Falcons Set Their Sights on Xavier

Saturday, November 18

Cincinnati, Ohio

2 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Xavier

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Amy Velasco v Cleveland State - Nov 7 2023

Photo by: Scott W. Grau

November 17, 2023 | Women's Basketball

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BGSU meets the Musketeers Saturday at the Cintas Center

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

BGSU at XAVIER
Saturday, November 18, 2023 • 2:00 p.m.
Cintas Center • Cincinnati, Ohio
TV/Video: FloSports • Audio: Falcon Media Sports Network
Live Stats: GoXavier.com • Twitter: @BGSUwbb

THE OPENING TIP
• The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team continues a four-game road swing with a trip to Cincinnati this weekend. The Falcons, under the direction of first-year head coach Fred Chmiel, meet Xavier University on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 18), with tipoff scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at the Cintas Center.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• There are multiple ways to keep up with the Falcons in 2023-24...

• TV/VIDEO: Saturday's Xavier game will be streamed via FloSports.
• RADIO/AUDIO: All of BGSU's 2023-24 games are scheduled to have an audio stream thanks to the Falcon Media Sports Network.
• LIVE STATS: Again this year, live stats for all games can be found right here on the interwebs.
• TWITTER (X): In-game updates, along with key graphics and information, can be found on the BGSU women's basketball Twitter/X 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.

LAST TIME OUT: FALCONS FALL IN MAC-SUN BELT CHALLENGE
• The Falcons ran into some early foul trouble on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 11), and host Texas State took full advantage. The Bobcats posted a 74-48 win over the Falcons in the game, part of the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge, at Strahan Arena.

• Amy Velasco led the Falcons with 14 points on the day. With many of her fellow starters plagued with foul trouble from the game's opening minutes, Velasco played over 36 minutes in the contest.

• The Falcons trailed by just four points after the first quarter, but four BG players were whistled for at least two foul in the opening 10 minutes. That first quarter saw the teams combine for just 27 field-goal attempts, but 26 free-throw tries.

• The Bobcats went 10-of-15 from the line in the first quarter alone.

• In the second period, the Falcons kept the deficit within single digits until the hosts went up by 11 late in the period. Jaci Tubergen's jumper just before the horn cut the TXST lead to nine, 35-26, at the break.

• But, BGSU's foul woes continued in the third quarter. Within the first four minutes of the period, three Falcons each received their third foul of the game while another was assessed her fourth.

• The Bobcats' lead extended into double digits, and after Taya Ellis hit a floater in the waning seconds of the period, Ja'Niah Henson beat the buzzer with a shot from half-court to increase her team's lead to 54-38 after 30 minutes.

• In just the second game of her BGSU career, Ellis led all players with 11 rebounds and four blocked shots.

BLOCK PARTY
• Freshman Taya Ellis, who had one blocked shot in her BGSU debut vs. Cleveland State, blocked four shots last Saturday at Texas State. That was the highest total by a Falcon in nearly four years (since Angela Perry had five blocks on Feb. 29, 2020).

• Ellis becomes the first freshman to block four shots in a game since BGSU Hall-of-Famer Liz Honegger had four such games in the 2003-04 season. Ellis, Honegger and Kelly Kapferer are the only Falcon frosh ever to block four or more shots in a game...
BGSU RECORD BOOK: MOST BLOCKED SHOTS BY A FRESHMAN, SINGLE GAME
7 -- Liz Honegger vs. Eastern Kentucky, 12/29/03
4 -- Kelly Kapferer vs. Ohio, 2/7/01
4 -- Liz Honegger vs. Akron, 1/14/04
4 -- Liz Honegger vs. Northern Illinois, 2/18/04
4 -- Liz Honegger vs. Toledo, 3/2/04
4 -- Taya Ellis vs. Texas State, 11/11/23

A FEW MORE NOTES FROM THE TEXAS STATE TUSSLE
• With 17 fouls called on BGSU in the first half alone, many of the Falcons' starters saw their minutes limited. Amy Velasco played all 20 minutes of the opening half, nearly matching the combined total of the other four BG starters (22:11).

• Several Falcons, including freshmen Taya Ellis and Keiryn McGuff, sophomore Emily Siesel and fourth-year Falcon Jasmine Clerkley, all recorded career-high totals in minutes played. All four also set new career standards in both points and rebounds, with Clerkley and McGuff setting career bests in assists and Siesel tying her career high in that category.

THE BEST ABILITY IS AVAILABILITY
• Just two games into the season, several players are approaching career-best numbers in multiple categories. Fourth-year Falcon Jasmine Clerkley has seven points (3.5 ppg), just three shy of her total for all of last season. She has played 25 minutes through two games after playing a total of 33 minutes in 2022-23.

• Sophomore Emily Siesel has already played more minutes in 2023-24 (19) than in all of last season (16). She scored the first four points of her Falcon career in the Texas State game, and has matched her rebounding total from a year ago.

FALCONS TABBED FOR FOURTH IN THE MAC IN 2023-24
• The Falcons have been picked to finish fourth in the MAC in 2023-24. The MAC office released the Women's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Poll and the Preseason All-MAC Teams – determined via voting by the league's 12 head coaches – on Nov. 2.

FLEMING NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-MAC TEAM, AGAIN
• Lexi Fleming was selected to the Preseason All-MAC Second Team for the second consecutive year. Fleming, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio (Mercy McAuley), played in 36 of the Falcons' 38 games last season, averaging 9.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists while making 51 three-point field goals. She finished third in the MAC in total steals (67) and eighth in steals per game (1.86) a year ago as the Falcons went 31-7 overall and 14-4 in the MAC.

• Fleming was named the MAC Freshman of the Year in 2020-21 before missing the '21-22 season due to injury.

BIG LEX A B!G PART OF BG'S B1G SUCCESS
• Cincinnati native Lexi Fleming has been a B!G part of the Falcons' success since arriving at BGSU. The MAC Freshman of the Year in 2020-21, Fleming missed the entire '21-22 season due to injury, but returned to the court last season and saw action in 36 games.

• Entering the Xavier game, Fleming has played in 65 games as a Falcon. BGSU has a record of 50-15 in those 65 games, including a 27-8 ledger in MAC regular-season play, a 31-10 mark in all games (regular season and tournament) against conference foes and a 24-5 record at the Stroh Center.

THE FALCONS – A QUICK OVERVIEW
• The Falcons head into the Xavier game with a 1-1 record on the young season. BGSU rallied to beat Cleveland State, 89-86, in the season opener at the Stroh Center (Nov. 7), before falling at Texas State by a 74-48 score (Nov. 11).

• Four Falcons scored at least 16 points against CSU, led by a pair of newcomers. Paige Kohler and Erika Porter had 20 points each, and that duo combined for 33 points in the second half. Lexi Fleming scored 19 points, while Amy Velasco added 16 points and a game-high eight assists vs. the Vikings.

• Velasco was the lone Falcon in double figures at Texas State, scoring 14 points. Freshman Taya Ellis, in just her second collegiate game, had game-high totals of 11 rebounds and four blocked shots.

• A total of 12 Falcons have seen action so far this season, with 11 of those 12 having played in both games. Velasco is averaging a team-high 37.4 minutes per game, with nine of her teammates averaging between 9.3 and 28.5 minutes per game in the early going.

• Velasco also leads the Falcons in scoring, with 15.0 points per game. Kohler (12.5 ppg), Fleming (12.5 ppg) and Porter (11.0 ppg) all have double-figure scoring avearges as well.

• Ellis leads the Falcons in rebounding (7.5 rpg) and blocks (2.5 bpg), with Velasco and Kohler averaging 5.0 and 3.5 assists per game, respectively.

• Last year, the Falcons went 31-7 overall, and BGSU was 14-4 in MAC play. The Falcons tied Ball State for second in the conference, and BG earned the number-two seed for the MAC Tournament and advanced to the championship game.

• Then, the Orange and Brown won four games in the WNIT to advance all the way to the semifinal round of that tourney.

• A total of nine student-athletes return from that team in 2023-24. Morgan Sharps averaged 10.4 ppg, making 41 triples in 17 games while shooting 39.8% from the arc, but she missed the final 21 games due to an injury suffered early in the Falcons' double-digit win over Toledo last Jan. 18.

• Fleming averaged 9.0 ppg on the year, and was second on the team with 51 successful long-distance shots. She started 20 of the 21 games after Sharps was injured, and was fourth on the club in assists (2.61 apg) and third in steals (1.86 spg).

• Velasco and Sophie Dziekan had 6.4 and 4.6 ppg, respectively. Dzieken shot 56.2% on the year, going 77-for-137 on the season. Velasco dished out a career-high 11 assists at Green Bay, then exploded for a season-high 18 points – including 14 in the third quarter alone – vs. Florida. She followed that up with a new season best of 19 points against Columbia. Velasco was second on the club with 2.97 apg and had an assist/turnover ratio of 2.17, good for second on the team behind Sharps (2.55).

• The Falcons lost four starters from a year ago, as Allison Day completed her eligibility and Elissa Brett, Nyla Hampton and Jocelyn Tate all entered the transfer portal.

• Fleming, as mentioned, made 20 starts a year ago, with Sharps starting 17 contests and Velasco five.

• The group of returnees also includes Jasmine Clerkley, Jasmine Fearne, Olivia Hill, Emily Siesel and Jaci Tubergen.

• Five newcomers have joined head coach Fred Chmiel's 2023-24 club. That quintet includes Baylor transfer Porter as well as freshmen Ellis, Kohler, Keiryn McGuff and Abbie Riddle.

• Chmiel's staff is comprised of assistant coaches Maggie Lucas, Nick DiPillo and Lexxus Graham-Blincoe, video coordinator Audra Clark, director of operations Tim Kjar and director of player personnel Zhaque Gray.

• BGSU picked up an 82-43 win over Purdue Northwest in the team's lone exhibition game (Nov. 2). All nine of the players who saw action scored at least two points, with eight scoring five points or more.

TOUGH CROWD!
• The Falcons have put together arguably the toughest non-conference schedule in program history in 2023-24. Head coach Fred Chmiel's club will face a trio of top-10 teams in Iowa, South Carolina and Indiana, along with a Cleveland State squad that won 30 games last season.

• South Carolina (first), Indiana (second) and Iowa (third) finished 1-2-3 in the nation in the final Associated Press poll of the 2022-23 season, which was announced just before the NCAA Tournament began.

• Iowa, led by consensus national player of the year Caitlin Clark, won the Big Ten Tournament and advanced all the way to the national championship game.

• South Carolina has reached the Final Four in each of the last three seasons, going 36-1 and advancing to the national semifinals in 2023 after winning the title in '22.

• Indiana went 28-4 and won the Big Ten regular-season crown last season.

• In the USA Today Sports preseason top-25 poll, Iowa checked in at No. 3 in the nation, with South Carolina fourth and Indiana ninth. The first Associated Press poll of '23-24 saw Iowa ranked third, South Carolina sixth and Indiana ninth.

• This week, South Carolina is ranked first in both polls, with Iowa second in both the AP and USA Today listings. Indiana is 17th in the USA Today top 25 and 18th on the AP chart this week.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE MUSKETEERS
• Xavier is 0-3 this season, having faced James Madison at home and Youngstown State and Old Dominion on the road. Most recently, the Musketeers suffered a 55-41 loss at ODU on Tuesday night (Nov. 14).

• Individually, Kaysia Woods is averaging 10.7 points per game to lead a balanced attack. Nila Blackford and Mackayla Scarlett each have 9.7 ppg, with Blackford, a Kent State transfer, averaging a team-best 10.7 rebounds.

• Xavier was picked to finish 11th in the Big East after finishing with records of 7-23 overall and 0-20 in conference play a year ago. Billi Chambers is in her first season as head coach of the Musketeers after spending the last 10 years at the Iona helm.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons trail Xavier, 4-3, in the all-time series, and the Musketeers won the most recent meeting. XU captured a 65-49 decision at the Cintas Center five years ago (Nov. 29, 2018). BGSU's last series victory was a 63-53 verdict at the Stroh Center the previous season (Dec. 6, 2017). The Falcons are 3-1 at home (including 1-0 at the Stroh) and 0-3 on the road vs. the Musketeers over the years.

DOWN THE ROAD
• Following the Xavier game, the Falcons will conclude a four-game road stretch with a pair of matchups in the Savannah Hoops Invitational over the Thanksgiving holiday. BG will take on Mercer on Wednesday (Nov. 22) in a 12:00 p.m. start, before meeting Lehigh on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 23) at 9:00 a.m.

• Then, the Falcons will return home to face Duquesne at the Stroh Center on Monday, Nov. 27. That game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.

FOR MORE INFORMATION...
For more information on BGSU women's hoops, be sure to follow the Falcons on Facebook (@BGWBB), Twitter/X (@BGSU_Athletics and @BGSUWBB) and Instagram (@bgsuwbb), as well as on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.