Befitting with Head Coach Curt Miller’s challenge to play a full 40-minute game, the women’s basketball tried to take his words to heart, but fell to the Eastern Michigan Broncos, 67-58.
After the WMU’s Maria Jilian connected on a 3-pointer to tie the game 8-8, Emily Pohl knocked down a 3-point bucket of her own to ignite a 16-10 run that gave the Falcons a 27-20 lead with 2:39 left in the half.
Pohl, who scored 8 first-half points, hit another 3-pointer, followed by Stefanie Wenzel’s putback, which extended the lead to 32-22 at the 2:03 mark. WMU’s Kelly Koerber added two free-throws that was answered by Kelly Kapferer’s layup to give BG a 34-24 advantage at the half.
Early foul trouble to starters Kim Griech and Lindsey Austin, allowed Pohl and Kapferer to combine 15 points, helping BG to the 10-point advantage at intermission.
The Falcon’s lead would quickly grow to 16, as Pam Brown scored six of her team-high 18 points, in giving BG a 42-26 lead. However, WMU’s Casey Rost, who scored all of her 15 points in the second half, knocked down a 3-point at the 16:39 left in the game.
Her basket would propel the Broncos to a 30-14 run, pulling Western Michigan all even at 56-56 with 6:02 remaining. The Broncos ended the game on an 11-2 run to provide the final margin for the game.
Miller felt that, despite the loss, his team demonstrated the character that has define the team all season long.
“We talked a lot about heart and passion, and that we needed to play that to win this game,” Miller said. “I never questioned that we played with a lot of heart and passion tonight”.
The Falcon’s may have shown their heart and exuded passion, but their loss was due in large part the Broncos holding BG to only 34 percent shooting for the game, and two field goals during the final 11:00.
“We only gave up 19 field goals for the game, but WMU thrives at the foul line,”. We definitely controlled the tempo, but it’s hard to win you make only two field goals down the stretch”.
The Falcons travel to take on Marshall for the second time this season. Tip-off is scheduled for Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
