AKRON — Bowling Green State University had very little momentum or anything positive happen through three quarters of Saturday’s game.

The final frame was a completely different story, and it resulted in arguably the biggest win of the season for the Falcons.

BGSU outscored league-leading Akron 31-13 in the final 10 minutes to knock off the Zips 71-66 in a Mid-American Conference women’s basketball game at James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron.

“That’s something I’ve seen with this team. There’s just a belief and endurance to them in the way we play,” BGSU coach Robyn Fralick said. “We always feel like we have to just keep playing the way we play, we’ve got to keep doing what we do.

“In the fourth quarter, we kind of finally saw a break in that. We started getting consecutive stops and transitioning that into points, so I’m just so proud of our team.”

BGSU’s remarkable comeback helped the Falcons improve to 14-2 overall and 3-1 in the MAC. Akron, the lone unbeaten in conference play entering Saturday, fell to 12-3 and 3-1.

BGSU got off to a slow start in trailing 23-15 after the first quarter, 32-23 at halftime, and 53-40 after three frames. The only positive was senior guard Elissa Brett draining a 3-pointer with 5:07 left in the second quarter to surpass 1,000 points for her career.

The Falcons team that has excelled through the first 15 games of the season broke through in the fourth.

Jocelyn Tate’s nice pass in transition to Brett for a layup sparked a 21-7 run in the opening five minutes of the fourth. Tate scored six points, Nyla Hampton converted a reverse layup off Morgan Sharps’ steal, and Sharps drilled three 3-pointers during the rally.

Sharps’ final 3-pointer off a pass from Allison Day gave BGSU its first lead of the game, 61-60, with 3:11 left. After Akron’s Reagan Bass scored a press-breaking basket, Sharps came right back with a bucket off the glass to give the Falcons a lead they did not relinquish.

“From last year to this year, we really wanted to be a team that could finish possessions and that could finish games, and I think that really showed,” said Sharps, a senior guard. “Yeah, we were tired too, but we could push further.”

Lexi Fleming, a 5-foot-5 junior guard, made two big defensive plays in the final 30 seconds to help the Falcons. On an Akron 3-point attempt, Fleming drew a foul on Akron’s Layne Ferrell (6-2) on a boxout with 26 seconds remaining, then deflected Farrell’s 3-point shot with 17 seconds left.

Fleming sank two free throws after drawing the foul on Farrell to give the Falcons a 69-66 lead. Sharps knocked down two more at the line with 16 seconds left to seal the game.

“Obviously, being 5-5, you’re kind of used to being in those positions and everything,” Fleming said. “So playing against that every single day, obviously 6-2 is way bigger than some of the girls on our team.

“But we do that every day in practice. I do that in the game sometimes, just mismatches and everything. So I don’t think it was anything special; I think it was what coach teaches us and everything about that.”

BGSU forced eight of Akron’s 18 turnovers in the fourth quarter. The Falcons committed just nine turnovers in the game.

Brett had a team-high 16 points to finish the game with 1,010 in her career. She became the 30th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point milestone.

“It was awesome making 1,000 points,” Brett said. “Didn’t really think about it too much in the game obviously, we were down, but it’s awesome.”

Day had 14 points, seven rebounds, and three assists, while Sharps scored 13 for the Falcons. Tate had 12 points, six rebounds, and three assists.

Molly Neitzel had a game-high 20 points for Akron, while Dominique Camp (14 points) and Bass (11 points, eight rebounds) also scored in double figures. Ferrell had eight points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, five steals, and two blocks.

BGSU will look to carry its momentum into another tough matchup at 7 p.m. Wednesday at home against Toledo (12-3, 3-1 MAC). Ball State and Buffalo are also tied atop the MAC at 3-1 in league play.

First Published January 14, 2023, 9:07 p.m.