Feb. 9, 2002
Stats
OXFORD, Ohio-Miami University's women's basketball team earned a key Mid-American Conference East Division win Saturday afternoon in Millett Hall, overcoming 24 turnovers and picking up a 70-59 win over Bowling Green State University.
Trailing 11-8 at the 15:31 mark, Miami came to life over the next 10 minutes, outscoring the Falcons 25-5 and building a 33-16 lead with 5:48 remaining in the half. At one point, Miami held the Falcons, who shot 60 percent from the field over the first five minutes, without a basket for a five-minute span.
Bowling Green managed to slow the 'Hawks over the final five minutes but were only able to close to 42-27 by the half. Miami, which hit just 30 percent from the field last Tuesday at Toledo, shot a blistering 57 percent from the field while maintaining a 22-9 edge on the boards. Heather Cusick (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo) led Miami with 11 points, hitting 5-of-5 shots in the first half.
Miami kept the heat on early in the second half, hitting three of its first four shots from the field and pushing its advantage to 20 with a Melanie Kozlowski (Parma, Ohio/Holy Name) 3-pointer at 16:13. Following a more than three minute span in which neither team was able score, Bowling Green began a rally with eight minutes to play and closed to within 13 points by the five-minute mark.
Behind point guard Lindsay Austin, Bowling Green continued to close, pulling to within 64-56 off an Austin layup at 3:33 and cutting the gap to five points with a Stefanie Wenzel 3-pointer on the next possession. Miami's Cusick and Colleen Day (Independence, Ohio/Holy Name) responded with back-to-back treys of their own to push Miami's advantage back to double digits and the RedHawks never looked back.
With the win, Miami improved to 13-10 overall and 7-5 in the MAC, while Bowling Green slid to 7-16 and 4-8 in the MAC. Cusick led Miami with an all-around strong performance that included 17 points, eight assists, six rebounds and four steals. Day notched 11 points, eight rebounds and five steals, while Kim Lancaster (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton) tallied 11 points, eight rebounds and four steals.
Miami, which has a week off, returns to action next Saturday when it returns to Mt. Pleasant, Mich., to face Central Michigan University. The Red and White has lost its last 10 road games to MAC West Division opponents.
