Falcons Face RedHawks as February Schedule Rolls Along

BOWLING GREEN VS. MIAMI
Saturday, February 4, 2023 • 1:00 p.m.
Stroh Center • Bowling Green, Ohio
Video: ESPN3 • Audio: BG Falcon Media
Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.com • Twitter: @BGSUwbb

• The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, currently tied for first place in the Mid-American Conference standings, begins the second half of the league schedule this weekend. Head coach Robyn Fralick and the Falcons face Miami University on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 4), with tipoff set for 1:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.

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

• TV/VIDEO: Saturday's Miami matchup will be streamed via ESPN3.
• RADIO/AUDIO: All of BGSU's remaining 2022-23 games, both home and away, 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.

EVENTS, PROMOTIONS AND HAPPENINGS
• Saturday's game marks BGSU's Title IX Day. The first 100 fans through the doors will receive a special Frieda Falcon Title IX bobblehead.

• Saturday is also Alumnae Day for the women's basketball program, with a number of former Falcon greats expected to be at the Stroh. The alums will be recognized on the court at halftime of Saturday's game.

GREAT START!
• The Falcons enter the Miami game with an overall record of 19-2, tying the best 21-game start in program history. Four previous BGSU teams also won 19 of 21 games to begin the season, and all four of those squads wound up winning at least 27 games and advancing to national postseason play (three to the NCAA Championships, one to the WNIT).

• The alums mentioned in the previous note had a great deal of success during their playing days, as a total of 10 BGSU teams have won at least 18 of the first 21 games of the year. The complete list can be found in the PDF version of these very notes.

BG BATTLES BACK, BEATS BRONCOS
• The Falcons trailed Western Michigan by 11 points on Wednesday night (Feb. 1), but bounced back to beat the Broncos, 74-56. BGSU is now 9-0 at the Stroh Center this season, and the Falcons have not trailed very much of the time in those nine games.

• WMU held the lead for a total of 17:35 on Wednesday, more than double the amount of time BG had trailed in the previous eight home games combined (7:36).

• The Falcons have played a total of 360 minutes at home this year, and BG has led for 319:46 while trailing for just 25:11. BGSU has led for over 30 minutes in eight of the nine home games, and the Falcons had the lead for more than 37 minutes in six of those games (including four contests in which BG led for over 39 minutes).

• Wednesday's WMU game marked the first time BG had trailed by double digits at the Stroh since a loss to Ohio nearly a year ago (Feb. 19, 2022).

BRETT COMES UP B!G
• Elissa Brett has been one of the Falcons' top players all season long, but she has taken her game up another notch in the last few wins. At Buffalo (Jan. 25), Brett led the Falcons with 19 points and seven rebounds, and her final rebound was an offensive board with 9.6 seconds left and the Falcons up by just two points. Her free throw several seconds later capped the scoring in that 64-61 win.

• Three days later at Northern Illinois, Brett had a double-double, with a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds, and she also led all players with four steals. Midway through the fourth quarter, after NIU had cut the BG lead to 10 points, she knocked down three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to give the Falcons a 60-44 lead.

• On Wednesday vs. Western, Brett stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, six rebounds, six assists, four steals and a blocked shot. She hit four more three-point tries to give her 13 successful long-distance shots over the last three games.

• Brett has moved into 25th place in BGSU history in career scoring, with 1,086 points. She has 656 rebounds to rank 15th on that career list, and is 14th in school history with 129 career three-pointers made.

HOME COOKIN'
• BG has a record of 9-0 in home games this season. The Falcons have begun the home portion of the schedule with nine-straight wins for just the second time in the Stroh Center Era.

• The 2013-14 club went 16-0 at home before losing to Rutgers in the fourth round of the WNIT.

THE FALCONS – A QUICK OVERVIEW
• The Falcons are 19-2 on the season, and BGSU enters Saturday's Miami game with a record of 8-1 in MAC play. BG is tied with Ball State for first place.

• The Falcons saw a nine-game winning streak come to an end in the conference opener (Jan. 4), with an 81-73 loss at BSU, but have bounced back with eight-straight wins since that time. BG has won 17 of the last 18 contests.

• BGSU opened the home portion of the conference slate with wins over Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan. Then, the Orange and Brown rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit on the road to beat then league-leading Akron.

• BGSU then won the latest edition of the "Battle of I-75," with an 88-76 win over Toledo at the Stroh, before topping Kent State three days later.

• Last week, the Falcons hit the road and posted wins at Buffalo (64-61; Jan. 25) and Northern Illinois (66-50; Jan. 28). Then, on Wednesday (Feb. 1), BGSU topped Western Michigan by a 74-56 final at the Stroh.

• The BSU game had marked the Falcons' first setback since Nov. 17. BGSU won the nine games in between those two losses by an average of 26.44 points per game.

• BGSU has played only five games decided by single digits this season, although three of them have come in the last six contests. BG is 4-1 in single-digit decisions, and the Falcons now have 15 double-digit victories and one double-figure loss this winter.

• Head coach Robyn Fralick and her staff welcomed back a total of 10 student-athletes from a year ago. That group included 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.

• This season, the Falcons are 9-0 at home, 9-2 in road games and 1-0 in neutral-site affairs. In MAC play, BGSU is 5-0 at the Stroh and 3-1 at opposing venues.

• Entering the Miami matchup, no fewer than six players are averaging at least 8.4 ppg. Brett leads that balanced scoring attack with 13.6 ppg, with Day and Hampton at 11.9 and 11.4 ppg, respectively.

• Brett has averaged 18.7 ppg and 8.0 rpg over the last three games. On the season, she is second on the team in rebounding, with 6.0 caroms per contest, and has hit a BG-best 46 three-point field goals.

• Day exploded for a career-high 31 points in the win over Toledo. She is shooting a MAC-leading 54.3 percent from the floor and has 4.8 rpg to date. Hampton is shooting 51.3% from the field, and paces the Falcons in both assists (3.52 apg) and steals (3.05 spg).

• Sharps is averaging 10.4 ppg. She has made 41 three-pointers and is shooting 39.8% from the arc, but has missed the last four games due to an injury suffered early in the Toledo contest.

• Tate has 10.3 ppg, with Fleming averaging 8.4 ppg. Tate leads the Orange and Brown with 6.3 rpg and is second on the team in assists (3.00 apg). Fleming, who was a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range vs. KSU, is third on the team with 29 successful long-distance shots.

• Dziekan and Velasco have 5.8 and 5.4 ppg, respectively. Dzieken was a perfect 7-for-7 from the floor en route to a career-high 14 points at UB. She is now shooting 61.4% on the year, having gone 54-for-88. Velasco is third on the Falcons with 2.67 apg and has an assist/turnover ratio of 2.15.

• Hempfling, a four-year starter before transitioning to a role off the bench in 2022-23, is shooting 50% from the field this year, and she is 10-for-26 from the arc.

• Brett, Day, Hampton and Tate each have started all 21 games this season, while Sharps started 17-straight games to begin the year. All five players are averaging between 23.7 and 28.3 minutes per game.

• BGSU is +16.8 in scoring margin, +3.0 in rebounding margin and +8.5 in turnover margin this season to date. The Falcons are fourth in the entire nation in the latter category, and BG is eighth in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.37).

• In fact, the Falcons lead the MAC in 10 statistical categories, and BG is ranked among the top 25 teams in the nation in 10 categories as well.

• In MAC games, Day has a team-high 15.7 ppg along with 6.3 rpg, and she is shooting 56.0% from the floor. Brett has 14.9 ppg and 6.0 rpg, while Tate has 10.8 ppg and a BG-best 6.3 rpg. Hampton has 9.9 ppg and 3.7 apg in league play.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE REDHAWKS
• Miami is 8-14 on the season, and the RedHawks are 3-6 in the MAC after a narrow 81-76 loss to Buffalo on Wednesday night. That came after a 77-68 win over Central Michigan last weekend.

• Individually, Ivy Wolf is averaging 18.5 ppg and has hit 57 three-point field goals. Peyton Scott and Maddi Cluse have 14.8 and 14.0 ppg, respectively. Cluse leads the team with 7.5 rpg, while Scott is second with 5.2 rpg to date.

• Head coach DeUnna Hendrix's club is 7-5 at home, 1-7 on the road and 0-2 in neutral-site games this season. MU is 2-3 at home and 1-3 on the road in MAC games. Hendrix welcomed back four of the top six scorers from a 2021-22 team that went 8-21 overall and 4-16 in MAC regular-season play.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead Miami, 56-34, in the all-time series, and BGSU has captured the last five meetings. Last season, the Falcons picked up a 94-61 win over the RedHawks at the Stroh Center (Feb. 14, 2022) and an 81-76 decision in Oxford 12 days later (Feb. 26, 2022). Miami's last series win was an 80-59 victory at the Stroh on Feb. 1, 2020.

• The Falcons are 26-16 at home, 24-17 on the road and 6-1 at neutral sites vs. MU through the years.

DOWN THE ROAD
• Following Saturday's Miami game, the Falcons will hit the road for four of the next five games. BGSU will head to Athens for a Wednesday (Feb. 8) meeting with Ohio, with that contest starting at 7:00 p.m. at The Convo.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will head to Northeast Ohio to face Kent State next Saturday (Feb. 11). BG's next home game is against Northern Illinois on Wed., Feb. 15.

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