CLEVELAND — No, this was not a rerun.
Go ahead: Check the date. This was not Wednesday, March 10.
It just looked like it at Cleveland’s Gund Arena.
For the second time in three days, Bowling Green’s Lindsay Austin extended her team’s season with a dramatic game-winning shot.
Austin hit her third buzzer-beater of the season Friday, giving the Falcons a 75-74 win over top-seeded Miami in the semifinals on the Kraft Mid-American Conference tournament. BG’s 21st win of the season moves them into the tournament final Saturday against second-seeded Eastern Michigan and one step closer to the team’s first NCAA tournament berth since the 1993-94 season.
BG steadily climbed back from a 15-point halftime deficit, but found themselves down eight with just 2:58 to play. BG, though, scored seven straight, the last of which came on an Ali Mann free throw with nine seconds to play. After Mann missed the second, Miami’s Colleen Day was fouled and sent to the line with seven seconds remaining.
Day, an 80 percent shooter from the charity stripe on the year, missed the front end of a one-and-one, a misfire that proved to be Miami’s only miss on the day. BG’s Carin Horne corralled the miss and gave it off to Austin, who dribbled into the forecourt. Much like Wednesday’s final shot, Austin dribbled to her left, and put up an off-balanced 14-footer that fell through and set off a wild celebration (See accompanying sidebar on the play of seniors Stefanie Wenzel and Austin).
“The whole season, everyone’s been confident with the ball in [Lindsay’s] hands,” said BG freshman Ali Mann, who led all scorers with 21 points. “She’s been our leader, and she has pulled through in the tournament. It’s not over yet.”
Austin has also hit buzzer beaters in the Falcons’ two wins over Western Michigan this season, the latest of which was in Wednesday’s quarterfinal.
The Falcons, for the second straight game, started quickly and led 16-6 after seven minutes of play.
Miami, though, would go on separate runs of 10-0 and 13-1 to open a 29-19 lead with 2:54 to play in the first half, due in large part to its ability to create BG turnovers, of which the Falcons had 15 in the first half. BG would score four straight, but the RedHawks closed on an 11-2 run for their 40-25 halftime advantage.
“They are so talented in the post; they have two great senior post players,” BG coach Curt Miller said. “We’re playing freshmen in the post, and you can’t really prepare for their physicalness inside. We can’t simulate that … But, we played more aggressive in the second half.”
After the teams traded baskets to open the second half, Liz Honegger scored four and Austin five in a 9-0 run that cut the RedHawks’ lead to 42-36. Miami, though weathered that BG storm, and regained a 58-45 advantage after a Kim Lancaster basket at the 12:38 mark.
The Falcons’ big run came over the next 3:40, as BG would score 15 straight to garner a 60-58 edge. In that run, Mann scored seven and Horne six, while two Stefanie Wenzel free throws punctuated the run.
“You saw an inexperienced coach getting caught up in the physicalness of the game,” Miller said. “I regrouped myself at halftime. I talked to the team and told them we were OK, that we’d be OK.”
BG turned the turnover tables on the RedHawks in the second half, as Miami uncharacteristically gave the ball up 16 times, including five times during BG’s 15-0 run.
“Miami is just a really strong team,” Mann said. “We knew that coming in, but you can’t really prepare for it. They were pushing us around a little bit in their first half. In the second half, I thought we came out and matched their intensity and competed better.”
The RedHawks, though, rattled off nine of the next 11 to regain a 67-62 lead. Mann scored and Horne hit two free throws to cut that lead to one. Miami, on the strengths of baskets from Day, Melanie Kozlowski and a trey from Nicole Motto, opened their 74-66 lead.
Mann hit a free throw, and Tene Lewis found Wenzel on the left baseline for a three with1:24 left. Wenzel was then fouled, and hit both, while Mann hit the first of two.
Day, after grabbing the rebound, was fouled, and the 80 percent free-throw shooter missed the front end of her one-and-one.
“To their credit, they kept us on our heels that entire second half,” Miami coach Maria Fantanarosa said. “You have to make sure you play with confidence, and we were on our heels. They kept us on our heels in the second half. They played for 40 minutes; they’ve out-worked people all year. We couldn’t stop them.”
Wenzel’s 12 followed Mann’s 21, while Austin scored 12 and had seven rebounds and Honegger scored 10 and grabbed nine rebounds. Miami placed five in double figures, led by Kozlowski’s 15. Motto and Day scored 14, while Amanda Jackson had 11 and Cindi Merrill 10.
NOTES: Austin’s three steals sets a new school record for steals in a season, held previously by Lori Albers, who had 241 thefts from 1989-1994. Austin now has 244 in her career.
BG is 6-0 all-time in MAC tournament finals.
Miami was 13-0 this season when scoring 80 points or more, but was held under that mark. They finish the season 16-1 when out-shooting their opponents from the field, as the RedHawks out-shot the Falcons 43.1 percent to 42.6.
