Box Score Los Angeles, Calif. – A late rally by UC Irvine came up short as Bowling Green defeated the Anteaters, 62-54 in the first game of the DoubleTree Los Angeles Westside Thanksgiving Classic at Gersten Pavilion Friday.
Bowling Green would build a 27-point lead with 4:50 left before the Anteaters made a furious run, scoring 18 straight points to close within 61-52 on a Jenny Dee three-pointer with 50 seconds remaining. A foul gave BGSU's Miriam Justinger a chance to hit one of two at the line. Both teams would miss a shot and UCI's Olivia Montgomery hit a pair of free throws with 10 seconds remaining to close out the game.
Sophomore forward Shereen Sutherland led UCI (1-6) with a career-high 10 points and eight rebounds. Forward Brittany Glassow added eight points, while forward Methlyn Onogomuho shared the team lead in rebounds with eight. Junior forward Olivia Montgomery made her Anteater debut, totaling eight points, including a basket the first time she touched the ball. Jenny Dee and Tierra Hicks each recorded six points in the final four minutes of the game. 33 of UCI's points came off the bench.
The Anteaters shot 31.4 percent (22-70) from the floor, including hitting a season-high four three-pointers.
Bowling Green (3-1) was led by Erica Donovan's double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds. Deborah Hoekstra came off the bench to add 10 points, while Miriam Justinger had nine points and six rebounds.
A basket by Mokun Fajemisin narrowed Bowling Green's lead to 12-10 with 10:03 left in the first half, but the Falcons would respond with the next seven points to build the 19-10 advantage at 8:26. After Bowling Green lead by 10 (24-14) at 7:19, UCI chipped away and got the deficit to 26-22 at 1:55 only to watch the Falcons go in to the locker room on a 5-2 run and a 31-24 lead.
UCI would score its first basket of the second half on a Shereen Sutherland jumper at 14:11 following seven Bowling Green points (38-26). Bowling Green had control of the ballgame until UCI's flurry made it interesting at the end.
UCI will face either UAB or host Loyola Marymount tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. in the consolation game.
