BG women rout Monmouth
12/2/2013SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — The Bowling Green State University women’s basketball team used a dominating second half to beat Monmouth 71-48 Sunday.
The Falcons outscored Monmouth 41-24 in the second half in the first of four games played at MassMutual Center as part of the Basketball Hall of Fame Challenge.
Deborah Hoekstra came off the bench to score a career-high 18 points to lead BG (7-1), while Miriam Justinger had 16 points and Erica Donovan 11.
Chevannah Paalvast finished with 18 points, while Jasmine Walker added 13 for Monmouth (0-7).
The first half was low scoring early as the two teams went almost seven minutes without scoring midway through the period. Hoekstra got the Falcons rolling late with eight of her 11 first-half points in the final 6:29, including a 3-pointer with 1:09 to play after the Hawks had cut BG’s lead to 25-24.
Jillian Halfhill’s basket with 17 seconds to play gave Bowling Green a 30-24 halftime advantage.
The Falcons started pulling away early in the second half when Jill Stein’s layup at 17:22 began a string of points in 9-of-10 possessions. BG outscored the Hawks 20-4 in the next six minutes, with Justinger and Donovan each scoring seven points in the run.
Bowling Green eventually led by as many as 34 points in the second half.
Hoekstra made 7-of-8 shots in the game, including 3-of-4 on 3-pointers. She also finished with four rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
The Falcons benefited from 21 Monmouth turnovers that led to 17 second-chance points. BG also outrebounded the Hawks 36-29, including 16 offensive boards, with Stein leading the team with eight.
The Falcons return home for the first time in nearly a month when BG hosts UW-Milwaukee at the Stroh Center on Sunday, starting at 2 p.m.