YYPSILANTI, Mich. — Just think what she might have done if she would have been completely healthy.
The she is Bowling Green senior Lauren Prochaska, who lifted her team onto her shoulders Saturday
afternoon in Eastern Michigan’s Convocation Center.
After having worn a protective boot on her left foot and not practicing until Thursday, Prochaska scored
37 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, while playing all 40 minutes, to help rally her team past the
Eagles, 60-55. BG’s win combined with Central Michigan’s victory over Kent State, puts the Falcons alone
in first place in the Mid-American Conference East at 8-3 with five conference games remaining.
“I wasn’t expecting to play 40 minutes today. But I felt good today and it didn’t really bother me that
much to play 40 minutes,” Prochaska said.
Prochaska’s 3-pointer with 1:42 remaining in the game, put the Falcons ahead to stay. She would hit
another three with 42 seconds left while teammates Jen Uhl and Chrissy Steffen each made two free throws
in the final 12.7 seconds to seal the victory.
“It feels better today with the rest I’ve gotten and being in the boot. I felt a lot less pain today,”
Prochaska said.
Prochaska also played a top-notch defensive game, holding EMU standout Cassie Schrock to five points.
Schrock came into the game averaging 14.1 ppg and was coming off a week in which she scored 59 points in
two games.
Against the Falcons, Schrock scored off an offensive rebound and a layup on which she had not yet come
across halfcourt to play defense.
“We just talked about help-side and everytime she would drive, I would have help. That was a big factor
in stopping her,” Prochaska said.
EMU led 31-24 at the half despite 17 points and nine rebounds from Prochaska.
“We practiced all week on their defensive pressure and trying to simulate what they do, but we weren’t
really able to defend (in practice) the way they do. We really struggled coming out today in the first
half, just trying to get open on the wings and trying to get open shots,” Prochaska said. “We just
weren’t able to make shots and on the other end they were getting a lot of easy layups. We got down
quick.”
It might have been a bigger EMU lead at the half, but Prochaska banked in a 3-pointer from the left
corner that hit high on the glass on a play that started with one second on the shot clock when BG
in-bounded the ball. Prochaska also hit a triple from the top of the key and was fouled. Her free throw
completed the 4-point play.
In the second half, Miller went with three freshmen — Noelle Yoder, Jillian Halfhill and Jill Stein — off
the bench and the youngsters helped BG make a 9-4 run to get back into the game.
“That was a huge confidence booster for us,” Prochaska said about the play of the freshmen.
Paige Redditt’s layup with 2:45 remaining, tied the game at 52. The Eagles then missed two foul shots and
three layups before turning the ball over on a nice steal by BG’s Jessica Slagle.
Sydney Huntley then blocked Prochaska’s layup attempt, with the ball going out-of-bounds. After the ball
was in-bounded, Prochaska would hit a three to put the Falcons ahead to stay.
“It’s good to know we can battle back when we are down and it just brings more confidence to our team.
That’s what we need right now, to be a more confident team and know that we can play well,” Prochaska
said.
In the final minute, Steffen came up with two big defensive rebounds, to help the Falcons’ cause. EMU
held a 47-41 rebounding edge with 23 offensive rebounds.
NOTES: There were four ties and 11 lead changes in the second half. … BG is 20-4 overall, its eighth
straight season with 20 or more wins … Prochaska has moved past Mimi Olson into fourth place on the
MAC career scoring list … BG hosts Ohio Wednesday with tipoff at 7 p.m.
