Bowling Green State University Athletics
Wednesday, March 29
Bowling Green, Ohio
6:00 PM
Bowling Green State University
31-7,14-4MAC
70
vs
77
Columbia
28-5,12-2Ivy League
1
2
3
4
F
Columbia
23
20
14
20
77
Bowling Green
19
17
16
18
70
Photo by: Lauren Laudato, BGSU Athletics
Falcons' WNIT Run Comes to an End
March 29, 2023 | Women's Basketball
Box Score2023-24 Season Ticket DepositsBGSU-CU Stats2022-23 Record Book2022-23 BGSU Media CentralPhoto GalleryPhoto Gallery 2
Columbia downs BGSU, 77-70, in semifinal round
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – On March 29, the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team finally saw the 2022-23 journey come to an end. The Falcons fell, 77-70, to Columbia University in WNIT semifinal-round action on Wednesday night (March 29) at the Stroh Center.
With the victory in the Fab 4, the Lions (28-5) advance to the championship game of the 64-team tournament. Columbia will face Kansas in Saturday's final.
The Falcons (31-7), one of eight Division-I women's basketball teams in the nation still playing on Wednesday, see the season come to an end. BGSU played a school-record 38 games and tied the school and Mid-American Conference records for wins in a season.
CLICK HERE TO MAKE A DEPOSIT TOWARD 2023-24 SEASON TICKETS
Amy Velasco continued her tremendous WNIT run, scoring a team-high 19 points on Wednesday night, while Lexi Fleming had 15 points. Both players had five assists vs. the Lions to tie for team honors, while Fleming also tied for the team rebounding lead with seven, and added a game-high four steals.
Abbey Hsu scored a game-high 21 points for the visitors. Hsu hit four three-point field goals to give her 109 on the season, breaking her own Ivy League record of 108. Kaitlyn Davis had 19 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists and three steals for the visitors.
Columbia never trailed, taking a game-high 16-point lead with less than six minutes gone. The Falcons, down by a 23-7 score, responded with 12-straight points to end the first quarter.
BGSU got within four points three times in the second quarter. Then, the Falcons cut the deficit to three points twice in the second half. But, on both occasions, the visitors responded with a bucket on the ensuing possession to maintain the lead.
NOTE OF THE NIGHT
• Wednesday night's contest was played in front of the largest crowd ever to see a BGSU women's basketball home game at the Stroh Center, and the second-largest Falcon women's hoops home crowd in program history. The list...
TOP HOME CROWDS, BGSU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL HISTORY
1. 4,408 Florida, 3/17/93 (NCAA Tourn; Anderson Arena)
2. 4,155 Columbia, 3/29/23 (WNIT; Stroh Center)
3. 4,144 Loyola Chicago, 11/20/18 (Stroh)
4. 4,130 Xavier, 12/6/17 (Stroh)
5. 4,100 Cincinnati, 3/15/89 (NCAA Tourn.; Anderson)
6. 4,013 Toledo, 2/19/92 (Anderson)
7. 3,788 Florida, 3/27/23 (WNIT; Stroh)
8. 3,779 Central Michigan, 1/18/03 (Anderson)
9. 3,772 Creighton, 3/16/94 (NCAA Tourn.; Anderson)
10. 3,540 Miami, 2/3/18 (Stroh)
FIRST QUARTER
• The Lions never trailed, and Columbia jumped out to an early 11-1 lead. Kaitlyn Davis and Hannah Pratt each scored four points in that time, with BG's only point in the first three-plus minutes coming on an Amy Velasco free throw. When Abbey Hsu hit a three-point field goal to put her team up by 10, the Falcons used an early timeout.
• Out of that break, Lexi Fleming made BGSU's first field goal of the game at the 6:17 mark, with a three-point play. Velasco hit two more free throws 44 seconds later, but Hsu knocked down a jumper, then was fouled on a three-point try just over halfway through the quarter. She made all three charity tosses, then hit another three-ball just 24 seconds later. A Paige Lauder layup gave CU a 23-7 lead.
• Sophie Dziekan forced her way inside for a layup, before back-to-back driving layups by Velasco cut the BG deficit to 10 points. Fleming threw the ball inside to Olivia Hill for a quick layup, and Fleming then finished through contact for another BG hoop. When Velasco hit a tough shot in the final seconds of the period, BGSU had cut the lead to four, 23-19.
• The Falcons held the Lions scoreless for the final 4:05 of the period.
SECOND QUARTER
• Columbia opened the second quarter with a Davis layup and a Pratt three-pointer to extend the lead back to nine. Jocelyn Tate hit a reverse layup, and when Fleming found Elissa Brett for a right-wing triple, BG was back within four, 28-24.
• Jaida Patrick made a jumper, but Tate hit a three-pointer – just her second of the season – to make it a four-point game once again. The Lions responded with a pair of layups, but Velasco drained two shots from the stripe out of the media timeout, and after the Falcon defense forced a shot-clock violation, Brett drove for a layup.
• Hsu, however, hit a corner three with a hand in her face, and after a Fleming layup, Kitty Henderson's trey capped a quick 5-0 Columbia run to give the visitors a 10-point lead. Tate found Brett for a triple in the final seconds of the half that cut the CU lead to 43-36 at the intermission.
THIRD QUARTER
• Neither team scored for nearly two minutes in the second half, but a free throw and a Hsu shot from the arc gave CU an 11-point lead. Velasco assisted on back-to-back BG buckets, including an Allison Day layup and Fleming's second three-point play of the night, and it was a six-point game.
• Davis scored off of in inbounds pass, but Nyla Hampton – back on the court after missing the previous two games due to injury – drove and hit a shot off glass. Fleming was fouled while grabbing a rebound and made two shots to cut the lead to six.
• The visitors extended the margin to 10, but Day scored inside, Hampton knocked down a triple try, and Fleming fed Day for another bucket. The lead was down to three points, but Hsu answered with a step-back jumper that gave the Lions a 57-52 lead after three quarters.
FOURTH QUARTER
• Velasco found Dziekan for a layup in the opening minute of the period, but Davis answered with an open layup. BG got within four points twice over the next few minutes, on a Tate free throw and a pullup jumper by Velasco, but Davis saw her prayer answered, throwing the ball toward the basket as the shot clock expired and seeing her shot somehow go in for a 64-57 CU lead.
• Buckets by Dziekan and Velasco each cut the Falcon deficit to five, but the visitors sandwiched a pair of treys around another Velasco jumper, and the Lions' lead was 72-63 with just over three minutes to go.
• After a Columbia turnover, Hampton's pass resulted in a Fleming long-distance shot to make it a 72-66 game, but BG would draw no closer over the final few minutes. Tate and Velasco each scored in the final minute-plus, but a pair of Patrick hoops at the other end kept the visitors in front.
STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• Columbia shot 53.6 percent on the night, and the Lions outrebounded BGSU by a 47-34 count. The Falcons shot 34.6% from the field and went 5-for-25 from the arc.
• BGSU was +14 in the turnover department, committing just 11 turnovers while forcing CU into 25. BGSU had advantages of 18-11 in points off turnovers, 42-30 in points in the paint, 12-10 in second-chance points and 13-6 in bench scoring.
• Brett and Tate each scored eight points, with Tate grabbing seven rebounds and Brett four. Dzieken went 3-for-4 from the field en route to six points, while Hampton had five points and Olivia Hill two. Hill had three steals on the night and led the Falcons in plus/minus ratio at +9.
• With 5:43 remaining in the third quarter, Hampton recorded her 100th steal of the season, becoming the first-ever Falcon to amass a triple-digit total in that category. Hampton had one more steal on the night to finish the season with 101.
• After just three seasons as a Falcon, Hampton is one steal shy of tying the school career record. She has 243 steals in 92 career games at BGSU. The school record is 244, by Lindsay Austin (2000-04).
• Brett and Day averaged 15.8 and 15.0 points per game, respectively, in the WNIT, while Velasco had 11.6 ppg and a team-leading 5.4 assists per contest. Fleming (11.2 ppg) and Tate (10.2 ppg) also averaged double-digit scoring totals during the five WNIT contests. Tate had a BG-best 7.0 rebounds per game, pacing four Falcons with over five each. That list included Day (6.6 rpg), Brett (6.0) and Fleming (5.4).
Gallery: (3-29-2023) 032923 wbk v Columbia - Holscher
Gallery: (3-29-2023) 032923 wbk v Columbia - Laudato
UP NEXT
• Columbia moves on to face Kansas in the WNIT's championship game on Saturday (April 1) in Lawrence, Kansas, while the Falcons see the season come to an end.
• BGSU had three fifth-year players on the 15-woman roster. Graduate transfers Allison Day and Payton Moore and fifth-year Falcon Kadie Hempfling see their collegiate careers come to an end.
FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• For more information on all things BGSU women's basketball, follow the Falcons on...
• Facebook | @BGWBB
• Twitter | @BGAthletics and @BGSUwbb
• Instagram | @bgsuwbasketball
• Snapchat | BGSU Falcons
With the victory in the Fab 4, the Lions (28-5) advance to the championship game of the 64-team tournament. Columbia will face Kansas in Saturday's final.
The Falcons (31-7), one of eight Division-I women's basketball teams in the nation still playing on Wednesday, see the season come to an end. BGSU played a school-record 38 games and tied the school and Mid-American Conference records for wins in a season.
CLICK HERE TO MAKE A DEPOSIT TOWARD 2023-24 SEASON TICKETS
Amy Velasco continued her tremendous WNIT run, scoring a team-high 19 points on Wednesday night, while Lexi Fleming had 15 points. Both players had five assists vs. the Lions to tie for team honors, while Fleming also tied for the team rebounding lead with seven, and added a game-high four steals.
Abbey Hsu scored a game-high 21 points for the visitors. Hsu hit four three-point field goals to give her 109 on the season, breaking her own Ivy League record of 108. Kaitlyn Davis had 19 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists and three steals for the visitors.
Columbia never trailed, taking a game-high 16-point lead with less than six minutes gone. The Falcons, down by a 23-7 score, responded with 12-straight points to end the first quarter.
BGSU got within four points three times in the second quarter. Then, the Falcons cut the deficit to three points twice in the second half. But, on both occasions, the visitors responded with a bucket on the ensuing possession to maintain the lead.
NOTE OF THE NIGHT
• Wednesday night's contest was played in front of the largest crowd ever to see a BGSU women's basketball home game at the Stroh Center, and the second-largest Falcon women's hoops home crowd in program history. The list...
TOP HOME CROWDS, BGSU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL HISTORY
1. 4,408 Florida, 3/17/93 (NCAA Tourn; Anderson Arena)
2. 4,155 Columbia, 3/29/23 (WNIT; Stroh Center)
3. 4,144 Loyola Chicago, 11/20/18 (Stroh)
4. 4,130 Xavier, 12/6/17 (Stroh)
5. 4,100 Cincinnati, 3/15/89 (NCAA Tourn.; Anderson)
6. 4,013 Toledo, 2/19/92 (Anderson)
7. 3,788 Florida, 3/27/23 (WNIT; Stroh)
8. 3,779 Central Michigan, 1/18/03 (Anderson)
9. 3,772 Creighton, 3/16/94 (NCAA Tourn.; Anderson)
10. 3,540 Miami, 2/3/18 (Stroh)
FIRST QUARTER
• The Lions never trailed, and Columbia jumped out to an early 11-1 lead. Kaitlyn Davis and Hannah Pratt each scored four points in that time, with BG's only point in the first three-plus minutes coming on an Amy Velasco free throw. When Abbey Hsu hit a three-point field goal to put her team up by 10, the Falcons used an early timeout.
• Out of that break, Lexi Fleming made BGSU's first field goal of the game at the 6:17 mark, with a three-point play. Velasco hit two more free throws 44 seconds later, but Hsu knocked down a jumper, then was fouled on a three-point try just over halfway through the quarter. She made all three charity tosses, then hit another three-ball just 24 seconds later. A Paige Lauder layup gave CU a 23-7 lead.
• Sophie Dziekan forced her way inside for a layup, before back-to-back driving layups by Velasco cut the BG deficit to 10 points. Fleming threw the ball inside to Olivia Hill for a quick layup, and Fleming then finished through contact for another BG hoop. When Velasco hit a tough shot in the final seconds of the period, BGSU had cut the lead to four, 23-19.
• The Falcons held the Lions scoreless for the final 4:05 of the period.
SECOND QUARTER
• Columbia opened the second quarter with a Davis layup and a Pratt three-pointer to extend the lead back to nine. Jocelyn Tate hit a reverse layup, and when Fleming found Elissa Brett for a right-wing triple, BG was back within four, 28-24.
• Jaida Patrick made a jumper, but Tate hit a three-pointer – just her second of the season – to make it a four-point game once again. The Lions responded with a pair of layups, but Velasco drained two shots from the stripe out of the media timeout, and after the Falcon defense forced a shot-clock violation, Brett drove for a layup.
• Hsu, however, hit a corner three with a hand in her face, and after a Fleming layup, Kitty Henderson's trey capped a quick 5-0 Columbia run to give the visitors a 10-point lead. Tate found Brett for a triple in the final seconds of the half that cut the CU lead to 43-36 at the intermission.
Entering today, only 8️⃣ wbb teams in the country were still playing.
— BGSU WBB (@BGSUwbb) March 30, 2023
We're sad to see our season come to an end, but we will never forget the joy & excitement of this amazing journey. Thanks to the incredible fans who shared the ride with us.#AyZiggy | #RiseUp | 🟠🏀🟤 pic.twitter.com/DgheGQDj2Q
THIRD QUARTER
• Neither team scored for nearly two minutes in the second half, but a free throw and a Hsu shot from the arc gave CU an 11-point lead. Velasco assisted on back-to-back BG buckets, including an Allison Day layup and Fleming's second three-point play of the night, and it was a six-point game.
• Davis scored off of in inbounds pass, but Nyla Hampton – back on the court after missing the previous two games due to injury – drove and hit a shot off glass. Fleming was fouled while grabbing a rebound and made two shots to cut the lead to six.
• The visitors extended the margin to 10, but Day scored inside, Hampton knocked down a triple try, and Fleming fed Day for another bucket. The lead was down to three points, but Hsu answered with a step-back jumper that gave the Lions a 57-52 lead after three quarters.
FOURTH QUARTER
• Velasco found Dziekan for a layup in the opening minute of the period, but Davis answered with an open layup. BG got within four points twice over the next few minutes, on a Tate free throw and a pullup jumper by Velasco, but Davis saw her prayer answered, throwing the ball toward the basket as the shot clock expired and seeing her shot somehow go in for a 64-57 CU lead.
• Buckets by Dziekan and Velasco each cut the Falcon deficit to five, but the visitors sandwiched a pair of treys around another Velasco jumper, and the Lions' lead was 72-63 with just over three minutes to go.
• After a Columbia turnover, Hampton's pass resulted in a Fleming long-distance shot to make it a 72-66 game, but BG would draw no closer over the final few minutes. Tate and Velasco each scored in the final minute-plus, but a pair of Patrick hoops at the other end kept the visitors in front.
STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
• Columbia shot 53.6 percent on the night, and the Lions outrebounded BGSU by a 47-34 count. The Falcons shot 34.6% from the field and went 5-for-25 from the arc.
• BGSU was +14 in the turnover department, committing just 11 turnovers while forcing CU into 25. BGSU had advantages of 18-11 in points off turnovers, 42-30 in points in the paint, 12-10 in second-chance points and 13-6 in bench scoring.
• Brett and Tate each scored eight points, with Tate grabbing seven rebounds and Brett four. Dzieken went 3-for-4 from the field en route to six points, while Hampton had five points and Olivia Hill two. Hill had three steals on the night and led the Falcons in plus/minus ratio at +9.
• With 5:43 remaining in the third quarter, Hampton recorded her 100th steal of the season, becoming the first-ever Falcon to amass a triple-digit total in that category. Hampton had one more steal on the night to finish the season with 101.
• After just three seasons as a Falcon, Hampton is one steal shy of tying the school career record. She has 243 steals in 92 career games at BGSU. The school record is 244, by Lindsay Austin (2000-04).
• Brett and Day averaged 15.8 and 15.0 points per game, respectively, in the WNIT, while Velasco had 11.6 ppg and a team-leading 5.4 assists per contest. Fleming (11.2 ppg) and Tate (10.2 ppg) also averaged double-digit scoring totals during the five WNIT contests. Tate had a BG-best 7.0 rebounds per game, pacing four Falcons with over five each. That list included Day (6.6 rpg), Brett (6.0) and Fleming (5.4).
UP NEXT
• Columbia moves on to face Kansas in the WNIT's championship game on Saturday (April 1) in Lawrence, Kansas, while the Falcons see the season come to an end.
• BGSU had three fifth-year players on the 15-woman roster. Graduate transfers Allison Day and Payton Moore and fifth-year Falcon Kadie Hempfling see their collegiate careers come to an end.
FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• For more information on all things BGSU women's basketball, follow the Falcons on...
• Facebook | @BGWBB
• Twitter | @BGAthletics and @BGSUwbb
• Instagram | @bgsuwbasketball
• Snapchat | BGSU Falcons
Team Stats
CU
BGSU
FG%
.536
.346
3FG%
.385
.200
FT%
.636
.733
RB
47
34
TO
25
11
STL
6
12
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's BasketballG
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