Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio- Western Michigan gave five-time defending MAC champion Bowling Green a hard fought battle, but it wasn't enough to slow down the Falcons, dropping a 74-56 decision on the road Wednesday.
Western Michigan and Bowling Green have had a number of noteworthy contests in recent years. The Broncos are the last team to hand the Falcons a regular-season loss in Anderson Arena, beating BG their last trip to Bowling Green, 79-73 (Jan. 30, 2008). Last year, the Falcons slipped out of Kalamazoo with a 79-77 overtime victory.
Wednesday's matchup was just as dramatic for much of the game, but two big spurts by the Falcons proved too much for the Broncos to overcome.
WMU jumped out front, 6-2, in the first four minutes of the game prompting a timeout by Bowling Green head coach Curt Miller. The Falcons responded with four three-pointers in a three-minute span, but the Broncos wouldn't be deterred. Keeping pace with the perennial MAC power, Western Michigan trailed by just one, 22-21, with less than six minutes remaining in the half.
The Falcons stepped up their play, knocking down back-to-back three's that fueled the start of a 20-6 run to close out the half. Down nine, Jenny Loney briefly broke the Falcon momentum with a three from the left wing, but BG's Kelly Zuercher answered on the other end. Lauren Prochaska, last year's MAC Player of the Year, also got busy, scoring 10 of her first half high 16 points in the final six minutes. WMU headed into the locker room down by 15, 42-27.
Western Michigan continued to claw in the second half and cut the deficit to less than 10 over six and a half minutes. Ebony Cleary scored eight of the Broncos' first 10 points of second half and a layup by Taylor Manley with 13:21 remaining put the Broncos down just eight, 47-39.
Bowling Green again went on a run, this time not allowing the Broncos back in, as the Falcons pushed their lead to as many as 22. After WMU brought the score to within eight, BG rattled off 13 unanswered points. The two played evenly the rest of the game, WMU even outscoring Bowling Green by two over the last eight and a half minutes, but the Broncos couldn't make up anymore ground and fell by 18.
Cleary led Western Michigan scorers with 17 points and Manley pumped in 14. Loney and Miame Giden chipped in seven each. Five different Broncos, Cleary, Giden, Molly Dwyer and Sara Vest pulled in five rebounds apiece.
Prochaska was the game's leading scorer with 23 and Tamika Nurse gave the Falcons two players in double figures, netting 14.
Western Michigan (5-15, 0-7 MAC) shot 37.9 percent for the game, while Bowling Green (17-4, 7-0 MAC) hit 49 percent. BGSU' bench outscored WMU's 27-11.
The Broncos are back in action at University Arena Saturday (Jan. 30) , hosting Buffalo at 2 p.m. Buffalo (5-15, 1-6 MAC) fell in overtime to MAC West division leader Toledo Wednesday, 69-67.
GAME NOTES: Western Michigan came in under the conference average for margin of loss to BGSU. Entering the game, the Falcons had totaled six victories by an average of 20.8 ppg.
