“The Zips women’s basketball team (15-11) lost 66-56 in a nail biter during the Pink Zone game in a battle against the top-seeded Bowling Green Falcons (21-6). Obviously we’re very disappointed with our loss, but I have to give credit to Curt (Miller) and his players for stepping up and having the defensive intensity in the second half, Zips head coach Jodi Kest said.”
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The Zips women’s basketball team (15-11) lost 66-56 in a nail biter during the Pink Zone game in a battle against the top-seeded Bowling Green Falcons (21-6).

Obviously we’re very disappointed with our loss, but I have to give credit to Curt (Miller) and his players for stepping up and having the defensive intensity in the second half, Zips head coach Jodi Kest said.

The Zips lost earlier in the season to the Falcons on Jan. 6 62-74. With the win against the Zips on Saturday Falcons head coach Curt Miller picked up his 200th win.

The team was excited about the win. They drenched me in water, Miller said.

The Falcons took charge right from the jump ball with a three-pointer from guard Tracy Pontius.

Zips power forward Jolene Tamboue wasn’t going to let the Falcons get off to a big lead as she scored the Zips first four points in the game.

Both teams were evenly matched in the paint, scoring 14 points each in the first half.

The first half would remain a battle with the Zips getting their biggest lead of the game at six minutes and 53 seconds when they were up by six points.

The Falcons went into halftime with a lead of 31-27.

We knew at halftime that there is no better coach to make adjustments than Jodi (Kest), so we knew we had to get out to a quick start in the second half, Miller said.

Coming into the second half, the Falcons scored four points (a free throw and a three pointer) to extend the lead even further.

Zips shooting guard Amber Witt showed off her passing ability with a behind the back pass to Rachel Tecca. Tecca put in two easy points to shorten the deficit to four with only 16 minutes and 34 seconds left in regulation.

The Zips never could recover in the second half as the Falcons biggest lead of 11 points came with only five minutes and 41 seconds left in the game.

With one minute to go, the Zips fouled the Falcons in an attempt to regain control. However, this was not enough to bring home the victory.

Zips freshman Rachel Tecca came up big in both games leading the offensive attack while scoring 26 points the first time out against the Falcons and scoring 20 this time around.

She’s an outstanding freshman having a stellar year. She hurt us in the first game, but I felt we did a better job defending her, giving her a poorer shooting percentage. She still scored a lot of points, but we made her shoot it a lot more too, Miller said.

Tecca also led the Zips in rebounding with nine.

Zips point guard Ayla Guzzardo led the Zips in assists with six.

Lauren Pronchaska led the Falcons in scoring with 20 points. Nine of Pronchaska points were three-pointers.

Three other Falcons players scored in double digits: guard Tamika Nurse (14 points), Tracy Pontius (10 points), and Jen Uhl (10 points).

Throughout the game, the Zips had public service announcements about breast cancer. There were 976 fans at the game which was the second largest women’s basketball crowd at James A. Rhodes arena this season.

The Zips will hit the road and play MAC opponent the Kent State Golden Flashes on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

The Zips next home game is Feb. 27 against the Miami RedHawks.

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