KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan women's basketball team used an efficient offense and a stellar defense to come out with a 74-45 win over Mid-American Conference (MAC) opponent Bowling Green Wednesday night at University Arena. The Broncos improved to 9-5 and 1-1 in the MAC while the Falcons fell to 5-6 and 1-1 in the MAC. WMU also improved to 5-0 at home this season and 17-2 in the last two seasons.
“We certainly did not want to start out 0-2 in conference play. In this league you have to win your home games," Head coach Shane Clipfell said. "I'm ecstatic about our teams effort tonight, it was 100-percent from beginning to end. We were pretty hard on our team the last couple of days about effort. We weren't happy with were we stand in rebounding statistics and our ability to take charges. You didn't see any of that tonight. We had a very high energy team tonight and that is what we need.”
In the first 5:00 of the game, the lead changed five times in a back-and-forth game. However, the Broncos ended the first quarter on a 12-0 run that included senior Jessica Jessing connecting on a pair of 3-pointers. WMU stayed hot offensively jumping out to a 35-18 lead at the half after committing just four turnovers, the lowest number at the half all season for the Broncos.
In the third quarter the Broncos stayed tough on the defensive end, holding the Falcons to six points on 3-of-13 shooting as WMU led 49-24 at the end of the third. 24 points is the lowest point total allowed through three quarters for the Broncos this season. In the fourth quarter, the Broncos extended their lead to 33 at the 5:29 mark, the largest lead of the game.
Jessing and senior Miracle Woods tied for the game-high in points with 17, as Jessing set a new career-high with four 3-pointers made. In Jessing's last two games combined, she is 14-for-18 and 6-for-8 from beyond the arc.
"(Shooting well) feels great, I couldn't do it without my teammates though," Jessing said. "They push me every day in practice. Coach Rick Albro has been working with me after practice and it feels great to be able to have that type of performance and to get a win.”
Nine Broncos scored in the game, including senior Alex Morton, who finished with eight points, five rebounds and five assists to bring her career assist total to 299, just one away from hitting a milestone only nine former WMU alumni have reached. Senior Deborah Meeks scored six points and added a career-high 11 rebounds, four of which came on the offensive glass.
As a team, the Broncos finished with 11 turnovers their second lowest total of the season after playing Ferris State on Dec. 30. The 45 points given up is the third lowest of the season after holding the Falcons to 33.3-percent shooting while the Broncos shot 47.6-percent, the second highest percentage of the season. WMU also forced 17 Bowling Green turnovers, converting 20 points off those turnovers.
The Brown & Gold travel to face Toledo on Saturday, Jan. 9 with the gametime scheduled for 2 p.m.
