Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Central Michigan
Battle of MAC Unbeatens Goes to CMU, 82-79 in OT
January 18, 2014 | Women's Basketball
Rogers has 20 points, 11 rebounds as Falcons push preseason conference favorites to the limit
FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
POSTGAME AUDIO: Jennifer Roos | Alexis Rogers
With the win, the Chippewas improve to a perfect 5-0 in MAC play, and CMU is now 9-8 overall. The Falcons drop to 14-3 on the year and 4-1 in the conference.
Senior Alexis Rogers had a double-double for the Falcons, leading the team with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Classmate Jillian Halfhill had 18 points and tied for game honors with five assists before fouling out midway through the overtime period, while redshirt sophomore Erica Donovan had 16 points and seven boards.
For the Chippewas, Jessica Green was 10-of-14 from the field en route to 23 points on the day. Da'Jourie Turner scored 14 points, while Crystal Bradford had 13 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.
Bradford had crooked numbers in a multitude of other categories, with eight steals, seven blocked shots, five assists and six turnovers. She led the Chippewas in all four of those categories.
BGSU held Central scoreless for over eight minutes in the first half, taking a 21-17 lead, and a 7-0 run to end the period gave the Brown and Orange a 32-24 advantage at the break.
In the second half, BG built a 10-point lead, saw the Chippewas get within two points with just under nine minutes to go, then forged a double-digit lead once again. But, the home team closed the second half on a 12-1 run to force overtime.
That extra session saw the Chippewas score the first five points, but BG bounced back with the next five, tying the game at 75-75. The teams traded layups before a pair of free throws by Niki DiGuilio gave the home team the lead for good with 57.8 seconds to go.
BGSU outrebounded Central by a 44-40 count, and the Falcons shot 68.2 percent from the free-throw line to the Chippewas' 55.6%. Both teams made 15 tosses, but BG got there in 22 tries while it took CMU 27 attempts.
But, the Falcons struggled at the line down the stretch. BG did not shoot any free throws in the first half, and the Brown and Orange misfired on the team's first attempt of the game early in the second period. Then, however, the Falcons made 14 in a row, with Halfhill hitting five and Rogers four during that stretch.
BG ended the game, though, by making just 1-of-7, and the Falcons did not hit any of the last five attempts, including three in overtime.
Before a crowd in excess of 2,000 and a television audience, the MAC's two unbeatens played an entertaining, if not technically perfect, game. The lead changed hands nine times in the first 10 minutes of the contest, and each team made plays at each end of the court.
Green opened the scoring with a jumper just eight seconds in, and the Falcons turned the ball over with just 30 seconds gone. CMU gave the ball right back, however, and Halfhill knocked down a corner three for the Falcons' first lead.
A steal and layup by Bradford gave CMU the lead again, but Donovan connected from the left corner -- almost the same spot as Halfhill moments before -- and after Green answered with a triple, Donovan's jumper gave the Falcons an 8-7 lead. Kerby Tamm's trey enabled the Chippewas to retake the lead before the first media timeout of the game.
Out of the timeout, CMU turned the ball over to the Falcons, and a nice look by senior Jill Stein resulted in an open layup for Rogers. Halfhill fed Donovan for her second three-pointer of the day, this time from the right corner, and BG led, 13-10 with just over five minutes gone.
DiGuilio, CMU's all-time leader in three-pointers, misfired from beyond the arc no fewer than eight times on Saturday, but one of her three makes tied the score at 13. Then, Bradford's steal and layup gave the hosts a two-point edge.
The Falcons called a timeout, but out of the break, Green came up with a steal at midcourt and a layup of her own. The Chippewas led, 17-13, with 13:25 to go in the half. After scoring those 17 points in a span of 6:35, however, Central would score exactly zero points over the next 8:36.
Deborah Hoekstra got an easy layup, as Halfhill's inbounds pass found the junior under the hoop without a Chippewa guarding her, and Donovan rebounded a teammate's miss and easily laid the ball up and in to tie the score at 17-17.
Moments later, another Halfhill inbounds pass resulted in a long two-pointer by Rogers, and junior Jasmine Matthews stole the ball from Bradford and converted a nifty contested layup at the other end. The Falcons had a 21-17 lead with 9:44 left in the half.
That Matthews bucket would be the last scoring by either team for nearly five minutes. Finally, Green scored in the paint to stop the drought, but freshman Rachel Konieczki drove past her would-be defender and hit a layup for a 23-19 lead at the final media timeout of the period.
Jas'Mine Bracey scored after receiving a lob pass from Bradford, but the Falcons returned the favor, as Donovan spotted Hoekstra in the paint, and the East Lansing native scored for a 25-21 BG lead.
DiGuilio hit a three, but that would prove to be CMU's last bucket of the period. The Falcons ended the half on a 7-0 run. Hoekstra got a defender to bite on a shot fake at the arc, then drove right past her for a layup. Rogers put back her own miss, and Donovan drove and kicked to Konieczki for a left-side three-ball with just over a minute left in the half. BG took a 32-24 lead into the break.
In that first period, the Falcons shot 51.9% from the floor, going 14-of-27, while holding the Chippewas to a 34.5% success rate.
The offenses were clicking as the second half got underway. Both teams scored on the first three possessions of the half. Halfhill hit a runner on the opening possession, but DiGuilio snapped a 9-0 BG run with a triple. Rogers kicked it out to Donovan for a long two-pointer, but Bradford found Bracey for a layup.
A Rogers putback was followed by Bradford's short jumper, but Rogers then scored on a left-side drive, drawing a foul on Bradford. The free throw was no good, but BG had a seven-point lead. Then, Hoekstra drove down the center of the lane and hit a layup for a 42-33 lead with 14:34 to go.
Taylor Johnson hit a three-pointer for the hosts, but Matthews was fouled on a drive and hit both resulting free-throw attempts -- the first successful free throws of the day for either team -- with 12:46 left.
Bradford, who was just 3-of-10 from the free-throw line in the game, split a pair of attempts at the stripe, but sophomore Miriam Justinger took a cross-court pass from Halfhill and hit a long two-pointer from in front of her own team's bench. BG's lead was double digits for the first time, 46-36.
Johnson hit another three-pointer, and a Bradford jumper got the Chippewas within five points, 46-41, halfway through the period. Donovan scored off of a Konieczki inbounds pass, but another three-pointer by Johnson made it a 48-44 game and prompted a BG timeout with 9:16 left in regulation.
Bradford was fouled on a drive, and an NBA-continuation-play layup resulted in a three-point opportunity. The junior missed the free throw, but it was a two-point game with 8:51 to go.
Rogers was fouled and hit both tosses for a 50-46 lead with 8:01 remaining. Bradford came down and quickly fired a three-point try which was well off the mark, and BG rebounded the ball. Green, however, alertly stole the ball in the backcourt and quickly laid it up and in. CMU trailed by just two points once again.
On the next possession, however, Johnson fouled Halfhill on a three-point try from the corner. After the eight-minute media timeout, Halfhill proceeded to hit all three free throws.
Johnson, still in the game with four fouls, answered with a jumper, but Rogers drove and hit a layup with the shot clock winding down, and Halfhill then knocked down a three-ball after a cross-court pass by Stein. The Falcons led, 58-50, with 6:07 remaining.
Bradford split a pair of free throws, but Donavan got to the line and made both of her tries, and Justinger's nifty lob pass found Rogers for an 'and-one' layup. The free throw was good, and BG's lead was 63-51 with 4:34 on the clock.
Johnson hit a layup, but Halfhill scored on a driving layup after the Falcons again used nearly all of the shot clock. Turner, who scored all 14 of her points after halftime, converted a three-point play, and after Halfhill made two free throws, Turner answered with two tosses of her own. Rogers was fouled and made both shots from the stripe, giving BG a 69-58 lead with 3:01 left.
The Chippewas missed a shot on the next possession, but BG turned the ball back over, and Green was fouled with 2:31 to go. She hit both of her shots. The Falcons turned the ball over again, but forced a miss by Bradford.
But, another turnover resulted in a layup by Turner with 2:04 to go, and yet another BG turnover was followed by a pair of Turner tosses. CMU was within five points.
A five-second call gave the ball back to the Chippewas, and Green hit a layup with 1:50 remaining, making it a 69-66 game. BG used all of the shot clock on the next possession, but Bradford blocked a shot and grabbed the rebound, and Turner's layup with 1:03 left cut the Falcons' lead to a single point.
Rogers was fouled by Turner with 43.6 seconds to go, and missed her first free-throw try, but made the second for a 70-68 BGSU lead. Turner missed a layup, but Bradford grabbed the rebound and fired a pass to DiGuilio. Her three-point try was off the mark, but Green got the rebound and hit a layup to tie the score, and Central called a timeout with 30.0 seconds remaining.
Matthews was fouled with 13 seconds to go, but missed both free-throw tries. Central got the rebound and hurried downcourt, but Turner's layup attempt would not drop. Rogers came up with the rebound, but BG did not get a shot off before time expired in regulation.
The Falcons had a 17-6 advantage in points off turnovers in the first half, but CMU turned the tables in the second period, with a 16-2 lead in that category.
Green scored the first points of the overtime, hitting a jumper with a minute gone, and after a BG miss, a Jewel Cotton layup made it a 74-70 game. Bradford split two free throws with 3:18 left, and it looked like CMU was in command, with a five-point lead and a 17-1 run dating to late in regulation. But, the Falcons were not finished.
Halfhill hit a quick three-pointer with 3:10 remaining, getting the Falcons back to within two points. But, the senior point guard was whistled for a foul, her fifth, on the next possession.
Cotton missed two shots from the line, however, and Donovan drove and found Stein for an 'and-one' layup. The free throw was no good, but the game was tied with 2:38 remaining.
Green scored inside, but Justinger answered with a runner that tied the score at 77-all with 1:40 remaining. DiGuilio missed a shot for the hosts, but two shot attempts for the Falcons would not drop, and BG fouled after the second miss.
DiGuilio went to the line and hit two shots with 57.8 seconds to go. Then, Bradford deflected a BG pass to the wing, and the ball caromed off of a Falcon player before going out of bounds with 36.4 seconds left.
On the ensuing possession, Turner was fouled with 14.5 seconds to go, and made both shots for a four-point lead, 81-77. Konieczki's layup cut that lead in half, and BG quickly fouled with 5.4 seconds to go.
Turner went back to the line. This time, she missed the first shot but hit the second, giving her team a three-point lead. After a CMU timeout, Stein's inbounds pass, thrown toward halfcourt, was just out of the reach of Justinger. Multiple players went to the floor for the loose ball, and the ball went to the Chippewas on alternating possession with just over a second left. Central inbounded and ran out the clock.
The Falcons shot 48.3% from the field on the day, to CMU's 42.3% success rate. The Chippewas had a slight 7-6 advantage in three-pointers made, but it took CMU 28 attempts to get those seven makes (25%). BG was 6-of-19 from long range (31.6%), with Halfhill hitting three, Donovan making two and Konieczki connecting on her only three-point try of the day.
Johnson had 12 points and DiGuilio 11 for the Chippewas, who had five players in double figures. Hoekstra scored eight points and Konieczki seven for the Falcons. Konieczki was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field.
The overtime game was BG's first of the season. In fact, it was the Falcons' first extra session since the team's last trip to Mount Pleasant, a 77-72 win for the Brown and Orange two years ago (Jan. 28, 2012).
The loss snapped a string of four consecutive overtime wins for the Falcons. BG's last OT loss came on March 14, 2008, against Ohio in double-OT in the MAC Tournament.
The Falcons, after playing three games in a seven-day span and four games over the last 10 days, now return home for the next two contests. BGSU will welcome Eastern Michigan to town on Thursday night (Jan. 23), with tipoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center. Then, the Brown and Orange will face Northern Illinois on Sunday (Jan. 26) in a 2:00 p.m. start.
