Falcons Fall, 81-74, Despite Cecil's Career Night

Wednesday, January 23

Ypsilanti, MI

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

7-10 (0-6MAC)

Eastern Michigan

10-7 (3-3MAC)

Bowling Green

Eastern Michigan

Photo by: Larry Clapper

January 23, 2019 | Women's Basketball

Box Score BGSU-EMU Box Score

BG junior explodes for 33 points, the 11th-highest single-game total in school history

By: YPSILANTI, Michi. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Junior Andrea Cecil had one of the top-scoring nights in Bowling Green State University women's basketball history, but the Falcons fell just short, dropping an 81-74 decision to Eastern Michigan University on Wednesday (Jan. 23). The Mid-American Conference matchup was held at the Convocation Center.

Cecil exploded for a career-high 33 points – the highest single-game total by a Falcon in nearly eight years – and also had 10 rebounds on the evening.

In addition to Cecil's career night, the Falcons got a prodigious performance from Kadie Hempfling. The freshman had nine points and pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds, including 10 offensive boards. Many of those rebounds came with several EMU players surrounding her. Hempfling also had a game-high five assists along with two steals.

Senior Sydney Lambert and freshman Morgan McMillen each scored 12 points. Cecil and McMiillen each knocked down four of the Falcons' 11 total three-point field goals on the night.

EMU was led by Jenna Annecchiarico's 26 points. Annecchiarico entered the night averaging 6.4 points per game, and she had made a total of 16 three-pointers in 15 games, shooting 23.9 percent (16-of-67) from the arc. But, on Wednesday, Annecchiarico was 6-of-9 from downtown before fouling out with 3:38 to go.

Courtnie Lewis added 17 points and Corrione Cardwell 15 for the hosts. Each player hit three triples as the Eagles made 12 long-range shots in the win.

CECIL'S CAREER NIGHT
• Junior Andrea Cecil's 33 points set a new career high, and was the 11th-highest single-game scoring total in program history. It was the sixth-highest point total in a road game in BG annals.
• Cecil scored the most points by a Falcon in almost eight years, since Lauren Prochaska had 37 points on Feb. 12, 2011. Prochaska's 37-point performance also came against the Eagles at the Convocation Center.
• Cecil had 30 points vs. Detroit Mercy earlier this season (Dec. 17, 2018). She becomes the first Falcon to score 30 or more points twice in a season since Prochaska had three such games in 2010-11.

CAN'T QUITE GET OVER THE HUMP
• Wednesday night marked the fourth time in six Mid-American Conference contests that the Falcons were in a one-possession game in the final minute of the fourth quarter.

FIRST QUARTER
• BG burst out to a 10-0 lead, scoring the first seven of those 10 points in a 51-second span. Cecil hit a driving and-one layup as she was knocked to the ground, and the junior got up and hit the ensuing free throw just over a minute into the game.
• Then, Cecil took a Hempfling pass and scored inside again, and Lambert stole the ball near midcourt and swooped in for another BG layup.
• The Eagles used a timeout, but moments later, a McMillen triple, off of a pass from sophomore Angela Perry, gave the Brown and Orange a 10-point lead.
• Annecchiarico got the hosts on the scoreboard with a pair of free throws just over four minutes into the game, and the freshman then came down and hit a three-pointer to cut BG's lead to five. Perry scored inside, but Annecchiarico knocked down another three-point try, then came down and hit a foul-line jumper. Nine minute into the game, the score was BGSU 12, Jenna Annecchiarico 10.
• Cardwell drew a BG foul with 52.7 seconds on the clock and knocked down both free throws to tie the score. Then, after Annecchiarico missed a three-pointer, Cardwell grabbed the rebound and laid the ball up and in as the first-quarter horn sounded, giving the Eagles the lead, 14-12, for the first time.

SECOND QUARTER
• Lambert hit a driving layup against Annecchiarico, but the freshman then knocked down a triple try. The Eagles took a 19-14 lead on a Lewis jumper, but the Falcons responded with an 8-0 run, as Perry scored inside, McMillen pulled up for a right-wing three, and Lambert followed with a trey of her own.
• EMU answered by scoring the next five points, and after a Cecil layup tied the score at 24-all, Eastern proceeded to score five-straight points as part of a 9-2 run. Kiara Johnson scored six of those nine EMU points, on three offensive rebounds and putbacks, and EMU had a 33-26 lead with 2:00 left in the period.
• After calling a timeout, the Falcons broke an Eastern press, and Hempfling found a wide-open Lambert for a three-ball that cut the BG deficit to four points.
• Then, as the clock ticked down toward one minute to go in the half, Hempfling came up with a nifty offensive rebound, tapping the ball over an EMU player to herself, then kicking the ball out to McMillen for a step-up, straightaway trey.
• Eastern's lead was down to a single point, but a pair of free throws at the 39.7-second mark was followed by Autumn Hudson's offensive board and layup as the buzzer sounded, and the Eagles had a 37-32 lead at the half.

THIRD QUARTER
• Hempfling had a pair of impressive offensive boards on the opening possession of the half, but a BG turnover led to a Danielle Minott layup and a seven-point EMU lead.
• Lambert fed Cecil for a three-pointer, but Annecchiarico answered from long distance, and she then hit another shot from the arc. When Hudson scored inside, Eastern had a 50-37 lead.
• Cecil, however, responded with a four-point play, hitting a three-point try from the wing while being knocked to the ground in front of the BG bench. The junior then hit the ensuing free throw to cut the deficit to nine points at the media timeout.
• McMillen drained another triple at the 4:11 mark, but Cardwell answered with back-to-back three-pointers, and after Cecil's layup, Lewis hit from the arc as well, and suddenly, Eastern's lead was a game-high 15 points, at 63-48.
• Cecil scored inside yet again, and the Falcons hit several free throws over the final minute-plus of the period, but Lewis hit another three in that time, and after 30 minutes, the home team led by 13.

FOURTH QUARTER
• Cecil sliced between a pair of defenders for a layup, and senior Maddie Cole kicked the ball to Hempfling for a three-pointer from the wing, cutting the margin to eight points, 66-58.
• Lewis hit a contested layup, but Lambert found Cecil out top for a three, and Hempfling stole the ball and fired it ahead to Lambert. A three-point try would not drop, but Hempfling grabbed the rebound and put it back up and in.
• Then, another impressive offensive board and putback by Hempfling cut the EMU lead to 68-65, as the hosts used a timeout at the 6:38 mark.
• Hempfling was called for a foul underneath the hoop by an official standing at midcourt on the opposite sideline, and Cardwell's free throws gave the Eagles a five-point lead. Then, Lewis hit a three, and Minott knocked down a tough runner. The hosts were back up by 10, and after a timeout, BG missed a pair of free throws and Johnson powered a layup try up and in. EMU led, 77-65, with 3:25 on the clock.
• Offensive rebounds by Cecil, Hempfling and Cole kept a possession alive, and Hempfling wound up finding Cecil for a three-ball. Then, the freshman corralled yet another impressive offensive board while being fouled, and Cecil was also fouled after the ensuing inbounds pass. The junior hit both shots at the stripe to cut the EMU lead to 77-70 with 1:55 to go.
• EMU inexplicably fired up a three-point try just eight seconds later, and the ball went out of bounds to BG. Lambert quickly drove and scored, and the Falcons then forced a shot-clock violation.
• BG missed a jumper, and EMU rebounded the miss, but the Falcons knocked the ball away, and it went out of bounds. Initially, it was ruled EMU ball, but after replay review, the call was reversed, giving the ball to the Falcons with 49.9 seconds to go. Lambert inbounded the ball to Cecil who was fouled on a layup try. Cecil hit both charity tosses at the 48.8-second juncture, making it a 77-74 game.
• BG forced Cardwell to miss a jumper, but the rebound went to Johnson, who hit an and-one putback with just 19.3 seconds remaining. She missed the ensuing free throw, but the Eagles had a five-point lead.
• BG missed several three-point tries over the remainder of the game, and the Falcons were forced to foul the Eagles, who went 2-for-4 from the stripe to close out the scoring.

UP NEXT
• The Brown and Orange will end the month of January with home games vs. two of the top teams in the MAC, facing Ohio on Saturday (Jan. 26) and Central Michigan next Wednesday (Jan. 30) at the Stroh.
• Then, February begins with trips to UT (Feb. 2) and NIU (Feb. 6) for rematches with the Rockets & Huskies.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• For more information on all things BGSU women's basketball, follow the Falcons on Twitter (@BGAthletics and @BGSUwbb), Instagram (@bgsuwbasketball) and Snapchat (BGSU Falcons) as well as on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.