The BGSU women’s basketball team took down the Kent State Golden Flashes 62-49 Saturday, as the Falcons wrapped up their home regular season schedule with a win.
The team now holds a 2-14 conference record; however, they finish with their home record overall holding even at 7-7. Kent State dropped to a 9-7 record against MAC opponents on the season.
The team had also faced Kent State earlier in the season on Feb. 16, a game which saw the Falcons fall 77-73.
“I thought we played harder,” Falcons head coach Robyn Fralick said. “We got to more plays out of our area. (Kent State’s) a really good driving team, and I thought we did a pretty good job of keeping them in front without fouling. … It was just a collective effort. I thought we were more alert this time around, and we did a better job in transition too and finding shooters.”
The game started out with the Falcons outscoring Kent State 17-12, as senior guard Sydney Lambert led the Falcons in the first quarter with 7 total points, including 5 coming consecutively at the midway point of the quarter that allowed the Falcons to go from behind 7-4 to in front 9-7.
In the second quarter, the Falcons maintained their lead, outscoring Kent State 16-13 to make it a 33-25 game. Junior guard Andrea Cecil led the quarter with 8 points, as she earned the final 6 points of the half for the Falcons to increase the advantage from a 2-point to an 8-point game going into halftime.
The third quarter saw the Falcons continue to keep up the advantage with an 18-17 third quarter, with Cecil earning 7 points as the team took a 51-42 lead into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth, both teams were held off significantly on offense; however, the Falcons still outscored Kent State 11-7 on the quarter to take the 62-49 win.
“It was a complete team win,” Fralick said. “Whether it was a hustle rebound, hitting a timely shot or making an extra pass, we’ve been really sold on the team, playing together on both ends of the court.”
Cecil finished with a total of 23 points on the game, while Lambert also had a strong performance with 15 total points in her final home game with the Falcons. Kent State led offensively by freshman guard Asiah Dingle, the only Kent State player to get double-digit points with 10, while senior guard Alexa Golden finished not far behind with 8 points.
The game was also the final one at home for Lambert as well as senior forward Maddie Cole.
“We talked before the game about getting to play at the Stroh and their experience at Bowling Green,” Fralick said. “It is such a special place to play, and you could feel that, so I loved that we honored them with toughness and playing hard.”
The Falcons will next play on Wednesday night on the road against the Buffalo Bulls, before closing out their regular season with a road game against the Ohio Bobcats on Saturday afternoon.
