Technical foul seals victory for the Falcons

Bowling Green s Ali Mann rips down one of her 13 rebounds during the second half of the Falcons opening-round victory.

EAST LANSING, Mich. -At the time, it seemed the technical foul called on Amber Flynn in the first half yesterday could be costly for Bowling Green State University.

But it wasn't nearly as crucial as the technical whistled on Oklahoma State freshman Andrea Riley with 52 seconds to play.

Flynn's technical stalled a BGSU comeback and saddled her with her third foul. Riley's meant the Cowgirls lost their chance to cut their deficit to one possession, and they never got within less than four points again.

Kate Achter had just made a layup to put BGSU up 64-60, and Riley responded by driving the lane and drawing a blocking foul on Achter. Riley slapped the ball out of Achter's hands and was given a technical.

Achter made both technical free throws. She said she wasn't surprised at the call.

"There was some pushing and shoving going on from both sides," Achter said. "The officials made it very clear that they weren't going to have any of that. They took matters into their own hands and made sure things didn't get out of control."

Riley was at times the most talented player on the floor. She finished with a game-high 20 points. She often showed her frustration, though, and picked up her third technical of the season at a critical moment.

"It is something that happened, it is something that will never happen again," OSU coach Kurt Budke said. "We learn from our mistakes. We had many, many opportunities throughout the 40 minutes to win this game. This game was not lost on that mistake."

Flynn was whistled for just the Falcons' second technical of the season after being called for a personal foul near the Cowgirls' basket.

"I was expressing emotion about the call," Flynn said. "I was frustrated. I thought I was playing good defense. [The official] heard it and didn't like it.

"We knew from that point that they were going to call everything and we had to be on top of our game."

Senior Ali Mann said the Falcons weren't frustrated by the call, "it more fired us up." Flynn could only play six minutes in the second half, 15 overall, but scored 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting.

"It was a concern because then we couldn't get the rest that we wanted for Liz and Ali," BGSU coach Curt Miller said. "But in the long run it didn't hurt us."

KATE's 3: Achter made just the second 3-pointer of her career in the second half, giving the Falcons a 52-51 lead with

7:35 to play.

Achter's range is usually just inside the 3-point line, but she was so open that in the second half she tried two, making the second.

"In the first half, the wings were coming out on our shooters, and they were leaving me wide open at the top of the key," Achter said. "Coach Miller said, 'You're going to have to step up and make some 3s. You're going to have to be confident.' When he said that, my jaw dropped. I was like, are you really talking to me? He showed me that he had confidence in me."

BIG CROWD: There were more than 2,000 BGSU fans in attendance at the Breslin Center, and they were noisy.

"This place was rocking," Mann said. "I think we even had some Michigan State fans on our side. I could not imagine a better environment for us to be in."