Falcons Back at the Stroh for Thursday's Memphis Matchup

BOWLING GREEN VS. MEMPHIS
Thursday, March 23, 2023 • 6:00 p.m.
Stroh Center • Bowling Green, Ohio
WNIT Third Round (Super 16)
TV/Video: ESPN3 • Audio: BG Falcon Media
Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.com • Twitter: @BGSUwbb

• The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, coming off of a double-digit road win in Women's National Invitation Tournament play, returns home for the tourney's third round. Head coach Robyn Fralick and the Falcons, the Mid-American Conference's automatic qualifier to the WNIT, will face the University of Memphis on Thursday (March 23), with tipoff set for 6:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.

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

• TV/VIDEO: Thursday's Memphis game will be streamed via ESPN3.
• RADIO/AUDIO: All of BGSU's remaining 2022-23 games 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.

THE FIRST ROAD WIN, BUT NOT THE FIRST ROAD WIN
• The Falcons went to Green Bay and picked up a 69-51 win over the Phoenix on Monday night (March 20). The win was BGSU's 14th road victory of the season, extending the current team's school record. The 2022-23 Falcons are now 14-3 in true road contests.

• Monday's win, however, was the first WNIT road win in school history.

• BGSU is now 10-8 in WNIT games through the years. Eight of the first nine such victories came at either venerable Anderson Arena or the Stroh Center, with an additional victory coming at a neutral site.

TWO TEAMS. A LOT OF WINS.
• In each of the WNIT's first two rounds, the Falcons' game featured the two teams with the highest combined win total in that round.

• BGSU opened the tourney with an 87-80 win over Liberty on Thursday (March 16) at the Stroh. Entering that game, the two teams had combined for 51 wins on the season, the highest total among any of the WNIT's 32 first-round matchups.

• And, entering the WNIT, BGSU and Green Bay were the only two teams in the 64-team field with as many as 27 wins. The Falcons (now 29-6) and Phoenix (28-6) had entered Monday's game with a combined total of 56 victories in 2022-23, easily the highest total in any of the 16 second-round matchups.

• The trend continues, as BGSU and Memphis have combined for 51 victories this year. The highest total of combined wins in any of the other seven Super 16 games is 45.

THE FALCONS IN THE WNIT
• BGSU is appearing in the postseason WNIT for the eighth time in program history, and the second time in three years. The Falcons enter the Memphis game with an all-time record of 10-8 in the tourney.

• The Falcons are 8-5 in home WNIT games through the years, including a 2-2 mark at venerable Anderson Arena and a 6-3 record at the Stroh Center. BGSU advanced to the third round of the 2013 tournament and the fourth round of the 2014 WNIT, losing to the eventual champion each season (Drexel in '13; Rutgers in '14).

• BGSU is 1-1 in road games following the win at Green Bay, and the Falcons are 1-2 in neutral-site contests in WNIT play over the years.

FALCONS FRUSTRATE PHOENIX
• There were many contributors in the Falcons' win at Green Bay on Monday. Let's highlight three of them, shall we? We shall...

• Allison Day led all players with 25 points and 10 rebounds. She made her first six shots of the night, wound up going 12-for-16 from the field, and also led all players with four steals.

• Amy Velasco had a career-high 11 assists in the win. She was involved in the scoring of 10-straight BGSU points late in the third quarter, hitting a corner three before assisting on the next three Falcon buckets as BG opened up a 12-point lead.

• Then, Lexi Fleming hit no fewer than three long-distance shots in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter. Fleming's own personal 9-0 run capped a 14-point run that gave the Falcons a commanding 21-point advantage.

TWENTY NINE WINS
• The Falcons' win at Green Bay was BGSU's 29th victory of the season. The current team is the 12th in program history to win at least 25 contests, and the first since 2013-14.

• BGSU has now had a total of nine seasons with 27 or more wins in program history. All 11 of the other MAC schools have combined for just 10 such seasons.

WINNING THE TURNOVER BATTLE
• The Falcons have won the turnover battle more often than not – MUCH more often than not – this season. BGSU has committed fewer turnovers than the opponents in 31 of this season's 35 games.

• The Falcons forced the opposition into 20 or more turnovers in 12 of the 18 MAC regular-season contests. Overall, BGSU has had a turnover margin of +10 or better in 16 games this winter, with a +9 margin in six additional games.

• Entering the Memphis game, the Falcons are ranked second in the entire nation in turnover margin (+8.74), and BGSU is seventh in the country in turnovers forced per game (21.31) and eighth in assist/turnover ratio (1.35).

• BGSU has forced the opposition into at least 15 turnovers in 33 of the 35 games, and the Falcons have had a single-digit turnover total 11 times this season to date. And, BG has turned those opponent turnovers into buckets. Through 35 games, the Falcons have outscored the foes, 789-360, in points off turnovers – an average of 22.54 points for, and just 10.29 points against, per game.

BGSU ON THE SINGLE-SEASON LISTS
• The Falcons have set several school single-season records. BGSU has scored a school-record 2,712 points this season, and the Falcons also have set a new record for field goals attempted (2,304). Entering the Memphis game, BG has 408 steals, the second-highest total in school history (the record is 412 in 1993-94), and the Falcons' total of 1015 field goals made ranks third in the history of the program.

• Individually, Elissa Brett has set a school record with 252 three-point field goals attempted, and her total of 88 three-pointers made ranks her fourth. In MAC games only, Brett shattered both BGSU records with 58 triples made and 158 attempted.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE TIGERS
• Memphis is 22-10 on the season, and the Tigers went 11-4 in American Athletic Conference play. Memphis has defeated Jackson State and Ball State, respectively, in the first two rounds of the WNIT. The 2022-23 Tigers secured the program's highest AAC seed in team history and recorded 20 wins for the first time in over a decade.

• Individually, Jamirah Shutes has 15.3 ppg to pace three double-digit scorers, while Madison Griggs has 12.3 ppg and has hit a team-leading 85 three-point field goals.

• Head coach Katrina Merriweather's team is 11-4 at home, 10-3 on the road and 1-3 in neutral-site games this season. In conference play, the Tigers went 5-2 at home and 6-2 on the road. Merriweather is in her second season at the Memphis helm after guiding the Tigers to records of 16-12 overall and 6-9 in conference play in 2021-22.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons and Memphis have never met in women's basketball. That will very likely change on Thursday night.

DOWN THE ROAD
• The BGSU-Memphis winner will advance to the Great 8 of the WNIT, and will face either Clemson or Florida, with the date, time and location of that game to be determined.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Elissa Brett

Allison Day

Lexi Fleming

Amy Velasco

Upcoming Events

Recent Results