The Bowling Green State University women’s basketball team played its final regular season home game this past Saturday, picking up a 76-56 win over Miami University. The Falcons (10-15, 6-10 in MAC) honored seniors Lauren Tibbs and Miriam Justinger before the game in front of the home crowd, with Justinger also scoring her 1,000th career point during the game as well.
“I’m so happy that we were able to honor them the way we did, to be able to recognize them and get a standing ovation, because basketball is hard,” said head coach Jennifer Roos. “It’s a tough sport physically, it’s a tough sport mentally, and those two have battled through injuries and have stepped up.”
Justinger was one of five Falcons to score in double figures, with her 12th point of the night and 1,000th of her career coming on a three-pointer from the top of the key with 1:24 left to play. Tibbs and Sydney Lambert each had 13 points and seven rebounds, while Haley Puk had 11 points and Carly Santoro scored 10 points off the bench.
The game was one of the more well balanced performances the Falcons have had all season, as they shot 39 percent from behind the arc, outrebounded Miami 34-22, and forced sixteen turnovers as well as getting the balanced scoring effort.
“Some early keys for us, we had six kids hit a three-pointer. We outrebounded Miami by double digits, and we had five kids in double digit scoring,” Roos said. “When you have that balance, I think that makes a result in that score today against them.”
The Falcons got off to a strong start in the first quarter, shooting 64 percent to open the game and surging out to a 21-7 lead on the back of a 11-0 run to close out the quarter. They proceeded to shoot 56 percent from the field for the entire first half, holding a commanding 41-21 lead at halftime.
While Miami closed the gap to as few as 16 points in the third quarter, the Falcons went on a 9-0 run, ignited by Justinger, to widen their lead, which grew to as large as 28 points late in the third quarter, 59-31. The Falcons then held a comfortable lead for the entire fourth quarter, finishing the game with a 76-56 win.
Justinger was five points away from the 1,000 point milestone in the fourth quarter, cutting it to only three points needed with a pair of free throws at the 3:24 mark. She then buried her triple with 1:24 left, bringing her career point total to an even 1,000 on an emotional night for the senior captain.
“It was a pretty amazing feeling,” Justinger said of scoring her 1,000th point. “It’s just always been a great environment here, with amazing support from my family and friends. It was just an amazing way to end my home experience here at Bowling Green.”
The Falcons will close out their regular season schedule on the road, with their next game against Ohio University on March 2. They will then travel to play Akron on Saturday, March 5, with that game being their last game before the MAC tournament starts.
