The women’s basketball team spent most of Thursday night fighting to come back, falling just short to Miami as the RedHawks defeated the Falcons 57-54 at the Stroh Center.
Junior Alexis Rogers started the game off full-throttle by leading an 11-2 scoring run that lasted for more than seven minutes of the game. Rogers scored seven of the team’s 11 points during the run.
After BG’s run in the opening minutes of the game, Miami went on their own seven-point run to take the lead while efficiently stopping BG’s scoring attack. BG went nearly six minutes without scoring a basket until Rogers stopped the drought with two free-throws.
Just before halftime, freshman Miriam Justinger sunk a three-point shot to cut Miami’s lead to five points.
Throughout the first 10 minutes of the second half, Miami went on a six –point run and BG answered with a six-point run of its own.
BG kept it close by remaining within two or three points most of the game, and Rogers even tied the game up at 47 a piece with two free-throws with just over four minutes left to play.
The Falcons fought from two- and three-point deficits for most of the final four minutes and had a chance to come back when Miami senior forward Kirsten Olowinski missed a free throw with six seconds left. BG failed to secure a defensive rebound with most of Miami’s team on the other end of the court and allowed the RedHawks to retrieve the ball.
With just over three seconds left, the RedHawks missed a free-throw to give them a four-point edge and effectively secure them a victory. Senior Danielle Havel got the rebound but came up short on a half-court shot to tie the game at the buzzer.
“I’m proud of our kids for coming back,” head coach Jennifer Roos said. “But there were a couple mistakes that we made that were extremely costly.”
Rogers led the Falcons with 19 points and freshman Bailey Cairnduff stepped up in crucial moments and finished with seven points during the game.
Havel scored the team’s second most points with nine and junior Jillian Halfhill chipped in eight.
“This was a classic BG-Miami game,” Roos said. “Some people look at our Toledo-BG as the biggest rivalry, but this is pretty close too.”
