Mid-American Conference

Bowling Green senior guard Jillian Halfhill led the Falcons in scoring and had a double-double in the team’s lone game of the week.  Halfhill had a game-high 21 points along with 10 rebounds, two assists and three steals in BGSU’s 61-56 win at Eastern Michigan on Saturday (Feb. 15). The double-double was her second of the season and the third of her career. Halfhill scored in double digits in each half, with 10 points before the intermission and 11 after, and she pulled down five rebounds in each period. Halfhill hit a game-high four three-point field goals, including one just after EMU took its only lead of the second half. That shot gave BG the lead for good with just under 14 minutes to go. Halfhill has scored in double digits in 19 of BGSU’s 24 games this year, including in each of the last 11. She has led the Falcons in scoring in each of the last three games, and has aveaged exactly 20.0 points per game during that stretch. She has shot 64.5% from the field (20-of-31), including a 14-for-23 (60.9%) effort from three-point range, in those three contests. On the season, Halfhill is averaging 13.3 points, along with 4.2 rebounds and a team-leading 3.0 assists.  She is shooting 44.1% from three-point range (49-of-111), leading the Falcons and ranking second in the MAC in that category.  In MAC games only, she has 15.4 ppg and is shooting an eye-popping 50.9% (29-of-57) to lead the entire conference.  The Falcons are 21-3 overall and 11-1 in the MAC heading into a Wednesday (Feb. 19) game vs. Central Michigan.

 

Central Michigan’s all-time three-point leader set a new personal standard Saturday, knocking down 8-of-12 three-point field goals to score a game-high 24 points and move CMU within one game of clinching its first Mid-American Conference West title in program history. DiGuilio made the second most threes in a game in program history with eight and extended her consecutive games with a three to 28. The performance helped the Chippewas improve to 12-0 in conference play, moving them within a game of the West Division title. DiGuilio is on pace to become just the third player in MAC history to eclipse 300 three-point field goals and leads the CMU record book with 270.

 

 

Kacie Cassell recorded her first double-double of the season en route to leading Akron to its eighth-straight win, 87-64 at Ball State over the weekend. Cassell scored eight points above her season average, posting 13 points on the strength of three 3-pointers, while dishing out 11 assists. The assists mark ties her season-high and is one short of the school's single game record (12) which Cassell set herself last season. The senior also limited herself to just two turnovers in 34 minutes of action against BSU. Cassell ranks inside the nation's top-20 and leads the league in both assists per game and assist/turnover ratio.

 

Freshman forward Alexus Malone had a career day when her team needed it most Saturday afternoon, scoring a career-high 20 points to go with 10 rebounds in a 66-57 comeback win over Northern Illinois. With her scoring aside, her defense was a major factor in helping the Bulls erase a 13-point deficit with 11:44 to play in the game, making four of her career-high six steals in that stretch. She also converted on a pair of three point plays in what would become a 20-1 run that helped push UB ahead. Her free throw shooting helped the team stay ahead after completing the comeback, hitting 5-6 free throws in the final 11 minutes of the game. The first-year starter has upped her game so far in February, averaging 11.5 points over four MAC games.

 

Redshirt junior forward Olivia Fouty paced the Eagles with a near double-double against the Falcons. The Toledo, Ohio native finished with a team-best 15 points and nine rebounds as the Eagles tested the East Division-leading Falcons at the Convocation Center. Fouty was 6-of-8 from the field in 29 minutes of work.  She also added two blocks and a steal on the afternoon.

 

Junior Natecia Augusta was the Huskies leading scorer Sunday afternoon at Buffalo as she scored 12 points, while also leading NIU in rebounding with seven boards against the Bulls. Augusta also led the team in field goal percentage at a clip of .444 (4-of-9) and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the contest. Defensively, Augusta also accounted for two blocks in the contest.

 

In just her second game back from an injury that kept her out for eight straight games, Byard matched her season high by knocking down five three-pointers in Ohio University women's basketball's 62-58 Mid-American Conference cross-division loss at Toledo last Saturday (Feb. 15). She reached double figures for the eighth time this season. Ohio concludes its two-game MAC West road swing when it takes on Western Michigan on Wednesday (Feb. 19). Tip-off from Kalamazoo, Mich., is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.

 

Junior Inma Zanoguera scored a team-tying best 12 points and added a contest-high 10 rebounds to help Toledo claim a 62-58 victory against Ohio on Saturday. Zanoguera shot 4-of-8 from the field and 4-of-6 from the charity stripe in a game-high 39 minutes to record her team-tying best fifth double-double on the season. The 2013-14 Preseason All-MAC West Team honoree has now led UT in scoring a team-high 14 times and rebounding on a squad-best 12 occasions this season.