Freshmen Flourish Down the Stretch as Falcons Top RedHawks, 71-66

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Freshman Lexi Fleming scored 26 points, the highest total of her young career, as the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team picked up a 71-66 victory over Miami University on Tuesday afternoon (Dec. 22). The Mid-American Conference matchup was held at the Stroh Center.

With the win, the Falcons improve to 6-1 on the season, and BGSU is off to a 2-0 start in MAC play. The RedHawks dropped to 1-5 and 0-2, respectively.

Fellow Falcon freshmen Nyla Hampton and Kenzie Lewis joined Fleming in double digits in the scoring column. Hampton, playing her second game, had her second-straight 11-point outing, while Lewis had 10 points, posting the second double-figure scoring game of her BGSU career.

Lewis was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.

That trio of first-year Falcons combined to score 16 of their team's 19 points in the fourth quarter, and 25 of BG's final 28 points of the game.

Kelly McLaughlin paced the RedHawks with 22 points and a game-high 18 rebounds, while Katie Davidson scored 16 points and Peyton Scott 12.

NOTE OF THE DAY
• Lexi Fleming has scored in double digits in all seven games of her BGSU career to date. She has scored over 20 points in all four games at the Stroh Center this season, and has led all players in scoring in each of those four home contests.

The game featured eight ties and 17 lead changes, and neither team ever led by more than six points. Miami's largest lead of the game came midway through the third quarter, when a Davidson three-pointer gave the RedHawks a 46-41 advantage.

The Falcons answered with an 11-2 run, taking a four-point lead on a Fleming layup late in the period, but a 5-0 run by the 'Hawks early in the fourth quarter tied the game at 57-all.

The contest was tied again, 62-62, when Hampton stole a Miami inbounds pass. The Falcons' next possession saw Lewis fouled as she drove to the basket, and the freshman hit both free throws. Then, a Hampton layup gave the hosts a 66-62 lead with 2:17 left. The visitors cut the lead to two points on two occasions during the remaining time, but could draw no closer.

Two Fleming free throws with 21.7 seconds remaining gave BGSU a 70-66 lead, and junior Kadie Fleming blocked a Scott jumper on the ensuing possession to squelch any lingering Miami hopes of a comeback.

Fleming had 17 of her 26 points in the second half.

HIGHLIGHTS & INTERVIEWS

QUOTING COACH FRALICK
"I'm so proud of our team. I thought Miami played really well. We knew coming in that they were a very physical team and a good rebounding team, and they really hurt us in those areas. But, about midway through the third quarter, I thought Lexi Fleming was really a catalyst for us. We got some momentum back on our side and we gutted it out."

"When we go back and look at this game, I know we will see some things we can improve upon and some areas where we can get better, moving forward. But, I"m just so proud of this group for figuring it out and finding ways to win when the ball isn't always going in the hole."

FIRST QUARTER
• Both teams started the game slowly from an offensive standpoint. The Falcons had three turnovers on the first four possessions, before scoring on the fifth. Junior Kadie Hempfling grabbed an offensive rebound and flipped the ball to a cutting Lexi Fleming to get the Falcons on the board.
• After the RedHawks' Kelly McLaughlin hit a free throw to give her team a 3-2 lead, the home team went on a 7-0 run. Freshman Kenzie Lewis found an open Madisen Parker in the left corner, and the junior's three-point try was on the mark. Fleming stole the ball from Peyton Scott and hit a layup, and the freshman then converted a driving layup for a 9-3 lead.
• That six-point advantage would be BG's largest of the game. Monique Esbrand's three-pointer began a quick five-point run for the visitors, with a McLaughlin layup cutting the Falcons' lead to 9-8 at the day's first media timeout.
• Hempfling made a reverse layup, and Fleming took a pass from fellow freshman Nyla Hampton and drilled a three-point try for a 14-10 lead. But, the RedHawks would score six of the quarter's remaining nine points. After sophomore Elissa Brett made a driving layup in the final minute of the period, Katie Davidson hit a floater to cut BG's lead to 17-16 after 10 minutes.

SECOND QUARTER
• The lead changed hands several times in the early stages of the second period. McLaughlin and Amani Freeman made layups for the visitors, while Brett hit a layup and Parker knocked down another three-ball for the home side.
• Parker's triple gave BGSU a 22-20 lead, and after MU scored the next five points, Lewis tied the game with a three-point play, sandwiched around the media timeout. It marked the first of three 'and-one' buckets in the second quarter for the Falcons.
• Kenzie Schmitz gave MU the lead right back with a three-pointer, but Lewis again scored while being fouled, and again hit the ensuing free throw to tie the contest.
• Senior Angela Perry's three-point play, off of an entry pass from Brett, gave the Falcons a 31-30 lead with exactly two minutes left in the half, and Hampton answered Scott's jumper with a driving layup in the final minute of the period. The RedHawks, however, took a one-point lead into the intermission after McLaughlin's putback made it a 34-33 game.

THIRD QUARTER
• Just as in the second quarter, the lead changed hands several times in the early minutes of the third period. Lewis opened the scoring with a driving layup, and after a Davidson layup, Hempfling's nifty touch pass resulted in a layup by a wide-open Perry.
• But, McLaughlin put back a teammate's miss, and Esbrand hit a three. Fleming got a driving layup to go, and Perry lobbed the ball inside to Hempfling for a layup, but Davidson's three-pointer gave the visitors a five-point lead, Miami's largest of the game, at 46-41.
• Brett was fouled on a drive, knocking down both shots from the stripe, and Fleming grabbed a long rebound on the run and took it the other way for a quick layup. Scott hit a jumper for a three-point Miami lead, but Fleming continued to put her stamp on the game.
• The freshman missed a shot, but tapped the rebound out to Hempfling, took a return pass and hit a corner three to tie the game. Fleming then got an offensive rebound, drove the paint and hit a hesitation layup in traffic. Then, Fleming completed her own personal 7-0 run when the seas parted and she sailed in for an uncontested layup and a 52-48 lead. Scott's jumper cut that lead in half in the final minute of the quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER
• Hampton scored in the paint on the opening possession of the quarter, and after McLaughlin answered with a layup, three-straight points from Fleming gave the Falcons a five-point lead. But, after another McLaughlin bucket, Schmitz hit a three-pointer to tie the game at the seven-minute mark.
• Another driving layup by Hampton gave the Falcons the lead, and she scored again after Lewis found her cutting to the basket. BG had a 61-57 advantage with 5:19 to go.
• But, Davidson scored five consecutive points, with a three-pointer giving the RedHawks a one-point lead with 3:47 on the clock. Brett was fouled and hit a free throw, and after Hampton stole a Miami inbounds pass, the Falcons' next possession wound up with Lewis hitting a pair of charity tosses after a RedHawk foul.
• The visitors turned the ball back over, and Hampton drove through traffic and hit an acrobatic layup for a 66-62 lead with 2:17 on the clock. Scott knocked down a tough jumper, and a BG shot in traffic would not drop.
• With a chance to tie or take the lead, a pair of Davidson shots were off the mark, and Hampton rebounded the second miss. BG's next possession resulted in a Hempfling layup with 52 seconds to go. Davidson put back a teammate's missed shot and the RedHawks, trailing by two, used a timeout with 33.8 seconds to go.
• Fleming was fouled with 21.7 seconds on the clock and hit both free throws, giving BG a 70-66 lead. The next possession saw a Scott jumper smothered by Hempfling. Brett grabbed the rebound after Hempfling's block and got the ball to Fleming, who was fouled with only eight-tenths of a second remaining. She hit the first of her two shots from the stripe to complete the scoring.

STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• The Falcons shot 45.8 percent from the field in the win, while MU shot 45.3%. The RedHawks went 7-for-23 (30.4%) from three-point range, with BG going 4-of-15 (26.7%) from the arc.
• BGSU was 13-for-17 (76.5%) at the free-throw line, while the visitors hit just one shot in two attempts from the line.
• Freshman Lexi Fleming, as mentioned, led all scorers with 26 points, including 17 in the second half. Classmates Nyla Hampton and Kenzie Lewis joined Fleming in double digits.
• Hampton was 5-for-9 from the field for the second-straight game, en route to scoring 11 points (also for the second-straight game).
• Lewis had 10 points and did not miss a shot attempt.
• Sophomore Elissa Brett had seven points in the win, with junior Kadie Hempfling and senior Madisen Parker adding six apiece and senior Angela Perry five.
• Hampton led all players with a plus/minus rating of +10.
• Kelly McLaughlin had a monster game for the visitors, with 22 points and 18 rebounds.
• After turning the ball over five times in the first quarter, BG committed just seven turnovers in the final 30 minutes.
• The Falcons forced Miami into 20 turnovers, and BGSU had a 17-9 lead in points off turnovers.
• Miami had a 43-28 rebounding advantage, and scored 17 second-chance points to BG's 10. But, the Falcons had the lead in points in the paint (46-32), fast-break points (15-4) and bench scoring (17-4).
• Fleming had nine points on 4-of-5 shooting, adding an assist and two steals, in the first quarter. Then, after being held scoreless in the second period, she had an 11-point third quarter, and scored six more points in the fourth.
• Three freshmen combined for 16 of BGSU's 19 points in that final quarter. Hampton had eight points on 4-of-5 shooting, while Fleming had six points and Lewis two.
• MU's McLaughlin scored seven points in each of the first two quarters. She had 14 points and seven rebounds at the half

UP NEXT
• The Falcons are now idle until a game at Ball State on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2021. BGSU then heads to Western Michigan (Jan. 6) before returning home to face Northern Illinois on Saturday, Jan. 9.
• Keep it locked right here at BGSUFalcons.com for all of the latest news and updates re: the 2020-21 Falcons, and click here for the latest and most up-to-date schedule.

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