First-Place Falcons Fend Off Fourth-Place Flashes, 75-69

Saturday, February 11

Kent, Ohio

2:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

22-2,11-1MAC

Kent State

15-8,7-5MAC

Bowling Green

Kent St.

Lexi Fleming & the Falcons have won 11 games in a row after Saturday's victory at KSU

Photo by: David Dermer

February 11, 2023 | Women's Basketball

Box Score BGSU-KSU Stats

BGSU gets clutch performances from multiple players in B!G road win

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

KENT, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team got clutch performances from multiple players on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 11), as the Falcons picked up a 75-69 road win against Kent State University at the M.A.C. Center.

Elissa Brett scored a game-high 20 points for the Falcons (22-2, 11-1 Mid-American Conference), who won for the 11th consecutive game. BGSU remains tied for first in the MAC standings with Ball State.

Brett was a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point range in the win. Allison Day and Nyla Hampton joined her in double digits with 17 and 16 points, respectively. Day was 7-of-11 from the floor, while Hampton went 8-of-10 from the free-throw line, hitting all four of her shots from the stripe in the final 90 seconds.

Jocelyn Tate overcame some early foul trouble to score eight points and grab a team-leading eight rebounds, while Lexi Fleming had seven points and five rebounds. Fleming also led the Falcons with three assists and six steals, setting a career high in the latter category.

Lindsey Thall had 15 points to pace three players in double digits for the Golden Flashes (15-8, 7-5 MAC). Corynne Hauser added 13 and Casey Santoro 11.

The Falcons led for nearly the entire game, but the Flashes cut the BG lead to two points on a pair of occasions early in the fourth quarter. The Falcons went without a field goal for nearly six minutes to begin that final quarter, but held KSU without a bucket for over four minutes. But, Katie Shumate's layup with 5:59 to go cut the BG lead to 63-61.

The score remained the same for nearly two minutes, before Amy Velasco drove and hit a layup with 4:01 on the clock. Fleming had steals on each of the next two possessions, and after the second one, she pulled up in the paint and dished the ball off to the onrushing Brett for an 'and-one' bucket with 2:50 remaining. Brett's free throw gave BGSU a 68-61 lead.

The hosts would cut the BGSU lead to three points on a Santoro three-pointer with 32.3 seconds left, but Hampton was fouled and hit a pair of free throws several seconds later, and KSU would not score again.

QUOTING COACH ROBYN FRALICK
"This was a really tough, competitive game. Kent State's a really good team,. It was a very back-and-forth game, and I thought we did a great job of getting timely stops and timely scores."

"We showed some grit today. Defensively, we were able to withstand some stretches when we were not scoring. And then, later in the fourth quarter, we were able to come up with some really timely baskets. Amy Velasco had a huge finish for us, Elissa (Brett) had a big 'and-one' in transition, and Allison (Day) had a really timely finish after we were able to use some clock."

"It was tough, though. It was a great basketball game. Kent State made a lot of plays, too, and I'm just really proud of our team for finding a way to win today."

FIRST QUARTER
• The teams traded points in the game's first few minutes, as Jocelyn Tate muscled her way inside for a layup, and Allison Day replicated that feat several minutes later. A Lexi Fleming steal led to Elissa Brett's transition three-pointer, and the Falcons had a 7-4 lead.
• Brett was fouled on a drive, knocked down a pair of free throws, then took a charge at the other end of the floor. Corynne Hauser's triple tied the score at 9-9, but Brett answered almost immediately, taking an Amy Velasco pass and knocking down another triple for a 12-9 advantage. Day's layup upped the BG lead to five points midway through the quarter.
• Fleming's long three-pointer gave the Orange and Brown a 17-11 lead, but Hauser's three-point play was followed by a Clare Kelly triple that tied the score.
• The lead changed hands several times in the final two minutes of the period, as Day hit a free throw and Sophie Dziekan worked her defender down the paint for a layup. But, a nifty pull-up jumper by Hauser gave the hosts a 21-20 lead after 10 minutes.

SECOND QUARTER
• Nyla Hampton found Brett for a trailing three on BG's first possession of the period, and a Fleming steal and layup gave the Falcons a 25-21 lead. BG came up with another steal, but Lindsey Thall stole the ball right back and hit a three-pointer. Hampton responded with a layup, but Hannah Young's corner three tied the game at 27-all.
• Day, however, banked home a shot from a tough angle. A turnover led to a Katie Shumate layup, but Velasco found Brett for a three-pointer. Thall answered with a triple, but a steal and layup by Hampton was followed by yet another Brett trifecta,giving the visitors a 37-32 lead.
• Kelly hit a reverse layup, but Fleming's steal led to a Velasco trey and a 40-34 advantage. Moments later, two Hampton free throws gave the Falcons a 42-35 lead, and Fleming answered two KSU charity tosses with a step-through layup. After two more shots from the stripe by the hosts, a Hampton free throw gave BG a 45-39 lead at the break.

THIRD QUARTER
• Day scored over Thall on BG's first second-half possession, and the Falcons' lead was eight points, the largest of the game. Casey Santoro answered with a three-pointer, and after Day scored inside, Santoro knocked down another triple to cut the Falcons' lead to four. Then, Hauser's driving layup made it a 49-47 game.
• Hampton, however, responded with a pair of 'and-one' layups. The free throw did not drop after the first hoop, but she completed the three-point play after the second, giving BG a 54-47 lead.
• Day hit a baby hook after an entry pass from Brett, and Tate then scored BG's next five points, including three free throws and a layup with 41.6 seconds left in the quarter. But, Thall's trey on the next possession cut the Falcon lead to 61-58 after 30 minutes.

FOURTH QUARTER
• KSU split a pair of free throws, but Day responded with a pair of shots from the stripe, giving BGSU a 63-59 lead with 9:08 remaining. That marked the Falcons' last points for over five minutes.
• KSU's Tatiana Thomas picked up her fifth foul with 8:22 still to go, The Falcons held the Flashes scoreless for five possessions, but BGSU went seven possessions without a point as well. Shumate's layup off of a Hauser steal cut BG's lead to two points with 5:59 on the clock.
• The Flashes got a defensive stop, but Day drew an offensive foul on Santoro. The teams each missed shots, before Fleming's defensive rebound led to a Velasco driving layup and a 65-61 lead with 4:01 to go.
• Fleming was credited with steals on back-to-back possessions, and after the latter steal, she headed downcourt, pulled up in the paint and dished the ball to the onrushing Brett for an 'and-one' layup. The resulting free throw made it a 68-61 game with 2:51 on the clock.
• Thall responded with a layup, and after a BG turnover, Hampton blocked a Young pass under the basket, but the ball caromed back into the hands of Young, who was fouled and split a pair of free-throw tries. KSU was within four points at the 1:47 mark.
• Hauser fouled Hampton near midcourt on the next possession, and the third-year Falcon hit both tosses. But, Hauser benefitted from a foul call, and her free throws cut BG's lead to 70-66. BGSU used nearly all of the shot clock, and Tate threw the ball inside to Day, who hit a shot off glass.
• BGSU had a 72-66 lead with 48 seconds to go, but Santoro knocked down a three-point try to cut the BG lead in half. As the Falcons tried to break the ensuing KSU press, Hampton was again fouled near midcourt, and again hit a pair of shots from the stripe. BGSU's lead was five, 74-69, with 25.3 seconds left.
• On the next possession, a Hauser shot was off the mark, and Tate rebounded the ball and was fouled. She split her free-throw tries for a six-point lead. After a timeout and another KSU miss, Tate again grabbed a rebound, and this time, the Falcons dribbled out the clock.

STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• BGSU shot 44.6 percent from the field, going 25-for-56 on the day, while KSU shot 42.6% (23-of-54).
• The Falcons shot 57.1% from the floor (16-for-28) in the first half.
• BGSU went 7-for-19 from three-point range, making all seven triples in the first half. The Flashes were 8-of-28 from long distance.
• The Orange and Brown went 18-of-26 (69.2%) from the free-throw line, including an 8-of-9 effort in the fourth quarter. KSU was 15-of-20 from the stripe.
• Kent State had a 36-30 rebounding advantage, but BGSU committed just nine turnovers while forcing the Flashes into 19.
• Brett was a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point land en route to her game-high 20 points.
• Fleming's total of six steals, as mentioned, was a career high.
• After going 19-42 overall and 5-31 in MAC play in head coach Robyn Fralick's first two seasons at the helm, the Falcons are 60-26 overall and 35-15 in the league over the last two-plus years.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons return home to face Northern Illinois on Wednesday evening (Feb. 15). That game tips off at 7:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center, and it will be Faculty/Staff Appreciation Night as well as the Falcons' annual Play 4Kay/Pink game.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will return to the road to meet Western Michigan next Saturday (Feb. 18) and Central Michigan four days later (Feb. 22).

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