Valiant Falcon Comeback Falls Just Short

Saturday, January 26

Bowling Green, OH

2:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

7-11, 0-7MAC

Ohio

17-1, 6-1MAC

Ohio

Bowling Green

Photo by: Elsye Jones, BGSU Mkt. & Comm.

January 26, 2019 | Women's Basketball

Box Score BGSU-Ohio Box Score BGSU-Ohio Photo Gallery (Elsye Jones)BGSU-Ohio Photo Gallery (Larry Clapper)

BGSU cuts 21-point deficit to 1, but Ohio holds on for 82-79 win

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team nearly pulled off a comeback for the ages on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 26). But, in the end, league-leading Ohio University escaped the Stroh Center with an 82-79 win.

The Falcons trailed by as many as 21 points, but came roaring back to get within one point in the last minute of the game. After the Bobcats (17-1, 6-1 Mid-American Conference) hit a pair of free throws, a BG three-point attempt was deflected as the final horn sounded.

Senior Sydney Lambert had 13 of her game-high 23 points in the fourth quarter. Lambert, who played all 40 minutes for the fifth consecutive game, had a double-double with 10 rebounds. Freshman Morgan McMillen had 20 points, while junior Andrea Cecil added 17.

Lambert and McMillen each hit four of the Falcons' 13 successful three-point field goals on the day, while Cecil was 3-for-4 from long distance.

Senior Maddie Cole, making the first start of her collegiate career, had nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

The Bobcats got 22 points from both Cierra Hooks and Erica Johnson, and Hooks added nine rebounds and seven assists to lead Ohio in both categories. Dominique Dosek had 15 points for the 'Cats.

Each team went an identical 13-for-36 (36.1%) from three-point range on Saturday, but the Bobcats, after hitting just four of 14 long-distance heaves in the first quarter, started hitting from beyond the arc in the second. The 'Cats were 5-of-9 in the period, hitting three-straight triple tries in under a minute to open up a 45-24 lead with under three minutes remaining in the half.

Cecil's three-ball ended a 22-2 Ohio run, but Doseck answered with a trey that restored the visitors' 21-point advantage. But, sophomore Madisen Parker knocked down a three, and Lambert beat the buzzer for the second consecutive period, hitting a jumper that cut the deficit to 16 points at the break.

BG continued to chip away at the Ohio lead in the third quarter, getting within 10 on another Parker triple at the 6:36 mark, then creeping within seven as Cecil hit from long range with 4:19 left in the quarter. The Bobcats' lead was down to six after another Cecil trey, and Cole's layup with 1:14 to go made it a 57-52 game.

Johnson's three-ball gave the 'Cats an eight-point advantage after three quarters, and an Olivia Bower trey extended the lead to nine with 7:44 remaining, but Lambert scored six-straight points to cut the deficit to 63-60 with 6:47 remaining. The visitors eventually moved ahead by seven after a pair of steals led to transition layups, but BG would not go away. Cole's free throw with 2:55 to go cut the margin to two points, and after Ohio responded by extending the lead back out to six, Cole fed freshman Kadie Hempfling for a layup, and a Cecil banker cut BG's deficit to two points with under 10 seconds to go.

The Falcons fouled Amani Burke, who made her first free-throw try, but missed the second. Ohio was just 11-of-25 (44.0%) from the line on the day. Cecil rebounded the miss and was fouled, and the junior hit both shots at the stripe to make it an 80-79 game with 6.5 seconds to go.

BG quickly fouled Johnson after the Bobcats were able to inbound the ball, and she hit both free throws with 5.8 seconds remaining. The Falcons came racing downcourt, and Lambert got a potential game-tying three-pointer off, but Doseck got her fingertips on the ball, and Johnson gratefully corralled the rebound as time expired.

FIRST QUARTER
• McMillen gave the Falcons an early lead with a three-pointer on BG's first offensive possession, and after the Bobcats reeled off five-straight points, Hempfling fed Cole for a layup in traffic, and McMillen went coast-to-coast for a pull-up jumper and a 7-5 lead.
• The back-and-forth play continued as a Burke triple capped another 5-0 run for the visitors. But, Cole scored inside with the shot clock winding down, and Lambert found redshirt sophomore Clare Glowniak for a layup and an 11-10 lead.
• Lambert answered Johnson's three-ball with a trey of her own, and after the Bobcats went on an 8-0 run, Cecil drove and kicked to McMillen for another long-range shot, and Lambert went the length of the court for a banker in the final seconds of the period. BG trailed, 21-19, after 10 minutes.

SECOND QUARTER
• The Bobcats looked to run away and hide in the second period. Johnson scored inside, and after McMillen responded with another three-pointer after Hempfling's baseline drive and pass, a jumper by Hooks began a 22-2 run for the visitors. The run began with 11-straight points by the 'Cats, with Hooks scoring eight of those 11 points.
• Then, after McMillen knocked down a jumper, another Hooks bucket began another 11-point surge for the visitors. Johnson, Kaylee Bambule and Doseck all knocked down three-pointers in the span of just 55 seconds, and suddenly, the Bobcats had a 45-24 lead.
• Cecil's corner three snapped a four-minute scoreless streak for the Falcons, and after Doseck scored from the arc, junior Jane Uecker found Parker out top for a trey. For the second-straight quarter, Lambert scored in the waning seconds, hitting a jumper to cut the Ohio lead to 16, 48-32, at the intermission.

THIRD QUARTER
• After Cole blocked a shot on the first possession of the second half, McMillen drove the baseline and hit a reverse layup, and the freshman then got to the line and made both of her shots. Hooks split a pair of charity tosses, but Parker's trifecta cut the BG deficit to 10 points at the 6:36 mark.
• Ohio's first successful field goal of the period came with nearly five minutes gone, as Hooks gave the visitors a 52-39 lead. But, moments later, Lambert pulled up and knocked down a three-pointer, and McMillen found Cecil for a corner three, making it a seven-point game.
• Another Cecil shot from virtually the same spot cut the Ohio lead to 56-50 with 2:57 on the clock. After a Johnson free throw, Cole took a bounce pass from freshman Molly Dever and scored inside. But, Johnson's corner three gave her team a 60-52 lead after three periods.

FOURTH QUARTER
• McMillen and Hempfling each had been issued their fourth foul of the game in the third period, but both freshmen checked back into the contest to begin the fourth period.
• BG got a stop, and Lambert hit Cecil for a layup. Bower's three-pointer extended Ohio's lead back out to nine, but Lambert was fouled on a three-point try, knocking down all three tosses, and the senior then created some space and hit a three-pointer, cutting the deficit to three points, 63-60, with 6:47 remaining.
• BG forced a miss, but the Falcons could not convert at the other end. Johnson sank a pair of free throws, and after Lambert answered with two shots at the stripe, the Falcons had the ball down by three points once again. But, the 'Cats came up with back-to-back steals, leading to layups by Hooks and Johnson, to take a 69-62 lead with 4:49 on the clock.
• McMillen, however, took a Dever pass and hit a corner three, and Hempfling found Cole in traffic underneath the hoop moments later. Cole's layup cut the Ohio lead to 70-67 with 3:52 remaining.
• Hooks scored on a driving banker, but Lambert was fouled yet again and made two more free throws with 3:19 to go. Then, Dever picked Doseck's pocket, giving the ball back to the Falcons. Cole was fouled, and the senior split her tosses with 2:55 left.
• Doseck atoned for her turnover, hitting a three for a five-point lead, and a BG miss gave the ball back to the Bobcats. Deesh Beck's free throw made it a 76-70 game with 1:41 to go.
• Lambert, left wide open after a would-be defender flopped in an attempt to get an offensive foul call, knocked down a three-pointer in front of the BG bench to cut the Ohio lead in half. But, Burke, who was 1-for-12 from the field in the first 38-plus minutes, knocked down a corner three to give her team a 79-73 advantage with 1:03 to go.
• Cole found Hempfling for a bucket, and BG forced an Ohio miss, with Hempfling rebounding. But, as the freshman fired a pass forward for Lambert, the senior and two Ohio players collided near midcourt, and an offensive foul was called with 19.6 seconds to go. Inexplicably, free throws were awarded as well, but Doseck missed both shots.
• However, after Cole rebounded the ball, BG turned it back over in front of the Falcon bench with 11.6 seconds to go. Ohio inbounded the ball, and Cole fouled Hooks, but the Bobcat sophomore missed both of her shots, and the score remained 79-75. Cole rebounded the second miss, and BG called a timeout with exactly 10.0 seconds to go.
• After the timeout, Hempfling inbounded the ball to Cecil underneath the hoop, and the junior's layup cut the Ohio lead to two points with 8.3 seconds left. Ohio inbounded, Lambert fouled Burke, and Burke made her first shot, but missed the second. Cecil grabbed the rebound and was immediately fouled by Burke with 6.5 seconds on the clock. The junior hit both of her shots, making it a one-point game, 80-79.
• Ohio inbounded the ball, and Johnson was fouled. After her team had gone just 2-for-8 at the line in the previous 95 seconds, the redshirt freshman knocked down both of her charity tosses to give the 'Cats an 82-79 lead.
• BG quickly brought the ball downcourt, needing a three-pointer to tie, but Lambert's shot from the left wing was tipped by Doseck, and Johnson grabbed the rebound as the final seconds ticked away.

FINAL STATISTICS
• BGSU shot 42.6% from the field to Ohio's 40.8%. The teams went an identical 13-for-36 from three-point range.
• The Falcons were 14-of-17 from the free-throw line, for a success rate of 82.4%. Ohio was just 11-of-25 (44.0%) from the stripe.
• Led by a combined 21 rebounds from their two seniors, the Falcons had a 48-39 rebounding advantage on the day.
• BGSU outscored Ohio, 47-34, and outrebounded the Bobcats, 29-17, in the second half.
• BG had 17 assists on 26 baskets, with Hempfling dishing out six and Lambert four.
• The Falcons committed 20 turnovers, compared to just 11 for the 'Cats.

UP NEXT
• The Brown and Orange will end the month of January with a home games vs. reigning MAC champion Central Michigan. The Falcons and Chippewas will meet on Wednesday evening (Jan. 30), with tipoff set for 7:00 p.m. at the Stroh.
• Then, February begins with trips to Toledo on Saturday (Feb. 2) and NIU a week from Wednesday (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.