds pass increased the lead into double digits for good with 10:26 remaining.
Prochaska took Uhl's pass and nailed a three-pointer with 9:07 remaining, then hit a pull-up jumper with 8:35 left. BGSU's lead was 17 points, at 67-50.
Lister hit a rainbow three-pointer, but Steffen's free throws gave BG a 16-point advantage. The Falcons had an answer for each Vanderbilt basket, as the lead did not drop below 13 points until the final minute of the game.
Prochaska topped the 30-point mark with a straight-on three-pointer with just under five minutes left, giving the Brown and Orange a 77-60 lead. VU scored the next four points, before Hennegan got to the line and hit two tosses with 1:52 remaining. Tuomi scored twice on layups, but the Falcons' lead was secure.
Prochaska scored 19 of her points in the second half, making four treys in that period. For the game, she was 5-of-9 from long range. She tied her career best with six assists, all coming in the opening half.
VU had advantages in rebounding (34-26), points in the paint (32-24) and second-chance points (18-9), but the Falcons had the aforementioned advantages in turnovers and points off of turnovers. BG also had 11 fast-break points to Vandy's four.
The Commodores shot an even 50 percent in each half en route to a 25-for-50 effort on the night. BGSU shot 46.6% from the floor and went 9-of-21 from three-point land.
The Falcons conclude a brief two-game homestand with a Saturday (Dec. 4) game vs. Cal State Fullerton. Tipoff is 1:00 p.m. at "The House That Roars."
FALCON NOTES
* BGSU now leads Vanderbilt, 3-2, in the all-time series between the teams, and the Falcons have won three consecutive meetings ... BG has won one home game, one road game and one neutral-site contest during that stretch.
* VU has been nationally ranked at the time of all five meetings with BGSU, including wins in back-to-back seasons in the early 1990s ... the Falcons downed VU, 59-56, in the second round of the 2007 NCAA Championships in East Lansing, Mich. (March 20, 2007), then picked up a 66-60 win in Nashville last season (Dec. 9, 2009).
* Falcon head coach Curt Miller is 3-0 against Vanderbilt in his BGSU career.
* The Falcons, as mentioned, are now 4-28 against nationally-ranked teams ... in addition to the three wins over Vanderbilt, BG downed 10th-ranked Purdue in Anderson Arena in Jaci Clark's head-coaching debut (Nov. 23, 1991) ... that was BG's only home win over a ranked team prior to Wednesday.
* Senior Lauren Prochaska, as mentioned, has now made 53 consecutive free throws ... that broke her own school record of 45, set in her sophomore year of 2008-09 ... Prochaska is just four successful free throws shy of matching the MAC record of 57 consecutive tosses, set by Central Michigan's Jody Beerman in the 1986-87 season ... the NCAA record is 66-straight FT makes, by Ginny Doyle of Richmond in 1991-92.
* BGSU has won 34 consecutive regular-season games at "The House That Roars" ... the Falcons' last regular-season loss came vs. Western Michigan on Jan. 30, 2008 ... overall, BG has won 18 home games in a row, and 37 of the last 38 ... the lone loss in that stretch came to Indiana in the third round of the 2009 WNIT.
* BGSU had won 19-straight home games before losing to IU, then beginning the current 18-game streak ... 32 of the Falcons' 37 wins in that span have come by double figures.
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