Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Bowling Green
Women's Hoops Falls to No. 16/16 Bowling Green, 72-55
1/28/2007 7:04:27 PM | Women's Basketball
Nationally ranked Falcons too much for the Eagles
Box score.
YPSILANTI, Mich. -- The No. 16 ranked Bowling Green Falcons proved to be too much for the Eastern Michigan Eagles to handle, as the Eagles dropped a 72-55 decision on Sunday here at the Convocation Center. The loss drops Eastern Michigan to 11-8, 6-2 Mac, while Bowling Green improves to 18-2, 8-0 MAC.
The Eagles were led by freshman Kelly Watts (Gary, Ind.- East Chicago Central) who scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Senior Sarah VanMetre (Noblesville, Ind.- Noblesville) also contributed 14 points and seven rebounds. Bowling Green was led by Kate Achter who had 22 points.
Eastern Michigan played with high intensity from the tip-off, forcing two turnovers on Bowling Green's first two possessions. After six straight Falcon points, junior Patrice McKinney (Lansing, Mich.- Everett) scored from underneath to bring some momentum back to the Eagles. After another mini run by Bowling Green of five points, the Eagles called on the inside presence of Emily Hanley to knock down a hook shot in the lane. Bowling Green held an 11-6 lead after five minutes of play.
Both teams then settled down into their offensive and defensive sets. The next five minutes of play only yielded a total of four points for both teams, with the Falcons holding a 15-10 lead heading into the last ten minutes of first half play. The Eagles then made a push for the lead as Watts got things started with a hoop and a foul at the 9:29 mark to cut the deficit to two points.
Watts came up big again for the Eagles with five straight, grabbing the 20-19 lead for the Eagles with 6:11 left in the half. Bowling Green then went on a 13-1 run to close the half, heading into the locker room with a 32-21 lead. Poor shooting plagued Eastern Michigan in the first half, as the Eagles only shot 30.4 percent from the field and only 54.5 percent from the line.
Both teams came out in the second half matching each other from the start. The Falcon lead stayed at 11 until the 14:46 mark, when the Eagles were able to trim the score to 39-31. After the Falcons reeled off five straight, freshman Alyssa Pittman (Elkhart, Ind.- Elkhart Memorial) drained a shot from behind the arc to bring the deficit back to 10 with 13:41 to play.
This was the closest the Eagles would come for the rest of the game however. Eastern Michigan tried several times to swing momentum in their favor with little success. The Falcons outscored the Eagles 33-24 down the stretch, as Eastern Michigan fell to Bowling Green, 72-55.
Much like the first half, poor shooting doomed the Eagles. Eastern Michigan only shot 37.3 percent from the field and only 54.4 perceent from the line. On the contrary, Bowling Green shot 42 percent from the field and hit 25-28 (89.3 percent) from the charity stripe.
The Eagles will hit the road next, traveling to Akron for their next MAC showdown against the 7-12, 0-7 MAC University of Akron Zips. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 pm. and will betelesvised as the MAC Game on the Week.
