BG hung tough with one of, if not the best, team in the MAC conference, but came up a bit short.
The Falcons took on their arch rival Toledo Sunday in what was a battle of two teams at the top of the conference. The Rockets got the better of their rivals, outlasting the Falcons by a score of 48-38.
It was a game highlighted by a huge scoring performance from Toledo Guard Naama Shafir. The Redshirt Senior had a game high 23 points on seven of fifteen shooting. She also was two for five from three, in addition to making all of her seven free throw attempts.
“As I have said before, in this rivalry it doesn’t matter what the records are: the game is going to come down to the wire and it did tonight. I am proud of how we played,” BG Head coach Jennifer Roos said.
The game was a physical one. It was a contest to be won down low and the Rockets seemed to be the more assertive team. Toledo had an edge in the rebounding department as they out-rebounded the Falcons 47-32. The Rockets also had 11 more defensive rebounds than the Falcons (30-19).
Junior Point guard Jillian Halfhill led the Falcons in scoring with 13 points and thought the team’s lack of physicality in the trenches was critical.
“They killed us on the boards, we have to rebound more. That was one of our biggest keys rebounding and if we lose the rebounding battle we have no chance to win the game,” Halfhill said.
The biggest moment in the game came with about 1:56 on the clock with the Rockets leading 37-34. With the shot clock winding down, Rockets Senior Naama Shafir threw up a shot from three and it banked of the glass and went in.
BG would only put up four more points in the final minute, giving Toledo a hard-fought 48-38 victory.
“They threw it to her right away and my hand was right there so I thought it (the shot) was off, and then she makes it,” Jillian Halfhill said.
“That’s rough, you know she (Nafir) is feeling it when she banks in a three.”
It was clear in the end that the game was a defensive struggle, especially from BG’s point of view, when only Halfhill and Guard Chrissy Steffen were able to score in the second half.
“At the end of the game what does this really mean? We are 1-1 in conference, the same as Toledo,” Coach Roos said. “Usually this game happens at the end of the season or at the end of the conference season, so who knows what it will mean a few weeks down the line. I am happy with our effort and our execution, I just wish the ball could have went in a little more.”
