The Falcon women’s basketball team bounced back from not only a five game losing streak, but also a seven point deficit with only two minutes remaining in regulation on the road against the Akron Zips.
“Gutting out a win, as cliche as it sounds, is the best description for this game,” Falcons head coach Jennifer Roos said. “Everybody in the country is talking to their teams about being tougher and finishing, some people get confused about what tough means, whether it means just physically, but it’s not just that. It’s mentally, it is togetherness on the floor, it’s diving for loose balls and it’s knowing the plays at every position.”
They played their best basketball when it mattered most and claimed the game 66-64 coming off of the tails of a 10-1 run that would close out the ball game. These late game heroics secured Bowling Green’s first win in MAC Conference play, as well as allowing the team’s record to improve to 9-7 with the win as Akron’s record dropped to 6-10.
The Falcons were led by junior guard Carly Santoro, who netted 19 on 6-of-12 shooting, as well as eight rebounds. Junior guard Sydney Lambert added 14 points and Haley Puk provided 13 points with an important three point bucket late in the fourth quarter, which proved to be the difference.
“We got the ball inside,” Roos said. “We got good contributions from Andrea (Cecil) and Clare (Glowniak), we got some low post catches and I thought our tempo was good.”
Alyssa Clay had 22 points to lead Akron’s scoring attack, while Shaunay Edmonds added 15 points. These performances went by the wayside though, as Akron was unable to hold onto their lead late in the fourth quarter.
Akron came out swinging in the final quarter by scoring the first nine points of the period and leading by 12 points. The Akron run was halted by Santoro, however, as Santoro went on to score 15 of her 19 total points in the final period. The performance led the team to the comeback victory, 66-64.
“We had struggled to finish in the fourth quarter in a few other games,” Roos said. “But that experience gave us the resilience and the toughness to finish in the fourth quarter today.”
The Falcons return home on Wednesday night, taking on the Kent State Golden Flashes, as the team looks to build upon their first conference win.
