For the second time in as many Mid-American Conference games, the Bowling Green State University women’s basketball team made key plays down the stretch en route to a victory.
The Falcons picked up a 75-69 win over Western Michigan University on Saturday afternoon inside the Stroh Center.
In front of 2,054 fans, Morgan Sharps scored 19 points for the Falcons (8-4, 2-0 MAC), while Erika Porter had 18 points, including 12 in the third quarter alone as BGSU erased an eight-point deficit.
Amy Velasco and Paige Kohler rounded out the Falcons’ quartet of double-digit scorers, with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Kaitlyn Zarycki had a game-high 23 points for the Broncos (5-7, 0-2 MAC), with Jasmine Elder and Alli Carlson adding 10 points apiece.
BGSU led for just 32 seconds during the first half, and the Broncos took an eight-point lead – Western’s largest of the game – early in the third quarter.
But, the Falcons responded with a 10-2 run, capped by six-straight points from Porter. Zarycki gave the visitors a 48-46 lead with a driving layup, but Kohler found Porter for another hoop down low, and BG never trailed again.
The Falcons ended the third quarter on a 9-0 to take a 59-50 lead, but the Broncos battled back, tying the score on two Zarycki free throws with 6:42 left in the game. But, Sophie Dziekan scored the next four points to allow BGSU to retake the lead.
Several minutes later, Elder converted back-to-back layups to tie the score with 2:37 to go. But, after each team missed a shot, Velasco’s driving layup with 1:20 to go gave the Falcons the lead for good.
BGSU held the Broncos without a point for the game’s final 2:37, and free throws by Kohler and Sharps in the waning seconds of the contest helped the Falcons move to 2-0 in the MAC.
The Falcons are now 3-1 at the Stroh Center this season. The lone loss came to the number-one team in the country, South Carolina.
Each of the other three games at the Stroh has been tied in the final 90 seconds, and all three games – contests against Cleveland State, Duquesne and WMU – were within two points or fewer with under 10 seconds to go.
Morgan Sharps hit a three-point field goal just over one minute into Saturday’s game, but the Broncos got a corner three from Alli Carlson just 22 seconds later, and Western would not trail for the remainder of the opening half. That triple began a 7-0 run for the visitors, and after Amy Velasco hit a three, a Kaitlyn Zarycki layup gave WMU a 12-7 lead.
Sophie Dziekan put back a missed shot, and Erika Porter knocked down a pair of free-throw tries, but a layup by Denali Craig-Edwards put the Broncos on top by an 18-11 score.
But, Keiryn McGuff got to the line and made both shots, and Sharps knocked down a jumper. And, when Velasco fed Sharps for a corner three in the final seconds of the period, the Falcons had a 7-0 run of their own, and the game was tied at 18 apiece.
Sharps had eight points in the opening period, going 3-for-4 from the floor.
As a team, BGSU was just 5-for-14 from the field in the quarter, turning the ball over six times. But, the Falcons had a 14-3 rebounding lead in the opening 10 minutes.
The Broncos opened the second period with a steal and layup by Carlson to retake the lead, and after Paige Kohler took the ball coast to coast for a layup just over a minute later, another steal and layup – this time by Zarycki – gave the visitors a lead they would not relinquish until late in the third quarter.
Velasco converted a driving layup with just under six minutes to go in the quarter, and after a pair of Zarycki free throws, Emily Siesel knocked down a three-point try to cut the BGSU deficit to a single point, 26-25.
Kohler again went the length of the floor for a layup, but Nile Muguira Orbe scored five-straight points, knocking down a three-pointer and converting an open layup, and the Falcons, trailing by six, used a timeout.
Siesel found Sharps for a triple, and Kohler hit a pair of charity tosses, and after Zarycki sank a jumper, McGuff’s nifty pass found Porter for a layup. Muguira Orbe’s layup with 35 seconds to go gave the Broncos a 37-34 lead at the intermission.
Zarycki had 10 points in the second quarter and 17 in the first half.
Western led for exactly 18 of the first 20 minutes, while BGSU had the lead for just 32 seconds during the first half.
Hannah Spitzley knocked down a three-point try on the first possession of the third period to double WMU’s lead. Olivia Hill counted with a layup, but a Zarycki bucket and Spitzley’s free throws gave the Broncos an eight-point lead, their largest of the game.
Velasco faked a three-point try, then hit a long two-point jumper, and Kohler’s free throws cut the WMU lead to four, at 44-40. Craig-Edwards scored in the paint, but Porter then went to work down low. Kohler sent the ball inside to the Baylor transfer for a pair of layups, and Porter went and got her own missed shot, putting the ball back up and in to tie the contest at 46-all midway through the period.
Zarycki converted a driving layup, but Kohler found Porter for a hesitation layup. Sharps hit a pair of free throws, and after Gabi Saxman countered with two shots from the stripe, Sharps hit a floater to begin a 9-0 run for the Falcons.
Velasco made a free throw, then drove and dished the ball to Porter for a layup. Porter took a Taya Ellis pass and scored, and McGuff ran the floor and scored on the break. The Falcons had a 59-50 lead after 30 minutes.
The Falcons went 10-of-14 from the field (71.4%) in the third quarter, with Porter hitting 6-of-7 shots in the period. She had 12 points to very nearly match WMU’s point total (13) in the quarter.
Carlson knocked down a three-pointer on the opening possession of the fourth quarter, but Velasco lobbed the ball to Porter for yet another hoop. But, back came the Broncos, with a Spitzley triple cutting the BG lead to 61-58.
Velasco made a pair of free throws after being fouled as the shot clock neared zero, but De’Ahna Richardson’s trey made it a two-point game, and a pair of Zarycki tosses tied the score with 6:42 to go.
Dziekan scored four consecutive points, with her layup making it a 67-63 game, but Carlson’s and-one layup at the 5:28 mark cut that lead in half. She missed the free throw, however, and a contested jumper by Sharps restored BG’s four-point advantage with 3:52 on the clock.
Jasmine Elder answered with a layup, though, and after a BGSU turnover, Elder scored again, tying the game with 2:37 to go. But, WMU would not score again.
The Falcons missed a jumper on the next possession, but a layup attempt would not drop for the Broncos. With 1:20 remaining, Velasco drove and scored to give BGSU the lead for good.
WMU missed a pair of shots on the ensuing possession, with Ellis rebounding the second miss with 41 seconds left. BGSU again missed a jumper, with the ball going out of bounds off of a BGSU player with 16.3 seconds left.
After either a timeout or a video review – the final minute of the game featured a plethora of both – Zarycki drove toward the hoop and put up a layup that was blocked by Ellis. The ball went out of bounds, last touched by the Broncos and possession went to BGSU (after a video review).
BGSU used a timeout, then inbounded the ball in the frontcourt. Kohler was quickly fouled, and the Falcon freshman hit a pair of free throws with 8.2 seconds remaining. Then, Carlson’s three-point try was off the mark, and Sharps grabbed the rebound and was quickly fouled. She hit two shots at the stripe with 2.1 seconds left to clinch the win.
BGSU will conclude a three-game stretch against the MAC’s Michigan membership when Eastern Michigan comes to the Stroh on Wednesday . The Falcons and Eagles will meet in a 7 p.m. start.
Then, the Falcons will hit the road next weekend, for a Saturday matchup at Ball State. That contest begins at 1 p.m. at Worthen Arena.
