Article published November 28, 2009
Falcons dominate UNC Greensboro
Healthy Prochaska scores 20 for BG
By MATT MARKEY
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
BOWLING GREEN - In a dominant 80-51 win over UNC Greensboro last night, the Bowling Green women's team answered one major question about its principal components, while another lingers.
Junior Lauren Prochaska, the reigning Mid-American Conference player of the year who had been slowed in the Falcons' first four games this season by illness, scored 20 points in an energized 25 minutes to lead Bowling Green.
Meanwhile, senior Tara Breske, who had played in 71 straight games for the Falcons and started in 66 of those, did not play
last night after injuring her knee in Tuesday's win over
Oakland. BG head coach Curt Miller said Breske's future is still uncertain.
"There is no definitive diagnosis of Tara's knee - it's a significant knee injury," Miller said. "We're going to see how she responds to rehab over the next seven to 10 days."
Miller said surgery is still a possibility for Breske, and added that there is no timetable for her return to action.
Against UNC Greensboro, Prochaska hit a 3-pointer in the first minute to spot the Falcons to a lead they would never surrender.Bowling Green went on top 21-10 with 12 minutes left in the first half when Prochaska nailed another 3-pointer from the wing, and the lead grew to 13 less than two minutes later on a triple by Tamika Nurse.
"What I really liked was the aggressiveness Lauren had right out of the gate," Miller said. "I feel real comfortable when we can get Lauren going early. I was excited about how aggressively she hunted for shots tonight."
UNC Greensboro scored seven straight points to get within 24-18 with eight minutes remaining in the first half, but Bowling Green closed the half with a surge led by Tracy Pontius and held a 37-26 advantage at the break.
As the ball movement against the UNC zone picked up, the Falcons steadily pulled away in the second half. Bowling Green had a 52-36 lead after a couple of triples from Prochaska and another from Nurse. BG pushed the lead to 60-39 with about 11 minutes left in the game on a 3-pointer by Sarah Clapper that followed a scramble for a loose ball won by the Falcons.
"We're definitely getting into more of a rhythm each game, and having stretches where we score on multiple possessions in a row, and that's what we needed," Prochaska said. "It's exciting that we're coming along and playing together."
Prochaska, who averaged 17.3 points per game last season as the Falcons won a fifth straight MAC title, said her physical limitations during the recent illness were difficult to deal with.
"It was just frustrating, not getting better and just feeling tired all of the time," she said.
Bowling Green (3-2) held UNC Greensboro (1-4) to just 31.7 percent from the field, while the Falcons shot 53.8 percent. BG hit 11-of-23 from long range for 47.8 percent.
"We scored a lot of points tonight - that's two straight games in the eighties - but I still think our offense has struggled this year. I think we can get better," Miller said. "But to our kids' credit, as the offense is getting better and better, we are shooting the ball tremendously well from the 3-point line, and it really bails us out of a lot of problems."
Contact Matt Markey at
mmarkey@theblade.com
or 419-724-6510.
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