BGSU Battles Ball State in Friday's Semifinal Round

BOWLING GREEN VS. BALL STATE
Friday, March 10, 2023 • 12:30 p.m.
Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse • Cleveland, Ohio
MAC Tournament Semifinal
TV/Video: ESPN+ • Audio: BG Falcon Media
Live Stats: getsomemaction.com • Twitter: @BGSUwbb

• The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, after a 34-point win in the Mid-American Conference Tournament's quarterfinal round, has advanced to the semifinals. Head coach Robyn Fralick and the Falcons, the tournament's number-two seed, will face third-seeded Ball State University on Friday afternoon (March 10), with tipoff set for approximately 12:30 p.m. at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in downtown Cleveland.

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

• TV/VIDEO: Friday's BSU game will be streamed via ESPN+.
• 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 FALCONS IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT
• BGSU enters Friday's BSU game with an all-time record of 47-27 in MAC Tournament contests. The Falcons have won 11 league tournament titles, the most of any conference institution, and BG has the second-highest winning percentage (.635) of any team in league tourney games. BGSU's conference tournament win total also places the Falcons second among MAC teams. A complete list of BGSU's game-by-game results in MAC Tournament play can be found on page 39.

FALCONS VS. BSU IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT
• The Falcons and Ball State are meeting for the eighth time in MAC Tournament play, and the fourth time in downtown Cleveland. BGSU is 5-2 in tourney meetings with BSU, including a 3-0 record at home and a 2-2 mark at neutral sites. The teams have met on three previous occasions at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (previously known as Quicken Loans Arena). BGSU captured the first five MAC Tournament matchups with BSU, but the Cardinals have won the last two.

• BGSU is 1-1 against BSU in the semifinal round of the league tourney. The teams' first-ever semifinal-round meeting saw the Falcons down BSU in Toledo in 1989. More recently, the Cardinals picked up a 73-55 win over the Falcons in the semifinals of the 2014 tournament.
Year  Round Opponent (Site)    Result
1989   SF   Ball State (Centennial Hall; Toledo)    W 86-71
1993   QF   BALL STATE (Anderson Arena) W 75-39
1994   QF   BALL STATE (Anderson) W 78-67
1997   QF   BALL STATE (Anderson) (OT) W 81-76
2007   CG   Ball State (Quicken Loans Arena; Cleveland) W 67-53
2009   CG   Ball State (Quicken Loans) L 51-55
2014   SF   Ball State (Quicken Loans) L 55-73

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 29 of this season's 31 games.

• In fact, BGSU has had a turnover margin of +9 or better in each of the last 11 games. The Falcons forced the opposition into 20 or more turnovers in 12 of the 18 MAC regular-season contests.

• Over the last 11 games, BGSU has turned the ball over 139 times (12.63 per game), while the opponents have had 262 turnovers (23.81 per game).

• Entering the BSU game, the Falcons are ranked second in the entire nation in turnover margin (+9.37), and BGSU is sixth in the country in turnovers forced per game (21.90) and eighth in assist/turnover ratio (1.36).

• BGSU has forced the opposition into at least 15 turnovers in all 31 games, and the Falcons have had a single-digit turnover total nine times this season to date.

• And, BG has turned those opponent turnovers into buckets. Through 31 games, the Falcons have outscored the foes, 723-312, in points off turnovers – an average of 23.3 points for, and just 10.1 points against, per game. We break it down scientifically in a handy chart on page 10. Trust the science.

HAMPTON = DEFENSE
• There's a reason Nyla Hampton was named the MAC's Defensive Player of the Year. In fact, there are at least 93 reasons.

• Hampton had 86 steals last season, the fourth-highest total in BGSU history at the time (spoiler alert: it's now the fifth highest total). She ranked second in the MAC and 17th in the nation in that category in 2021-22. With 2.69 steals per game, Hampton was third in the league and 23rd in the country.

• This season, Hampton has 93 steals, a new school single-season record. In the win over EMU on Wednesday, she broke a record that had stood for nearly three decades, as Talita Scott had set the mark with 92 steals in 1993-94.

• Hampton now has two of the top-five single-season totals in program annals. She currently ranks ninth in the nation in total steals and 12th in the country in steals per game (3.00). She leads the MAC in both categories.

• Hampton is on pace to shatter the school records for total steals and steals per game in a career. She has 235 steals in 87 career games played. In just her third year with the Falcons, she has moved into third place on the BGSU career steals list. Hampton needs six steals to tie Lori Albers (241 steals from 1989-94) for second place, and nine to match Lindsay Austin's (244 from 2000-04) school record.

• Hampton's average of 2.70 career steals per game puts her on pace to obliterate that school record – no other Falcon has had more than 2.19 career spg.

HEMPFLING REACHES YET ANOTHER MILESTONE
• Kadie Hempfling's name can be found on multiple lists in the BGSU record book, and the fifth-year Falcon now has moved to the top of one of those lists. When Hempfling checked into the Eastern Michigan game on Wednesday night (March 8), it marked the 150th time she has taken the floor in a BG uniform.

• Hempfling broke the 'old' career record of 149 games played, set by her former teammate, Madisen.Parker.

• And, Hempfling's name can be found on many other BGSU lists. Entering the BSU contest, Hempfling sits in 16th place on the BGSU career scoring list, with 1,270 points as a Falcon. Additionally, she ranks fifth in school history in career games started, sixth in assists, eighth in rebounds and 13th in three-pointers made.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE CARDINALS
• Ball State is 25-7 on the season, and the Cardinals finished MAC play with a record of 14-4, tying the Falcons for second place in the final conference standings. BSU picked up a 92-68 win over Akron in the MAC Tournament quarterfinals.

• Individually, Anna Clephane has 15.2 ppg to pace four double-digit scorers. Thelma Dis Agustsdottir has 12.5 ppg and has hit 96 three-point field goals, while Ally Becki has 11.5 ppg and a team-leading 5.9 rpg.

• Head coach Brady Sallee's team is 14-1 at home, 9-5 on the road and 2-1 in neutral-site games this season. In MAC play, Ball went 8-1 in Muncie and 6-3 away from home. Sallee welcomed back four starters from a 2021-22 club that went 20-13 overall and 11-8 in the MAC.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead Ball State, 47-26, in the all-time series, and the teams split their two regular-season meetings. BSU topped the Falcons, 81-73, in the MAC opener in Muncie (Jan. 4, 2023), but BG won an 81-76 overtime thriller last week (March 1, 2023) inside the Stroh Center.

• The Falcons are 26-7 at home, 19-16 on the road and 2-3 at neutral sites vs. the Cardinals through the years.

DOWN THE ROAD
• The BGSU-BSU winner will advance to Saturday's (March 11) MAC Tournament championship game, and will face either Toledo or Kent State at 11:00 a.m. at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. That game will be aired on CBS Sports Network.

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