The Bowling Green Falcons womens basketball team squared off against the Kent State Golden Flashes this past Saturday for the first time this year only to come short by a score of 80-78. Last season ago the Falcons swept Kent State in both meetings, but have been unable to get a win since Jan. 7 and now have dropped their sixth straight game.
Sophomore guard Carly Santoro led the Falcons with a career high of 32 points and game high of 11 rebounds. The Bellevue, Ohio, native’s previous career high occurred back in November when she scored 28 points against the Saint Peter’s Peacocks. Other Falcon standouts include fellow sophomore guard Sydney Lambert, who added 16 points with 4 assists, and junior guard Haley Puk, who contributed 8 points and 4 assists.
“At the end of the day the foul line was the big difference,” Falcons Head Coach Jennifer Roos said. The Falcons allowed Kent State to get to the line 36 times, a season high. Kent State converted on their chances by making 31 of the 36 free throws while shooting 19-20 at the line in the second half. Of the 31 makes at the line, senior guard Larissa Lurken made 19. Lurken only missed one free throw all game. She leads the country in free throws made and attempted, and is also tied for fifth in the nation with 22.7 points per game. Lurkin was a headache for the Falcons, contributing 31 points, 5 assists and 6 rebounds.
The first half seemed as though it would be a runaway game for Kent State with a 36-24 lead, including a 13-0 run and a 4-minute scoring drought for the Falcons. The Falcons trailed for over nineteen minutes and saw themselves losing the battle of the boards, turnovers and second chance points. Senior guard McKenna Stephens seemed as though she would coast to a double-double with an easy win.
However, the Falcons came to play in the second half. With strong third quarter performances from Santoro, Siefker, Lambert and the rest of the Falcons, the team managed to cut the deficit to 2 points while managing to drop 30 points in the quarter.
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Headed into the fourth quarter the Falcons saw themselves down two with momentum on their side. Senior forward Ashley Tunstall, freshman guard Andrea Cecil and Puk all fouled out in the final 10 minutes which allowed Kent State to convert at the line. Up 3 points with 6:27 left, Kent guard Larissa Lurken fouled Puk that sparked a Falcons 7-0 run and a 2-point lead with five minutes left in the game. In Bird vs Magic fashion, Larissa Lurken and Santoro combined for 20 points in the final 4 minutes and 50 seconds of the game, but Kent State freshman Megan Carter was the hero after she buried a free throw line jumper with 2.2 seconds to seal the deal for Kent State after the Falcons failed to get a shot off at the buzzer.
Heading into the bye week, the Falcons will have plenty of time to rest up in hopes of snapping their losing streak as they host the Akron Zips Saturday, Feb. 4, with tip off at 12:30.
