The BG women’s basketball team defeated Eastern Michigan on Thursday night at the Stroh Center by a score of 71-57, making them 15-3 overall and 5-1 in Mid-American Conference play.
Both teams got off to a quick start, trading baskets back and forth early.
At the 12:07 mark of the first half, redshirt senior Alexis Rogers got a steal on the defensive end and turned it into a fast-break layup, giving BG the 14-12 lead. Eastern Michigan, who had been using a full-court press all half, then forced the Falcons to take a timeout with their press minutes later.
Momentum then shifted back to the Falcons as junior Deborah Hoekstra made a three-pointer immediately followed by a charge taken by redshirt sophomore Erica Donovan.
At the 7:20 mark of the first half, Hoekstra came up with a big block for the Falcons, denying what could have been a wide-open Eastern Michigan layup. BG went into halftime with the 28-23 lead.
Early in the second half, the Falcons began pulling away from the Eagles. Eastern Michigan was unable to score until nearly five minutes into the second half. Just under two minutes into the second half, BG had a 10 point lead at 33-23.
With 12 minutes left to play, that lead extended to 20. The Eagles continued to battle to try to close the gap, but could not overcome the large deficit.
Redshirt senior Alexis Rogers led the way for the Falcons with 24 points. She also reached her 1,000 career point Thursday night. Junior Deborah Hoekstra finished with 16 points and senior Jillian Halfhill had 14. Jill Stein led the team in rebounding with 11 boards.
Rogers said that it is an honor to join the club of those with 1,000 career points at BG, but said she could not have done it without the help of her teammates.
“There [are] a lot of people from BG in the tradition who have scored 1,000 points,” Rogers said. “I’m honored to be able to be in the same category as some of the females who have scored 1,000 points in the program.”
Head coach Jennifer Roos said that a key for her team tonight was limiting EMU’s starters in terms of scoring. She attributes her team’s second-half rally to extend the lead to being more efficient and being able to keep the Eagles from pressing.
“I’m proud of our effort again, yet with that said, it’s a short turnaround before we play on Sunday afternoon,” Roos said.
The Falcons will return to the Stroh Center Sunday for a matchup against Northern Illinois at 2:07 p.m. The Huskies have an overall record of 7-8 and are 3-2 in the MAC. Prior to coming to the Stroh, NIU will have a home game against Buffalo on Jan. 23.
Prior to conference play, the Huskies defeated Mississippi Valley State, Bradley, Lamar and Illinois State. Northern Illinois tallied losses to Green Bay, Wisconsin, New Mexico State, South Dakota State, Northern Iowa and Illinois-Chicago.
In the MAC, the Huskies have won matches at home to Ohio University and Eastern Michigan, along with a game at Miami University. NIU has lost to both Toledo and Central Michigan on the road.
Following their game with Northern Illinois, the Falcons will travel to Ohio University to take on the Bobcats on Jan. 30 at 7 p.m.
