Western Michigan University sophomore DeAirra Goss, center, charges past Bowling Green University senior Maggie Hennegan (4), making her way to the bucket during the first half.KALAMAZOO —
Brenna Banktson hit the nail on the head.
“It’s going to shock the MAC, I know that,” she said with an ear-to-ear grin.
The senior winger also hit her share of clutch shots on Saturday afternoon at University Arena to help her Western Michigan University women’s basketball team stun perennial Mid-American Conference power Bowling Green, 66-55.
Banktson, who, with teammate Ebony Cleary, was honored before the contest for eclipsing 1,000 career points this year, poured in a season-high 19 points. Guard Taylor Manley added 14 for WMU.
On the defensive end, the Broncos stifled what will soon be the highest scorer in Bowling Green history in Lauren Prochaska, who finished with four points on 1-of-10 shooting from the field.
Prochaska, a senior, came in averaging 19.7 points for the Falcons, who are ranked No. 2 in the midmajor top 25 poll.
It was WMU’s first home victory over Bowling Green since 2003 and its first double-digit victory since defeating UNC-Asheville on Dec. 29, 2009. And it was done in front of a crowd of 1,621 for WMU’s Pack The House promotion, where fans gained free admission with a voucher.
Broncos coach Tasha McDowell, after securing possibly the biggest win of her three-year tenure, grabbed the public address microphone following the game to thank the crowd for coming out.
“Like I told our players, the stage is set for it,” McDowell said later. “We’ve been so close. Now, you get a crowd out here that is behind you like that, you walk in and it was just intense. I just love our fans for coming out and supporting us. They were definitely that sixth player for us and our players responded to that.”
“In terms of the MAC, this win doesn’t make me feel any differently about my team than I did at the beginning of the year,” she added.
“We’ve got a great team, it’s just been trying to get over that hump, and why not tonight?”
After the Broncos went toe-to-toe with the Falcons early, Bowling Green hit the gas pedal for a 16-2 run midway through the opening half. The rout looked to be on as couple quick buckets from Chrissy Steffen put the Falcons ahead by 15 (37-22) with 1:28 left in the first.
Western Michigan meandered out of the locker room after halftime trailing 37-24, but once they took to the floor, they played like a different team.
The Broncos rocketed into the second frame on a 16-3 run and a pair of free throws by DeAirra Goss first tied, and then gave WMU the lead, of the contest. Shooting 59.3 percent from the field in the half, Western Michigan trumped the Falcons 42-18. Banktson poured in 12 of her 19 points in the second half.
“In the second half, we amped up our defense,” McDowell said. “We changed what we were doing and went with a whole different defensive scheme and they executed it well.”
The Broncos finished 44.3 from the field, a season-high. They also kept their miscues in check with a season-low 12, while forcing 22 turnovers on their opponent.
Bowling Green’s second-leading scorer in point guard Tracy Pontius wasn’t much help either, shooting a dismal 3-for-11 from the field, all her buckets coming from behind the long line.
Goss and Maria Iaquaniello may have combined for just eight points, but they spearheaded the defensive effort.
“We played a lot of team defense,” Goss said. “It wasn’t just me guarding (Prochaska). A lot of people were guarding her and a lot of people were aware of what she was capable of. I think we did a good job overall as a team.”
Thus WMU becomes one of the biggest enigmas in the MAC, playing tough against MAC West-leading Toledo and downing a formidable Bowling Green squad, but falling to lower-tier teams like Akron and Ohio.
“That’s kind of frustrating, like ‘Why can’t we play this way every game?’” Banktson said. “But, we’ve played this way today when it was important.”
Contact Jayson Bussa at jbussa@kalamazoogazette.com or 269-388-8400.