MUNCIE, Ind. – A strong second-quarter effort by Ball State University was too much for the Bowling Green State University women’s basketball team to overcome, as the Cardinals picked up a 76-61 win Saturday in a Mid-American Conference contest at Worthen Arena.
BGSU junior Amy Velasco scored a career-high 28 points for the Falcons (9-5, 3-1 MAC), who fell for the first time in conference play this season. Freshman Paige Kohler added 18 points for the Falcons.
The Cardinals (14-2, 4-0 MAC) had three players in double digits, as Madelyn Bischoff had 18 points, while Ally Becki and Estel Puiggros added 16 and 12, respectively.
Nyla Hampton, who transferred to Ball State from BGSU, put up eight points, four rebounds, six assists, two steals and she blocked a shot, playing over 31 minutes.
The game was tied midway through the first period before the Cards used a 9-0 run to surge ahead. Kohler scored early in the second quarter to cut the BSU lead to five, but the hosts responded with 10-straight points, and another late-quarter run was capped by a Bischoff triple as the first-half buzzer sounded, giving the Cardinals a 44-24 lead at the intermission.
The Falcons scored the first six points of the third period, but BSU had an answer every time BG tried to further cut into the deficit. The Falcons got a 9-2 run in the fourth period, capped by a Kohler three-point field goal, but BG would draw no closer.
Freshman Keiryn McGuff had a career-high 11 rebounds for the Falcons. Erika Porter scored eight points and led the team in plus/minus rating, at plus-16.
The opening quarter featured four ties and three lead changes. Olivia Hill gave the Falcons an early lead with a pair of free throws just 28 seconds in, but BSU’s Nyla.Hampton answered with two shots at the stripe at the eight-minute mark.
Erika Porter blew by her would-be defender for a layup that tied the game at 4-4, and Amy Velasco took a pass from Paige Kohler and knocked down a three-point try to give the Falcons a 7-6 lead. Then, Velasco took a charge at the other end, and came down and knocked down a foul-line jumper.
The Cardinals responded with a three-point play that bridged the media timeout, tying the game at 9-9.
Kohler was fouled by Hampton at the 4:25 mark and made two shots at the stripe to knot the score at 11-11, but a pair of Alli Becki free throws began a 9-0 Cardinal run. Becki scored seven of those nine points, and her jumper gave BSU a 20-11 lead.
Velasco went coast to coast for a layup, and Kohler went 4-for-4 from the line in a 38-second span, but Hana Muhl knocked down a three-point try to give her team a seven-point lead. Velasco scored on a driving layup, but the Cards got a hoop at the horn for a 26-19 lead after 10 minutes.
Velasco had nine points in the opening period, going 4-for-5 from the field. Kohler scored six first-quarter points, all at the free-throw line.
Taya Ellis grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled, keeping possession with the Falcons early in the quarter, and that possession ended with a nice take by Kohler.
The Ball State lead was five, but the Cards responded with an 8-0 run that forced the Falcons to use a timeout.
The run extended to 10-0 before Velasco headed downcourt and hit a pull-up jumper, But, Estel Puiggros responded with a three-pointer, and Madelyn Bischoff – BSU’s leading scorer who had been held in check to that point – made a driving layup with just over a minute to go, then hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer that gave the hosts a 44-24 lead at the half.
Velasco (12) and Kohler (eight) combined for 20 of BGSU’s 24 first-half points.
The Falcons held BSU off the scoreboard for nearly three minutes to begin the second half. Keiryn McGuff grabbed an offensive rebound, was fouled and hit a free throw, before stealing the ball from Bischoff on the next possession. Velasco hit a three-pointer after that steal, and a pair of Velasco free throws cut the BSU lead to 14, at 44-30.
Muhl scored for the Cardinals, but Erika Porter took an inbounds pass from Velasco and hit a layup. But, a Bischoff triple gave the Cards a 17-point lead.
BG kept battling, as Velasco made a pair of nifty moves on the baseline en route to a layup, and Porter got back to the line and converted a free throw. But, the Cards had an answer to each BG offensive surge in the quarter.
Kohler knocked down a three-point try after BG had forced a shot-clock violation, and Kohler got herself back to the line and hit a pair of free throws with just over a minute left in the period. But, Muhl hit a three-pointer to give the hosts a 59-41 lead after 30 minutes.
The Cardinals looked like they would run away from the Falcons, scoring the first six points of the final quarter to take a 65-41 lead.
But, Velasco and Porter each got to the line and went 2-for-2, and after a three-second violation on BSU, Morgan Sharps hit a foul-line jumper,
Bischoff answered with a bucket, but McGuff found Velasco for a three-pointer. The BG junior would score seven-straight BG points as she made a tremendous spin move to score, then grabbed a defensive board and went coast to coast for a layup with 4:31 to go.
After a BSU turnover, Kohler’s driving layup made it a 13-point game, 69-56, with just under four minutes to go.
Becki hit a layup for the hosts, but Kohler’s three-ball cut the deficit to 12 with 2:39 remaining. But, BG would get no closer. Annie Rauch answered with a layup, and a Becki three-point hoop put the hosts back up by 17. McGuff’s driving layup capped the afternoon’s scoring.
BGSU will return home to meet Akron on Wednesday night in a 7 p.m. start at the Stroh Center. Then, the Falcons will hit the road for the next two games, beginning with a contest at Miami next Saturday (Jan. 20). That game will begin at 1 p.m. at Millett Hall.
