Hot Hampton Helps BGSU Conquer KSU, 77-67

Monday, February 21

Kent, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

13-12,8-8MAC

Kent State

16-9,8-8MAC

Bowling Green

Kent St.

Photo by: Stephen Linsky, BGSU Athletics

February 21, 2022 | Women's Basketball

Box Score BGSU-KSU Stats Support Our Student-Athletes

Sophomore scores 12 of her career-high 23 in the fourth quarter

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

KENT, Ohio – Sophomore Nyla Hampton scored 12 of her career-high 23 points in the fourth quarter, lifting the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team to a 77-67 win over Kent State University Monday evening (Feb. 21) at the M.A.C. Center.

Fellow soph Kenzie Lewis had a season-high 11 points, while senior Madisen Parker added 10 for the Falcons (13-12, 8-8 Mid-American Conference).

BGSU, in ninth place in the MAC at the beginning of the day, moves into a four-way tie for sixth, as only one-half game separates the fourth- through ninth-place teams in the standings.

Bridget Dunn led the Golden Flashes (16-9, 8-8 MAC) with 21 points.

BGSU shot 51.8 percent on the night, including a 14-of-24 effort (58.3%) in the second half. The Falcons scored 44 of their 77 points in the paint and attempted only 12 three-pointers, making five for a long-range success rate of 41.7%.

NOTE OF THE NIGHT
• Two of BGSU's three-pointers, not surprisingly, came from Madisen Parker. Parker hit the 235th triple of her BGSU career with 5:58 remaining in the third quarter, tying her with Tracy Pontius (2007-11) for third place on the school list.
• Then, just over four minutes later, Parker hit her 236th career trey. She now trails only Lauren Prochaska (310 three-pointers from 2007-11) and Sydney Lambert (241 from 2015-19) on the BGSU career chart.

BONUS NOTE OF THE NIGHT
• The Falcons entered Monday action in ninth place in the MAC standings with five games to go. And, only eight teams will make the conference tournament.
• With Monday night's win, BGSU is now part of a four-way tie for sixth place, as the fourth- through ninth-place teams are separated by just one-half game. After Monday's games, both Ball State and Ohio are 8-7 in the MAC, while four teams – BGSU, KSU, Northern Illinois and Western Michigan – are 8-8.

QUOTING COACH FRALICK
"I'm so proud of the toughness and resilience of our team. We got a lot of contributions from a lot of people tonight, and made some really gritty winning plays."

FIRST QUARTER
• Kenzie Lewis (seven) and Nyla Hampton (six) combined for 13 of BGSU's 17 first-quarter points. Nila Blackford scored the game's first four points, with a steal and layup giving the Golden Flashes a quick 4-0 lead. The Falcons tied it up as Hampton hit a driving layup and Kadie Hempfling scored on a reverse layup, and a Lewis three-pointer gave the Falcons a 7-0 run and a three-point lead.
• Hampton converted another layup, but Bridget Dunn hit back-to-back shots to spark a seven-point run for the Flashes, with Hannah Young's free throws giving KSU a 13-9 advantage.
• Lewis scored inside, and Amy Velasco stole the ball and fed Hampton for a pull-up jumper that tied the score. Clare Kelly put back a teammate's miss, and Dunn knocked down a three-pointer, but BG answered each KSU bucket, as Sophie Dziekan scored off of a nifty drive-and-dish play by Morgan Sharps, and Lewis drove and banked a shot off glass and in just before the clock hit zero. KSU led by one, 18-17, after 10 minutes.

SECOND QUARTER
• After Madisen Parker deflected a KSU pass on the first possession of the quarter, Lewis grabbed the loose ball, and the next possession saw Hampton find Lewis for a hesitation layup. A step-through bucket by Dziekan gave BG a three-point lead, but KSU scored the next five points, with a Kelly triple putting the Flashes ahead by a 23-21 count.
• But, Hampton found Velasco for a three-ball at the other end of the court, and Hampton then scored back-to-back buckets just 15 seconds apart. She hit a driving layup, then stole the ball from Mariah Modkins at midcourt and went in for a layup and a 28-25 lead.
• The hosts hit a pair of layups, but with the shot clock winding down, Olivia Hill worked her way inside and scored over her would-be defender. Katie Shumate scored for the Flashes, but Jocelyn Tate responded with a three-point play, with her free throw putting BG up by two. Shumate, however, scored again, and Young's charity tosses with just 3.0 seconds on the clock put KSU ahead, 35-33, at the break.

THIRD QUARTER
• The teams combined for 10 points – five apiece – in the first 40 seconds of the second half. Hempfling's driving layup was answered by a Nila Blackford hoop in the paint. Velasco fed Sharps for a pull-up three-pointer, but Modkins knocked down a triple try to give KSU a 40-38 lead at the 9:20 mark.
• The Flashes went ahead by four points on three occasions over the next few minutes – at that point, neither team had led by four all night – but BG answered each KSU bucket. Velasco hit a driving layup and Lewis found Sharps for a quick layup after a Shumate bucket. Shumate scored again, but Hampton hit a free throw, and Parker deflected a Shumate pass, with Velasco grabbing the ball underneath the BG bucket. The next possession resulted in Velasco finding Parker for a shot from the top of the arc, tying the score at 46-all.
• Velasco faked a three-pointer, getting her defender in the air, then drove right by her and hit a slick baseline jumper. Tate split a pair of tosses out of the media timeout, and two Velasco shots from the stripe gave BGSU the game's first five-point lead with 3:53 left in the period.
• Dunn quickly answered with a three-pointer, but Parker scored twice at the line, then took a Sharps pass and knocked down another long-range attempt for a 56-49 BGSU lead. But, the Flashes ended the quarter on a 5-1 run, with a three-point play from Jenna Batsch cutting the BG lead to 57-54 with 6.6 seconds left in the quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER
• KSU scored the first four points of the period, before Parker hit a driving layup to give BGSU a 59-58 lead. Casey Santoro answered with a layup, but out of a timeout, Hampton converted a spectacular driving layup, switching the ball to her right hand and flipping it off the glass and through the hoop as she was fouled. Her free throw, with 7:05 on the clock, gave BGSU a 62-60 lead, and the Falcons never trailed again.
• A Lewis inbounds pass found Hampton wide open, and the soph hit a jumper from the foul line extended. Hampton got her hand on a Kelly shot, but was whistled for a foul – her fourth, with 4:38 to go – and Kelly's free throws cut BG's lead to 64-62.
• But, Velasco spotted Sharps cutting along the baseline, and Sharps took Velasco's pass and quickly laid the ball in for a four-point Falcon lead. Both teams got stops before Blackford lobbed the ball to Dunn for a layup.
• Hampton, however, hit her second 'and-one' layup of the quarter, with the free throw putting BG up by five, and Dziekan worked her defender down and hit a reverse layup. With 2:09 on the clock, BG led by seven, 71-64.
• Dunn quickly hit a three-pointer and the Flashes used a timeout with 1:48 to go. On the next possession, though, Hampton's pass found Lewis underneath the hoop. Lewis faked a shot to get her defender in the air, then hit a layup for a 73-67 lead.
• Velasco stole the ball on the next possession, and BG used some clock before turning the ball over near midcourt. But, as Santoro attempted a layup, Dziekan swatted her shot from behind. The ball went out of bounds with 51.3 seconds to go, and BG wound up forcing another miss, with the ball going out of play off of a KSU player this time.
• From there, the Flashes missed a shot and committed a pair of turnovers, and Hampton hit four free throws in the final 41 seconds to provide the final margin of victory.

STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• Hampton, as mentioned, scored a career-high 23 points. She went 8-of-11 from the field and 7-of-10 from the stripe, adding three assists and three steals.
• Lewis had a season-high 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Lewis is now 13-of-17 from the field over the last four games.
• Parker had 10 points, including the 235th and 236th three-point field goals of her career, and she added three rebounds and two steals.
• Velasco had a well-rounded game with nine points, five assists, three rebounds, three steals and a blocked shot.
• Sharps scored seven points, while Dziekan had six points, a BG-high four rebounds and a block. Dziekan led the Falcons with a plus/minus rating of +19 on the night.
• In addition to Dunn's 21 points, the Flashes got 11 points from Young and 10 from both Blackford and Shumate. Blackford led all players with seven rebounds as KSU had a narrow 34-30 lead on the boards.
• BGSU had a 44-40 advantage in points in the paint.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons will play for the sixth time in a 12-day span, hosting Akron on Wednesday night (Feb. 23). Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.
• Then, the Brown and Orange will head to Oxford for a Saturday (Feb. 26) matchup with Miami. The Falcons and RedHawks will meet in a 2:00 p.m. start.
• Log on to BGSUFalcons.com for all of the latest news and updates re: the 2021-22 Falcons.

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