There are many ways to motivate young athletes, and some work better than others.
Jennifer Roos, in her second season as
Bowling Green’s head women’s basketball coach, may have found the
perfect motivational tool.
Roos said she would give the Falcons an
extra day off if they played well in winning against Miami Sunday in the
the Stroh Center.
The tactic worked as Bowling Green went on a 15-0 run after Miami made the first basket of the game.
The Falcons then never looked back,
posting a 91-45 victory. It was the 20th win of the season for the
Falcons, now 20-3 overall and 10-1 in the Mid-American Conference.
“We challengedthem the past couple of
days in some unique ways,” Roos said. “I drew up the last straw, and
gave them an extra day off if they played well.
“This team has earned a well-deserved
break … There was pure enthusiasm in the locker room when I told them if
we achieved some goals, what they would earn as a result,” Roos added.
Roos said the Falcons would not return to
the practice floor until a shoot-around Wednesday at 4 p.m. BG’s next
game is Saturday at Eastern Michigan in a 4:30 p.m. start.
The Falcons were ready from the start.
“We could tell in the locker room, even
before we came out, that we were ready to go,’” said BG sophomore Miriam
Justinger. ‘”We’re excited that we get a few days off. That was an
incentive to finish strong, and just end everything
on a good note going into the break.”
After exploding out of the gate, the
Falcons went on to take a 43-14 halftime lead, making 50 percent of
their shots from the field (16-of-32), and the 3-point arc (8-of-16).
Bowling Green also played well
defensively, as Miami did not reach double-digits in the scoring column
until Kindsay Brandt made a layup with 1:00 remaining in the first half.
Justinger said Miami runs a lot of the same plays as Bowling Green does, and the Falcons knew what was
coming.
The Falcons forced 20 turnovers, leading to 34 points for the Falcons.
“Our team played well at both ends of the floor,” Roos said. “Any time you play well at one end, it seems
to become contagious even at the other end.
“The better they shoot, the harder they
played at the defensive end,” Roos continued. “I have no idea why those
things go hand-in-hand, but they do.”
The Falcons’ onslaught continued in the
second half, as BG shot 56.6 percent from the field (13-of-23) and 45.7
percent on 3-pointers (7-of-15).
“We just wanted to keep executing offense,
sticking to the game plan … and basically work on things we needed to
work on,” Justinger said about the second half.
BG’s previous high for the season was 90 points, and a Justinger free throw in the final minute gave BG
its 91st point.
“It’s a good feeling when everybody is
making shots,” Justinger said. “I think we feed off of each other really
well. If one person gets going, it’s contagious and that’s good to see.
It was definitely contagious today.”
The game was Lauren Prochaska Bobblehead
day for BG’s all-time leading scorer. She was recognized on the court
during the first media time out.
“How ironic that we celebrate Lauren
Prochaska … and we make 15 threes out of 31 attempts, and 22 assists on
29 field goals, and seven of nine kids make a three,” Roos said.
“Everybody loves giveaways, and today may
be the best giveaway in schoolhistory, in my opinion, for a women’s
game,” Roos continued. ”It was an atmosphere that truly, truly
resembled Anderson Arena. It was a fun atmosphere to
play in, and our kids responded.”
Jillian Halfhill led the Falcons with 17
points, Erica Donovan added 14, Jasmine Matthews scored 13,
andJustinger contributed 12.
NOTES: Miami is 7-15, 3-8 … All nine
Falcons scored in each half… Miami had beaten BG twice last season …
It’s the 11th straight 20 win season for the Falcons.