Flexing some muscle
Physical play sets tone for Falcons, propels BG to second round
By: John Turner
Issue date: 3/19/07 Section: Sports
EAST LANSING, Mich. - With not a single player over 6-foot-1, The BG women's basketball team has never really been known for an ability to win games from under the basket. But in yesterday's 70-66 first round NCAA tournament win over Oklahoma, that's exactly what the Falcons were able to do from start to finish.
The Falcons out-rebounded the Cowgirls 37 to 31, dictating the game's physical nature by coming out aggressivly, determined to not be pushed around by their bigger, taller opponents.
"This year, coming into it, I knew it was going to be physical," said BG's Liz Honegger, who grabbed four rebounds and blocked three shots. "I think it just gave us more of an advantage going in ahead of time with the mindset that it was going to be physical."
The two teams tallied 34 personal fouls in all, an average of more than eight per team, per half, as both sides set out to impose its will upon the other from the early going. BG's Amber Flynn, who had four personal fouls and a technical foul, became accustomed to these games while the team fought through a conference season where every team in the league was gunning for the No. 1 Falcons.
"It is definitely one of the top three [physical games], but there are teams in our league who hate us, so those are physical games day in and day out," Flynn said.
BG was led once again by Ali Mann, who pulled down 13 rebounds - more than twice as many as the next closest player. Mann also made her presence known on the offensive end, consistently scoring around taller defenders to lead BG in scoring with 16.
The added element of playing physically against a bigger team provided an added challenge, but one that Flynn believes the team will benefit from as it prepares to take on Vanderbilt in the second round.
"In our league we're not used to playing 6-foot-5 people and I definitely think that'll help a lot," Flynn said.
Flynn's technical foul was one of two total technicals in a game where flying elbows and flying bodies became the norm. In turn, tensions were high throughout the game between players and officials.
The Falcons out-rebounded the Cowgirls 37 to 31, dictating the game's physical nature by coming out aggressivly, determined to not be pushed around by their bigger, taller opponents.
"This year, coming into it, I knew it was going to be physical," said BG's Liz Honegger, who grabbed four rebounds and blocked three shots. "I think it just gave us more of an advantage going in ahead of time with the mindset that it was going to be physical."
The two teams tallied 34 personal fouls in all, an average of more than eight per team, per half, as both sides set out to impose its will upon the other from the early going. BG's Amber Flynn, who had four personal fouls and a technical foul, became accustomed to these games while the team fought through a conference season where every team in the league was gunning for the No. 1 Falcons.
"It is definitely one of the top three [physical games], but there are teams in our league who hate us, so those are physical games day in and day out," Flynn said.
BG was led once again by Ali Mann, who pulled down 13 rebounds - more than twice as many as the next closest player. Mann also made her presence known on the offensive end, consistently scoring around taller defenders to lead BG in scoring with 16.
The added element of playing physically against a bigger team provided an added challenge, but one that Flynn believes the team will benefit from as it prepares to take on Vanderbilt in the second round.
"In our league we're not used to playing 6-foot-5 people and I definitely think that'll help a lot," Flynn said.
Flynn's technical foul was one of two total technicals in a game where flying elbows and flying bodies became the norm. In turn, tensions were high throughout the game between players and officials.
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