Falcons Take Control En Route to 71-60 Win at EMU

Monday, January 24

Ypsilanti, Mich.

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

8-7,3-3MAC

Eastern Michigan

4-10,1-6MAC

Bowling Green

Eastern Mich.

Zoe Miller hit her first 6 shots of the night en route to 14 points at EMU

Photo by: Stephen Linsky, BGSU Athletics

January 24, 2022 | Women's Basketball

Box Score BGSU-EMU Stats Give to the Falcon Club Get Your Nike Sideline Gear

Hempfling scores 19, Miller hits first six shots of the night in road win

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team led for nearly all 40 minutes on the road on Monday night (Jan. 24), and the Falcons came away with a 71-60 win over Eastern Michigan University. The Mid-American Conference matchup was held at the George Gervin GameAbove Center.

Kadie Hempfling led the Falcons (8-7, 3-3 MAC), scoring 19 points and grabbing eight rebounds. She fell just three points from matching her career scoring high, and is now just three points shy of the 1,000-point mark for her career.

Zoe Miller hit her first six shots of the night en route to 14 points, while Elissa Brett scored 10 points and tied Hempfling for team honors with eight rebounds.

Areanna Combs had a game-high 21 points for the Eagles (4-10, 1-6 MAC), but went just 6-of-22 from the floor. Combs was the lone EMU player in double figures on the night.

BG got key contributions from a multitude of players on the night. Nine players each played at least 15 minutes in the win.

The Falcons shot an even 50 percent from the field and went 7-of-13 from the three-point line. The BG defense allowed EMU to shoot just 34.5% from the floor and 13.3% (2-for-15) from the arc.

BGSU outscored Eastern in each of the first three quarters, taking a 16-point lead – the largest of the game – after 30 minutes. The Eagles cut the lead to seven points and got a stop with just over two minutes left, but Amy Velasco came up with a steal to give the ball right back to BG, and the home team did not score again.

NOTE OF THE NIGHT
• Kadie Hempfling has scored 40 points over the last two games. She had a season-high 21 points on Saturday at Ohio before pacing the Falcons with 19 at EMU.
• Hempfling now has 997 career points as a Falcon, and needs just three more to become the 29th player in program history to reach the 1,000 point mark.

QUOTING COACH FRALICK
"I thought our team did a great job tonight. Eastern was in the same boat as we were; we both had quick turnarounds after playing Saturday. I thought our kids locked in to the things we asked them to do. We did a good job with the details, and we did a nice job guarding their shooters. I loved our togetherness and composure all throughout the game. This was a great TEAM road win."

(On Kadie Hempfling)
"She's such a unique player. What separates her from others is her enthusiasm for the game. She's an inside-out player, and I thought we could take advantage of some switches. She shot it well tonight, and she handles it well and is such a great player. Kadie's a lot of fun to coach, and she's a lot of fun to have on your team."

ROAD DUB!!!!! #AyZiggy pic.twitter.com/CYMjKCBc60
— BGSU WBB (@BGSUwbb) January 25, 2022

FIRST QUARTER
• Kadie Hempfling got the scoring started, banking home a shot after a pass from Elissa Brett, and a Brett triple gave the visitors a 5-2 lead. Jocelyn Tate's offensive board and tough putback in traffic led to a three-point play, and a Brett layup gave BG a 10-4 lead.
• But, a step-back three-pointer by Danielle Rainey cut the BGSU lead in half, before an Areanna Combs three-point play tied the score.
• Brett answered with another long-distance shot, and Nyla Hampton's driving layup made it a 15-11 BG lead before the Eagles got the final hoop of the quarter.

SECOND QUARTER
• Zoe Miller was a big reason the Falcons outscored the Eagles by a 20-14 count in the second quarter. Miller was 4-for-4 from the floor in the period, including a layup after a nifty move on the first possession of the period.
• The hosts got a three-point play from Ce'Nara Skanes and a hoop from Juanita Agosto, taking an 18-17 lead, but that lead – Eastern's only one of the night – would last just 61 seconds.
• Morgan Sharps hit a free throw, and Amy Velasco found Hempfling for a long three-pointer before getting a spinning banker to drop through the hoop.
After a pair of EMU free throws, Madisen Parker and Sharps hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions.
• EMU used a timeout, but the game's next points came from another Miller layup. The Falcons' run was 14-2 and the lead was 31-20 with 3:30 left before halftime.
• Miller would hit two more shots in the paint before halftime arrived, and the Falcons led by 11 before a Combs three-point play just before time expired. BG took a 35-27 lead into the break.
• Miller had eight points and three rebounds in the second quarter, going a perfect 4-for-4 from the field.

THIRD QUARTER
• Hempfling opened the second-half scoring with a three-point play, and buckets by Brett and Hempfling gave the Falcons a 43-31 lead with just over three minutes gone. The latter play came after Hempfling alertly cut down the lane, taking a pass from Sharps and hitting a wide-open layup.
• Back-to-back hoops got EMU within eight, and after a Hampton layup midway through the period, a Skanes layup and a pair of Combs free throws cut the BG lead to seven. But, Miller answered with an and-one layup, with her charity toss restoring BG's double-digit lead, 49-39.
• Combs hit a pull-up jumper, but Miller stepped out beyond the arc, taking a Velasco pass and knocking down a long-range try. The teams exchanged free throws before Hempfling put back a teammate's miss, then drained a corner three. She scored the final seven points of the quarter, giving BGSU a 59-43 lead.
• Hempfling had 13 points in the third quarter alone.

FOURTH QUARTER
• Hampton fed Tate for a floater, and Tate returned the favor by assisting Hampton on a foul-line jumper, but EMU outscored BG, 10-4, to begin the final quarter. Those two hoops would be the Falcons' only points in the first six minutes of the period.
• Velasco converted a driving layup, but Rainey came right back with a three-pointer, just the Eagles' second trey of the game. Hampton drove and hit a floater, but Combs answered with a pair of free throws.
• Then, Treasure Thompson's layup cut the Falcons' lead to seven, 67-60, with 2:43 to go, and the Eagles forced a BGSU turnover. Just that quickly, however, Velasco jumped the route, stepping in front of an EMU player to steal a Combs entry pass. Velasco was fouled and split her free throws to give the Falcons an eight-point lead.
• EMU was 18-of-19 at the line to that point in the game, but after Skanes was fouled with 1:34 on the clock, she missed both shots from the stripe. Brett rebounded the second miss, and Velasco's layup at the 1:05 mark gave the Orange and Brown a 10-point lead. Hempfling capped the scoring with a free throw, and Hampton stole the ball on what would be Eastern's final possession of the night.

STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• Hempfling had 19 points to lead the Falcons, going 6-of-11 from the floor and tying for game honors with eight rebounds. Miller was 6-of-8 from the field en route to 14 points, and Brett had 10 points and eight boards.
• Velasco had eight points, including five in the fourth quarter, and led BG with three assists and three steals. Hampton also had eight points in the win.
• Combs led the Eagles with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Skanes had nine points and Rainey and Thompson eight apiece.
• BGSU shot an even 50% from the field (27-of-54) while hosting EMU to a 34.5% success rate. Eastern shot 29.0% (9-of-31) in the first half.
• The Falcons shot 53.8% from the arc, going 7-for-13 as five different players hit at least one triple. EMU made just two treys in 15 tries (13.3%), missing 11-straight long-range shots from the middle of the first quarter until the final four minutes of the game.
• BGSU had a 36-30 advantage on the glass.

UP NEXT
• What's up next? Home games against the top-two teams in the MAC standings, that's what's up next.
• The Falcons conclude a stretch of three games in a five-day span on Wednesday night (Jan. 26), returning home to face Western Michigan. That contest is set to begin at 7:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.
• Then, the Orange and Brown will renew the Battle of I-75, taking on Toledo on Saturday (Jan. 29). Tipoff is set for 1:00 p.m. on Alumnae Day at the Stroh.
• Log on to BGSUFalcons.com for all of the latest news and updates re: the 2021-22 Falcons.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• For more information on all things BGSU women's basketball, follow the Falcons on...
• Facebook | @BGWBB
• Twitter | @BGAthletics and @BGSUwbb
• Instagram | @bgsuwbasketball
• Snapchat | BGSU Falcons