OXFORD – Tracy Pontius is back and Bowling Green is a better team with the senior at her best.
Pontius scored a season-high 29 points and did a pretty good defensive job on Miami’s Courtney Osborn to
help the Falcons down the RedHawks, 73-61 Saturday afternoon. BG is now 22-4 overall and 10-3 in the MAC
East.
“It was a great team win and I got some confidence back,” said Pontius, who was 9-of-18 from the field,
5-of-11 on threes, and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.
“Tracy Pontius had a monster game and put us on her back,” BG head coach Curt Miller said. “When you have
a player that was in a slump and now has had two really good games, not only does it energize her, it’s
very energizing for the team.”
Pontius has been battling a knee injury, but had her second big game in the span of four days after
scoring 17 points in a 77-63 win over Ohio last Wednesday.
“When I made my first shot, I felt like I was going to have a big night,” Pontius said. “The past two
years at Miami we haven’t shot the ball well as a team … As a senior, the last time playing here, to
have a good game (was important).”
Pontius was also able to quiet the Miami crowd two different times. Once, after they were chanting ‘air
ball’ after a Pontius miss, she went into the lane and hit a short jumper. Then with the crowd was
commenting on her hair, she calmly hit two free throws.
“I love that stuff,” Pontius said. “It doesn’t bother me at all, and I love to prove them wrong.”
Pontius’ offense was needed as fellow senior Lauren Prochaska continues to struggle with a foot injury.
Prochaska finished with seven points, all in the first half, making only one field goal. She did have
five assists and played good defense on Maggie Boyer.
“When she doesn’t score, you are frustrated as a coach” Miller said. “But at the same time, you can’t
take her out because she’s such a good defensive player. She is still going to have a main assignment.
“She is still going to get other people involved … You know she is going to get a big rebound or a big
deflection for you,” he continued. “Even when she doesn’t score … She brings so much to the table that
still allows you to be successful.”
The Falcons also got strong contributions from seniors Jen Uhl and Maggie Hennegan inside. Uhl finished
with 15 points, 11 in the second half, and seven rebounds, while Hennegan scored nine points and added
11 rebounds. Hennegan’s defense helped deny Kristen Olowinski from a double-double.
“We did have a big stretch when we got some lob passes into Jen and got some mis-matches into Maggie. I’m
really happy with our post game,” Miller said.
Pontius nailed a 3-pointer with one second on the shot clock on the opening possession of the game, a
basket to get her started as she scored 17 of BG’s first 30 points in the game. The Falcons built a
30-15 lead with 8:24 left in the opening half.
The quick start by the Falcons was important as Miami made several runs, but could never take the lead
after the first four minutes of the game.
“It was not only important to sustain some runs, because you know they are too talented offensively not
to make runs at you, but also for some confidence that we could score in this building,” Miller said
about the importance of the quick start.
The RedHawks got back to within four, 39-35, with 1:34 to play in the opening half, mainly by taking the
ball inside. BG was up 43-37 at the break.
“Having the cushion of a big lead was important for us,” Pontius said.
Bowling Green got a good start to the second half, with Pontius scoring eight points, to take a 43-35
lead with 12:58 to play in the game.
Miami came back again, getting to within four points three times. The final time was, 63-59, with 6:52
remaining in the game after a layup by Boyer.
The Falcons were then able to maintain the lead, due in part to Uhl’s work inside. BG closed the game on
a 10-2 run, with three baskets coming on layups.
“It’s a great, great win for us in a place where we haven’t played very well through the years. Even with
some fantastic teams (we) have really struggled in this building,” Miller said. “We had a lot of emotion
in the locker room after the game.”
NOTES: Miami falls to 10-16 overall and 2-11 in the MAC East … The win was Miller’s 118th MAC win at
Bowling Green, moving him into third place on the all-time career list for conference wins … Prochaska
started her 128th straight career game, passing Liz Honegger (2003-07) for BG’s all-time lead in games
started and consecutive starts … Steffen finished with 13 points and six rebounds, giving BG three
players in double figures … BG held a 40-30 rebounding edge … BG plays at Akron Tuesday with tipoff at 7
p.m.
