Wednesday's Scoreboard
Bowling Green 76, Central Michigan 67
Western Michigan 71, Kent State 58
Miami 62, Toledo 60
Ball State 76, Buffalo 63
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
Bowling Green 76, Central Michigan 67
Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team used a 14-0 run spanning the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth to overtake Central Michigan University, and the Falcons went on to a 76-67 win Wednesday night (Feb. 17) at the Stroh Center.
Freshman Lexi Fleming had a game-high 20 point to help the Falcons (16-4, 12-3 Mid-American Conference) remain atop the standings, while junior Kadie Hempfling had 17.
Fleming scored 10 points in each half, while Hempfling had 15 of her 17 in the second half as BGSU outscored the Chippewas (13-7, 11-5 MAC) by a 42-29 count after the intermission.
Senior Angela Perry scored 12 points off the bench, while freshman Nyla Hampton had 11 points and a team-leading three steals. The Falcons had 21 points off turnovers to CMU's 16, giving BG the advantage in that category for the 19th time in 20 games this season.
Molly Davis (18), Maddy Watters (17) and Micaela Kelly (16) combined for 51 of the Chippewas' 16 points, and Watters had a game-high seven assists.
Western Michigan 71, Kent State 58
Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Behind a stellar defensive effort and a career-high 27 points from redshirt senior Reilly Jacobson the Western Michigan women's basketball team picked up its second straight home win with a 71-57 victory over Kent State on Wednesday afternoon.
It was the Bronco defense that led the way against the Golden Flashes, holding Kent State to a 34.5 percent field goal percentage and just 28 percent from long distance. The third quarter proved to be the difference for WMU as the Broncos outscored Kent State, 21-5 in the quarter.
Offensively Western Michigan was led by redshirt senior forward Reilly Jacobson who poured in a career-high 27 points and collected her third 20-point game of the season. Jacobson was 11-of-16 from the field while going 4-of-7 from the free-throw line and knocking down one three-pointer.
Jacobson also had one rebound to go along with two assists, one block and two steals in 36 minutes. It's the 14th game this season in which Jacobson has scored in double figures and the eighth instance in which she has led the Broncos in scoring.
Along with Jacobson, sophomore Sydney Shafer registered double figures with 15 points on 4-of-14 shooting from the field. Shafer notched her 12th double digit performance of the season while knocking down two three-pointers and going 5-of-6 from the free-throw line. Shafer also had a career-high with nine rebounds along with four assists and two steals.
Rounding out the trio of double digit scorers was junior Maddie Watters with 10 points. Watters was 2-of-7 from the field and was 2-of-6 from behind the three-point line. Watters was 4-of-6 from the free-throw line and collected four rebounds and two steals in 35 minutes. It's the fourth game this season Watters has scored in double figures.
Leading the way on the glass was redshirt freshman Taylor Williams with nine rebounds, six of which came on the offensive end. Williams nearly recorded a double-double with eight points on 4-of-10 shooting from the field. Off the bench the Broncos got a key contribution from redshirt junior Abby Voss, scoring five points to go along with three rebounds and two assists.
As a team the Broncos shot a stellar 45.5 percent from the field and was 6-of-16 from long distance. The WMU defense was dominant against the Golden Flashes, forcing Kent State to commit 18 turnovers, scoring 12 points off of Kent State mistakes. WMU dominated the paint as well scoring 38 of its 71 points in the painted area.
Miami 62, Toledo 60
Box Score
TOLEDO, Ohio – For the past two weeks the Miami University women's basketball team leaned heavily on sophomore guard Peyton Scott, but on Wednesday night, it was Kelly McLaughlin's and Katie Davidson's time to shine as the RedHawks downed the Toledo Rockets 62-60 on Wednesday night inside Savage Hall.
McLaughlin had her third double-double of the season with 25 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Red and White. Davidson added 22 points, including 7-of-7 from the free throw line. Scott, who came into Wednesday's contest averaging 35.0 points per game over her past four games, had just seven points while battling foul trouble most of the second half.
The win improves Miami to 3-17 overall and 2-14 in Mid-American Conference play. Toledo falls to 9-10 overall and 5-10 in the MAC.
Ball State 76, Buffalo 63
Box Score
BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Cardinals used a complete team effort as Ball State got 32 points from its bench tonight in a win at Buffalo. BSU had nine different players score in its first of two contests against Buffalo this week. The second game will be played at Worthen Arena on Saturday.
Ball State (11-8, 9-6 MAC) took the lead at the end of the opening quarter and never looked back, eventually taking home a 76-63 mid-week Mid-American Conference road win against Buffalo (11-7, 8-5 MAC) in Alumni Arena.
After the opening tip, the two teams collided a bit which was to be expected. That's how it is almost every time Ball State faces the Bulls historically. But this time around, the Cardinals began to thrive early on in the ball game, closing out the first quarter with a slight 14-12 edge after a last-second jump shot from junior forward Blake Smith.
The Cardinals then used a 19-9 scoring spree in the second stanza to take a 33-21 advantage over the Bulls at intermission. It wasn't just BSU's offense that was causing the Bulls problems, it was also the Cardinals' defense holding Buffalo to only five field goals in the second stanza.
Junior forward Thelma Dis Agustsdottir connected on a jumper in the paint at the start of the third frame, sparking a 7-5 run after getting some help from sophomore guard Sydney Freeman and senior forward Oshlynn Brown. It gave BSU a nice 14-point (40-26) cushion over Buffalo at the eight-minute mark.
But Ball State found out quickly it wasn't going to be a cake walk, as Buffalo clawed its way back into the contest to come to within three (42-39) in the third quarter and then again late in the fourth (64-61).
The Cardinals responded each time with some clutch baskets from Freeman, freshman guard Ivet Subirats and Smith, eventually allowing BSU to come out on top over the Bulls.
For the game, Brown led BSU both offensively and defensively with 15 points and 13 rebounds for her 44th career double-double. Smith chipped in a career-best 12 points, while Freeman also ended the night with 12. Rounding out the double-digit scoring was Subirats who tied her personal-high with 10.
The Ball State women's basketball team will be back in action Saturday against Buffalo at Worthen Arena with an opening tip scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.
