The BGSU Women’s Basketball team (11-11, 4-7 MAC) hosted the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (11-13, 4-8 Sun Belt) on Saturday, winning 93-82.
The Falcons entered the contest on a two-game losing streak, while the Chants also looked to recover from two back-to-back losses.
BG led for most of the game and led by nine at halftime. But coming out of the half, and with Coastal Carolina refusing to fully go away, the Falcons needed some players to put on the superhero cape.
Those two players were junior forward Joniyah Bland-Fitzpatrick and sophomore forward Lauren Gerken.
Going into the half, junior guards Paige Kohler and Jasmine Fearne led the team with 10 and 11 points, respectively.
In the second half, however, turnovers and fouls ended several Falcon possessions, and shooters like Kohler and Fearne were not getting clean looks from 3-point range. Chanticleers forward Tessa Grady was hard to stop, pacing her team with 21 points.
Given the situation, Gerken and Bland-Fitzpatrick stepped up.
Entering halftime, Gerken had six points. She finished with 18 points, shooting 6-10 from the field and 5-6 from the free-throw line. Gerken also racked up six rebounds, finishing second on the team behind sophomore guard Johnea Donahue.
In the third quarter, especially, Gerken had multiple and-one opportunities by driving to the basket. At 6-foot-1, she created a size mismatch in the paint and capitalized.
“The thing about Lauren is she’s still gaining confidence,” head coach Fred Chmiel said. “The more success she has, the more confidence she’ll get and the more she’ll be able to help us.”
The main hero of the second half, however, was Bland-Fitzpatrick. Entering the locker room at halftime with just two points and a rebound, she surged in the final two quarters, finishing the game with a team-leading 21 points and adding five rebounds.
“She did a fantastic job,” Chmiel said. “We probably would have struggled to win the game if she hadn’t come through like that.”
Bland-Fitzpatrick’s performance was made more striking by the fact that she racked up 21 points without attempting a single three-point shot.
“I’m not really a person that looks for points, I’m just a hustle player,” Bland-Fitzpatrick said. “When you work hard, you get rewarded every time, and that just goes for anybody.”
With Bland-Fitzpatrick and Gerken leading the way, BG racked up 35 points off turnovers and was able to close out down the stretch.
The Falcons take the court again on Tuesday, when they host Buffalo at 7 p.m. Coverage can be found at bgfalconmedia.com and on WBGU 88.1 FM.
