BOX SCORE
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio- Western Michigan defeated Bowling Green for the first time in the since the 2002-03 season, 79-73, beating the Falcons on the road Wednesday night. With the win, and a Ball State loss to Ohio, WMU claims the best record in the conference, at 6-1 in MAC play, 9-12 overall.
Leading 35-32 at the half, Western Michigan took every blow Bowling Green (15-6, 4-3 MAC) could throw in the second half and came out on top, in a gritty team effort. The game saw a total of nine lead changes and four ties in the latter period.
Trailing, 73-71, with 1:14 left in the game, Tiera DeLaHoussaye took the ball the length of the court and converted on back-to-back possessions to give WMU the lead, 75-71, with 22 seconds to go.
On the next defensive set, DeLaHoussaye was whistled for a foul against Falcon senior Kate Achter. Achter stepped to the free throw line but missed the front end of a one-and-one. Sara Vest snagged the rebound and flipped the ball over to DeLaHoussaye who was fouled. She hit a pair free throws to seal the deal with nine seconds left on the clock. Amanda Parker added two more free throws with one second remaining as WMU celebrated the six-point win.
DeLaHoussaye led the Broncos with her fourth double-double of the season, tallying 19 points and 13 assists. She also added four steals and seven rebounds. With the totals, she moved into fifth place all-time on WMU's career assist and steals list.
Molly Dwyer and Parker each had 13 points, with Parker scoring all of hers in the second half. Vest chipped in 12 points and five rebounds off the bench.
Western Michigan owned an eight-point, 20-12 lead midway through the first half and took a 35-32 advantage into intermission. Bowling Green tied the score 24-24 with 5:32 to go in the half, but back-to-back three's by Sarah Dreher and Dwyer gave the Broncos the push they needed before the break.
WMU shot a season-high 66 percent from the floor and went 7-for-10 from the three-point line, in its best shooting performance of the season. Bowling Green hit 39 percent of its shots and went 9-for-26 from behind the arc.
The Broncos shot 18-for-22 (82 percent) from the free-throw line, hitting 16 in the second half.
Both teams collected 32 rebounds, but BGSU won the battle on the offensive glass, 20-5.
Western Michigan has won its last six straight, while the Falcons have dropped their last three.
The Brown & Gold will look to defend it's position at the top of the MAC standings Saturday, when it hosts Ohio (12-8, 5-2 MAC) at 2 p.m. at University Arena.
