Bowling Green 61, Bradley 47
Boxscore
The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team broke out to an early lead, riding a hot first half and a balanced scoring attack to a 61-47 win over Bradley University Sunday afternoon (Dec. 21). The non-conference game was held at the Renaissance Coliseum).
With the victory, the Falcons improve to 7-2 on the year, and BGSU takes a four-game winning streak into a brief holiday break.
BGSU led from wire to wire, bursting out to a 15-2 lead and holding a double-digit advantage for the game's final 30 minutes. The Falcons led by as many as 22 points in the second half before a late BU rally cut the final margin to 12.
Six players scored between seven and 12 points for the Falcons on Sunday. Sophomore Rachel Konieczki led the balanced attack with 12 points, while senior Deborah Hoekstra and soph Abby Siefker each had 11. Konieczki also had a career-high four assists in the win, while Siefker had six rebounds and two blocked shots.
Siefker made her first five shots from the field, finishing the day 5-for-6.
Junior Miriam Justinger had eight points, a BG-leading eight rebounds and five assists on Sunday, tying her career high in the latter category. Freshman Haley Puk and redshirt freshman Kennedy Kirkpatrick each scored seven points against the Braves, with Puk adding a career-high seven rebounds.
Puk, who made the first start of her young BGSU career, also had two assists, a steal and a blocked shot to set career bests in each category.
Freshmen Rachel Myers and Sarah Baer scored three and two points, respectively. Baer had the first two blocked shots of her career to tie Siefker for game honors, as the Falcons had five blocks as a team.
All eight Falcons who played in the game saw at least 13 minutes of action. Konieczki played 36 minutes and Puk 34.
The Falcons played without senior Jasmine Matthews, redshirt junior Erica Donovan, redshirt freshman Leah Bolton and true freshman Lauren Webb. Matthews was in uniform but did not see action, while the other three did not suit up for the game due to various injuries.
Whitney Tinjum and Michelle Young each scored 15 points for the Braves, with Tinjum adding a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Falcons scored the first four points of the game. BG's first two possessions came up empty, but on the third, Siefker lobbed the ball inside to Justinger for a layup. Then, Konieczki put back her own miss, for a 4-0 BG advantage.
The hosts got on the board on a jumper by Anneke Schlueter at the 17:20 mark, but the Brown and Orange then scored 11-straight points to assume command of the game. Hoekstra took a pass from Konieczki and buried a three-point try from the right side, and Siefker grabbed an offensive rebound and laid the ball back up and in. BG's lead was 9-2 with just over four minutes gone, and Bradley called a timeout.
Out of the timeout, BGSU forced a missed shot, and Konieczki hit a driving layup, and the sophomore then drove the baseline and fed Siefker for a short jumper. After another defensive stop, Konieczki drove coast to coast for a layup and that 15-2 advantage.
Moments later, Kirkpatrick found Myers for a straightaway trey and an 18-4 lead, BGSU made 8-of-12 shots from the floor in the first eight-plus minutes, and outrebounded the Braves by a 9-3 count.
The hosts scored five-straight points, but Hoekstra and the Falcons responded. Hoekstra took a pass from Puk and, with the shot clock winding down, hit a corner three. Then, the senior drove inside, was fouled and hit the ensuing free throws for a 23-9 lead.
After a steal by Hoekstra, the East Lansing, Mich., native completed her own personal 8-0 run with another three-pointer, giving the Falcons a 26-9 lead. Tinjum broke BU's scoring drought with a bucket, but Puk secured a rebound in traffic and scored inside. The freshman then came up with another offensive rebound, drew a foul and hit two charity tosses to give the Falcons a 30-13 lead.
That BG lead remained in the high teens for nearly all of the half. Puk drove the lane, drew multiple players to her and dished the ball to Justinger for a layup late in the shot clock. Justinger's hustle produced an offensive rebound and resulted in a Siefker layup, and Puk knocked down a right-wing triple, giving the Falcons a 37-19 lead with 2:30 left in the half, as Bradley used another timeout.
The hosts responded, scoring back-to-back buckets inside, but Kirkpatrick was fouled on a drive in the final minute of the period, hitting two shots from the stripe for a 39-23 lead at the intermission.
The Falcons shot 51.9 percent from the field in the opening half. BG's 14-of-27 effort included a 5-of-12 performance (41.7%) from three-point land, and the visitors had a 20-9 rebounding advantage in the opening 20 minutes of play.
Hoekstra had all 11 of her points in the first half, while Puk had seven points, three boards and two assists. Konieczki and Siefker scored six first-half points apiece, with Konieczki adding three assists and Siefker corralling five rebounds. Justinger had four points, six caroms and two assists in the first period.
The second half saw BG make 5-of-7 shots from the field at the outset. Justinger come up with a steal and hit Konieczki with a bounce pass for an easy 2-on-1 layup. BU's Danielle Brewer hit a three-pointer, but Justinger lobbed the ball to Siefker for a layup, then hit a shot of her own. That floater gave the Falcons a 45-28 lead.
Moments later, Konieczki's pull-up jumper was followed by a nice effort by Siefker at both ends of the court. The sophomore stole the ball, ran the floor, grabbed a teammate's missed shot and put the ball right back up and in for a 49-30 BG lead with just under 16 minutes left in the period. Then, Konieczki's driving layup gave BG a 21-point lead.
After Tinjum scored inside, Konieczki found Kirkpatrick in the corner, and the redshirt freshman's three-point try found nothing but net, giving BG a 54-32 lead with 13:25 remaining.
After that shot by Kirkpatrick, however, the Falcons would make just one more field goal. The next five-plus minutes saw the only scoring come at the free-throw line, as Leti Lerma made two shots and Young three. BGSU missed four shots and had five turnovers before Justinger hit Kirkpatrick for a layup with 8:09 left to break BG's scoring drought. The Falcons led, 56-37.
With 5:37 remaining, Justinger grabbed a defensive rebound, was fouled and hit both ends of the ensuing one-and-one opportunity, and BG's lead was 21 points, at 58-37.
The Braves got a three-pointer from Sameia Kendall with 5:16 remaining -- BU's first successful field goal in nearly eight and a half minutes -- but Siefker took a lob pass from Myers, drew a foul and split her two shots for a 59-40 lead with 4:09 to go.
With the outcome all but decided, the hosts scored the game's next seven points, capped by two free throws from Tinjum with 45.5 seconds to go. The Falcons used all of the shot clock on the next possession before turning the ball over, but the hosts threw it out of bounds to give possession right back to BG.
Puk's long inbounds pass found Baer ahead of the pack, and she was fouled from behind with 23.2 seconds left. Baer hit both of the ensuing free-throw tries to close the scoring.
The Falcons shot 45.8% from the field on the day, shooting better than 50 percent in the game's first 27 minutes before going 1-of-9 to end the contest. The BG defense held BU to just a 30.2% success rate, including only a 6-of-29 performance (20.7%) in the second half.
The Falcons' next games will come in Miami, Fla., at the FIU Sun & Fun Classic. BGSU will face Hampton on Monday, Dec. 29, before meeting either Auburn or host FIU the following day.
Kent State 62, Colgate 61
Boxscore
HAMILTON, N.Y. – It came down to the wire despite a hefty second half lead, but Melanee Stubbs played the role of hero, sinking a shot with seconds left in the game to give Kent State (2-8) a 62-61 victory at Colgate (1-9) Sunday afternoon.
The Golden Flashes got out of the gate slow but then went on a 7-0 run to take a slight lead over the Raiders. Colgate was then able to attack on the fast break before Kent State again worked back in the game to tie it at 18 at the 6:48 mark in the first.
A Raider three out of that break gave the home team another lead until Larissa Lurken answered back some time later with a three of her own to give the Flashes a one point lead with less than three minutes to play in the opening half.
A 6-for-8 field goal shooting performance to close the half aided by 60% shooting at the free-throw line helped Kent State to a 31-25 lead at halftime.
In the second, the Golden Flashes came out slow again but got hot, shooting better than 60% from the field for the majority of the way to jump out to as much as a 14-point advantage.
However, the Raiders went on an 11-0 run to diminish their deficit to just one point with less than two minutes remaining to set up a dramatic ending.
Colgate took the lead on a field goal before a held ball gave Kent State possession with 45 seconds remaining. Lurken's jumper put the lead back into the Flashes' hands before a foul on the other end sent Colgate to the line for two shots with 15.2 on the clock.
The shooter sunk both shots to switch the lead again and the game came down to Kent State with the ball and 10.6 left to work with. Melanee Stubbs came off a screen, took a shot fake and sunk a jumper from near the top of the key to seal the 62-61 victory.
Kent State ended up shooting an even 50% from the floor in the game while holding Colgate to a 38.9% performance. The Flashes outrebounded 34-28 and had a lot of support with 31 points coming from the bench.
Lurken led in scoring with 14 points while Stubbs finished with 12. Montia Johnson continued to lead the team in rebounding with ten. Krista White contributed with ten points and four assists.
Kent State will have the week off as part of winter break before travelling to New Orleans to finish the non-conference season with a game on Dec. 30.
Minnesota 67, Central Michigan 64
Boxscore
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Close. Oh so close.
The Central Michigan women's basketball team stood toe-to-toe with once-beaten Minnesota on the Gophers' home floor Sunday, before bowing, 67-64, in the Chippewas' second and final game of the Subway Classic.
The loss was the second straight for CMU (4-5), which fell, 80-45, to No. 1-ranked South Carolina on Saturday. The Gamecocks are 12-0, Minnesota is 11-1.
Amanda Zahui scored Minnesota's final 10 points and finished with a career-high 27 points as the Gophers overcame a six-point deficit with under six minutes to play.
Crystal Bradford scored 27 points and freshman Cassandra Breen added 16 to lead the Chippewas, who led, 63-57, after Bradford hit a jumper with 6 minutes, 18 seconds remaining.
Zahui, a 6-foot-5 sophomore and the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year, hit three straight jumpers to tie it at 63-all with 2:36 to play.
Zahui made two free throws with 33 seconds left to put Minnesota in front, 65-63. Bradford split two free throws with 11 seconds to play to draw CMU within one, 65-64, but Zahui hit two more charity tosses with 10 seconds remaining for the game's final points.
Bradford's potential game-tying three-point attempt with three seconds left missed the mark.
The Gophers made all seven of their second-half free throw attempts, and finished 9-for-11 from the line for the game.
Zahui, who scored 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in Minnesota's 74-60 win over Liberty on Saturday, was named the tournament most valuable player. She had 13 points and six blocks against the Chippewas.
Bradford, who added eight rebounds, seven steals and three blocks against Minnesota, was named to the five-player all-tournament team. She had 20 points in CMU's loss to South Carolina on Saturday.
Kerby Tamm and Jessica Green added nine points apiece for the Chippewas against the Gophers, while Jas'Mine Bracey grabbed seven rebounds. Green dished out a team-high five assists.
The Chippewas trailed by nine, 19-10, with just over 13 minutes to play in the first half. They used a 16-5 spurt, capped by a Tamm three-pointer with 8:13 to play in the half, to seize their first lead of the game, 26-24.
Another Tamm triple, this one with 15 seconds left in the half, gave the Chippewas a 38-36 lead at the break.
The South Carolina game marked the second time CMU has played a ranked team this season. They lost to Kentucky, 71-68, on Nov. 22. The Wildcats were ranked ninth in the USA Today Coaches poll at the time.
The combined record of CMU's nine opponents is 62-32 and the Chippewas have faced two teams from the Southeastern Conference (South Carolina, Kentucky), one from the Big Ten (Minnesota), one from the Pac 12 (Oregon), and three from the Atlantic 10 (Dayton, UMass, Richmond).
CMU entered the week 101st in the NCAA RPI, which ranks the 349 Division I teams, 1-349. Four of the Chippewas' opponents - South Carolina (1), Kentucky (3), Dayton (24) and Minnesota (40) - are in the top 40.
The Chippewas will return to action at McGuirk Arena on Sunday, Dec. 28, when they entertain Oakland (5-5) in a non-league game. CMU will then play host to Dayton (6-3) in a non-conference game on New Year's Eve before going to Kent State (1-8) for their Mid-American Conference opener on Jan. 3.
The Chippewas lost at Dayton, 86-76, on Dec. 13.
Mississippi State 68, Miami 42
Boxscore
LAS VEGAS – The Miami University women’s basketball team battled hard throughout against another ranked opponent in No. 20/21 Mississippi State on Sunday, but the Bulldogs eventually pulled away for a 68-42 victory. It was the RedHawks second and final game at the South Point Holiday Hoops Classic in Las Vegas. Miami falls to 2-7 on the season, while MSU improves to 14-0.
The contest was highlighted by another tremendous effort manning the point by senior guard Courtney Larson. In addition to scoring three points, she had five assists, seven rebounds, a steal and a block in 30 minutes of action. Combined with her six assist performance against Old Dominion on Saturday, Larson earned a spot on the All-Tournament team.
The RedHawks opened the game playing relentless defense to keep the Bulldogs from driving the ball inside. A very athletic team, Mississippi State also played strong defense, forcing Miami into several outside shots. Freshman guards Kayla Brown and Baleigh Reid, along with junior forward Hannah McCue were able to hit those shots, keeping the ‘Hawks within two, 8-6, at the 12:48 mark of the first half.
A 9-2 run by the Bulldogs pushed their advantage to nine at 17-8, but Miami kept fighting with buckets by freshman guard Ana Richter and freshman forward Molly McDonagh. Trailing 24-14, McCue was able to grab an offensive rebound and put it back in to pull the ‘Hawks to within eight. Reid closed the half with a bucket at the 2:20 mark, but a late offensive flurry by MSU freshman Victoria Vivians allowed the Bulldogs to take a 31-18 lead into the half.
Miami shot 30.8 percent (8-for-26) for the half, while holding Mississippi State to 35.9 percent (14-for-39) shooting. The RedHawks outrebounded the Bulldogs, 24-20, during the period.
Early turnovers by Miami allowed MSU to open up the second half on a 15-4 run and break the game open at 46-22. The RedHawks responded by driving to the basket more, getting fouls and converting on their free throws. Trailing 54-29, baskets from Brown, Reid and redshirt sophomore forward Tamira Ford helped pull the ‘Hawks to within 21 at 56-35 with 4:36 to go. McDonagh drained a couple of shots late to complete Miami’s scoring.
Reid led the RedHawks with nine points, while McCue scored eight. McDonagh and Rupright each scored six. Miami outrebounded Mississippi State, 47-35, with Ford tying Larson for the team lead with seven.
Defensively, the Red and White held the Bulldogs to 32.9 percent (30-for-70) shooting, including 15.4 percent (2-for-13) from behind the arc. MSU came into the game averaging 86.2 points per game; Miami held the Bulldogs to their second lowest scoring output of the season.
Miami will complete non-conference play after the holidays when it heads to down to Charlottesville, Virginia for the Cavalier Classic, Dec. 28-29. On Sunday, Dec. 28, the RedHawks will take on Drexel at noon. Miami completes play at the tournament on Monday, Dec. 29 when it faces Davidson at 4:30 p.m.
LIU Brooklyn 79, Buffalo 73
Boxscore
BROOKLYN, NY – The University at Buffalo, State University of New York women's basketball team suffered a 79-73 non-conference setback to LIU Brooklyn Sunday afternoon at the Steinberg Wellness Center.
In a game riddled with turnovers, the Blackbirds (3-6) used 22 second-half free throws to end UB's (6-4) four game winning streak.
The contest was knotted on five occasions with the lead changing nine times. The Bulls committed a season-high 34 turnovers, 23 of which came in the first half, though the Blackbirds made 30 of their own resulting in 30 UB points.
Trailing 14-9 in the first, sophomore Joanna Smith hit a pair of free throws and senior Christa Baccas and junior Mackenzie Loesing capitalized on Smith assists to take a 15-14 edge at 9:51. The Blackbirds answered with an 11-0 streak, during which UB made five turnovers. Threes by sophomores Alexus Malone and Camera Miley and Loesing helped UB surge to deadlock the game at 28-all. LIU took a 31-30 advantage into the locker room at intermission.
The Bulls took control of the second half early. The Blackbirds were forced to burn a timeout at 18:17 after a Loesing and-one play capped a 7-0 UB run. LIU awoke to inch back and tie the game at 45 at the 13-minute mark. The host squad went ahead for good at 7:54 tipping off a 14-2 stretch that secured the Blackbirds a comfortable lead. They scored nine consecutive free throws and drained a three for their largest lead of the game, 71-60, at 4:56. The Bulls snuck within five at 1:21, but LIU hit 4-of-6 from the line in the waning seconds to seal the victory.
UB held a 38-35 advantage on the boards and placed four in double digits for the first time since the Dec. 4 victory at Cornell. Loesing scored a game-high 17 and Miley had a career-high 16. Senior Kristen Sharkey added 12 and sophomore Alexus Malone 10. The duo shared a game-high eight rebounds. Sharkey and Miley made four steals each – a career-high for Miley. Smith dished out four assists and Sharkey had a trio of blocks to lead the Bulls.
LIU scored five in double figures with Sophie Bhasin leading the way with 14. Shanovia Dove added 13 and a game-best six steals.
UB shot 45.2 percent for the game, while LIU made good on 42.6 percent of its attempts. For the second straight game, UB was 11-for-20 at the charity stripe. The Blackbirds hit 26-of-37.
The Blackbirds, who picked up their third straight victory, improve to 2-1 all-time against the Bulls. They won the inaugural 1975-76 meeting before UB evened the series with a win in 2001-02.
The Bulls wrap up non-conference play on Monday, Dec. 29 at cross-town Big 4 rival Canisius before tipping off Mid-American Conference action in January.
Northern Iowa 51, Northern Illinois 42
Boxscore
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - NIU women’s basketball did not allow Northern Iowa to score a field goal in the final 9:45 of the game. The Huskies’ (3-6) held the Panthers (4-6) under 60 points, marking the sixth-straight game NIU has accomplished the feat but NIU fell, 51-42.
NIU’s Jenna Thorp (Hinckley, Ill./Hinckley-Big Rock) led the Huskies with a season-high 13 points and added seven rebounds while Ally Lehman (Nineveh, Ind./Indian Creek) grabbed eight boards with five points and three assists. Renee Sladek (Merrill, Wis./Merrill) and Kelly Smith (Arrowhead, Wis./Hartland) both contributed eight points.
“We were out of sync tonight offensively. We passed up some wide open looks and drove into the defense and it’s really a shame because we did what we could on the defensive side of things. We didn’t take advantage of our opportunities offensively and at some point that has to change,” said Head Coach Kathi Bennett.
“Northern Iowa is a really good ball club and we fought with them tooth and nail. We just missed our opportunities to get a win and we’ll look to clean that up after break,” added Bennett.
In a defensive first half of basketball, both NIU and UNI accounted for eight field goals apiece and combined for 10 turnovers. The Panthers carried a 23-16 lead at halftime as they made four shots behind the arc and three baskets at the charity stripe.
NIU out rebounded UNI in the half, 20-19, and accounted for five assists on its eight baskets. Thorp was the Huskies top-scorer in the period as she scored six points, starting the game 3-for-3 from the field. Smith added four points.
The second half opened as a wide open affair as the Huskies were 6-of-7 shooting in the opening four minutes of the stanza while the Panthers were 4-of-7. Only NIU continued that hot shooting trend as it was 11-of-22 in the final 20 minutes of the contest while UNI was 8-for-25.
After the wide open four minutes, the Huskies and Panthers defense tightened back up, highlighted by Northern Illinois University’s final 9:45 of stellar play in which NIU did not allow a single field goal.
In that span, Northern Iowa missed its final 11 shots, however, the Panthers were 10-of-15 from the free throw line in the half to hold their lead over NIU.
At game’s end, the Huskies made three more field goals than the Panthers, 19-16, and grabbed one more board than UNI, 37-36. Both Thorp and Sladek made three baskets in the stanza as the redshirt senior pacing NIU in the half with seven points.
The Hinckley, Ill., native finished the afternoon with 13 points and seven rebounds, going a season-best 6-of-9 from the field. The six baskets tied her career-high set versus Central Michigan on Feb. 22, 2014. UNI's Jordan Weekly scored 13 points to lead the Panthers.
The Huskies will take a break for Christmas before returning to the hardwood on Dec. 30 at Bradley. NIU and the Braves will tipoff at 7 p.m.
