Falcons Face Jags Thursday Evening in Indy

Thursday, December 15

Indianapolis, Ind.

5:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

IUPUI

Tickets

Amy Velasco v Wright State - Nov 14 2022

Photo by: Daniel Carlson, BGSU Athletics

December 14, 2022 | Women's Basketball

BGSU Notes Watch BGSU-IUPUI Listen (BG Falcon Media)Live Stats 2022-23 Record Book 2022-23 BGSU Media Central

BGSU makes another trip to the state of Indiana

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

BOWLING GREEN AT IUPUI
Thursday, December 15, 2022 • 5:00 p.m.
IUPUI Gymnasium • Indianapolis, Ind.
Video: ESPN+ • Audio: BG Falcon Media
Live Stats: IUPUIJags.com • Twitter: @BGSUwbb

• The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team makes another trip to the state of Indiana, taking on IUPUI on Thursday evening (Dec. 15). Head coach Robyn Fralick and the Falcons face the Jaguars in a 5:00 p.m. start at IUPUI Gymnasium ("The Jungle").

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• There are multiple ways to keep up with the Falcons in 2022-23...

• TV/VIDEO: Thursday's IUPUI game will be streamed via ESPN+.
• RADIO/AUDIO: All BGSU home games and nearly every road game (including the IUPUI matchup) are slated to have an audio stream thanks to BG Falcon Media (the Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization [BGRSO]).
• LIVE STATS: Live stats are scheduled to be available for all BGSU games in 2022-23.
• TWITTER: In-game updates, along with key graphics and information, can be found on the BGSU women's basketball twitter account, @BGSUwbb.

• For all of the pertinent links to any and all ways to follow the Falcons, go to BGSUFalcons.com and navigate your way to the "women's basketball schedule" page on game day.

GOIN' BACK TO INDIANA
• The IUPUI game marks the Falcons' fourth contest in the state of Indiana this season. In all, BGSU is slated to make four trips to the Hoosier State, playing a total of five games. BG split a pair of contests in mid-November, falling to then-#9/12 (and now #3) Indiana before beating Southern Indiana.

• Then, the Falcons opened the month of December with a 31-point victory at Valparaiso (92-61; Dec. 2).

• BGSU's Mid-American Conference opener sees the Falcons head to Ball State on Jan. 4. Assuming there are no changes to the schedule, BG will have played five games in Indiana and only four in Ohio following that BSU matchup.

#FALCONFAST
• For the most part, the Falcons have gotten off to a fast start this season. BGSU has outscored the oppoent in the first quarter in six of the eight games to date, and the Falcons have led by double digits four times – including each of the last two games – after the first quarter.

• In BGSU's two December games so far, the Falcons have led by an average of 16.5 points after the opening period. BG led Valparaiso, 30-11, en route to a 92-61 win (Dec. 2). Then, the Orange and Brown took a 26-12 lead after 10 minutes at ETSU on Sunday (Dec. 11), and beat the Bucs, 82-64.

THE FALCONS – A QUICK OVERVIEW
• The Falcons are 7-1 on the season, and BGSU enters Thursday's game at IUPUI on a five-game winning streak. BGSU posted double-digit wins over St. Bonaventure and Wright State to begin the season, before falling to then-#9/12 Indiana, 96-61, in Bloomington. The Falcons have bounced back to win the next five games, including a 100-74 victory at Southern Indiana (Nov. 19) and home wins over Northern Kentucky and Detroit Mercy. BG downed the Norse, 76-68, on Thanksgiving Eve (Nov. 23), before toppling the Titans by a 76-29 count five days later.

• The Orange and Brown began the December schedule with a 92-61 victory at Valparaiso (Dec. 2). Then, after a break for fall semester exams, the Falcons went to ETSU and downed the Bucs, 82-64, on Sunday (Dec. 11).

• Head coach Robyn Fralick and her staff welcomed back a total of 10 student-athletes from a year ago. That group includes four starters from the 2021-22 season, plus a fifth player who started in 2020-21 before missing all of '21-22 due to injury.

• Last season, the Falcons – despite losing nearly 75 player-games to injury – won 17 games and advanced to national postseason play for the second-straight season. BGSU went 17-16 overall and 10-10 in Mid-American Conference play, and the Falcons were selected to participate in the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI). BG went 2-1 in that tourney, finishing the '21-22 season with a victory.

• Kadie Hempfling has returned for a fifth year with the Falcons after starting all 33 games last winter. Nyla Hampton and Amy Velasco made 32 and 30 starts, respectively, while Elissa Brett started 26 contests in 2021-22.

• BGSU's top-five scorers from a year ago – Hempfling (11.7 ppg), Velasco (10.8), Brett (10.7), Morgan Sharps (9.5) and Hampton (8.4) – all returned. Brett paced last year's team in rebounding (6.0 rpg), while Jocelyn Tate (6.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg) was second on the team in that category.

• Other returnees from last year's squad include Sophie Dziekan (2.5 ppg) and Olivia Hill (0.8 ppg). Jasmine Clerkley played in the first three games of 2021-22 before missing the remainder of the season due to injury, while Lexi Fleming – the 2020-21 MAC Freshman of the Year – was injured prior to the start of the season and missed the entire '21-22 campaign.

• Five newcomers, including a pair of transfers, joined the 10 returnees. Allison Day played four seasons at Loyola Chicago, where she started 97 games and had totals of 1,139 points and 645 rebounds.

• Payton Moore is also in her first season with the Falcons, but her fifth as a collegian. Moore played in 78 games, starting 60, at Anderson (Ind.) University, where she had 1,111 career points along with 701 rebounds.

• Three freshman joined the Falcons for the 2022-23 campaign. That group includes Jasmine Fearne (Cairns, Australia), Emily Siesel (New Washington, Ohio) and Jaci Tubergen (Hudsonville, Mich.).

• Eight games into the season, Brett leads the Falcons in scoring, with 14.0 points per game, and she is second on the club in rebounding, at 6.0 boards per contest. Sharps and Tate have 10.5 and 10.3 ppg, respectively, while Hampton rounds out BGSU's double-digit scorers with an even 10.0 points per outing.

• Tate leads the Falcons in rebounding, with 6.1 rpg, while Sharps has hit a team-leading 23 three-pointers and is shooting 46.0 percent from the arc. Hampton is averaging 3.1 assists and 3.3 steals per game, and leads BG in both categories.

• Fleming has 9.9 ppg off the bench, while Day has 9.0 ppg and 4.4 rpg to date. Brett, Day, Hampton, Sharps and Tate each have started all eight games this season, and all five are averaging between 21.3 and 26.8 minutes per game.

• Velasco and Dziekan have 6.8 and 5.5 ppg, respectively. Velasco is second on the Falcons with 3.0 apg, while Dzieken is shooting 61.3% from the field, having gone 19-for-31 this year to date.

• BGSU is +17.7 in scoring margin, +2.4 in rebounding margin and +9.9 in turnover margin this season to date.

HAMPTON'S DEFENSE LEADS TO OFFENSE
• Nyla Hampton had 86 steals last season, the fourth-highest total in BGSU history. She ranked second in the MAC and 17th in the nation in that category. With 2.69 steals per contest, Hampton finished third in the league and 23rd in the country.

• This season, Hampton has a team-high 26 steals through eight games. She tied her career high with six steals in this year's opener at SBU and added five more against WSU. Hampton, who had at least three steals in a game 17 times last year, has had at least four steals in four of this year's eight games.

• Hampton now has 168 steals in 64 career games played, an average of 2.63 per game. She currently ranks 16th on the BGSU career list for total steals.

• Hampton is on pace to set the school career records for both total steals and steals per contest.

MILLENNIUM FALCONS
• The BGSU roster includes three players with over 1,000 career points, with a fourth poised to join that group in the coming weeks. Fifth-year Falcon Kadie Hempfling has 1,227 career points at BGSU, while Allison Day, a transfer from Loyola University Chicago, enters the IUPUI game with 1,211 career points. Payton Moore, who spent four seasons at Anderson (Ind.) University, has 1,118 points in her collegiate career.

• Elissa Brett enters the IUPUI game needing 87 points to join that trio. Brett has 913 career points – good for 37th in school history – in 92 games as a Falcon to date.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE JAGS
• IUPUI is 4-5 on the season, and the Jags are 1-1 in Horizon League play. IUPUI is coming off of a narrow road loss at Ball State, 61-54. The team's victories have come on the road against Butler and Southern Illinois, and at home vs. Ohio and Milwaukee.

• Destiny Perkins leads the team in scoring, with 12.9 points per game, while Jazmyn Turner, a transfer from Ball State, has 11.9 ppg and 5.6 rebounds per contest to rank second on the team in both categories.

• Head coach Kate Bruce is in her first year at IUPUI. The Jags went 24-5 overall and 18-2 in Horizon League play in 2021-22, winning the regular-season and tournament titles and advancing to the NCAA Championships.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons and IUPUI are tied, 2-2, in the all-time series, with the Jags having captured the most recent meeting. IUPUI came to the Stroh Center early last season and picked up a 71-60 win (Nov. 14, 2021). Prior to last season's game, the teams had not met in 16 years, since a 66-55 BGSU win in a neutral-site meeting in Bloomington.

• The only prior meeting in Indianapolis saw IUPUI come way with an 89-74 win in December of 2003. The Falcons are 1-1 at home, 0-1 on the road and 1-0 at neutral sites vs. the Jags through the years.

DOWN THE ROAD
• Following the IUPUI matchup, the Falcons will fly to Texas for a pair of games in the UTRGV South Padre Island Classic. BGSU will meet Texas A&M-Commerce on Monday (Dec. 19) before facing UTRGV on Tuesday (Dec. 20) at the South Padre Island Convention Centre.

• Then, following a break for the holidays, BGSU will return home to face Findlay on Friday afternoon, Dec. 30. That game will begin at 2:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.