Getting Back Up

Bowling Green absorbs the punches and keeps on fighting

March 18, 2007

By Jeff Lippman

CSTV.com

	Jeff Lippman Jeff is CSTV.com's lead women's basketball writer. E-mail here!

        ---   Column Archive   --- BASKETBALL 1/17: Maryland's Unsung Hero 1/10: In The Heart Of Texas 1/3: Dawg Lovers Delight 1/2: December Women's Hoops Report 12/20: All We Want For Christmas 12/13: Like Knight And Day 12/06: A Tale Of Two Tolivers 12/04: November Women's College Basketball Report 11/29: To Dunk Or Not To Dunk 11/21: Jazzing Up Duke 11/15: Stanford's Trees 11/9: Predicting The Hardware 11/8: From Zero To 60 11/8: The Best Of The Best 11/6: Rebels Work Like Gator Aid 11/5: Surprises Few At Top Of SEC 11/4: Hoosiers Going Nowhere But Up 11/4: Hoosiers, The Sequel 11/2: Building The Game They Loved 11/1: Young Vandy Will Still Be Just Dandy 10/31: Bridging The Tennessee Gender Gap 10/30: Open The SEC, Find A Pearl 10/29: Singing Lullabies 10/29: Immediate Impacts 10/24: Assisted Development 10/18: Questions In Judgment 10/16: Preseason Top 25 - All-American Teams 10/15: Conference Winners 10/15: A Chip Shot Away 10/12: The Great Eight 10/11: A Family Of Champions 10/4: For One More Year 9/27: All It Takes Is One 9/20: Around The Big East In 30 Games 9/13: They're So Berkeley 8/30: March Madness Come Early 8/23: Dude, Looks Like a Lady...Vol 8/16: Wading Through the Talent 8/15: Kia Creates Controversy 8/9: A Pricey Comparison 8/2: Everybody Knows Their Names 7/26: Never Lonely At The Top 7/24: The Future Stars In Bratislava 7/19: Moore Pieces of the Puzzle 7/17: Devotion To Country And Basketball 7/12: Golden Memories 7/5: Ta'Shia and The Crusading Musketeers 6/28: The All-Fourth Of July Teams 6/21: Two Out of Three Ain't Bad 6/14: We Will Meet Again, But Not Yet 6/7: Orange and Blueprints to Success 5/31: Running with the Big Dogs 5/24: WNBA Rookie of the Year Handbook 5/23: Tennessee's Goddess of Victory 5/17: Creating A Necessary Madness 5/10: The Next Marist? 5/3: Going Away Presents 4/25: Women's Coaching Carousel - The Losers 4/19: Women's Coaching Carousel: The Winners 4/12: Destination: Tampa 2008 4/5: Tommorow Is Only A Day Away 4/3: What Else Is New? 4/3: Bye Bye Blue Devils 4/2: The Underdog Vols 4/2: All-American Futility 3/29: Parker Transcending Greatness 3/27: Absolute Dominance 3/26: Mississippi Nouveau 3/25: Price Is Right For Ole Miss 3/24: The Cinderella of Cliche 3/23: Rising From The Fabric Softener 3/22: Making History One Upset at a Time 3/20: Two For Tournament Tuesday 3/19: Aggression Will Make Her Grrr-eat 3/18: Getting Back Up 3/15: NCAAs Not Always Neutral 3/13: Coming Out Parties 3/12: Seeds Align For Atlantic Coast 3/8: Suffering From Madness, Terps Find Cure 3/6: Winning Ugly Was Oh So Pretty For Rutgers 3/5: Pursuing Equilibrium 3/4: Tickle the Ivory, Cut Down the Nets 3/3: Heart and Desire 3/2: Maryland's Biggest Fan 3/1: Everybody's Native All-American 3/1: February Women's College Basketball Report 2/28: The Juice Is Loose 2/26: Jersey's Public Enemy No. 1 2/22: Hindsight's Perfect Vision 2/15: The Fabulous Five 2/8: Duke Out-Shines North Carolina 2/8: Chestnut Hill Idol 2/1: Freshman Dawg Has Her Day 2/1: Summitt Up For Greatness 1/31: January Women's College Basketball Report 1/25: Duke's Devastating Defense 1/22: "D Stands For Defense, And Duke 1/18: Rebels With A Cause 1/13: A Devil Of A Rematch 1/11: As Easy As One, Two, Three 1/2: December Women's College Basketball Report 12/28: Pride of the Pride 12/20: From Israel To Exams 12/19: MAAC Champs In Trouble 12/13: Bridging The Gap 12/10: Owls Give Terps a Hoot of a Time 12/1: November Women's College Basketball Report 11/25: Vermont's Power Too Much For Wagner 10/16: Looking Out For No. 1 FOOTBALL 10/9: No. 2 Ranking A Long Time Coming 10/8: Tebow Makes An Impression 10/1: Tebow Sparks Gators SOCCER 8/30: Boston College Eaglets 8/29: Leader In Life And Between The Nets 8/27: Preceded by Expectations 8/27: 2007 Women's Soccer Season Preview 9/29: Talent and Climate Lures Trinidadians 9/18: Late Start No Obstacle WATER POLO 9/6: Water Polo Championships 101

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Flexing her bicep muscle to prove her strength, junior point guard Kate Achter needed all of her might, mentally and physically, to advance past Oklahoma State and into Tuesday's second round.

The 5-foot-8, 120-pound soaking wet on a day she raided an all-you-can-eat buffet, guard has more bumps and bruises than she cares to relive.

"I spend more time on the floor, laying on the ground, than I do standing up and dribbling," said Achter, who is averaging nearly 12 points, four rebounds and five assists per game this season for Bowling Green (30-3). "When I get knocked down, it is just more motivation for me to go back out and prove myself more.

"I am not the strongest person, I have don't have the most height, but I have the most heart and I have to show that and get back up to help my team."

And the scrappy guard, with bruises up and down her legs and a fat lip, did get back up, numerous times, to the effect of 14 points, nine assists and two steals, including 5-of-6 big free throws.

None were bigger than the two free throws Achter hit with 52.5 seconds to go in the game and her team clinging to a four-point lead.

The star of the afternoon for Oklahoma State, Andrea Riley, was fouled going strong to the hoop. After the call, the freshman Riley slammed the ball down in frustration and a technical foul was called.

Achter walked to the other end of the court, took her place at the charity stripe and with ice water instead of plasma in her veins, she sealed the deal, as Bowling Green defeated the Cowgirls, 70-66, to advance to a second round meeting with No. 2-seed Vanderbilt.

Certainly, it wasn't easy. Wasn't pretty either.

Oklahoma State led most of the afternoon. It was a Cowgirl, the freshman Riley, who was the best player on the floor, finishing with 20 points on 7-for-19 shooting and five assists.

"She showed me why she was the Big 12 Freshman of the Year, that's for sure," said Achter, who had the pleasure of guarding Riley. "She's very quick, very talented, she's got very good handles to the ball. I can't say that her quickness has matched anyone else I've played this year."

Also having good games for OSU (20-11) was sophomore Taylor Hardeman, a 5-foot-10 guard who finished with 12 points on four big threes, and senior Rashidat Sadiq, a 6-foot-2 forward from Nigeria who had 10 points in her final game as a Cowgirl.

The Falcons grabbed the game's early lead, 2-0, and wouldn't possess it again until late. With 17:05 left in the game, senior Liz Honegger came up huge.

Honegger, at 5-foot-11 and a wide body she was easily the biggest inside presence in the game, nailed the first of three big trifectas to move BGSU ahead 36-35.

"She's not 100 percent, but she gutted it out," said proud coach Curt Miller after the game. "With Amber [Flynn] in foul trouble, she had to play even more minutes, but she was big. She stayed confident shooting the ball. She has not shot the ball well over the last few weeks but she hit big threes tonight down the stretch."

The Falcons and Cowgirls would swap leads eight times and go through five ties before all was said and done, and in the end, it was the senior leadership of Bowling Green, Ali Mann in particular, that was the difference.

Mann, the 6-foot-1 emotional senior leader for the Falcons, finished with a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds. She struggled in the first half, managing just four points, but when the moment came and Bowling Green needed a lift, Mann wanted the ball in her hands.

"In that kind of situation, that is just the way I am," Mann said. "I like the ball and I like the clock winding down. I like trying to make something happen. Especially in an NCAA Tournament game, that is a dream come true to finish out like that. It was the best feeling in the world to redeem myself a little bit."

Every player on the starting five is a senior except Achter. They have two more seniors coming off the bench. Needless to say, this is a senior-laden team. And none of them wants to go home early.

"They have believed all year that this was our time to take the next step," Miller said of his seniors. "That locker room believes we are one of the top 32 teams in the country. And not because the AP Poll said it, they truly believe it. The good thing is I get to practice with them again. I can't imagine not walking into the gym and seeing those five seniors on the practice floor. I want to coach this group as long as I can.

"After four years of seeing them grind games out and keep fighting when the chips are down, nothing surprises me anymore."