BGSU’S Early Barrage Buries Beacons, 92-61

Friday, December 2

Valparaiso, Ind.

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

6-1,0-0MAC

Valparaiso

2-4,0-0MVC

Bowling Green

Valparaiso

Lexi Fleming v Wright State - Nov 14, 2022

Photo by: Daniel Carlson, BGSU Athletics

December 02, 2022 | Women's Basketball

Box Score BGSU-Valpo Stats

Falcons ride fast start to 31-point road win at Valparaiso

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

VALPARAISO, Ind. – The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team burst out to an early lead Friday evening (Dec. 2), and the Falcons never looked back. BGSU rolled along to a 92-61 win over Valparaiso University in non-conference action at the Athletics-Recreation Center.

Five players scored in double digits for the Falcons (6-1), who have now won four games in a row. BGSU shot a season-high 55.4 percent from the field on Friday night, and the Orange and Brown made 14 of 24 shots (58.3%) from three-point range.

Nyla Hampton led a balanced scoring effort with 16 points, going 6-for-7 from the field. Lexi Fleming had 14 points, hitting 3-of-4 shots from long distance and adding four assists.

Elissa Brett and Morgan Sharps scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, while Amy Velasco added 10. Brett was 3-of-5 from the arc, with Sharps knocking down four triples and adding three steals. Velasco had five rebounds and five assists.

Jocelyn Tate had nine points and led the Falcons with eight rebounds and a career-high six assists.

For the Beacons (2-4), Ali Saunders had 16 points and Leah Earnest 13.

After the teams traded buckets to begin the game, the Falcons went on a 12-0 run to seize control. BGSU led by a 30-11 count after the first quarter, and the Falcons had a 50-24 advantage at the half. BG's lead never fell below 22 points in the second half.

BG had a 35-18 rebounding advantage, holding Valparaiso without an offensive rebound in the game.

QUOTING COACH FRALICK
"This was a great team win tonight. I thought we set the tone in the first quarter. We really moved well together, both defensively and offensively, and we just need to continue building on that 'team-ness' moving forward."

FIRST QUARTER
• Nyla Hampton was doing Nyla Hampton things from the start of Friday's game, stealing the ball and hitting a layup with just 15 seconds gone. Leah Earnest answered with a bucket in the paint, but the Falcons then went on a 12-0 run to take control.
• That run began when Jocelyn Tate kicked the ball out to Morgan Sharps for a three-pointer, and after the Falcons forced a shot-clock violation on the hosts, Elissa Brett knocked down a shot from the top of the arc. Sharps again took a Tate pass and hit a long-range shot, and Hampton came up with another steal and hit an 'and-one' layup. The ensuing free throw gave the Falcons a 14-2 lead with just 3:24 gone.
• A pair of free throws stopped BG's run, but Tate answered with a layup. Moments later, a Sophie Dziekan offensive rebound resulted in Amy Velasco finding Lexi Fleming for a three-pointer, and Tate's jump-stop banker gave the Falcons a 21-9 lead.
• Kadie Hempfling found Velasco for a left-side three-pointer – BG's fifth successful triple in as many tries to start the game – and Velasco's driving layup gave the Falcons a 17-point lead. Allison Day dove to the floor to grab a loose ball, giving possession back to BG, and another Velasco layup gave the Falcons a 28-9 lead.
• Hampton's fadeaway shot off glass in the final seconds of the period gave the Orange and Brown a 30-11 lead after 10 minutes.

SECOND QUARTER
• Sharps opened the second-quarter scoring, taking Velasco's cross-court pass and drilling a three-point try for a 33-11 lead. Brett banked home a shot after a baseline drive, then knocked down a three-pointer of her own.
• Tate drove the length of the court and hit a layup, then scored BG's next two points at the free-throw line to give the Falcons a 42-21 lead.
• BGSU would score five-straight points at the stripe, before Fleming spotted Hampton for a pull-up jumper and a 45-21 advantage. Day hit a layup, then scored BG's 50th point of the half at the free-throw line with just 5.3 seconds on the clock. The Falcons took a 50-24 lead into the locker room.

THIRD QUARTER
• Three Falcons hit double figures in the scoring column in the first moments of the second half. Brett made a pair of free throws just 33 seconds in, and a Sharps three-pointer gave BG a 55-26 lead. Hampton answered a Valpo hoop with a pair of free throws with just over two minutes gone in the period.
• The Beacons went on a 7-0 run to cut BG's lead to 22, but out of a timeout, Fleming found Brett for a three-pointer and a 60-35 lead. Moments later, Fleming's 'extra pass' resulted in a Velasco triple and a 66-38 lead.
• Fleming knocked down a three-pointer of her own, and Dziekan scored inside, then grabbed an offensive rebound that led to a Fleming floater in the paint. When Velasco drove and kicked the ball to Hampton for a corner three in the waning seconds of the quarter, the Falcons had a 76-42 lead.

FOURTH QUARTER
• The Beacons scored the first six points of the period on a pair of three-pointers, but Hampton's baseline blow-by banker gave BG a 30-point lead, and Fleming's rainbow three put the Falcons up, 81-50.
• An Olivia Hill rebound kept a possession alive, and Velasco found Dziekan for a bucket and a three-point play. Hempfling lobbed the ball inside to Hill for a hoop, and the visitors led, 86-53, with four minutes to go.
• Payton Moore scored three points, before Jaci Tubergen's inbounds pass resulted in a Jasmine Fearne three-ball with the shot clock winding down. That Fearne triple capped the game's scoring.

STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• BGSU shot a season-high 55.4% for the game, going 31-of-56 from the floor. The Falcons were a scorching 14-of-24 (58.3%) from three-point range.
• Valpo went 22-of-46 (47.8%) from the field and 11-for-29 (37.9%) from the arc.
• BGSU was 16-for-22 (72.7%) at the free-throw line, with the Beacons going 6-of-12.
• The Falcons had a 35-18 rebounding advantage. BGSU had 10 offensive rebounds, while the Beacaons did not have a single offensive board on the night.
• BGSU began the game by going 11-of-13 from the field.
• The Falcons had a 17-0 lead in points off turnovers in the first half.
• Friday marked the seventh time in as many games this season that BG had fewer turnovers than the opponent. The Falcons have forced the opponents into 160 turnovers this season, an average of 22.9 per game, while committing just 86 (12.3 per game) themselves.
• After posting an overall record of 19-42 in head coach Robyn Fralick's first two seasons at the helm, BGSU has gone 44-25 over the last two-plus seasons.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons will take a break for fall semester exams, before heading south to face East Tennessee State on Sunday, Dec. 11. That game will begin at 2:00 p.m. at Brooks Gym.
• Then, the Orange and Brown will return to the state of Indiana, facing IUPUI on Thursday, Dec. 15. BGSU's next home game is on Friday, Dec. 30.

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