This Week In Falcon Athletics (Feb. 8-14)

February 08, 2021 | General, Men's Basketball, Ice Hockey, Men's Soccer, Softball, Women's Basketball, Women's Golf, Gymnastics, Women's Tennis, Women's Track and Field, Volleyball

Each week, the BGSU Strategic Communications Department breaks down the week ahead in athletics and recaps the week gone by. Listed below are all games over the course of the next seven days with links and information for fans. Following that info are recaps, scores and links from games over the past week.

THE WEEK AHEAD

WOMEN'S GOLF
Monday, Feb. 8 & Tuesday, Feb. 9 in Mid-American Challenge (Lakewood Ranch, Fla.) | @BGWomensGolf | Scoring
The 2021 spring season gets underway for the Falcons and head coach Stephanie Young this week in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. The Falcons are hosting the Mid-American Challenge. This year's event will be in stroke-play format and not the usual match play style. Competing for the Falcons this week will be Nichole Cox, Kayla Davis, Sammi Blackburn, Aly Kovach, Kelsey Sager and Erin Korn. The 11-team field will play 36 holes on Monday (Feb. 8) and 18 holes on Tuesday (Feb. 9).

MEN'S BASKETBALL (10-8, 6-6 MAC)
Tuesday, Feb. 9 vs. Kent State, 7:00 pm | CBS Sports Network | Radio | @BGSUMHoops
Saturday, Feb. 13 at Toledo, 2:00 pm | ESPN3/+ | Radio | @BGSUMHoops
Bowling Green begins a two-game week with a Tuesday (Feb. 9) home contest versus Kent State at the Stroh Center. The Falcons will then head up the road to complete its home-and-home series with the Rockets. The Battle of I-75 is scheduled to take place at 2 p.m. at Savage Arena on Saturday (Feb. 13). Fifth-year senior Justin Turner became BGSU's all-time leading scorer last time out versus Western Michigan on Feb. 3. Turner broke the record with a three-pointer in front of the WMU bench with 13:53 left in the opening half. The native of Detroit has scored 1,959 points in 112 games in the Orange and Brown. On the night, Turner scored a game-high 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL (14-4, 10-3 MAC)
Wednesday, Feb. 10 at Kent State, 6:00 pm | ESPN+ | Radio | Live Stats | @BGSUWbb
The women's basketball Falcons have just one game scheduled this week, heading to Kent to face the Golden Flashes on Wednesday evening. The teams will meet in a 6:00 p.m. matchup at the M.A.C. Center, with the game streamed on ESPN+. Entering the week, Wednesday's game is a matchup of the MAC's first- and second-place teams. KSU is 5-1 in league play entering a Monday afternoon game vs. Toledo. The Falcons, despite tying the school record by making 16 three-point field goals, dropped a wild game on the road at Northern Illinois last Wednesday, falling to the Huskies by a 79-78 count. Lexi Fleming (22) and Kadie Hempfling (18) combined for 40 points in DeKalb, with Hempfling making a career-high six three-pointers. BG bounced back with a 69-53 win over Ohio on Saturday afternoon at the Stroh Center. Elissa Brett was a key contributor at both ends of the floor, with a game- and career-high 21 points to go along with a game-high 10 rebounds. Brett also was the primary defender on Ohio standout CeCe Hooks, who entered the game ranked second in the country in scoring (26.6 ppg). Brett and her teammates held Hooks to under half of her scoring average. As of mid-afternoon on Saturday, the Falcons were one of just 12 women's basketball programs in the nation with 10 conference wins. BGSU now has 14 overall victories, four more than the total for all of last year, and the Falcons have more than tripled last year's MAC win total. BGSU's game at Eastern Michigan, originally scheduled for Saturday (Feb. 13), has been postponed, so following the KSU contest, the Falcons' next scheduled game is Wednesday, Feb. 17, vs. Central Michigan at the Stroh.

VOLLEYBALL (6-0, 6-0 MAC)
Thursday, Feb. 11 at Ball State, 7:00 pm | ESPN3/+ | Live Stats | @BGSUVolleyball
Friday, Feb. 12 at Ball State, 5:00 pm | ESPN3/+ | Live Stats | @BGSUVolleyball
The BGSU volleyball team will be back on the road this week as they travel to face Ball State in a rematch of the 2019 MAC Championship. This will mark the first meeting between the two teams since the five-set championship and will take place on Thursday and Friday (Feb. 11 and 12). Thursday's match is set for 7 p.m. while Friday's will be a 5 p.m. start. For the Falcons, they will enter atop the Mid-American Conference as the lone 6-0 team after picking up three series sweeps to begin the season. Most recently, the Orange and Brown completed a five-set comeback to top Miami to sustain their undefeated start to the season. In that match, the Falcons saw two players register double-doubles, being Petra Indrova and Hanna Laube. The 6-0 start in conference play is the best for the Falcons since the 2012 season while the 6-0 start to the season is the best since 2011.

TRACK & FIELD (1-0)
Friday, Feb. 12 and Saturday, Feb. 13 at The Big Meet (Allendale, Mich.), All Day | Live Results | Live Video ($) | @BG_XCTrack
Bowling Green heads to Grand Valley State to take part in The Big Meet Friday and Saturday. The Falcons will run the 5000 Friday night before competing in the remaining events Saturday. The Falcons are currently ranked 1-2 in the 200 (Ryen Draper and Jemeila Hunter) as well as No. 1 in the mile (Kailee Perry). Zaresha Neal is No. 2 in the shot put, while the Falcons have four more rankings among the top five in the league. After this weekend, BGSU has just one more meet before the MAC Indoor Track & Field Championships.

SOFTBALL
Friday, Feb. 12 at Cleveland State, 4:00 pm | Watch | Live Stats | @BGSUSoftball
Saturday, Feb. 13 at Cleveland State, 12:00 pm | Watch | Live Stats | @BGSUSoftball
The BGSU softball Falcons open the 2021 season this weekend, with a four-game series vs. Cleveland State inside CSU's Krenzler Dome.The Falcons and Vikings are slated to play doubleheaders on both Friday and Saturday afternoon. Coach Sarah Willis and the Falcons had an 11-6 record last season, and BGSU had gone 5-0 in Clearwater, Fla., just before the remainder of the season was postponed and ultimately canceled. Payton Gottshall, a freshman last spring, pitched in 16 of BG's 17 games and went 11-5 with a 1.93 ERA and 128 strikeouts in just 87 innings of work. Sammy Dees hit .667 in what proved to be last season's final weekend, reaching base 17 times in 20 trips to the plate as BGSU defeated Providence, Penn State, Army West Point, Chattanooga and Seton Hall. Dees led the Falcons with a batting average of .474 and an on-base percentage of 565 last season. She was ranked 16th in the country in OBP and 27th in batting avg. Following the games in Cleveland, BGSU is slated to head to Rock Hill, S.C., for five games in a tournament hosted by Winthrop next weekend (Feb. 19-21).

#8 HOCKEY (16-6-0, 5-3-0-0 WCHA)
Friday, Feb. 12 vs. Lake Superior State, 7:07 pm ET | FloHockey | Radio | Live Stats | @BGFalconHockey
Saturday, Feb. 13 vs. Lake Superior State, 7:07 pm ET | FloHockey | Radio | Live Stats | @BGFalconHockey
The Bowling Green hockey team will return to the Slater Family Ice Arena this weekend to host Lake Superior State in a two-game series. The series will take place on Friday and Saturday (Feb. 12 and 13) with both games set for 7:07 p.m. puck drops. For the Falcons, they will be looking to get back on track and losing two to Minnesota State this past weekend. With 16 wins already under their belt, Bowling Green is seeking their seventh straight 20-win season, a streak that would become the second longest in program history.

TENNIS
Friday, Feb. 12 at Notre Dame, 3:00 pm | @BGSUTennis
Saturday, Feb. 13 vs. Bellarmine, 1:00 pm | @BGSUTennis
The Bowling Green tennis program will begin their season this weekend with two matches, one on the road and one at the home. The season will start off with a road trip to face Notre Dame on Friday (Feb. 12) while they will return for their home opener on Saturday (Feb. 13) against Bellarmine at 1 p.m. The match against Bellarmine will take place at the Perrysburg Tennis Center. For the Falcons, they return a complete roster from last season, including senior Marharita-Sophia Tavpash who will enter the season No. 7 in program history for doubles wins with 75. Both Tavpash and fellow senior Ayumi Sasaki will look to move up in the record book for all career win statistics.

MEN'S SOCCER
Saturday, Feb. 13 at Kentucky, 3:00 pm | ESPN+ | Live Stats | @BGSUMensSoccer
The Falcons begin the regular-season portion of the schedule with a trip to Lexington, Ky., for a Saturday afternoon matchup with Kentucky. First touch is set for 3:00 p.m., and the match is scheduled to be streamed on ESPN+. It has been just shy of 15 months since the Falcons wrapped up the 2019 season in the MAC Tournament's championship match. BG closed the 2019 campaign with an overall record of 13-7-1, advancing to the tourney final with wins over Northern Illinois and top-seeded Akron. BGSU played a scrimmage at Xavier a few weeks ago (Jan. 23), posting a 2-0 win over the Musketeers with goals by Jacob Erlandson and Eli Shope. The UK match is the first of three-straight Saturday road contests for the Falcons, who will face Dayton (Feb. 20) and Marshall (Feb. 27) during that time. BG's home opener is scheduled for Sunday, March 7, vs. Akron.

GYMNASTICS (0-4, 0-2 MAC)
Saturday, Feb. 13 vs. Western Michigan, 4:00 pm | Live Stream (Coming Soon) | Live Stats | @FalconGymn
BGSU is home Saturday to host Western Michigan as the Falcons look to continue to make strides over the latter portion of the schedule. The Falcons posted season-high team scores on vault and balance beam last time out against Central Michigan and continues to get closer and closer to filling out complete lineups. WMU is currently the top ranked MAC school and is led by all-arounder Payton Murphy. Murphy is the MAC's top balance beam performer and ranks second in the all-around. BGSU's Elena Lawson is fifth in the conference on vault.

WEEKLY RECAP

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL (14-4, 10-3 MAC)
L, 79-78 at Northern Illinois | Recap | Box Score
W, 69-53 vs. Ohio | Recap | Box Score

MEN'S BASKETBALL (10-8, 6-6 MAC)
L, 76-70 vs. Western Michigan | Recap | Box Score

VOLLEYBALL (6-0, 6-0 MAC)
W, 3-0 vs. Miami | Recap | Box Score
W, 3-2 vs. Miami | Recap | Box Score

SWIMMING & DIVING (1-2, 1-2 MAC)
W, 157-142 at Toledo | Recap | Box Score

GYMNASTICS (0-4, 0-2 MAC)
L, 195.050-179.250 vs. Central Michigan | Recap | Box Score

#8 HOCKEY (16-6-0, 5-6-0-0 WCHA)
L, 4-0 at #6 Minnesota State | Recap | Box Score
L, 5-1 at #6 Minnesota State | Recap | Box Score

TRACK AND FIELD (1-0)
Jack Skoog Invitational (at Central Michigan) | Recap | Results