Photo By Stephanie Krell

BGSU Lauren Prochaska (02) tries to block a shot by KSU Asheley Harkins (04)

By David Carducci
Record-Courier staff writer
Bowling Green staked an early claim to the title of "Beast of the East" by ending Kent State's eight-game winning streak with a 77-71 road win in Wednesday night's Mid-American Conference opener.
The Falcons (12-2, 1-0) used a barrage of 3-pointers to charge back from an early 20-7 deficit, seized a double-digit lead by the break, then secured their 12th victory in a row by holding off a spirited second-half rally by their East Division rivals.
"This was a big start for us, but it's only the first game in the conference," said BGSU's Lauren Prochaska. "We still have a lot more games to go. And every game in the MAC is going to be tough."
Kent State (11-2, 0-1) pulled to within two points at 63-61 on a jumper by Chenel Harris with five minutes to play, then shot themselves in the foot over and over again in the stretch run.
"When you cut it to two, it doesn't do you any good if you can't get stops and you keep turning the ball over offensively," said KSU head coach Bob Lindsay.
The Flashes also kept losing track of the Falcons' 3-point shooters. BGSU hit a season-high 13 3s on 26 attempts. Sharp-shooting wing Lauren Prochaska was 4-for-8 from 3-point range in her team-high 20-point effort. Point guard Tracy Pontius hit five of her seven 3s in adding 17 points. Both players hit key shots from behind the arc in the closing minutes.
The defensive lapses that led to Prochaska's and Pontius' wide-open looks were a product of what Lindsay called "disappointing guard play."
"The experts always say college basketball is a guard game," said Lindsay. "I think that pretty much held true tonight. If you look at the game from a production level of both sets of guards, we were out-played by a large margin out of the guard position. That was the difference in the game quite honestly."
Bowling Green's Prochaska, Pontius, Lindsey Goldberry and backup Jessica Slagle combined for 56 points. Kent State's Rachel Bennett, Stephanie Gibson, Jamillah Humes and Jena Stutzman totaled 34 points.
The real sin committed by the Flashes' guards, however, was their inability to get the ball inside to center Anna Kowalska. KSU's senior center scored 16 points in the first half on 7-for-11 shooting, then became the forgotten player, as her teammates refused to work the ball to her in the post " even when she was wide open.
Kowalska finished with just 20 points to go with her 15 rebounds, and the Flashes missed a golden opportunity to take advantage of their greatest advantage.
"She had some touches, but not anywhere near what she could have," said Lindsay. "(Bowling Green) couldn't guard her. They didn't have anybody out there who could guard her."
BGSU head coach Curt Miller echoed those sentiments.
"There is nobody else like her in our league," he said.
Kowalska was the key to a passionate start that saw KSU score the game's first eight points and extend to a 20-7 advantage by the 12-minute mark.
That's when BGSU started pouring in 3s - six consecutive during a 22-2 run that put the Falcons in control.
"The biggest step we took was keeping our composure early when they made that big run," said Miller. "We realized that one play wasn't going to get us back into it, and we had to systematically get back into it."
Bowling Green made seven more 3-pointers than Kent State (6-for-18) and won the game by six points.
If the Flashes are looking for a moral victory, the six-point difference was a much closer margin of victory than the Falcons' 90-64 win at the M.A.C. Center last season. Bowling Green went on to claim its fourth consecutive MAC regular-season championship last year, while KSU struggled to just nine wins.
"We'll learn from this, and if we are smart, we'll be better because of it," said Lindsay. "We are certainly in the same ballpark as those guys are, competitively."

David Carducci can be reached at dcarducci@recordpub.com