Columbia’s lights-out shooting ends Falcons’ WNIT run

In front of a sold-out crowd of 4,155 at the Stroh Center Wednesday, the Bowling Green State University womens basketball team’s historic WNIT tournament run came to an abrupt end.

The Falcons, reaching the WNIT Fab Four semifinals for the first time in program history, lost to Columbia, 77-70.

Columbia coach Megan Griffith said her team proved they were prepared to deal with the Falcons’ pressure defense and the home court advantage that BGSU would have stemming from the fans filling up the Stroh Center.

“That was one battle that we knew we would get when we walked into this arena, and I was really happy with how we battled and executed our gameplan,” Griffith said.

The 28-5 Lions will meet Kansas (24-11) in the WNIT championship game Saturday while the Falcons see their season end at 31-7, matching a program record and Mid-American Conference record for wins in a season.

“What a great run,” BGSU coach Robyn Fralick said. “I’m so proud of our team. Columbia is a real good team. I look at their body of work this season and I think they are a team that should have absolutely been in the NCAA tournament. They played well.

“I thought we kind of ran out of gas a little bit,” Fralick continued. “I think we’re a team that has faced a lot of adversity and challenges and we kept having kids step up, and tonight I think we just kind of ran out of gas, but what a season.

“I think the things these kids have done night-in and night-out and what this team has been able to do is incredible, and with a lot of adversity.”

The odd stat coming out of Wednesday’s semifinal was that the Falcons took 22 more shots and committed 14 less turnovers than the Lions.

However, the Lions were more efficient, making 54% of their field goals (30-for-56), including 39% (10-for-26) from the arc.

For the Falcons, it was as if a lid had been put on the rim, connecting on just 35% (27-for-78) shots from the floor, including just 20% (5-for-25) from downtown.

Columbia opened a 23-7 lead less than six minutes into the game, and although the Falcons came back time after time to make it a one or two possession game, the Lions somehow always found an answer and never trailed.

“We could never get over that hump, bringing it that close and they went ahead,” BGSU junior guard Lexi Fleming said. “It’s not as if they were getting easy shots. They were hitting tough shots. We were right in their face.

“But yeah, tough players are going to make tough plays and they are a great team, so we can’t do much more than play great defense, and I thought we did that. They just had a better offense and sometimes that is how the game is played out.”

Columbia junior guard Abbey Hsu connected on four triples, scoring 21 points to lead the Lions. She was one of four Lions to reach double figures.

At 6-feet tall, Columbia senior guard Kaitlyn Davis played like she was 6-4, scoring 19 points with 15 rebounds, seven assists and three steals.

Senior forward Hannah Pratt had 12 points, eight rebounds and blocked two shots, and sophomore guard Kitty Henderson had 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Lions, which controlled the glass by a 47-34 count.

“They are an unbelievable team that really tested our transition defense,” Fleming said. “They are great in transition.”

Fleming does not know what the Falcons could have done differently, but her team was coming off a 69-52 win over Florida in the quarterfinals just two days earlier.

“We had a one-day prep and I wish we had a little bit more days, but they didn’t have too many days to prep for us and they did an outstanding job,” Fleming continued.

“If we had a little more time we would do some things differently, but they were a fantastic team.”

BGSU sophomore guard Amy Velasco was the exception, making 7-of-14 field goals and scoring 19 points with five assists and two steals.

Fleming was another exception, making 5-of-11 shots from the floor and scoring 15 points with seven rebounds, five assists and four steals.

However, senior guard Elissa Brett, still wearing a protective facemask after getting punched by a Memphis player after the Falcons’ win last Thursday, could not get on track shooting-wise for the second straight game.

Brett made 3-of-21 field goals, including 2-of-12 from downtown, scoring eight points with four rebounds. She got so frustrated, she took off the mask late in the game, obviously hoping it would give her better visibility, but it was too late.

Sophomore guard Jocelyn Tate had eight points, seven rebounds and two assists, and senior forward Allison Day, after suffering an in-game injury and playing less than 16 minutes, had seven points and four rebounds.

Junior forward Sophie Dziekan, taking over post duties from Day, scored six points, and junior guard Nyla Hampton, after missing two games because of an injury, had five points and two steals in just over 18 minutes of action.

BGSU junior forward Olivia Hill had two points and three steals. As a team, the Falcons had 12 steals and forced 25 turnovers while committing just 11.

Fralick and the Falcons were grateful for the capacity crowd, announced as the largest to ever see a basketball game in BGSU history.

“Proud of the way the community has come together,” Fralick said. “The one thing we talked about is when we came here, we knew about the tradition, but we were always talking about the past. Well, now they are talking about the present.”