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Bowling Green State University's Nyla Hampton passes the ball vs. Ball State's Ally Becki (0) and Madelyn Bischoff, March 1 at the Stroh Center in Bowling Green. The pass led to a Lexi Fleming 3-pointer to end the first quarter for BGSU.
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BGSU women's basketball outlasts Ball State in overtime thriller

BLADE/MICHAEL BURWELL

BGSU women's basketball outlasts Ball State in overtime thriller

BOWLING GREEN — Bowling Green State University kept its hopes of winning a second Mid-American Conference women’s basketball regular season title in the past three years alive with a thrilling roller coaster of a victory on Wednesday.

The Falcons took a 22-8 lead over Ball State after the first quarter, withstood a tough stretch the next two frames, and used a Nyla Hampton free throw with one second left in the fourth to force overtime.

In the extra session, BGSU sank 11 of 14 free throws, including 9 of 10 from junior guard Lexi Fleming, as the Falcons secured an 81-76 victory at the Stroh Center.

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“I thought, coming off Saturday, we just talked a lot about getting back to who we are,” BGSU coach Robyn Fralick said, referring to the Falcons’ 84-66 home loss to Buffalo. “When we’re at our best, toughness is our thing, and I thought through this game and through the end of the fourth quarter and through overtime, that was important for us.”

Bowling Green’s Nyla Hampton and Lexi Fleming give each other high fives during a women’s MAC basketball game at Savage Arena in Toledo on March 4.
Michael Burwell
BGSU women's basketball seeking another strong response entering MAC tournament

BGSU improved to 25-4 overall and 14-3 in the MAC. Ball State, which beat BGSU 81-73 in the league opener in early January, fell to 23-7 (13-4).

The win sets up a colossal showdown for the MAC title at 2 p.m. on Saturday when BGSU travels to Toledo. The Rockets (24-4, 15-2) edged Kent State 64-60 at home on Wednesday.

Ball State took its first lead of the game, 46-44, with 45 seconds left in the third quarter on a pair of free throws from Marie Kiefer. Three straight buckets from the 6-foot-2 sophomore gave the Cardinals their biggest lead of the game, 52-46, with 7:12 left.

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BGSU, though, got its rhythm back offensively.

Allison Day’s hook shot in the paint, Jocelyn Tate’s drive and wild left-handed shot for a score, and Fleming’s reverse layup after grabbing a defensive rebound tied the game at 52-52 with just over six minutes left. Six lead changes later, Ball State had a 68-67 advantage in the final minute.

Ball State’s Ally Becki, an 89.6 percent free throw shooter on the season, missed a pair at the line with 8.3 seconds left, and Hampton was fouled on a shot while driving to the basket with 1.2 seconds remaining.

She missed the first free throw, but made the second to tie the game at 68-68.

“Credit to Nyla Hampton for hitting a big free throw, that’s a big shot to give us life and give us another chance,” Fralick said. “Down the stretch and overtime, we did a good job of getting stops and rebounding, and then hitting our free throws.”

Although BGSU fell behind 73-68 early in overtime, the Falcons’ shooting from the line and strong defense helped them pull out the win.

Brett’s steal led to a pair of Fleming free throws to make it 76-75 with 2:04 left. Tate stole the ensuing inbounds, was fouled, and made 1 of 2 at the line, and Fleming’s steal led to two more free throws as BGSU built a four-point lead with 1:39 left.

“They started up five in overtime, so we had to crawl back from that,” Fralick said. “At the end of overtime, we finally started getting a lot of tips. We started getting deflections, tipped passes, being able to force some turnovers and force some tougher shots. I thought that was really critical for us.”

Brett had a team-high 20 points with nine rebounds, while Fleming had 19 points and nine boards. Day scored nine of her 16 points in the fourth quarter and snatched eight rebounds, and Tate, who missed the Buffalo game with a foot injury, battled through pain to score 14 points.

“At first, I was really struggling, but then my teammates, they just kept telling me half of it’s just mental. You can push through half of it, you played the first half, you’re good,” Tate said. “Just don’t think about it and then it’ll carry through, and my adrenaline was kind of rushing too.”

Added Fralick: “There’s so many things that she does that you can’t measure until you watch her because when you watch her, you see the ground she can cover and the way that she can get rebounds or attack the rim. She was huge for us tonight. It was a big deal what she was able to do for us.”

Kiefer’s 22 points and 11 rebounds led Ball State. Becki and Anna Clephane had 19 and 15 points, respectively.

BGSU forced 22 turnovers, committed 12, and had a 23-10 advantage in points off turnovers. The Falcons shot 71 percent (22-of-31) from the free-throw line, while the Cardinals shot just 44 percent (11-of-25).

First Published March 2, 2023, 12:50 a.m.

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Bowling Green State University's Nyla Hampton passes the ball vs. Ball State's Ally Becki (0) and Madelyn Bischoff, March 1 at the Stroh Center in Bowling Green. The pass led to a Lexi Fleming 3-pointer to end the first quarter for BGSU.  (BLADE/MICHAEL BURWELL)
Bowling Green State University's Jocelyn Tate puts up a shot.  (BLADE/MICHAEL BURWELL)
Bowling Green State University's Elissa Brett (5) and Allison Day try to draw a foul on Ball State's Anna Clephane.  (BLADE/MICHAEL BURWELL)
Bowling Green State University's Nyla Hampton (middle) drives to the basket between Ball State's Madelyn Bischoff (left) and Anna Clephane.  (BLADE/MICHAEL BURWELL)
Bowling Green State University's Allison Day (left) puts up a shot as Ball State's Marie Kiefer defends.  (BLADE/MICHAEL BURWELL)
BLADE/MICHAEL BURWELL
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