Lady Broncos continue losing streak; fall to 0-8 in the MAC

By Mitch Barnett and Scott Sierzenga
Western Herald

Western Michigan University’s women’s basketball team traveled to Bowling Green State University on Wednesday night for a cross-divisional Mid-American Conference match-up.

Western Michigan came into the game looking for their first conference win of the season while Bowling Green came into the game with an undefeated 6-0 record.

The Brown and Gold were able to jump out in front at the beginning of the game, 6-2, but it wasn’t enough to hold on to the momentum. After a timeout, the Falcons came back with four three-pointers in a three minute span, but the Broncos would make a comeback later in the half.

The Lady Broncos trailed by just one, 22-21, with less than six minutes remaining in the half.

The Falcons then knocked down back-to-back threes, starting a 20-6 run to close out the first half. Down nine, WMU’s Jenny Loney sunk a shot from beyond the arc to take away a little momentum from the Falcons, but BG’s Kelly Zuercher answered on the other end.

Lauren Prochaska, last year’s MAC Player of the Year, also scored 10 of her 16 first half points in the final six minutes.

At the end of the first half WMU trailed 42-27.

In the second half, the Brown and Gold cut the deficit to less than 10. 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 and the Broncos were unable to put a stop to it as the Falcons went on to lead by as many as 22. After WMU brought the score to within eight, BG rattled off 13 unanswered buckets.

Cleary led the Broncos with 17 points and Manley scored 14. Loney and sophomore Miame Giden had seven each.

Five different Lady Broncos, Cleary, Giden, Molly Dwyer and Sara Vest had five rebounds apiece.

On Saturday, for the first time in WMU history, the Western Michigan University women’s basketball team (5-16, 0-8 Mid-American Conference) lost on their home court to the Buffalo Bulls.

The 50-46 win gets Buffalo (6-15, 2-6) out of their recent funk, which included back-to-back overtime losses.

“Anytime you can get a win, it’s a good feeling,” Buffalo head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald said. “Anytime you lose in overtime two games in a row, it’s discouraging.”

The Broncos came out revved up on defense in the first half, keying on the Bull’s star player Kourtney Brown, and forced Buffalo to take tough shots. Brown is the second leading scorer in the MAC and was held to only eight points and 10 boards in the game.

The Blue and White shot a dismal 15.6 percent from the floor in the first half and their 15 total points marked the single lowest points allowed in the first half by WMU this season. The Broncos also forced 10 turnovers in the first half and created five steals.

WMU came out ready in the first half, going to a 7-0 run and led by as much as eight. The Broncos cooled off toward the end of the first half, a common theme among the 40 minutes of play, allowing the Bulls to cut the lead to two with 1:34 left to play. The Brown and Gold led 18-15 going into halftime.

“We came out strong and intense,” Bronco head coach Tasha McDowell said. “I knew we were ready to play and I was pleased with my team’s effort in the first half.”

After scoring only four points in the paint in the first half, the Broncos started the second half by feeding players inside. Ebony Cleary got some touches early in the second half, scoring the first three points. Cleary finished with seven points but her real contribution was off the glass, grabbing 14 of the 34 rebounds for the Broncos.

“She [Cleary] is great on the boards for us,” McDowell said. “She was a monster on the boards in the first half.”

Western Michigan built a seven-point lead early in the second half, only to see a charge from the Bulls. Buffalo went on a 10-2 run with 14:25 to play and eventually took the lead 31-28 with 11:54 left in the game.

The Broncos defense held Brown in check, allowing her to score only two points in the first half but they were unable to guard her and her teammates in the second half.

“We knew that in the second half she would come back out and play well,” Cleary said.

With Brown being held back, Jessica Fortman answered the call ripping off 20 points and six boards as Brittany Henderson also added 10 points for the Bulls.

At one point midway through the second half, with the scored tied at 36, Buffalo was shooting a remarkable 72.7 percent from the field. UB finished the game shooting 57.1 percent in the second half.

McDowell expressed her displeasure in allowing her team to be focused on just one player, even if they did shut down Brown.

“It’s not acceptable when any one player scores 20,” McDowell said.

The Bulls extended their lead to seven late in the game, sealing their victory and further denying the Broncos their first MAC win this season.

“Obviously it was a good game plan,” Hill-MacDonald said, “to shut down Brown and they will beat Buffalo – it was a very good game plan. Fortunately other players stepped up.”

The Lady Broncos return to action this Wednesday when they face Ohio University at 7 p.m. in the University Arena.

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Posted by heraldstaff on Jan 31 2010. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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