Falcons Travel to Texas for Two Games in South Padre Island Classic

Jaci Tubergen v Wright State - Nov 14 2022

Jaci Tubergen & the Falcons play a pair of games in Texas

Photo by: Luke Allen, BGSU Athletics

Falcons Travel to Texas for Two Games in South Padre Island Classic

December 17, 2022 | Women's Basketball

BGSU Notes TAMUC Notes UTRGV Notes Watch BGSU-TAMUC Watch BGSU-UTRGV Live Stats for Both Games 2022-23 Record Book 2022-23 BGSU Media Central

BGSU to take on TAMU-Commerce and UTRGV

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

BOWLING GREEN VS. TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE
Monday, December 19, 2022 • 4:00 p.m. ET
South Padre Island Convention Centre • South Padre Island, Texas
Video: ESPN+ • Audio: None
Live Stats: GoUTRGV.com • Twitter: @BGSUwbb

BOWLING GREEN VS. UTRGV
Tuesday, December 20, 2022 • 7:00 p.m. ET
South Padre Island Convention Centre • South Padre Island, Texas
Video: ESPN+ • Audio: None
Live Stats: GoUTRGV.com • Twitter: @BGSUwbb

• The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team wraps up a season-long five-game road swing with a pair of contests in the state of Texas. Head coach Robyn Fralick and the Falcons travel to South Padre Island to take on Texas A&M-Commerce on Monday (Dec. 19). That game begins at 3:00 p.m. locally (4:00 p.m. ET).

• Then, the Orange and Brown will meet the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on Tuesday evening (Dec. 20), with that contest set for a 6:00 p.m. start (7:00 p.m. ET). The South Padre Island Convention Centre is the venue for both contests.

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

• TV/VIDEO: Both games in Texas will be streamed via ESPN+.
• RADIO/AUDIO: All BGSU home games and nearly every road game (every game except the two in South Padre Island) 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.

#FALCONFAST
• For the most part, the Falcons have gotten off to a fast start in games this season. BGSU has outscored the opponent in the first quarter in seven of the nine games to date, and the Falcons have led by double digits four times after the first quarter.

• In BGSU's three December games so far, the Falcons have led by an average of 13.3 points after the opening period. That includes the game at Valparaiso (Dec. 2), where the Falcons led by a 30-11 count after one quarter en route to a 92-61 win, as well as the ETSU contest (Dec. 11), where the Orange and Brown took a 26-12 lead after 10 minutes and beat the Bucs, 82-64.

WINNING THE TURNOVER BATTLE
• Nine games into the 2022-23 season, the Falcons have been proficient at forcing turnovers by the opponents, while keeping their own turnover total to a relative minimum. BGSU has had fewer turnovers than the opponent in every game this season to date.

• BG has turned the ball over 17 times or fewer in each game, while forcing the opposition into at least 16 turnovers in every game. The Falcons have averaged 12.13 turnovers per contest, while the foes have turned the ball over 22.00 times per game.

• BGSU committed just seven turnovers in the home opener against Wright State, tied for the fourth-lowest single-game total in school history, and the Falcons had just 10 turnovers in the win over Detroit Mercy, 11 at ETSU and nine at IUPUI. Through nine games, the Falcons have outscored the opponents, 200-91, in points off turnovers.

GREAT START!
• BGSU is 8-1, and the Falcons have tied the school record for best start to a season. The 2022-23 season marks the seventh 8-1 start in program history.

• The 1974-75 team was the first BG club to get off to an 8-1 start. That record was matched by the 1991-92 team, along with the 2005-06, 2010-11, 2013-14 and 2020-21 clubs.

• That '20-21 team, coached by Robyn Fralick, went on to win the Mid-American Conference regular-season title. In fact, the 2005-06, '10-11 and '13-14 all won at least one conference crown.

SCORE MORE
• The Falcons are currently 14th in the nation in scoring offense. BGSU is averaging 83.3 points per game. As mentioned above, the Falcons have topped the 90-point mark three times this season, and BG has scored at least 76 points in eight of the first nine games this year to date.

THE FALCONS – A QUICK OVERVIEW
• The Falcons are 8-1 on the season, and BGSU enters Monday's TAMUC matchup on a six-game winning streak. BGSU posted double-digit wins over St. Bonaventure and Wright State to begin the season, before falling to then-#9/12 (and now #3) Indiana, 96-61, in Bloomington.

• Since that loss to the Hoosiers, the Falcons have bounced back to win the next six 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, 76-29, 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 (Dec. 11). On Thursday (Dec. 15), BG picked up an 84-70 win at IUPUI.

• 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.).

• Nine games into the season, Brett leads the Falcons in scoring, with 13.4 points per game, and she is second on the club in rebounding, at 5.9 boards per contest. Hampton and Tate have 11.4 and 10.7 ppg, respectively, while three other Falcons average at least nine points per outing.

• Tate leads the Falcons in rebounding, with 6.1 rpg, while Hampton is averaging 3.1 assists and 3.4 steals to pace BG in both categories.

• Sharps has 9.9 ppg, with Day and Fleming averaging 9.3 and 9.0 ppg, respectively. Sharps has hit a team-leading 23 three-pointers and is shooting 43.4 percent from the arc. Day has 4.2 rpg and has dished out six assists over the past two games.

• Brett, Day, Hampton, Sharps and Tate each have started all nine games this season, and all five are averaging between 22.5 and 27.1 minutes per game.

• Velasco and Dziekan have 6.4 and 6.2 ppg, respectively. Velasco is tied for second on the Falcons with 2.7 apg, while Dzieken is shooting 61.0% from the field, having gone 25-for-41 this year to date. She had a career-high 12 points in just 13 minutes in the win at IUPUI.

• BGSU is +17.2 in scoring margin, +2.9 in rebounding margin and +10.1 in turnover margin this season to date. The Falcons are fourth in the nation in the latter category.

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 1,230 career points at BGSU, while Allison Day, a transfer from Loyola University Chicago, enters the TAMUC tilt with 1,223 career points. Payton Moore, who spent four seasons at Anderson (Ind.) University, has 1,118 points in her collegiate career.

• Elissa Brett heads to Texas needing 78 points to join that trio. Brett has 922 career points – good for 36th in school history – in 93 games as a Falcon to date.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE LIONS
• A&M-Commerce enters the South Padre Island Classic with a record of 2-7 on the season. The Lions are in the first season in NCAA Division I and are in the Southland Conference, after enjoying tremendous success in the Lone Star Conference.

• Most recently, the Lions suffered a loss to Mississippi State last weekend (Dec. 11). That came after an 88-72 win over Idaho four days prior.

• Dyani Robinson leads the team in scoring, with 17.9 points per game, while Laila Lawrence has 10.4 ppg along with 6.0 rebounds per game. DesiRay Karnal averages 8.7 ppg and a team-best 7.8 rpg.

• Head coach Jason Burton, in his ninth year at the TAMUC helm, is the winningest coach in program history. Last year, the Lions went 27-5 overall and 12-3 in the LSC, advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth-straight season.

AND, A LOOK AT THE VAQUEROS
• UTRGV is 5-4 on the season after a 55-39 win over St. Mary's (Texas) on Thursday. The Vaqueros also have wins over McNeese, Northern Colorado, A&M-Corpus Christi and Houston Christian.

• Iyana Dorsey leads the team with 16.1 ppg, while Deborah Ogayemi and Mele Kailahi have 9.3 and 9.2 ppg, respectively. Ogayemi leads the team with 8.3 rpg.

• Fifth-year head coach Lane Lord's team went 14-19 overall and 8-10 in Western Athletic Conference play in 2021-22.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons are facing both Texas A&M-Commerce and UTRGV for the first time.

DOWN THE ROAD
• Following the Texas trip and a break for the holidays, the Falcons will return home to face Findlay on Friday afternoon, Dec. 30. That game will begin at 2:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.

• Then, Mid-American Conference play begins with a trip to Muncie to face Ball State on Wed., Jan. 4.