Mid-American Conference

Bowling Green 76, Saint Francis (PA) 62
Toledo 80, Idaho 67
Butler 48, Ball State 41
Dayton 86, Central Michigan 76

Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments

Bowling Green 76, Saint Francis (PA) 62
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - Senior Deborah Hoekstra scored a career-high 22 points, leading the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team to a 76-62 victory over Saint Francis University Saturday afternoon (Dec. 13). The non-conference game was held at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena in Johnstown, Pa.

With the win, the Falcons improve to 5-2 on the season, while dropping the Red Flash to 0-7 on the year.

Hoekstra made 8-of-11 shots from the field, including a 4-for-6 performance from three-point range, in Saturday's win. As a team, the Falcons shot 50 percent from long distance, going 10-for-20 from beyond the arc.

Redshirt junior Erica Donovan scored 20 points and pulled down a game-high seven rebounds on her birthday. Donovan was 6-of-10 from the floor and 7-of-10 from the free-throw line. Hoekstra had six rebounds and three assists in addition to her game- and career-high point total.

Sophomore Rachel Konieczki scored 10 points, while junior Miriam Justinger had nine points, seven boards and three assists. The Falcons had a 37-28 rebounding advantage and made 22 free throws to SFU's eight.

Alexa Hayward scored 21 points and added eight assists for the Red Flash. Hayward entered the day as the nation's leading scorer, averaging 27.7 points per game heading into Saturday's contest.

SFU broke out to an early 6-1 lead, and after a Donovan layup, Hope Phillips quickly answered with a layup of her own for an 8-2 Red Flash lead.  Then, however, the Falcons scored nine-straight points to take the lead for good.

That 9-0 run began with Hoekstra's driving 'and-one' layup. The free throw cut the SFU lead to two points, and after a missed shot by the Red Flash, Hoekstra grabbed the rebound. The next possession saw the senior take a pass from Konieczki and hit a straightaway three-pointer.

After the game's first media timeout, Konieczki found Donovan for a three-pointer from the left wing, and the Falcons had a 12-8 lead. Hayward got to the line and knocked down a pair of free throws, but, as the Red Flash tried to trap the Falcons, Donovan's pass from midcourt found Justinger for a triple and a 15-11 advantage.

The Red Flash battled back, and a layup by Phillips capped a 5-0 run and tied the game at 18-18. But, freshman Haley Puk took a Justinger pass and drained a three-point try from the left side, giving the Falcons the lead for good.

A right-side floater by Hoekstra gave the Falcons a five-point lead, but Hayward came right back with a three-pointer to make it a 23-21 game. Konieczki drove the baseline and laid the ball off glass and in, though, and when Hoekstra scored inside a few minutes later, the Brown and Orange had a 28-23 lead.

Phillips hit a three to cut the lead to two points, but Hoekstra came right back with a driving layup, and Justinger finished a drive with a one-handed shot for a 32-26 lead. Then, Hoekstra fired the ball ahead to Puk for a three-pointer on the break, giving BG a nine-point margin with 3:07 left in the half. The Red Flash got a Hayward three-pointer, but Donovan scored the Falcons' last five points of the half.

First, the redshirt junior split a pair of free throws with 2:31 to go. Then, after Aisha Brock's layup cut the BG lead to 36-31 with 1:10 to go, Donovan hit a floater, then corralled a teammate's missed shot and laid the ball up and in for a 40-31 lead at the intermission.

Hayward scored a pair of baskets in the first minute of the second period, and Falcon coach Jennifer Roos used a timeout. Donovan drove, drew a foul on Phillips and split a pair of free throws. Then, after a BG miss, sophomore Abby Siefker grabbed the rebound under the basket and fired a pass to Hoekstra for a corner three and a 44-35 lead.

That lead reached 12 points when Justinger found Hoekstra for another three, this time from the wing. The BG three-for-all continued as Hoekstra returned the favor, finding Justinger for a three-pointer with 15:22 left in the game. The Falcon run was 10-0, and the BG lead was 15, at 50-35.

That run continued with a Donovan jumper, before Hayward stopped the BG streak at 12-straight points with a free throw at the 14:08 mark. Cydney Smith's jumper cut the lead to 14, before Siefker took a pass from Justinger and banked home a shot in the paint.

Phillips was called for her fourth foul as she went over the back of a BG player chasing after a rebound, and before the Red Flash could sub her out of the game, she was whistled for her fifth foul on the Falcons' next trip down the floor. She headed to the bench with 10:56 remaining.

Corissa Archer scored for SFU, but Puk fed Hoekstra for another triple, and a pair of Donovan free throws made it a 59-40 game with nine minutes left. After a pair of free throws by Adila Gathers, Konieczki connected on a corner three for a 62-42 lead with 8:06 to go.

Believe it or not, Konieczki's three-pointer would prove to be the Falcons' last successful field goal of the afternoon. But, BGSU
made 14 free throws to maintain a comfortable lead the rest of the way. The Red Flash could draw no closer than the final 14-point margin.

Redshirt freshman Kennedy Kirkpatrick was 7-of-8 from the stripe during that game-ending stretch, while Konieczki hit four free throws, Donovan two and Hoekstra one over the final seven-plus minutes of play.

The Falcons shot 44.0 percent from the field, including a 15-of-28 effort (53.6%) in the first half. BG, as mentioned, went 10-of-20 from three-point range, and the Brown and Orange hit 22 free throws in 31 attempts.

Saint Francis shot 43.1% from the floor in the loss. The Red Flash went 10-of-27 from long distance, with Wynn making 4-of-8 triple tries, and SFU was 8-of-13 from the stripe.

The Falcons now prepare for a trip to Illinois next weekend, taking on Illinois State Friday (Dec. 19) and Bradley Sunday (Dec. 21).


Toledo 80, Idaho 67
TOLEDO, OH – Senior Inma Zanoguera finished with 20 points and a career-best 21 rebounds to lead Toledo to an 80-67 victory against Idaho on Saturday at the Glass City Classic in Savage Arena. With the win, the Rockets improve to 4-3 on the season.

Zanoguera posted her second-straight double-double and 15th in her collegiate career against the Big Sky Conference member Vandals (4-5), becoming the first player in school history with at least 20 points and 20 boards in a game. The two-time all-league performer also became the first Rocket to tally at least 20 caroms since Kim Bradley on Jan. 4, 1993. She finished just one rebound short of tying the school record held by Liz Meiring on Jan. 8, 1985.

Junior Ana Capotosto added a season-high 18 points and junior Brenae Harris had a career-tying best 11 points to help the Rockets bounce back from a setback at Dayton on Wednesday.

The Rockets also received solid efforts from sophomore Janice Monakana (eight points), sophomore Olivia Braun (six points) and freshman Nancy Kessler (five points) to put themselves in a position to win their second pre-conference tourney crown this season and 11th in school history.

As a team, UT shot 37.7 percent (26-of-69) from the field, including 23.1 percent (6-of-26) from three-point range, and 73.3 percent (22-of-30) from the charity stripe to surpass the 80-point plateau for the first time this season.

Toledo also dominated on the interior and out-rebounded Idaho, 56-38, including 21-11 on the offensive glass. The Rockets took full advantage of those offensive boards and finished with a resounding 28-9 edge in second-chance points.

Stacey Barr led the Vandals with a game-high 28 points and nine rebounds, knocking down a contest-best five treys.

The Rockets started start and jumped out to a 14-8 lead at the 15:43 mark, forcing Idaho into an early timeout. Harris knocked down back-to-back shots to spark the run, while Capotosto added a triple with the shot clock running out to help the home team build an advantage they would not relinquish.

UT remained red-hot shooting the ball and utilized a 7-0 burst to make the score 25-16 with 7:52 left in the opening period. Capotosto knocked down her second trey of the game and freshman Michaela Rasmussen and Braun also contributed two points each to bring the crowd of 3,410 fans to their feet. The Rockets made 11 of their first 20 shots from the field to establish a nine-point cushion.

With the Toledo offense in a groove, the defense followed suit and held Idaho scoreless for over four minutes during this stretch.

The Rockets’ lead did not slip below seven points for the remainder of the period, as they took a 33-26 advantage into the locker room. Capotosto and Zanoguera led the Midnight Blue & Gold with eight points each in the opening 20 minutes.

In the second half, Toledo benefited from a three-point field goal by Monakana and a traditional three-point play from Capotosto to extend the margin to 41-32 at 13:03.

Moments later, the Rockets blew the game open when Idaho Head Coach Jon Newlee was ejected. UT’s Zanoguera tallied five straight points in that stretch, including three of four free throws to build a 17-point cushion, 56-39, with 7:21 remaining in regulation. The one miss from Zangouera at the charity stripe snapped a string of 31-consecutive makes for the Llucmajor, Spain native.

Idaho did not go quietly and made one push toward the end, pulling within seven points, 58-51, on the strength of consecutive three-point field goals by Connie Ballestero and Christina Salvatore at the 5:28 mark.

Fortunately for Toledo, Zanoguera responded with a jumper and Capotosto followed with another triple from the corner as the shot clock expired to push the margin back to double digits with a little under three minutes left.

The Rockets will host Detroit in the final game of the Glass City Classic tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. The Titans dropped a 61-51 decision against Southeast Missouri in today’s other contest in Savage Arena.


Butler 48, Ball State 41
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Ball State women’s basketball team suffered a 48-41 loss to Butler Saturday night in Hinkle Fieldhouse.  With the loss the Cardinals fall to 3-4 on the season, while the Bulldogs improve their overall record to 3-8.

The Cardinals were led by Shelbie Justice and Jill Morrison with 12 points apiece, while teammate Nathalie Fontaine finished the night with nine.

Both teams struggled from the field in the game with Butler shooting 29.8 percent from the field, while holding Ball State to a 27.1 shooting percentage.  The Bulldogs out-rebounded the Cardinals 48-to-30.

Ball State opened the second half with a 7-2 run to cut its halftime deficit to eight (32-24) with just three minutes shaved off the clock after baskets from Justice, Fontaine and Calyn Hosea.  The Bulldogs eventually built a 14-point advantage (41-27) with 10 minutes left in the game.

But the Cardinals controlled the next 10 minutes of the contest, holding Butler to only one field goal.   Ball State capitalized on its defense with a 24-6 run to bring the Cardinals within four (45-41) with 19 seconds remaining which was capped off by free throws and a three point basket from Jill Morrison.  Ball State was forced to foul and the Bulldog’s Loryn Goodwin would make five free throws down the stretch to seal the victory for Butler.

The Ball State women's basketball team returns home to Worthen Arena Monday night against Charlotte for a 7 p.m. tipoff.  To purchase tickets for the game log onto www.ballstatesports.com or call 1.888.BSU.TICKET.


Dayton 86, Central Michigan 76
DAYTON, Ohio - The Central Michigan women's basketball team was up by as many as 11 in a back-and-forth game with Dayton Saturday afternoon, but lack of bench contribution and missed opportunities by the Chippewas allowed the Flyers to close out the game in the final minutes to top CMU, 86-76.

The loss dropped CMU's record to 3-3 on the season, while Dayton extended its home win streak to 30 games, best in the nation.

"We lost the game in the last 3:23," CMU coach Sue Guevara said. "It was tied at 72 at that point, and we missed too many shots and free throws, and we allowed too many rebounds. We got tired down the stretch and we settled for too many threes (attempts) rather than penetrating to the basket.

"We only played six players today, and that's why we got tired. But this is where we need to do a better job, when we're tired. We need to keep attacking instead of settling for jump shots and we need to box out and get rebounds."

Outside of Crystal Bradford -- who came off the bench in Saturday's game -- no other CMU reserve totaled more than six minutes.

"We aren't getting much contribution from our bench at this point in the season," Guevara said. "And when you play a team like Dayton, it's tough to play nine people if they are not all going to contribute like they can."

"Jess Green played a phenomenal game for us, but she got tired. Our other two guards need to be able to step in at that point, because you can only ask so much from your starters until they begin to fatigue. And today, that was the difference in the game."

Green, a senior, totaled a season-high 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting with seven rebounds, eight assists and just one turnover. Bradford finished with 22 points as well, along with seven rebounds and five assists.
As a team, the Chippewas shot 45.4 percent from the field, but allowed Dayton to shoot 50 percent.

"The thing about Dayton is they have five players that are capable scorers," Guevara said. "I didn't think we could play man-to-man defense against them because of how efficient they are on offense, so we played a zone. You have to give credit to them for making the extra pass and knocking down their open shots."

Dayton seniors Ally Malott and Andrea Hoover scored 25 and 24 points, respectively, while adding nine rebounds apiece. Hoover, the reigning Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, led the Flyers in assists with six.

The Chippewas play host to Delaware State at noon, Tuesday, Dec. 16, before heading to Minneapolis for the Subway Classic, Dec. 20 and 21, where they will play top-ranked South Carolina and the host Gophers.