The BG women’s basketball team extended its winning streak to four games with a 71-61 victory over Butler Saturday afternoon.
Three Falcons scored in double figures, led by Jessica Slagle and Chrissy Steffen, who each had 15 points for BG. Alexis Rogers had 14 points of her own.
However, the game featured sloppy play on both sides, as the teams combined for 47 fouls and 42 turnovers.
“They’re a team that’s fouled a lot this year, so we wanted to win the battle of the foul line and get ourselves to the foul line,” BG coach Curt Miller said. “I did not think that we were going to combine for 47 fouls in the game.
“They did a good job attacking back at us, and we fouled a lot tonight and had multiple players in foul trouble in the first half and could never really get into the flow that I though we could get into.”
For Slagle, the 15 points marked a career high. She was one of the two BG starters who didn’t get into foul trouble, as she only committed one foul in 31 minutes of action.
“Last game I wasn’t very happy with myself, so I walked into this game with a new perspective,” Slagle said. “I was letting the game come to me, not being over-aggressive, just taking what they give me, and that’s what I did.”
Slagle shot 66 percent (4-for-6) from the field, including a 1-for-2 mark from three-point distance. She also made six of her seven free-throw attempts.
BG held a significant rebounding edge in the game, out-rebounding the Bulldogs 37-27.
“This is a team in Butler that has also been consistently out-rebounded this season,” Miller said. “One of the common denominators that we both have is we both like to shoot the three, so it leaves a lot of people hanging out around the perimeter.
“Neither of us are good rebounding teams, so we challenged that if we can’t out-rebound this team, we might not out-rebound a team all year.”
The Falcons started the second half on a 10-1 run that extended the BG lead to 14.
During that run, Slagle and Rogers put the team on their back, with both players contributing five points.
“When you get out there and your adrenaline starts flowing, it carries over from one end to the other,” Rogers said. “So my rebounding started my offensive drive.”
On top of the 14 points, Rogers also finished the game with eight rebounds, two assists and four steals.
“Lex came out and was challenged and had a really good second half,” Miller said. “Despite playing 25 minutes … that’s her best game in a Falcon uniform so we’re excited about that, excited about her numbers and she continues to get more comfortable.”
The game started a four game in nine-day stretch for the Falcons, who continue that stretch Tuesday night with a game against Youngstown State.
“Very happy, overall, with the win, certainly a lot to work on, but a good start to this very important stretch for us,” Miller said.
On the season, the Penguins are 4-3 and are coming off a 80-55 win over Western Michigan. Their three losses this season have come against West Virginia, American University and Northern Iowa.
The game Tuesday will start at 5:15 p.m. in Youngstown.
