Friday, November 13
Bowling Green, Ohio
7:00 PM
Bowling Green State University
1-0
70
vs
52
Illinois State
0-1
1
2
3
4
F
Illinois State
7
7
24
14
52
Bowling Green
8
21
21
20
70
Miriam Justinger hit 3 3-pointers en route to a team-high 19 points (Ruben Kappler photo)
Photo by: Ruben Kappler, BGSU Marketing & Communications
Justinger, Falcons Down ISU, 70-52, in Season Opener
November 13, 2015 | Women's Basketball
Senior keys 21-point second-quarter run at the Stroh
Senior Miriam Justinger keyed a huge second-quarter run as the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team downed Illinois State University, 70-52, on Friday night (Nov. 13). The game, the 2015-16 regular-season opener for both teams, was held at the Stroh Center.
Justinger scored a team-high 19 points in the win, while freshman Sydney Lambert had 13 points in her collegiate debut. Justinger singlehandedly outscored the Redbirds in the second quarter, and the senior scored 14 first-half points, matching the entire ISU team's first-half output.
LINKS
FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
POSTGAME AUDIO: Justinger | Roos
POSTGAME VIDEO: Justinger | Roos | Highlights | It's On Us
PHOTO GALLERY: Courtesy Ruben Kappler, BGSU Mkt. & Comm.
The Falcons led, 8-7, after the first quarter, but the Redbirds scored the first five points of the second period, with a Shakeela Fowler jumper giving the visitors at 12-8 advantage with 8:48 left in the quarter. The Falcons, however, erased that deficit in a big way, scoring 21-straight points.
After Lambert split a pair of free throws, Justinger proceeded to score the game's next 10 points. She hit an 'and-one' layup and made the ensuing free throw, then knocked down corner three-pointers on back-to-back possessions. Justinger scored 12 points during the 21-0 run, which also included triples by Lambert and fifth-year senior Erica Donovan. Lambert's trey gave BGSU a 29-12 lead in the final minute of the half.
ISU whittled the BG lead to seven points early in the third quarter, but the Falcons proceeded to go on another double-digit run, scoring 11 consecutive points. That run saw the Brown and Orange connect from beyond the arc on three-straight trips down the floor.
Donovan, in her first regular-season game since suffering a season-ending injury in last year's meeting with Illinois State (Dec. 19, 2014), just missed a double-double on Friday night, witih nine points and a game-high eight rebounds. She also dished out three assists and blocked a pair of shots.
Justinger had seven rebounds to go along with her team-high 19 points, and went 3-of-5 from three-point land. As a team, the Falcons made seven triples on the evening.
Lambert's well-rounded stat line included the 13 points, four rebounds, a game-high five assists, a BG-best three steals and a blocked shot. Senior Lauren Tibbs had eight points and a pair of blocks in her Falcon debut, while a trio of players scored five points.
A total of 10 players saw at least 12 minutes of action on Friday night, with no Falcon playing more than 28 minutes for head coach Jennifer Roos.
The Braves got 19 points from Octavia Crump, while Fowler had 10 points and three steals. Crump was 6-for-7 from both the field and the free-throw line, but Fowler had to work for her points, going 5-of-21 on the night.
The Falcons shot 41.4 percent from the field, and BG was 14-of-29 (48.3%) from the floor i the second half. The BGSU defense held ISU to just a 6-for-29 (20.7%) effort in the firat half and a 32.8% success rate for the game.
In the opening quarter, the teams got off to a slow start. BG was just 4-of-17 from the floor, while ISU went 3-for-14 in the first 10 minutes. The teams combined to go 0-of-12 from three-point land in that period, with 11 turnovers. Tibbs and fellow transfer Ashley Tunstall each scored the first basket of their respective BGSU careers in that quarter, but the Brown and Orange could make just two additional shots in the opening period.
In the second quarter, Crump knocked down a three-pointer, and Fowler's jumper gave the visitors a 12-8 advantage. That lead was short-lived, however, as Justinger proceeded to take over. Her old-fashioned three-point play came off of an inbounds pass by sophomore Rachel Myers, and Justinger's free throw tied the score with 7:56 left in the half.
Then, after a steal by Lambert, the freshman drove the floor and kicked the ball out to a wide-open Justinger in the left corner. Justinger's triple at the 7:06 mark gave the Falcons the lead for good.
the next BG possession was almost a carbon copy of the previous one. Again, Lambert stole the ball, but this time, she threw a pass to Donovan, who found Justinger in almost the same spot in the left corner. Justinger's second three-ball in a 24-second span gave the Brown and Orange an 18-12 advantage and prompted the Redbirds to use a timeout.
That break did nothing to slow the Falcons, however. Justinger was fouled on BG's next possession and split a pair of charity tosses. The BG defense got several more stops before junior Rachel Konieczki found Donovan beyond the arc for a triple and a 10-point lead. Justinger hit a jumper in the paint, and redshirt sophomore Kennedy Kirkpatrick knocked down two free throws.
Then, in the final minute of the half, Lambert dribbled around the top of the arc, pulled up and hit a three-pointer for a 29-12 advantage. Brechelle Beachum banked home a shot with just eight seconds left in the half, ending a Redbird scoring drought of nearly nine minutes (8:40, to be exact). Illinois State went 13 consecutive possessions without scoring during the Falcons' 21-0 run. The Redbirds missed 11 shots and turned the ball over three times during that span, and the last 10 possessions in that stretch saw ISU go 'one and done,' as the visitors missed a shot and the Falcons got the rebound.
Justinger scored 12 points in the second quarter, while ISU scored only seven points as a team during that period. Justinger had 14 points at the half, matching the Redbirds' team total.
Millie Stevens hit a layup for the visitors to begin the third quarter, but Lambert lobbed the ball inside to Tibbs, who made a nifty catch and layup in traffic. But, Crump scored the game's next eight points, including a three-point play and a conventional three-pointer, and suddenly, BG's lead was down to seven.
Donovan's second-chance layup stopped Crump's run, but the ISU senior scored again on the next possession, making it a 33-26 game. But, Myers drained a pair of free throws, then hit a triple off of a Lambert pass, and the Falcons' lead was back in double digits for good.
The Myers triple was the first of three-straight BG possessions that ended in three points. Tibbs kicked the ball out to Lambert for a trey, and Lambert then found Justinger on the left side of the court with the Falcons on the break. Justinger's long-range try found nothing but net, and BG's lead was 18 points, the largest of the game, midway through the third quarter.
But, ISU outscored the Falcons, 12-6, over the remainder of the period. Konieczki hit a layup after a handoff from fellow junior Abby Siefker with 2:31 left in the quarter, and Santoro and Kirkpatrick each scored in the paint, but Colleene Smith's layup with 11 seconds left cut the BG lead to 50-38 after three quarters.
The Falcons, however, would let the visitors draw no closer. Lambert lobbed the ball inside to Tibbs for a layup to begin the fourth-quarter scoring, and Donovan took a charge against Crump on the next possession. The foul was Crump's fourth, sending her to the bench with 9:08 to go.
Donovan made two free throws and Justinger hit a driving layup, but the visitors answered each time. With 6:48 remaining, though, Lambert drove the lane and put a shot off glass and in, and a nifty touch pass from Donovan found a wide-open Tibbs for a layup and a 60-44 lead just over a minute later.
The visitors hung around, getting as close as 13 points with just over a minute to go, but Santoro was fouled on a putback, completing the three-point play, and two Konieczki charity tosses closed the scoring.
BGSU went 15-of-18 from the free-throw line, including 10-of-11 in the second half. Six different Falcons made at least two tosses apiece, and eight different BG players had at least one assist in the win.
The Falcons will be back in action at the Stroh on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 15), hosting Bradley University in a 2:00 p.m. start. The Braves, like the Falcons, will bring a 1-0 record into Sunday's game, as BU won at Detroit, 75-67, on Friday evening.
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Justinger scored a team-high 19 points in the win, while freshman Sydney Lambert had 13 points in her collegiate debut. Justinger singlehandedly outscored the Redbirds in the second quarter, and the senior scored 14 first-half points, matching the entire ISU team's first-half output.
LINKS
FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
POSTGAME AUDIO: Justinger | Roos
POSTGAME VIDEO: Justinger | Roos | Highlights | It's On Us
PHOTO GALLERY: Courtesy Ruben Kappler, BGSU Mkt. & Comm.
The Falcons led, 8-7, after the first quarter, but the Redbirds scored the first five points of the second period, with a Shakeela Fowler jumper giving the visitors at 12-8 advantage with 8:48 left in the quarter. The Falcons, however, erased that deficit in a big way, scoring 21-straight points.
After Lambert split a pair of free throws, Justinger proceeded to score the game's next 10 points. She hit an 'and-one' layup and made the ensuing free throw, then knocked down corner three-pointers on back-to-back possessions. Justinger scored 12 points during the 21-0 run, which also included triples by Lambert and fifth-year senior Erica Donovan. Lambert's trey gave BGSU a 29-12 lead in the final minute of the half.
ISU whittled the BG lead to seven points early in the third quarter, but the Falcons proceeded to go on another double-digit run, scoring 11 consecutive points. That run saw the Brown and Orange connect from beyond the arc on three-straight trips down the floor.
Donovan, in her first regular-season game since suffering a season-ending injury in last year's meeting with Illinois State (Dec. 19, 2014), just missed a double-double on Friday night, witih nine points and a game-high eight rebounds. She also dished out three assists and blocked a pair of shots.
Justinger had seven rebounds to go along with her team-high 19 points, and went 3-of-5 from three-point land. As a team, the Falcons made seven triples on the evening.
Lambert's well-rounded stat line included the 13 points, four rebounds, a game-high five assists, a BG-best three steals and a blocked shot. Senior Lauren Tibbs had eight points and a pair of blocks in her Falcon debut, while a trio of players scored five points.
A total of 10 players saw at least 12 minutes of action on Friday night, with no Falcon playing more than 28 minutes for head coach Jennifer Roos.
The Braves got 19 points from Octavia Crump, while Fowler had 10 points and three steals. Crump was 6-for-7 from both the field and the free-throw line, but Fowler had to work for her points, going 5-of-21 on the night.
The Falcons shot 41.4 percent from the field, and BG was 14-of-29 (48.3%) from the floor i the second half. The BGSU defense held ISU to just a 6-for-29 (20.7%) effort in the firat half and a 32.8% success rate for the game.
In the opening quarter, the teams got off to a slow start. BG was just 4-of-17 from the floor, while ISU went 3-for-14 in the first 10 minutes. The teams combined to go 0-of-12 from three-point land in that period, with 11 turnovers. Tibbs and fellow transfer Ashley Tunstall each scored the first basket of their respective BGSU careers in that quarter, but the Brown and Orange could make just two additional shots in the opening period.
In the second quarter, Crump knocked down a three-pointer, and Fowler's jumper gave the visitors a 12-8 advantage. That lead was short-lived, however, as Justinger proceeded to take over. Her old-fashioned three-point play came off of an inbounds pass by sophomore Rachel Myers, and Justinger's free throw tied the score with 7:56 left in the half.
Then, after a steal by Lambert, the freshman drove the floor and kicked the ball out to a wide-open Justinger in the left corner. Justinger's triple at the 7:06 mark gave the Falcons the lead for good.
the next BG possession was almost a carbon copy of the previous one. Again, Lambert stole the ball, but this time, she threw a pass to Donovan, who found Justinger in almost the same spot in the left corner. Justinger's second three-ball in a 24-second span gave the Brown and Orange an 18-12 advantage and prompted the Redbirds to use a timeout.
That break did nothing to slow the Falcons, however. Justinger was fouled on BG's next possession and split a pair of charity tosses. The BG defense got several more stops before junior Rachel Konieczki found Donovan beyond the arc for a triple and a 10-point lead. Justinger hit a jumper in the paint, and redshirt sophomore Kennedy Kirkpatrick knocked down two free throws.
Then, in the final minute of the half, Lambert dribbled around the top of the arc, pulled up and hit a three-pointer for a 29-12 advantage. Brechelle Beachum banked home a shot with just eight seconds left in the half, ending a Redbird scoring drought of nearly nine minutes (8:40, to be exact). Illinois State went 13 consecutive possessions without scoring during the Falcons' 21-0 run. The Redbirds missed 11 shots and turned the ball over three times during that span, and the last 10 possessions in that stretch saw ISU go 'one and done,' as the visitors missed a shot and the Falcons got the rebound.
Justinger scored 12 points in the second quarter, while ISU scored only seven points as a team during that period. Justinger had 14 points at the half, matching the Redbirds' team total.
Millie Stevens hit a layup for the visitors to begin the third quarter, but Lambert lobbed the ball inside to Tibbs, who made a nifty catch and layup in traffic. But, Crump scored the game's next eight points, including a three-point play and a conventional three-pointer, and suddenly, BG's lead was down to seven.
Donovan's second-chance layup stopped Crump's run, but the ISU senior scored again on the next possession, making it a 33-26 game. But, Myers drained a pair of free throws, then hit a triple off of a Lambert pass, and the Falcons' lead was back in double digits for good.
The Myers triple was the first of three-straight BG possessions that ended in three points. Tibbs kicked the ball out to Lambert for a trey, and Lambert then found Justinger on the left side of the court with the Falcons on the break. Justinger's long-range try found nothing but net, and BG's lead was 18 points, the largest of the game, midway through the third quarter.
But, ISU outscored the Falcons, 12-6, over the remainder of the period. Konieczki hit a layup after a handoff from fellow junior Abby Siefker with 2:31 left in the quarter, and Santoro and Kirkpatrick each scored in the paint, but Colleene Smith's layup with 11 seconds left cut the BG lead to 50-38 after three quarters.
The Falcons, however, would let the visitors draw no closer. Lambert lobbed the ball inside to Tibbs for a layup to begin the fourth-quarter scoring, and Donovan took a charge against Crump on the next possession. The foul was Crump's fourth, sending her to the bench with 9:08 to go.
Donovan made two free throws and Justinger hit a driving layup, but the visitors answered each time. With 6:48 remaining, though, Lambert drove the lane and put a shot off glass and in, and a nifty touch pass from Donovan found a wide-open Tibbs for a layup and a 60-44 lead just over a minute later.
The visitors hung around, getting as close as 13 points with just over a minute to go, but Santoro was fouled on a putback, completing the three-point play, and two Konieczki charity tosses closed the scoring.
BGSU went 15-of-18 from the free-throw line, including 10-of-11 in the second half. Six different Falcons made at least two tosses apiece, and eight different BG players had at least one assist in the win.
The Falcons will be back in action at the Stroh on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 15), hosting Bradley University in a 2:00 p.m. start. The Braves, like the Falcons, will bring a 1-0 record into Sunday's game, as BU won at Detroit, 75-67, on Friday evening.
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Team Stats
ILS
BGSU
FG%
.328
.414
3FG%
.118
.304
FT%
.727
.833
RB
35
44
TO
13
14
STL
8
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
7
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's Basketball
F
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