When you’re capable of scoring 90 points a game it’s hard to preach defense to your team.
Curt Miller got his Bowling Green women to buy into a defensive mindset for Saturday’s game against
Central Michigan.
It paid off as the Falcons posted a 90-62 win, holding Central to 22 points below its average. The
Chippewas were second in the nation in scoring coming into the game (84.0 ppg). It’s the third time in
the last five games that BG has scored 90 points.
“We focused on the on-ball defense,” said BG senior Lauren Prochaska. “We knew there was going to be a
lot of dribble-drives by them. We focused on getting help to the dribble-drives and then help the
helper. So I think it was a three-pronged approach to how we played defense.”
The Falcons held the Chippewas to 31.3 percent shooting from the field, including 16.7 percent on threes
(3-of-18). The Chippewas had 13 turnovers, 11 in the first half that the Falcons turned into 18 points.

“If you describe our defense, it’s team all the way,” Miller said. “Individually we aren’t great
one-and-one defenders.”
Central has five players averaging in double figures for the season, but had only two double-figure
scores in the game. Kaihla Szunko was able to score a game-high 27 points on 9-of-12 shooting from both
the field and the free-throw line. Brandie Baker finished with 13 points, but was 3-of-19 from the
field.
“It’s a credit to our team defensive approach as they are a very, very difficult team to guard and their
system of dribble-drive is so difficult to guard,” Miller said.
The defense and being able to score in transition helped the Falcons take control of the game early. BG
got its first double-digit lead just 4:29 into the game and the Falcons never let the lead slip below
eight points the rest of the game. CMU was within 34-25 with 5:54 to play in the first half, but BG
closed the half on a 14-2 run to take a 48-27 lead into the break.
Bowling Green stayed in control for the second half and Miller was able to clear his bench in the final
minutes. The Falcons were effective getting the ball inside the entire game scoring 42 points on the
paint with 26 of those coming in the second half.
“We knew we had to play a great game defensively, first and foremost. What we tried to do was get as many
stops as we could and that led to us playing well offensively,” Prochaska said.
BG had five players score in double figures led by Tracy Pontius’ 17 points.
“We didn’t panic this year against the triangle-and-two (defense) like we did last year,” Miller said.
“We talked about our balanced scoring when people try to defend us like that. We got five people in
double-digits and really got the game at our pace.”
The Falcons also got solid play off the bench led by Jessica Slagle with 13 points and Chelsea Albert
with seven points and six rebounds. BG’s bench out-scored CMU’s, 26-5.
“We have awesome chemistry so everyone on the bench is always feeling positive. No one is ever turning
inward and looking at whether they are getting in or not getting in,” Albert said. “When Curt does point
over there (to go into the game) everyone just tries to make the most of the opportunities and try to
encourage each other.”
The Falcons wore throwback uniforms, modeled on mid-1980s style, in the game.
“Probably our kids even wanted to go a little bit more retro. They wanted crazy socks. They were
threatening to do their hair in ’80s style and wear big, thick headbands,” Miller said. “If we play that
all the time, we’re going to wear those uniforms more.”
“It’s a tribute to the teams who wore these that did really well,” Prochaska said. “And the coaches and
great players that played then and just trying to represent how well and how hard they played and what
they did for BG basketball. We’re just trying to carry on that tradition as well.”
NOTES: Pontius moved into 15th place on the all-time BG career scoring list with 1,238 points. Pontius
passed Melissa Chase (1,223 points from 1979-83) and Michelle Shade (1,233 points for 1991-95) during
Saturday’s game … Chase is a Bowling Green High School graduate … Prochaska finished with 16 points
and is now 42 points away from becoming BG’s all-time career scoring leader … BG is now 17-2 overall
and 5-1 in the MAC while Central is 12-6, 4-2 … BG was a sharp 27-of-31 from the free-throw line (87.1
percent) with Prochaska going 7-of-7 … BG held a 44-35 rebounding edge as Jen Uhl had eight rebounds
and Prochaska added seven …The crowd of 2,530 was the largest of the season for the Falcon women, home
or away … BG hosts arch-rival Toledo Wednesday with tipoff at 7 p.m.