In another closely contested match up, the Bowling Green women’s basketball team fell to Ball State on Saturday in the Stroh Center. BG is now 1-4 in the Mid-American Conference and is currently on a four game losing streak.
Leading the way for the Falcons was freshmen guard Sydney Lambert, who scored 17 points and was 5-8 from the three point line. Senior center Lauren Tibbs also contributed inside the paint scoring 14 points and grabbing five rebounds.
It was an evenly matched first quarter as both teams played stout defense, forcing double digit turnovers for their respective teams. The Falcons became less aggressive in the second quarter as Ball State started to win the battle of the boards, leading to multiple second chance opportunities. Ball State ended the game with 13 second chance points.
This would continue heading into the second half as Ball State was able to take advantage of the size mismatch inside. Bowling Green was kept alive due to the play of their bench.
Contributors from the bench were freshmen guard Carly Santoro, sophomore guard Kennedy Kirkpatrick and sophomore forward Haley Puk. The trio combined for 18 points, the team’s only points from their second unit. BG would still go down by double digits heading into the fourth quarter.
The Falcons responded in a big way in the fourth, going on a 15-8 run with near five minutes left to play in the game to cut the deficit to two points.
Ball State was able to adjust and hold the Falcons scoreless after the run until the 1:25 mark in the fourth. This translated to a Ball State offensive attack. The Falcons were unable to keep the Cardinals out of the paint and were forced to foul.
“They just started hitting big shots and pounding it down low,” freshman guard Sydney Lambert said.
Lambert, along with her teammates, were still happy with the way they played. The team may have lost by double digits, but the lead only passed the 10 mark in the last two minutes of game time.
“Coach told us if we play like that every game we’re definitely going to win. We had some hard plays this game compared to the other losses,” Lambert said.
In addition, head coach Jennifer Roos was satisfied by the team’s effort on both sides on the ball. Roos pointed out how they performed on a high level against a very good Ball State team.
“I’m proud of our effort. It was much better than last time out,” Roos said. “We got a lot of loose balls and made shots when we needed to.”
The BGSU women’s basketball team looks to get back on track as they travel to Northern Illinois on Wednesday.
“We knew this would be a tough stretch, but we got to rally Wednesday, Saturday and all the rest of the way through March as well as continuing to play hard as they did today and I believe they will do that,” Roos said.
