Being offensively proficient can help a basketball team overcome any other shortcoming.
Bowling Green’s women’s team’s proficiency for two quick stretches Saturday enabled the Falcons to move into the second round of the Kraft Mid-American Conference women’s tournament Wednesday at Cleveland’s Gund Arena, the team’s first trip to the second round since 2001.
Those two spurts — an 8-0 run to end the first half and a 12-0 run midway through the second half — helped BG overcome a scrappy Central Michigan team that grabbed 26 offensive rebounds in a 66-54 win.
The Falcons, the fourth seed in the tournament, will play either Western Michigan or Akron in the quarterfinals. BG improved to 19-9 on the year, while Central, the 13th seed, finished 5-23. “At this time of year, it’s survival and move on,” BG coach Curt Miller said. “The players were happy to hear that not a lot of critiquing of game film would go on. We have to win however we can win. To our credit, we found a way to win without playing our best basketball.”
A sluggish Falcon team led by just two with 3:58 left in the first half, but a baseline drive and basket by Tene Lewis, a Lindsay Austin 3-pointer and an Ali Mann three-point play in those final four minutes pushed the Falcons’ lead to 31-21 at the break.
“I think multiple players on our team can score,” Miller said. “The run at the end of the first half was huge … we were so much more confident in the locker room [after that run], and we were in much better shape after that run. We may look back on it at any time and see that that was the difference in the game.”
The Chippewas, though, cut the lead to seven on a Lindy Hatfield three with 18 minutes left, but a Carin Horne layup started the Falcons on their second run, this time distancing themselves for good. BG’s Liz Honegger scored and Stefanie Wenzel hit a three to push the lead to 40-26, and baskets by Mann and Austin and a free throw by Lewis gave the Falcons a 45-26 lead.
Mann led all scorers with 15, while Honegger scored 12 and Austin and Kelly Kapferer 11 apiece.
Central out-rebounded BG 41-37 in the game, including 26-15 on the offensive glass. That statistic, though, was padded by Central’s poor shooting — the Chippewas shot 23 percent in the first half and just 31 for the game.
“Central played us really well here the first time, and despite their record, they have talent on their team,” Kapferer said. “I don’t think they’ve been too lucky this season, and this is a team that shouldn’t be overlooked. Those are the teams tat ca really hurt you, especially in tournament time.”
Miller has stated repeatedly throughout the year that a trip the Gund Arena has been the team’s goal all season long. The trip to Cleveland is the first in Miller’s tenure, and the Falcons will play the winner of Western Michigan and Akron Wednesday at 3 p.m.
“All year long, our goal was to get to Cleveland, and we’ll be the rookies there,” Miller said. “We’ll sign up for anything they ant us to do, because we are happy to be going to Cleveland. The pressure is now off of us. To have such a good year, if we would not have gone to Cleveland, it would have been a disappointing finish.
We’re going to go there and you’re going to see a loose team have fun there.”
The Falcons have beaten both WMU and Akron this year: BG downed Western 69-67 Feb. 7, while the Falcons beat Akron 85-48 Jan. 14.
“Our goal is to stick together and move on one game at a time and to move on every day,” Kapferer said. “Tomorrow we’re just going to worry about the next game.”
