CLEVELAND- No. 9 seeded Western Michigan nearly pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in Mid-American Conference women's basketball tournament history, but couldn't get a final bounce to fall its way, bowing out in this year's second round to No. 5 Bowling Green, 55-53.
Western Michigan trailed by 18 at halftime, 37-19, and flipped the script in the second period, outscoring Bowling Green 34-18.
The Broncos had a chance to pull ahead in the final minute, after Aurielle Anderson's layup brought WMU within one, 54-53, with 45 seconds remaining. Western Michigan got the defensive stop it needed on a shot clock violation. The Broncos got the ball back with 14 seconds left, crossed half court and called timeout with 10 ticks left on the clock.
WMU set its inbounds play, staging almost a repeat of the regular season meeting when Corie Buchanan scored with seven seconds left to give WMU a 55-54 victory in Kalamazoo.
Lightening didn't strike twice however, and Anderson got tangled up at the top of the key, turning the ball over on a double dribble. Western Michigan fouled immediately on BGSU's inbounds, sending Chrissy Steffan to the free throw line for two. She made the first and missed the second, which WMU rebounded with 2.8 seconds left, however the Broncos never got a final shot off.
Anderson, Marquisha Harris and Miracle Woods each scored 12 points in the loss and Corie Buchanan had 10. Harris grabbed nine rebounds and Woods collected eight.
Western Michigan opened the game with a quick 6-2 start, and then struggled. The Broncos trailed 13-11 with 14:18 left in the first and was outscored by Bowling Green 24-6 the rest of the half. WMU shot 29.6 percent in the first 20 minutes, while the Falcons hit 46.7 percent.
The Brown & Gold stepped up its defense in the second half and began to claw back from the deficit. WMU held Bowling Green to just one field goal in the first 12 minutes, as the Falcons went 1-for-13 from the floor.
WMU pulled within four points with 6:40 left in the game, then gave up six straight to go back down by 10. Undeterred, the Broncos buckled down and went on a 14-5 run to get within one with under a minute left.
Western Michigan shot 51.7 percent in the second half and kept Bowling Green to 24.0 percent.
The team split the rebounds down the middle, 36-36, each side collecting seven offensive boards. Points in the paint was WMU 28, BGSU 30.
Western Michigan defeated Eastern Michigan March 9 in a first round game to advance to Cleveland for the first time since 2008. The Broncos conclude their season with an overall record of 11-20.
Bowling Green will go on to face No. 4 Central Michigan in the quarterfinals Thursday at noon. The winner of that game takes on Toledo in the semifinals Friday.
