Stellar First-Half Performance Propels Falcons to Win over Western

Wednesday, January 26

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

9-7,4-3MAC

Western Michigan

10-5,4-2MAC

Western Mich.

Bowling Green

Kadie Hempfling is congratulated after surpassing 1,000 career points

Kadie Hempfling (35) is congratulated by her teammates after surpassing the 1,000-point plateau for her career

Photo by: Morgan Holscher, BGSU Athletics

Stellar First-Half Performance Propels Falcons to Win over Western

January 26, 2022 | Women's Basketball

Box Score BGSU-WMU Stats Photo Gallery

Hempfling reaches 1,000-point plateau in 67-51 victory

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team played a stellar first half at both ends of the floor Wednesday night (Jan. 26), and the Falcons went on to post a 67-51 win over Western Michigan University. The Mid-American Conference matchup was held at the Stroh Center.

Amy Velasco scored 15 points to pace three double-figure scorers for the Falcons (9-7, 4-3 MAC), while Elissa Brett and Morgan Sharps scored 12 points apiece. Brett had a double-double, with a game-high 10 rebounds.

Senior Kadie Hempfling had seven points and five boards on the night, and scored the 1,000th point of her BGSU career on an 'and-one' jumper in the paint midway through the third quarter.

Lauren Ross had 17 points for the Broncos (10-5, 4-2 MAC), who entered the night in second place in the MAC standings. Taylor Williams had 16 points, six rebounds and six blocked shots for the visitors.

BGSU shot 53 percent from the field in the first half, and the Falcons allowed the Broncos to make just five first-half field goals. BG had 10 steals along with a lopsided 25-7 rebounding advantage in the opening 20 minutes.

For the game, the Falcons shot 51%, while WMU ended up with a 38.3% field-goal rate. BGSU had a 39-20 lead on the glass.

NOTE OF THE NIGHT: MILLENNIUM FALCON
• Kadie Hempfling, as mentioned, scored the 1,000th point of her epic BGSU career on Wednesday night. She became just the 29th player in school history to reach the millennium mark.
• Hempfling now has 1,004 career points as a Falcon, and now ranks 28th on the BG career scoring list. She passed Lindsay Austin (1,000 points from 2000-04) on Wednesday, and her next targets are Cary McGehee (1980-84) and Mirium Justinger (2012-16), each of whom scored 1,027 career points in the Orange and Brown.

QUOTING COACH FRALICK
"It was a great team win tonight. I thought we really set the tone in the first half. That was one of the better first halves we've played at both ends, both offensively and defensively."

"We had a quick turnaround after playing Monday. It was a one-day prep, but I thought our kids did a great job of locking in and really executing the game plan."

FIRST QUARTER
• The Falcons never trailed, taking an early 8-2 lead. The bank was open for Morgan Sharps as she hit a three-pointer just a few minutes after 7:00 p.m., and Amy Velasco cut toward the hoop and hit a layup on BG's second possession of the night. Kadie Hempfling assisted on both buckets.
• Taylor Williams got the Broncos on the board, but Jocelyn Tate's 'extra pass' resulted in a corner three from Nyla Hampton and that 8-2 advantage. Velasco found Tate for a layup, Hampton drove and scored and Elissa Brett was fouled and made both resulting shots. The BG lead was 14-4.
• Williams, who scored all seven of her team's first-quarter points, answered with a triple, but Hampton spotted Brett in the corner for a three-pointer at the other end of the floor. The Falcons had a 17-7 lead, and Western never got within single digits the rest of the night.

SECOND QUARTER
• Velasco hit a floater on BG's first possession of the period, and Hampton converted another driving layup for a 22-7 lead. The visitors responded with four-straight points, but Velasco hit Hempfling for a layup (and her 998th and 999th career points), and a Velasco deflection led to a Brett run-out, a 26-11 lead and a Bronco timeout at the 6:58 mark.
• Out of the timeout, however, the Falcons forced a shot-clock violation, and Velasco hit a driving layup in traffic. Tate's layup made it a 30-11 game, and after Lauren Ross stopped BG's run, a layup by Tate was followed by another Velasco steal, another easy bucket for Brett and another WMU timeout.
• And, after that stoppage of play, a Kenzie Lewis steal gave the ball back to BG, and Velasco scored to make it a 36-13 Falcon lead. Zoe Miller's layup in the final minute of the half gave the Orange and Brown a 39-17 lead at the intermission.
• BGSU went 10-of-13 from the field in the second quarter, scoring all 10 buckets in the paint.
• The Falcons went 16-of-30 (53.3%) from the floor in the first half, while allowing WMU to make just five field goals in 20 attempts. BGSU also had 10 steals and a rebounding advantage of 25-7 in the first 20 minutes.

THIRD QUARTER
• BG got off to a slow second-half start, as Ross scored the first five points of the third quarter for the Broncos. Velasco's 'extra pass' resulted in a corner three from Sharps, but WMU scored the next five points, with Megan Wagner's three-pointer cutting the BG lead to 42-27.
• Hempfling, however, worked her way into the paint and hit a turnaround jumper at the 4:54 mark, moving her past the 1,000-point plateau. She was fouled on the play and sank the ensuing free throw.
• But, the Broncos kept creeping closer. Ross scored six-straight points, with a jumper, a layup and a pair of free throws. The shots from the stripe made it a 12-point game with 3:39 left in the quarter.
• After Western had begun the period on a 16-6 run, the Falcons ended the quarter on an 8-2 run. Velasco answered the Ross run with a floater, then took a charge and hit a driving, spinning layup for a 49-33 BG advantage.
• Sharps hit a free throw, and after Wagner's pull-up jumper, Hampton found Sharps for a corner three in the final seconds of the period, giving the hosts a 53-35 lead after 30 minutes.

@BGSUwbb Kadie Hempfling goes over 1,000 points tonight at the Stroh Center. pic.twitter.com/Bu5Y6bNwiB
— JD Pooley (@pooleyjd) January 27, 2022

FOURTH QUARTER
• Sharps opened the scoring with a floater in the lane, and after WMU made a pair of layups, Brett's free throws and Hempfling's layup made it a 59-39 game. Tate scored off of a Lewis inbounds pass, and Hampton made another driving layup at the 6:15 mark.
• The Broncos, though, got within 15 points on a Williams layup just under a minute later, and a Sydney Shafer three-ball cut the BG lead to 12, 63-51, with 4:06 remaining. But, on the ensuing possession, Velasco scored just before the shot clock expired, and Lewis knocked the ball away from Shafer on the Broncos' next possession.
• A pair of Falcon free throws proved to be the game's only scoring over the final three-plus minutes.

Back home and singing our favorite song!!! #AyZiggy pic.twitter.com/NImAWH2Q4g
— BGSU WBB (@BGSUwbb) January 27, 2022

STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• In addition to BGSU's trio of double-figure scorers, Hampton had nine points and Tate eight.
• BGSU had 13 steals on the night. Lewis, who did not attempt a shot, had seven rebounds and a team-leading four steals.
• Velasco was 7-for-11 from the floor en route to her BG-best 15 points, and she also led the Falcons with four assists.
• Hampton and Tate each went 4-of-6 from the floor, and Hampton had a pair of blocked shots.
• The Broncos got eight points and a game-best five steals from Wagner.
• BG had a 21-17 lead in points off turnovers and a 42-22 lead in points in the paint.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons renew the Battle of I-75 on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 29) as league-leading Toledo comes to town. Tipoff is set for 1:00 p.m. on Alumnae Day at the Stroh.
• Then, BGSU will begin the month of February with a pair of road games, taking on Northern Illinois (Wed., Feb. 2) and Ball State (Sat., Feb. 5).
• Log on to BGSUFalcons.com for all of the latest news and updates re: the 2021-22 Falcons.

Gallery: (1-26-2022) W.Basketball v WMU - Jan 26 2022

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