Alexis Rogers has vivid memories of her two games against Buffalo last season.
Now a redshirt senior for the Bowling Green Falcon women’s basketball team, Rogers suffered a broken nose
in the Falcons’ game at Buffalo. Then in the home game with UB, Rogers was hit in the face again and
despite wearing a protective mask, Rogers’ nose bleed all through that game.
On Saturday Rogers stayed injury free against the Bulls in the Stroh Center during the Mid-American
Conference opener for both teams.
And Buffalo paid the price.
Rogers finished with a game-high 22 points and a career-high 17 rebounds in BG’s 62-50 victory.
‘‘I had some nerves coming into this game that I hadn’t felt all season,’’ Rogers said. ‘‘It was kind of
personal, and I think that might have been some of the nerves coming into the game for me.
‘‘I think there was a little bit different energy during our warm up today,’’ Rogers added.
Rogers wore a protective mask in the shoot-around before the game.
BG’s Erica Donovan attended a family funeral in Toledo, and then played 13 minutes in the second half,
contributing five points, six rebounds, an assist, and two steals. She was BG’s leading scorer going
into the game at 12.6 ppg.
‘‘We did miss her energy in the first half,’’ Rogers said. ‘‘We’re going to have to learn to
self-motivate, regardless of who is here, and who is not here.’’
The Falcons trailed the Bulls, 12-4, less than four minutes into the game.
‘‘I think we were a little shell-shocked with them making shots, and we had open looks and didn’t make
it,’’ BG head coach Jennifer Roos said.
Miriam Justinger got the Falcons going, after Roos screamed at her to do a better job defensively on UB’s
Mackenzie Loesing, who came into the game averaging 17.6 ppg. Loesing scored eight points before having
to leave the game with 14:49 left in the first half after taking a hard fall to the floor. She did not
return.
‘‘Sometimes people need to be challenged at both ends of the floor,’’ Roos said. ‘‘Miriam was challenged
during the game, and our two seniors Jillian Halfhill and Jill Stein, were challenged at halftime.
‘‘Miriam responded. I don’t think we have a lead at halftime without Miriam’s play,’’ Roos added.
Justinger scored 11 points in the first half.
Justinger blocked a shot, and then hit three 3-pointers in the span of 3:05. Her triple with 12:40 left
in the first half put the Falcons ahead to stay.
‘‘Miriam’s threes definitely boosted us,’’ Rogers said. ‘‘We are a 3-point shooting team, and when she
hit that many in a row, it really boosted our energy and spark.’’
The Falcons led 31-25 at the break.
Buffalo was within 46-41, with 7:29 left in the game. Then Rogers hit a layup on an assist from Donovan,
and Donovan followed with a 3-pointer to put the Falcons up 10.
The Bulls were back to within 53-47 with 2:52 left, but Deborah Hoekstra hit a 3-pointer and two free
throws in the final 1:13 to help the Falcons close things out.
‘‘It’s going to be a grind. There probably aren’t going to be a lot of pretty games in conference play,’’
Roos said. ‘‘But for us to shoot 34 percent and still win by double digits, I’ll take that any day of
the week.’’
Roos said the play of Halfhill and Stein in the second half played a big part in the win. In the final 20
minutes, the pair combined for 11 points and eight rebounds.
Rebounding was a key for the Falcons, who held a 51-35 advantage on the boards. Stein chipped in with 13
rebounds.
‘‘Overall I was really, really pleased with our rebounding effort,’’ Roos said.
NOTES: BG is 11-2 overall and UB is 7-5 … Stein led the team with five assists and three blocked shots
… The Falcons were 14-of-18 from the free-throw line … BG freshman Abby Siefker sang the National
Anthem before the game and then contributed four rebounds in 12 minutes during the game … Members of
the North Baltimore High School band took the place of the Falcons’ pep band for the game … The
Falcons play at Kent State Thursday with tipoff at 7 p.m.