by The Valpo women’s basketball team rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit Sunday afternoon at Bowling Green to close to within one point, but could not get over the hump, as the host Falcons came away 69-53 victors.
How It Happened
- Grace White (Redby, Minn./Red Lake [Denver]) and Leah Earnest (Stevens Point, Wis./SPASH) connected on 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions midway through the first quarter to give Valpo its first lead, 10-8 with 3:46 to play in the period.
- BGSU closed the first quarter on a 7-0 run to lead 15-10 at the end of 10 minutes.
- The Falcons pushed their lead to as many as nine points in the second quarter on multiple occasions. The first time, Carie Weinman (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South [Denver]) and Cara VanKempen (Coopersville, Mich./Coopersville) knocked down triples on consecutive trips to bring Valpo back within three at the 4:39 mark, 22-19.
- BGSU responded with a 9-3 run to again lead by nine approaching intermission, but a lob into the post for White in the final seconds of the quarter to make it a 31-24 game at halftime.
- BGSU out-scored Valpo 15-5 over the first five-plus minutes of the third quarter to extend its lead to 17 points at 46-29.
- Out of the media timeout, the Beacons looked like a new team, scoring on seven of their final nine possessions of the period as they out-scored the Falcons 16-3 the rest of the way to lose to within 49-45 with 10 minutes remaining.
- Shay Frederick (Greenville, Wis./Hortonville) had eight of Valpo’s 16 points during that stretch, while Weinman had five — including a 3-pointer in the final seconds of the quarter off a feed from Frederick that made it a four-point game.
- Frederick connected on another triple to open the fourth quarter and cut the deficit to one point, and after the Falcons had scored on back-to-back trips, Lauren Gunn (Fishers, Ind./Lawrence North) knocked down a shot from deep to make it 53-51 with 7:29 to play.
- The Beacons never had an opportunity to tie or take the lead after that, however, as BGSU scored on six of its next seven trips to pull away.
Inside the Game
- Sunday’s game concluded a five-game road swing for Valpo. It also was the team’s fourth non-conference game against a MAC opponent this year.
- Weinman paced Valpo in scoring for the third time this year, finishing with 15 points, including three 3-pointers. She also tied for team-high honors with three steals.
- White added 12 points and led all players with a season-high nine rebounds. She matched Weinman with three steals and also handed out four assists.
