Jan. 16, 2007
Final Stats
OXFORD, Ohio - Despite nearly rallying from a 14-point deficit with under three minutes to play, a resilient Miami University women's basketball team (9-9; 3-2 MAC) fell to the 17th-ranked Bowling Green Falcons (15-2; 5-0 MAC), 64-56, Wednesday night at Millett Hall. Trailing 58-44 with 3:05 remaining, Miami put together a 12-2 run and pulled to within four with under 40 seconds but could not get over the hump as Bowling Green won its 30th consecutive Mid-American Conference game.
Hosting a ranked team for only the fourth time in program history, junior Amanda Jackson helped the RedHawks put a scare into the nationally-ranked Falcons, as she scored a game-high 21 points in her sixth 20-point game of the season. Sophomore Jenna Schone also hit double figures with 18 points, but Bowling Green limited Miami to 32.4 percent shooting and held the RedHawks under 60 points for only the second time this season. Miami also did a fine job defensively in the loss, holding Bowling Green to 39.3 percent shooting and nearly 10 points under its season average of 73.8 points per game.
Bowling Green and Miami traded baskets early, as the Falcons took an 8-7 lead five minutes into the game. Jackson scored six of Miami's first seven points, hitting a 17-footer, a pull-up jumper in transition and short bank shot in the lane. Jackson then evened the game at 9-9 with 14:30 left in half on another mid-range jumper, and back-to-back baskets from sophomore Stephanie Ford and junior Laura Markwood staked Miami to 13-9 advantage at the 12-minute mark.
The Falcons worked to slow down the RedHawks, who entered the game as the MAC's highest scoring team, with a full-court press and edged out to a 20-14 lead with under six minutes remaining in the half. An 11-2 Bowling Green run put Miami in a six-point hole, as the RedHawks were held without a field goal for 6:27 until Jackson hit a 12-footer at the 5:27 mark. Jackson's timely basket sparked a 6-0 Miami run that pulled the RedHawks back in front, 21-20. In addition to Jackson's bucket, Schone hit a 3-pointer with the shot clock expiring and junior Jaclyn Leininger went coast-to-coast with a steal and layup, giving Miami a one-point edge.
Miami went into halftime trailing 30-27, as Bowling Green held the RedHawks to 34.4 percent shooting from the floor. Jackson carried Miami in the first half with her array of short jumpers and strong drives to the basket, as she hit 6-of-11 shots and put in a team-high 14 points. Both teams struggled from behind the 3-point line, as Miami (1-of-10) and Bowling Green (1-of-8) combined to hit 2-of-18 3-point attempts through the first 20 minutes.
A 7-4 Miami run to open the second half knotted the game at 34-34, as Hawkins' bank shot, Schone's free throw and baseline jumper and Jackson's floater erased the three-point halftime deficit. Bowling Green nudged ahead, 43-38, after an Ali Mann layup with 11:12 remaining and stretched its lead to eight points by the 9:25 mark.
A pair of free throws from Amber Flynn with 6:13 left pushed Bowling Green's lead to double digits at 51-41, and after leading by as many as 13, Jackson's 3-pointer with 3:36 left ended Miami's field goal drought of 7:04 and cut the Falcons' lead to 56-44.
Trailing by 14 with under three minutes remaining, Miami ripped off a 12-2 run, pulling within four at 60-56. Schone scored nine of Miami's 12 points in the run, hitting a pair of 3-pointers, a layup and a free throw, and even though Bowling Green missed four of six free throws in the final minute, Miami came up empty at the offensive end, missing its final four shots of the game.
Miami beings a stretch of six straight games against the MAC's West Division when it travels to Ball State Saturday. Tip off is slated for 3 p.m. in Muncie, Ind.
