Falcons Fall to Akron, 71-55, at the Stroh

Wednesday, January 13

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

5-8, 1-3MAC

Akron

8-7, 2-2MAC

Akron

Bowling Green

Photo by: Larry Clapper

January 13, 2016 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Justinger leads BGSU with season-high 20 points

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Anita Brown scored a game-high 23 points, pacing four double-digit scorers for the University of Akron, as the Zips downed the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team by a 71-55 final Wednesday night (Jan. 13). The Mid-American Conference game was held at the Stroh Center.

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PHOTO GALLERY: Larry Clapper, BGSU Athletics

Senior Miriam Justinger led the Falcons (5-8, 1-3 MAC) with a season-high 20 points, while freshman Sydney Lambert added 14.

Brown was joined in double figures by Hannah Plybon, DiAndra Gibson and Greta Burry. Plybon had 15 points, while Gibson scored 13 points and added eight rebounds. Burry had a double-double, with 11 points and 11 boards, as the Zips (8-7, 2-2 MAC) owned a narrow 46-44 advantage on the glass.

The Falcons held Akron to just a 6-for-25 performance from three-point range, with both Gibson and Plybon going 2-of-9 from long distance. But, BGSU hit only five triples in 27 attempts.

Akron led by just two points, 9-7, after Lambert hit a three-pointer midway through the opening quarter, but the Zips ended the period on a 9-2 run. UA scored the first five points of the second quarter to take a 23-9 lead, and after the Falcons got within nine points with just over four minutes left in the half, the visitors scored nine-straight points, and the lead never dropped below double digits again.

The Falcons were without junior forward Ashley Tunstall, who was injured early in the second half of Saturday's (Jan. 9) Ohio game. Tunstall played in each of the Falcons' first 12 games of the season, starting the last six contests in that span.

The Zips never trailed, scoring the first five points of the game before Lambert grabbed an offensive rebound and knocked down a jumper. After a pair of Justinger free throws cut UA's lead to 7-4, Gibson scored at the other end, and after a BG turnover, Lambert was whistled for her second foul of the game with 5:22 left in the period.

Before being subbed out of the game, though, Lambert took a pass from sophomore Rachel Myers and drilled a trey in transition. The Zips, however, countered with layups by Brown and Megan Barilla for a 13-7 lead.

Justinger's putback got the Brown and Orange within four points, but Brown scored on a putback, and Plybon's triple in the final minute of the quarter gave the Zips an 18-9 advantage after 10 minutes. The Falcons went just 3-for-19 from the field, including 1-of-10 from beyond the arc, in that first period.

A Burry layup and another Plybon three-ball opened the second quarter scoring, but BG then went on a 7-2 run to narrow the deficit. Senior Lauren Tibbs banked home a shot from the right side, and after Burry hit a pair of free throws, Lambert corralled a defensive rebound, went coast-to-coast and scored on an up-and-under shot.

Then, after the Falcons forced a miss and Lambert came up with another defensive board, sophomore Haley Puk hit a short shot from the right side of the paint while drawing a foul. Puk completed the three-point play out of a media timeout, and BG was within nine points at 25-16.

But, Gibson answered with a three-point play of her own, beginning a 9-0 run for the Zips. She scored the first five points of that run, while Plybon scored the last four. Lambert's three-pointer stopped the bleeding momentarily, but a Hannah Scipio jumper with 40 seconds left in the period gave UA a 36-19 lead. Tibbs lobbed the ball inside to sophomore Sarah Baer for a layup that capped the first-half scoring.

Early in the third quarter, the Zips extended the lead to 20 points for the first time, before Myers split a pair of free throws and Justinger took a Lambert pass and hit a three-pointer in transition. But, a Gibson trey was followed by back-to-back buckets by Brown, and Akron surged ahead, 52-29.

The Falcons held UA scoreless for the next 4:55, but BG scored just six points in that stretch. Tibbs hit a layup, then split a pair of charity tosses moments later. Justinger did the same, converting a layup at the 3:23 mark, then hitting a free throw 27 seconds later. But, Brown sandwiched layups around a Kennedy Kirkpatrick bucket in the last minute of the period, and Brown's second basket in that time gave the visitors a 56-37 lead.

The Akron lead reached 24 points on Ali Ball's layup in the first minute of the fourth quarter, but BG proceeded to score 13 of the next 16 points, with eight of those points coming at the stripe. Freshman Carly Santoro hit four-straight free throws, with the latter two cutting UA's lead to 64-50 with 3:42 on the clock.

Santoro forced Burry into a turnover, giving the ball right back to the Falcons, but BG could not convert on the next possession. After Plybon split a pair of free throws, Justinger had a three-point play to cut the Zips' lead to 12 points, but only 1:36 remained. The Zips were able to keep the lead in double digits, going 4-for-4 at the line and also getting a Burry layup. Justinger hit her seventh and eighth free throws of the night to cap the scoring.

Akron shot 41.2 percent from the field for the game, while holding the Falcons to just a 27.6% success rate. BG made 18 free throws to UA's nine, but both teams shot under 70% from the line on the night.

Tibbs led the Falcons with nine rebounds, while junior Abby Siefker had eight and Lambert six. For both Siefker and Lambert, the rebound total represented a season best.

BGSU concludes a three-game home swing on Saturday (Jan. 16), taking on Ball State University in a 2:00 p.m. start at the Stroh. The first 500 fans through the doors will receive a free BGSU women's basketball T-shirt.