BG clinches share of MAC East title

AKRON -- Jessica Slagle scored 15 points, and Danielle Havel scored all 10 of her points in the second half as the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team picked up a 60-55 win at the University of Akron on Saturday afternoon in Mid-American Conference play.

With the win BG (22-4, 12-1) clinched a tie for the MAC's East Division title, as the Falcons are three games ahead of second-place Miami with three games remaining.

Allison Papenfuss and Jasmine Matthews each scored nine points for the Falcons.

Kacie Cassell had 15 points off the bench for the Zips (12-15, 6-7), while Sina King scored 11.

After BG took an early 7-4 lead, the Zips responded by scoring eight-straight points, and UA would lead for nearly all of the first half. Buckets by Alexis Rogers and Slagle tied the game, 28-28, at the intermission.

The Zips scored the first three points of the second period, but BG got three consecutive layups for a 34-31 lead. After UA scored the next three points to tie the contest, Papenfuss gave the Falcons the lead for good with an offensive rebound and putback with just under 15 minutes left.

The Falcons opened up a seven-point lead on a Papenfuss three-point play with 4:49 remaining, but the hosts rallied to within two points on three occasions down the stretch before BG put the game away down the stretch.