Bowling Green women’s basketball could not complete the comeback on senior day, losing in overtime 69-68.
The Falcons would be down by as much as 20 in the game, but were able to tie it up in the second half.
“I thought our start was really bad. I thought our fourth quarter was outstanding, I loved our fight back. Our energy and our start need a lot of improvement,” Head Coach Robyn Fralick said.
Junior forward Kadie Hempfling led the Falcons in points with 20 points. Sophomore guard Elissa Brett would just be behind her with 18 of her own.
With this game being so close, it is hard to not overlook the free throw woes that plagued the Falcons today. As a team, they made 50% of their free throws, Buffalo made 76.9% of theirs.
It was rough going for the Falcons in the first quarter. BGSU scored seven points in the first, five of them came from freshmen guard Lexi Fleming. They shot 20% from the field and 12.5% from deep. BGSU also missed all four of their free throw attempts.
Buffalo navigated through the Falcon defense, shooting 46.7% from the field. The Bulls also limited their turnovers to just two in the quarter.
Buffalo continued to pour it on the Falcons. The Bulls went on a 10-4 run in the first four minutes to open their lead to 14.
At the half, BGSU was down 32-16. The Falcons’ offense was ice cold in the first half. They shot 24.1% from the field and shot 13.3% from three. In six attempts, they could not make a free throw. Freshmen guard Nyla Hampton and Fleming both led the team in scoring with five at the half. For Buffalo, sophomore guard Dyaisha Fair and freshmen guard Cheyenne McEvans both had eight points to lead their team.
Buffalo found success on offense, shooting 53.8% from the field. They had the edge in points in the paint, 22-10.
While Buffalo continued to have control of their offense, BGSU started to get their offense going.
In the third quarter, the Falcons shot 58.3% and put up 18 points.
The offensive rhythm continued into the fourth quarter. The quarter started with four quick points by Hempfling. The Falcons would start to claw their way back into the game.
Whenever the Falcons had a chance to go on a run though, the Bulls were able to get a much needed bucket or foul to keep their double digit lead.
With just under seven minutes left, Buffalo had a 53-43 lead. In three minutes, BGSU went on a 11-0 run to claim their first lead of the game.
The game would be tied at 59 when Buffalo had the ball with about 40 seconds left. With the shot clock going down, Buffalo turned the ball over. BGSU had the ball with 13 seconds left and a chance to win the game.
Coach Fralick called a timeout to draw up the last play. As time expired, BGSU got a shot off but missed it. The game would head into overtime.
Despite being down early and often in the first half, the Falcons were able to stick together for a chance to win the game.
“I loved our fight, I loved our effort. But, you can’t do it for just a small period of time. We got to have that fight for the whole game,” Fralick said.
Overtime would start with Hempfling getting the first four points for the Falcons. Buffalo shook off the rough fourth quarter and stayed within striking distance.
BGSU would be up 68-67 with the ball. The Falcons turned the ball over and Buffalo scored to take the lead with 24 seconds left.
The Falcons would have two chances to take the lead but missed both shots.
While the loss is disappointing, this game could be used to help the team prepare for the upcoming MAC tournament.
“Coach came into the locker room and we all reiterated, ‘short-term memory’, learn from this game and learn from our mistakes,” Hempfling said.
The Falcons will travel to Cleveland for the tournament. They will be top seed in the tourney and play the eighth seeded Eastern Michigan. The tournament will start on Wednesday with the Falcons playing in the first game at 11 a.m. EST.
