BGSU Battles Back from 18 Down to Down Dayton, 77-76

Saturday, March 20

Rockford, Ill.

11:00 AM CT (12:00 PM ET)

Bowling Green State University

21-7,14-4MAC

Dayton

14-5,12-1Atlantic 10

Dayton

Bowling Green

March 20, 2021 | Women's Basketball

Box Score BGSU-Dayton Stats Coach Fralick Postgame Interview

Falcons remain in Rockford for Monday matchup

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Athletics

ROCKFORD, Ill. – The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team came back from 18 points down on Saturday (March 20), posting a 77-76 win over the University of Dayton. The game, a consolation-round contest in the WNIT, was held at the the UW Health Sports Factory.

With the win, the Falcons (21-7) assure themselves of one more game in the 2020-21 season. BGSU will remain in Rockford for a Monday matchup against Drake.

The Flyers (14-5), the Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season champions, see see the season come to an end.

High-school teammates Olivia Trice and Nyla Hampton (Huber Heights, Ohio / Wayne) combined for 33 points in the win. Trice, a sophomore, had a team-leading 17 points, knocking down four three-pointers. Hampton, a freshman, had 16 points and was 6-of-8 from the field on the day.

Sophomore Elissa Brett had 11 points, while senior Madisen Parker and redshirt freshman Macy Spielman scored nine each, junior Kadie Hempfling eight and freshman Kenzie Lewis seven.

UD scored the first 16 points of the game, and the Flyers led, 20-2, before BG began battling back. The Falcons tied the game in the final seconds of the half, then led by as many as 11 points in the third quarter before fending off a late UD comeback bid.

COACH FRALICK POSTGAME INTERVIEW

FIRST QUARTER
• It was all Dayton in the early going, as the Flyers scored the first 16 points of the game. BGSU went 0-of-8 from the field to begin the game.
• The Flyers' Erin Whalen scored nine-straight points during that game-opening run, with a conventional three-point play to give UD a nine-point lead, then a corner three followed by another triple from the right wing. The latter shot made it a 15-0 game, and UD added a free throw before BG got on the board.
• BGSU's first points came approximately 5:35 into the contest, on a turnaround jumper in the paint by Nyla Hampton, but the Flyers responded with the next two buckets to take a 20-2 lead.
• But, Kadie Hempfling stole the ball from Whalen and hit an and-one layup, making the ensuing free throw. Kenzie Lewis converted after a baseline drive, and after UD answered with a hoop. Olivia Trice answered with a tough right-side one-hander for a three-point play.
• Hempfling fired a long pass ahead to Hampton for a transition layup, and Lewis came up with a steal, then put back her own miss. Seconds after entering the game for the first time, Macy Spielman was fouled and made a free throw, and the redshirt freshman then hit an acrobatic jumper in the waning seconds of the quarter to break BGSU within just seven points after 10 minutes.
• The Falcons went 7-of-11 from the field after missing the first eight shots of the quarter, and BG outscored UD by a 17-8 count during that stretch.

SECOND QUARTER
• Whelan continued her hot shooting with a corner three on the first possession of the quarter, and after a Lewis putback, Whalen knocked down another triple try to give UD a 30-19 lead.
• Hempfling and Trice exchanged passes, with Trice taking the return pass and draining a three-pointer, but a Whalen layup was followed by a Destiny Bohanon three-ball that gave the Flyers a 35-22 advantage with two minutes gone.
• Trice, though, hit a corner three, then took a Hampton pass and drilled a long three-point try with the shot clock winding down. That shot put BGSU within seven, and when senior Madisen Parker hit a three with a UD defender's hand in her face, it was suddenly a 35-31 game. BG made four-straight three-point tries to begin the quarter.
• The Flyers responded with a conventional three-point play, but the Falcons would end the half on an 8-0 run. Hempfling found a cutting Ellisa Brett for a layup, and Spielman knocked down a pair of free throws. Hempfling drove and banked a shot off glass in the final minute of the half. Then, with time winding down in the period, Hempfling drove, spun and hit a fadeaway shot off glass to tie the game at 39-39 at the break.
• Trice had 12 first-half points to lead BGSU, while Hempfling had seven points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals in the opening half.

THIRD QUARTER
• Hampton and the Falcons took the lead for the first time in the game, as, after a Lewis offensive rebound, Hempfling's 'extra pass' resulted in a Hampton triple. Then, Hampton got a deflection, and Brett grabbed the ball and gave it to Hampton for a transition layup and a 44-39 lead.
• UD responded with back-to-back layups by Tenin Magassa, and Magassa then took a lob and converted inside to give the Flyers a 45-44 advantage. But, Lewis drew Magassa's third foul of the day and hit a free throw, and Trice drove and kicked the ball to Brett for a corner three and a 48-45 BG lead.
• Brett made a nifty move and hit a shot, and Hampton drove for an open layup and a 52-45 advantage as UD took time.
• Out of that timeout, Whalen hit a long two-pointer, but Hampton converted a stop-start layup, then was fouled on another drive and made both shots for a 56-49 BG lead.
• Moments later, Hampton found Parker for a three-pointer, and after a Hampton steal, Spielman's layup in transition gave the Orange and Brown a 63-53 lead as the Flyers used another timeout. Hampton hit a free throw before UD ended the quarter with four-straight points to cut BG's lead to 64-57.

FOURTH QUARTER
• Brett scored inside on the first possession, but four-straight UD points made it a five-point game. BG, however, got another layup from Brett and a Trice triple for a 71-61 lead with six minutes to go.
• The Falcons still led by nine after a Lewis free throw made it a 72-63 game, but Whalen hit a floater, then made a pair of free throws with 2:15 to go. Parker drained a three-point try for a 75-67 lead with just under two minutes remaining, before a putback by Magassa made it a six-point game with 1:05 left.
• After a turnover, however, Whalen hit a three-pointer, and after UD got the ball back, a potential game-tying three-pointer by Makira Cook was halfway through the hoop before rattling out. BG missed a pair of free throws, though, and UT grabbed the rebound. After a timeout, Araion Bradshaw drove and hit a layup to make it a one-point game with 12.9 seconds left.
• BGSU inbounded the ball, and Trice was quickly fouled. The sophomore made both of her free-throw attempts for a 77-74 lead with 10.9 seconds to go.
• Cook drove and hit a layup in the waning seconds for the Flyers, but it was not enough as BGSU picked up the victory.

STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• The Falcons shot 40.3% from the field, but BGSU was 27-of-59 (45.8%) after missing eight-straight shots to begin the game. Dayton went 28-of-60 from the floor (46.7) in the contest.
• BGSU was 9-of-22 (40.9%) from the arc, including a 7-for-11 effort in the middle two quarters. UD hit 7-of-21 triples on the day.
• BGSU went 14-for-20 and UD 13-of-18 at the free-throw line, and the Flyers had a 41-37 rebounding advantage.
• BGSU had 15 steals off of 19 Dayton turnovers. The Falcons turned the ball over 12 times.
• The Falcons had a 35-10 lead in bench scoring, with Trice scoring 17 and Parker and Spielman nine apiece off the bench.

UP NEXT
• BGSU will wrap up the 2020-21 season on Monday, facing Drake in a contest that will begin at 4:00 p.m. local time (5:00 p.m. ET) at the UW Health Sports Factory. The Bulldogs were 100-91 winners over DePaul in Saturday's second game.
• Check BGSUFalcons.com for all of the latest news and updates re: the 2020-21 Falcons.

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