Another tough second half doomed the Bowling Green women’s basketball team Saturday afternoon. The Falcons dropped their second straight game, falling to the Miami RedHawks, 75-65, at Anderson Arena.
“I am thankful to get out of Bowling Green with a win,” RedHawks head coach Maria Fantanarosa said. “This has always been a difficult place to play.”
The Falcons were able to keep the RedHawks’ star player, Heather Cusick, in check. Cusick was held to nine points on 2-16 shooting from the field. However, forward Colleen Day rose to the occasion, leading the RedHawks with 21 points.
“Colleen Day is a coach’s dream,” Falcon head coach Curt Miller said. “She does all their dirty work and for two years in a row now has really hurt us and just makes big play after big play.”
The Falcons were led once again by Francine Miller, who matched her jersey number with 22 points. Stefanie Wenzel was second on the team with 13 points and led the team in rebounding, pulling down 11 of the team’s 33 rebounds.
The RedHawks led for the majority of the first half, grabbing a 4-2 lead two minutes into the contest and holding onto it until a three pointer by Wenzel with 1:20 remaining in the half put the Falcons in front 34-32. Wenzel then added a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left to give the Falcons the 36-32 lead they took into halftime.
The Falcons held onto the lead for the first seven minutes of the second half. A pair of free throws by Day with 12:52 remaining gave the RedHawks a 49-47 lead, which they never relinquished. The Falcons were able to stay close, but could never quite draw even. After the RedHawks opened up a 66-55 lead with 5:11 remaining, their biggest of the game, the Falcons answered with a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to 68-65 with 1:47 left to play.
However, the Falcons were unable to score another point and the RedHawks hit seven of eight foul shots in the last 1:47 to seal the win. Superb free throw shooting, especially in the second half, was a big key to the RedHawks victory. They shot 17 out of 18 in the second half and 22 out of 24 for the game from the charity stripe.
The RedHawks’ Kim Lancaster suffered an apparent knee injury after a collision under the basket with Stefanie Wenzel in the final two minutes of the game. The severity of the injury is not yet known.
Aside from free throw shooting, dominance in the post was a big part of the RedHawks victory. They out-rebounded the Falcons 47-33, leading to a 36-20 edge in points in the paint and a 26-9 advantage in second chance points.
“The put-back points and offensive rebounds killed us again,” Miller said. “Their offensive rebounds and offensive put backs bailed them out on a night where they didn’t shoot the ball very well.”
The win improved the RedHawks’ record to 12-10 overall and 7-4 in conference play. The loss dropped the Falcons to 10-12 overall and 3-8 in conference.
Next up for the Falcons is Ball State, who they will host on Wednesday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
