Carin Horne needed 21 points to reach 1,000 for her career. She picked a good night to catch fire as 24th-ranked BGSU (5-1) cruised to a 89-58 victory over Oakland (2-4).
Horne finished the night with 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting. When the dust settled, Horne was the 21st player in BGSU history to reach 1,000 points.
“It feels great, I didn’t know I was so close and at half time coach told me I needed two points,” Horne said.
After her first four shots were off the mark, Horne proceeded to hit her next seven shots, three of which were three pointers and the Falcons led at the break 52-20.
Horne’s stat line didn’t end there, as she went 5-of-8 from beyond the arc and had seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.
“Carin is an amazing player especially when her stuff is just falling like that,” said teammate and fellow 1,000 point-club member, Ali Mann. “For her to reach that thousand point mark, we’re all proud of that.”
Liz Honegger, another member of the 1,000-point club, had a great night, hitting 4-of-5 from the three point arc and finishing with 16 points.
“Anyone on our team can go off. It’s hard to play defense against I imagine,” Mann said. “So it’s fun to distribute the ball like that.”
BG was leading by so much, they were able to play all three of their freshmen at the end of the game. Laura Bugher had four points, two rebounds and two steals to lead the class.
Another hot start aided the Falcons in their victory. They shot 60.6 percent in the first half compared to Oakland’s 24 percent.
“Our first half was a huge lift for us tonight and really made no doubt in the game,” said BG coach Curt Miller. “I thought we had good energy and good communication early on. I thought we kept them off balance and they missed some early shots.”
The Grizzlies did miss early shots – their first 10 to be exact. They did not make their first field goal until the 12:43 mark of the first half. They went on to convert six field goals in the opening stanza. The good defense opened up the opportunity for BG to make baskets in transition. The Falcons outscored Oakland 26-8 on the fast break.
“We finally got out and ran and got our wings and our point guard some easy layups.” Mann said. “Making easy baskets like that gets our defense hyped up and then we can get defensive stops and rebounds and push again so we just had everything going for us. We were making shots like crazy.”
Honegger and Horne were just the latest Falcons to have a good scoring night. Every night a different Falcon starter turns in a game-changing performance.
“I’m ecstatic with how we’re playing offensively – there’s a lot of confidence, there’s a lot of execution right now,” Miller said. “We’re getting contributions from a lot of people, they’re stepping up and making shots.”
The win was BG’s 20th straight in Anderson Arena, which is now the second-best streak in the nation thanks to a Hartford loss last night.
BG will be back in action next Wednesday when they host Indiana at 7 p.m.
