Jan. 18, 2006
Final Stats
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Ohio carried a halftime lead into the second frame, but the defending league champion Bowling Green managed to pull away on its home floor and take a 77-63 decision over the Bobcats Wednesday in Anderson Arena.
Ohio (5-10, 2-2 Mid-American Conference) rallied back from an early 12-point deficit and went on to lead the ballgame as the clock hit all zeros in the first half. The Bobcats remained a thorn in Bowling Green's side throughout the second half, but the Falcons (13-2, 4-0) came on strong in the frame and managed to pull out the home victory.
Rachel Frederick (Gibsonia, Pa.) led the way for the Bobcats with 18 points. Quintana Ward (Park Forest, Ill.) matched a career-high with 16 points, including a 3-for-3 effort from beyond the arc. Ward also dished six assists before fouling out.
The Falcons were paced by four players in double figures, headed up by Ali Mann's 17.
The Bobcats outrebounded Bowling Green 38-30. Ciara Iglehart (Mission Viejo, Calif.) and Frederick were the leaders on the glass for Ohio with seven boards apiece. Simone Redd (Warrensville Heights, Ohio) was limited to just one point, but she did kick in six boards and a pair of assists.
The first half was a Jekyll and Hyde of sorts for the Cats, as Ohio trailed by double figures early but would go onto lead the game at intermission.
Ohio couldn't get much going on the offensive end in the early going and Bowling Green, the league's most productive scoring team, took advantage. The Falcons scored seven points before Ohio would ever hit the score board, and Bowling Green pushed its lead to 12, 14-2, with 12:33 left in the half.
With just more than four minutes left in the half, the Bobcats came to life. Trailing 21-13, Ohio put up a 13-2 run in the final 4:15 of the half to take a 26-23 lead into the break. The Bobcats scored their last nine points of that run via the three-point shot. Lauren Revesz (Bridgeville, Pa.) knocked down a triple that tied the game for the first time, and Ward hit her second-straight three from well beyond the arc with 33 seconds left to give Ohio its first lead of the game, an edge the Cats would take with them into the locker room.
Ward used a pair of triples to lead the Cats on the offensive end in the first half. She kicked in a game-high eight at the break, while Revesz chipped in five. Eight Ohio players touched the scoring column in the first half, and seven Bobcats recorded a rebound. Ohio outrebounded Bowling Green 24-17 in the first frame, with Redd leading the way with five and Domenica Silva (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Frederick adding four.
Casey McDowell came off the bench to lead the Falcons with five at intermission.
After the Falcons tied the game up right out of the break, Ward responded with another triple to push the Bobcats back on top. Ohio would lead as late the 15:39 mark in the second half before Bowling Green came on and took over for good.
The Falcons did not shoot the basketball well in the first half--just a 27.8 clip--but they did heat up in the second to hit 56.7 percent from the floor. For the game, Bowling Green managed to knock down 40.9 percent of its attempts, but it was outdone by Ohio, who shot 52.3 percent from the field and 61.5 percent from the three-point line.
The score was tied 34-34 with 15:25 remaining before Bowling Green went on a run that spelled doom for the Bobcats. The Falcons went on a 17-3 spurt over the next several minutes to take a commanding 14-point lead.
Ohio wouldn't go away, though. The Bobcats trimmed the lead to single digits on several occasions, but couldn't get over the hump as Bowling Green scored 54 second-half points.
The Bobcats will return home this Saturday for a match-up with Akron. Tip-time is set for 1 p.m. in The Convo, with You Go Girl Day activities slated to begin at 11:30 a.m.
