Defending Mid-American Conference champion Eastern Michigan proved to be too much for the BG women’s basketball team. The game came down to the wire, but the Eagles walked away victorious with a final score of 51-48.
Bowling Green won the opening tip and Kate Achter scored first to put the Falcon’s up by two. Unfortunately, it was the only lead the team would enjoy for the rest of the game. Eastern answered back with six straight points. Eastern’s Ryan Coleman and Nikki Knapp led an extremely physical squad to a 28-22 halftime lead.
“They came out really physical and I don’t think we were ready for that style of play,” Ali Mann said.
The Eagle’s tight defense kept Mann and Liz Honegger, BG’s scoring leaders, scoreless in the first half. The Falcons’ defense held Eastern to 40 percent shooting in the half.
Achter sparked the offense for the Falcons, scoring a team-high 13 points.
“I’m proud of Kate. I thought she played really well tonight,” head coach Curt Miller said.
Both teams battled furiously through a fast-paced second half, but the lead continued to evade a frustrated BG squad. The Falcons came up big from the charity stripe at the end of the half with Mann, Achter and Carin Horne shooting six for six to tie the game with just under three minutes left.
Deafening cheers filled Anderson Arena as the crowd rose to cheer the team to victory.
Eastern’s Melis Ulker scored to regain the lead and Coleman hit a huge three to silence the roaring crowd.
Mann scored with 39 seconds left and after a miss by Coleman, took a three-point shot that just missed at the buzzer.
Miller applauds his team’s effort, but chalked up the loss to the team’s failure to win the “battle for points in the paint.” Eastern nearly doubled BG’s inside scoring.
“It was a great game,” head coach Curt Miller said. “It’s not always a pretty game when the two of us play. Every possession’s a struggle.”
Miller credited Eastern’s Coleman for her clutch play down the stretch. Coleman had 13 points in the game.
“Obviously, she deserves the attention she gets on the floor. When it’s all said and done, she’s the one that hits the big shots,” Miller said.
“[Coleman’s] our MVP. It’s not just about scoring with her. She’s a pretty special player,” Eastern Michigan head coach Suzy Merchant said.
The Falcons will attempt to regroup before they face arch rival Toledo on the road on Saturday.
