Jordyn Dawson put back a teammate’s missed shot with just 1.2 seconds to go, lifting Akron to a 72-70 win over the Bowling Green State University women’s basketball team Wednesday at the Stroh Center.
BGSU senior Kadie Hempfling scored a career-high 29 points for the Falcons (13-13, 8-9 MAC), while sophomore Kenzie Lewis had a double-double, with 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
Hempfling had 19 of her career-high 29 points in the second half, while Lewis had seven points and 10 rebounds after halftime. For the game, Hempfling went 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.
Freshman Amy Velasco had another well-rounded game, with nine points, a BG-best five assists and a game-high four steals. Velasco went the length of the floor and hit a layup that tied the game with 10.5 seconds to go.
Dawson had 30 points and 12 rebounds for the Zips (14-9, 11-6 MAC), while Rachel Martindale scored 12 points on four three-point field goals.
Martindale’s final three-point attempt of the night, though, was well off the mark. The shot from the left wing was short and wide left, but dropped directly to Dawson, who quickly laid the ball back up and in.
A half-court heave by the Falcons hit the glass but was off the mark as the final horn sounded.
“It was a great basketball game,” BGSU coach Robyn Fralick said. “Obviously it was gut-wrenching for us to have it finish that way, but I was proud of our team.
“I liked our fight, and I liked our effort. I’ve seen that really change, and that’s been rewarding. Jordyn Dawson is really good – she’s been a handful for us, and she’s been a handful for the league.
“We obviously lost on a tough putback, but she was a handful all night,” Fralick continued.
The fourth quarter was a battle with both teams exchanging leads.
Hempfling’s free throw in the opening minute of the fourth tied the score, and after Dawson’s layup, Lewis came up with a key offensive rebound, putting the ball back up and in as she was fouled.
The sophomore’s charity toss gave the Falcons a 53-52 lead at the 8:48 mark.
The Falcons got a stop, and Hempfling’s driving layup put BG up by three. Akron’s Reagan Bass scored the game’s next three points, but Hampton drove inside, and her nifty bounce pass under the hoop resulted in a Lewis layup and a 57-55 Falcon advantage.
A steal led to a Dawson bucket, but BGSU guard Morgan Sharps spotted guard Madisen Parker on the left wing, and the fifth-year senior’s three-ball gave BG a 60-58 lead.
Dawson hit an ‘and-1’ layup, and after Akron rebounded her missed free-throw try, Dawson scored again.
Sharps answered with a layup, and after Layne Ferrell’s layup, Parker hit a pair of charity tosses to tie the game, 64-64, with 4:05 on the clock.
Dawson, however, made a driving layup, then stole the ball, drove and kicked it to Martindale for a corner three, giving UA a 69-64 lead with 2:20 to go.
Both teams missed shots on their next possession, before Hempfling grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled at the 1:12 mark. She hit both free-throw tries to make it a three-point game.
Akron missed a pair of shots on the next possession, with Lewis rebounding the second miss. Hempfling’s layup cut Akron’s lead to 69-68 with 24.9 seconds remaining, and the Falcons used a timeout.
The Zips did a nice job of using some clock on the next possession, before Hempfling fouled Layne Ferrell at the 15.7 mark. Ferrell missed her first free-throw try, but made the second, and the Zips used a timeout.
Out of that timeout, Velasco drove the length of the court, cutting to her left and hitting a floater with 10.5 seconds remaining.
The Zips called a timeout and then inbounded the ball just over halfcourt. Martindale’s three-point try clanked off the rim, but Dawson was there for the putback.
Akron shot 48.3% from the field, while BGSU shot 42.4% on the night. Both teams shot over 40% from three-point range, with the Zips going 6-for-14 (42.9%) and the Falcons 7-of-17 (.41.2%).
Akron was just 10-of-17 (58.8%) from the free-throw line, while the Falcons made 13 shots in 16 attempts from the stripe (81.3%).
The Zips had a 38-30 advantage on the boards, but BG had a 12-10 lead in second-chance points. The Falcons had 12 steals on the evening and a 17-9 advantage in points off turnovers arc.
For BGSU, Lewis has shot 73.9% from the field over the last five games, going 17-of-23 in that time.
Following Wednesday’s games around the league, the Falcons are tied with Western Michigan for eighth place in the MAC standings.
The top-eight teams in the final standings will qualify for the conference tournament.
With three games left in the regular season, BGSU is just one game out of fifth place, and the fourth- through ninth-place teams are separated by just a game and a half.
Fourth-place Ball State is 9-7 in the MAC, while Kent State and Northern Illinois both are 9-8, Ohio 8-8 and BG and WMU 8-9.
