Central Michigan University Athletics
Bowling Green Nips Women's Basketball
1/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 25, 2006
MOUNT PLEASANT - A valiant comeback by the Central Michigan University women's basketball team came up just short as Liz Honegger's three-pointer broke a tie game with 9.2 seconds left in Bowling Green's 57-52 victory in Mount Pleasant on Wednesday night.
BGSU improved to 6-0 in the Mid-American Conference and 15-2 overall while CMU falls to 1-5 in the MAC, 10-7 overall.
Down 50-40 with 6:41 remaining, CMU went on a 10-0 run to knot the score at 50 with 4:23 left. Chasidy Myers got the run going with a 10-foot jumper and after a pair of missed free throws by BGSU, Stacey Verhoff drained a three to get CMU within five. Myers than tossed in a layup to cut the BG lead to three and Candace Wilson tied it up with her second three-pointer of the night.
Bowling Green regained the lead with 2:45 remaining as Kate Achter hit a pair of throws, but Sharonda Hurd had a put back with 1:30 to go to tie the score once again. That set the stage for Honegger's game winning shot as after that Lindsay Goldsberry intercepted CMU's inbounds pass and added a pair of insurance free throw to secure the final five-point margin.
Myers finished the game a team-high 12, going 6-of-13 from the field, and also tallied seven rebounds. Wilson and Verhoff both finished with 10 points including a pair of three-pointers as Verhoff also had a career and team-high eight rebounds and four assists.
Bowling Green's Carin Horne notched a game-high 14 points before leaving the game with an injury and Achter added 10 tallies and 5 assists. Honegger tied Verhoff with eight boards.
The first half was nip-and-tuck with four ties and three lead changes. Bowling Green took a slight advantage after the teams were tied at 16, going on a 4-0 run for a 20-16 with 7:22 left in the half.
The Falcons remained in front the rest of the first, holding a 31-25 lead at the half. Carin Horne led BGSU with 10 points in the frame while Candace Wilson and Stacey Verhoff both had seven to lead CMU. Field goal percentage was the key as both teams tallied 26 field goal attempts in the half with BG shooting 50.0 percent and CMU knocking down 38.5 percent.
The Falcons' lead bounced between three and eight over the first 12 minutes of the second with CMU getting within a triple with 8:15 remaining, 43-40. BGSU answered with a 7-0 run to push its lead to 10 with 6:41 and that is when CMU's began its comeback.
Bowling Green used its strong shooting performance in the first half to win the shooting battle, .440-.407. CMU was better from beyond the arc, knocking down 50.0 percent (5-of-10) compared to 23.1 percent (3-of-13) for BG, but the Falcons were stronger at the line, .625-.500. BGSU also edged out CMU in rebounding, 33-32, assist, 13-12, and turnovers, 9-10, while the Chippewas had more steals, 7-6, and blocks, 6-5.
CMU returns to action on Saturday when they travel to Kent State to battle the Golden Flashes. Tip off is set for 2 p.m.
