Forget their A-Game, the Western Michigan Broncos would be lucky to get a passing grade for the 80-58 beating they took from the Bowling Green women’s basketball team Saturday at Anderson Arena.
The Broncos’ Kate Verseput opened scoring, but the lead was short-lived as the Falcons went on a 16-0 scoring run and never looked back. BG took the lead and ran with it, making few mistakes during the first 15 minutes of the first half.
The Falcons (12-5, 5-1 MAC) were unstoppable offensively as they took advantage of Western’s (7-10, 3-3) many unforced turnovers early in the game. BG scored 22 points off of Bronco turnovers in the game. After beating Western just two weeks ago, the Falcons wanted to send a clear message that they were still the better team.
“We wanted to jump on them and show them we were focused for this game,” head coach Curt Miller said. “I really liked the tempo from the beginning.”
The Falcon defense came up big throughout the game, holding Carrie Moore, the Broncos’ leading scorer to just eight points in the game. Moore had been averaging 16.9 points, third best in the Mid-American Conference. Defensive specialist Tene Lewis was all over the court for BG with four steals, six rebounds and 10 points.
At halftime, the Falcons maintained a 16 point lead with a score of 44-28. They had also out-rebounded Western 24-14.
The Falcons wasted no time increasing their lead in the second half as Carin Horne drained a three to put BG up 19. Nine players scored for the Falcons, with four in double figures. Liz Honegger continued her usual offensive dominance, scoring a game-high 21 points, including two three pointers. Ali Mann and Kate Achter chipped in with 13 and 11 points respectively to go along with Lewis’ 10.
As the clock ran down, the Broncos took advantage of several BG fouls, scoring seven of their 10 points in the final six minutes from the free throw line. Their efforts from the stripe were not nearly enough to close the gap on the Falcons, who went to the locker room satisfied with their 22-point victory.
The 1,087 fans that turned out to support the team were more than satisfied with the rout. Fans in “Sideline Squad” and “Anderson Animal” t-shirts never stopped cheering, showing the Broncos that Anderson Arena truly is the House that Roars.
Honegger was proud of her team’s effort, especially in the opening minutes.
“First half, I though we played pretty solid. You couldn’t ask for much more,” Honegger said. She added that her injured foot is fine.
Miller was also happy with the team’s play, but also gave credit to Western Michigan.
“Despite their injuries, [Western is] a potent team that can score from all five positions. They’re a tremendous rebounding team. Rebounding set the tone early,” Miller said.
This win will give the Falcons an advantage over Western if there is a tie come tournament time.
“It’s a very important win because now you sweep them and win any tiebreaker with them,” Miller said.
The win also says a lot about the Falcons as a team.
“We don’t forget who we are,” Miller said. “We feel we’re a blue-collar team. We view ourselves as overachievers. We play hard and leave it all out there.”
The squad will be back to work this week in preparation for a road trip to Kent State on Wednesday.
