BG women rally for 72-61 win over Ball State (1-16-13)

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MUNCIE, Ind. — After struggling in the first half to score, the Bowling Green State University women’s
basketball team put 44 points on the board in the second half on the way to a 72-61 win over Ball State
Wednesday.
‘‘This was good for us to be in a tight situation,’’ BG head coach Jennifer Roos said. ‘‘Even though it
was a double-digit win for us, it felt like every possession was a grind that last five minutes (of the
game).’’
BG’s victory along with Central Michigan’s 65-60 win over Northern Illinois set up an early season
showdown between the only two teams in the Mid-American Conference who are undefeated.
The Falcons play at Central Michigan Saturday with tipoff at noon. Both teams are 4-0 in the conference.

On Wednesday, Bowling Green trailed 31-28 at the half, but went 12-of-23 (52.2 percent) from the field,
including a 5-of-8 (62.5 percent) effort on 3-pointers, and 15-of-17 from the free-throw line (88.2
percent) in the final 20 minutes.
‘‘They threw everything at us (on defense), and we were able to weather the storm,’’ BG head coach
Jennifer Roos said.
‘‘We took care of the ball against all their defensive alignments in both halves,’’ she added.
Jill Stein’s jumper tied the score at 35 for the Falcons with 17:36 remaining to play.
Bowling Green then put together a 23-8 run over the next 9:29 to lead by 15.
The highlight play of the run began when Jillian Halfhill inbounded the ball from under the basket in the
Falcons’ offensive end of the court. Halfhill lobbed a pass to Alexis Rogers in the paint. Rogers jumped
and caught the ball in the air, shooting in one motion as she was fouled by Ball State’s Brandy Woody.
The shot found nothing but net, and Rogers completed the three-point play with a free throw.
Halfhill scored eight points in the run while Stein and Deborah Hoekstra each made a 3-pointer. Of the 23
points in the run, 12 came from the free-throw line.
Ball State then rallied and cut BG’s lead to 61-57 with 4:25 remaining.
Halfhill responded with a 3-pointer to start an 11-4 run to end the game. Rogers had six points in the
late run, and Halfhill scored five.
‘‘Our tempo was a lot better at the offensive end,’’ Roos said about BG’s second half. ‘‘It helped when
we were at the offensive end in front of our bench.
‘‘We were able to actually run two plays in one possession more than once in the second half, and that
was a big key.’’
Roos said other keys to the game were BG’s free-throw shooting, and the defense against Ball State at the
3-point arc. The Cardinals were just 1-of-14 (7.1 percent) on 3-pointers for the game.
Miriam Justinger led the Falcons with a career-high 18 points, despite playing only 23 minutes. Justinger
was 11-of-12 from the free-throw line. Rogers finished with 15 points and Halfhill had 13 points and
four assists. Stein chipped in with eight points, seven rebounds, and four steals.
NOTES: BG is 14-2 overall … Ball State is 7-8 overall, 2-2 in the MAC … Ball State scored 36 of its
61 points in the paint … Eight different players had at least one assist for the Falcons … There
were eight ties and five lead changes … Saturday’s game with CMU will be televised by Time Warner
Cable SportsChannel, ESPN3 and WatchESPN.

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