Falcons Make Winning Plays Down the Stretch to Top CMU, 65-64

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team made big plays down the stretch on Wednesday night (Jan 3), rallying for a 65-64 win over Central Michigan University. The game, the Mid-American Conference opener for both teams, took place inside McGuirk Arena.

Freshman Paige Kohler exploded for 28 points, the highest total of her young career, for the Falcons (7-4, 1-0 MAC), who picked up the first MAC victory of the Fred Chmiel Era.

The Chippewas led by as many as nine points on several occasions, the last at 60-51 after a reverse layup by Karrington Gordon with 8:20 to go in the fourth quarter. Believe it or not, that would be CMU's final field goal of the night.

BGSU proceeded to go on a 10-0 run, with Keiryn McGuff hitting a pair of free throws and Olivia Hill scoring the game's next five points. Hill cut down the lane and took a Morgan Sharps pass for a transition layup, then stepped outside the arc and hit a long-distance shot to cut the Falcons' deficit to two points.

Kohler found Erika Porter for a layup midway through the quarter, and Amy Velasco's free throw with 3:59 remaining gave BGSU a 61-60 lead.

Gordon split a pair of free throws to snap the run, but Kohler hit a long straightaway triple with 2:20 to go. Gordon got back to the line and knocked down a pair of shots, and neither team would score again until Nadége Jean split a pair of free throws to tie the game, 64-64, with 36.6 seconds to go.

BGSU missed a shot and the ball went out of bounds to CMU. But, Velasco stole the ensuing inbounds pass, was fouled and hit what would prove to be the game-winning free throw with 30.7 seconds to go.

The Chippewas used nearly the entire shot clock on the next possession, before Gordon shot a left-side jumper that hit off of the rim and went out of bounds, with possession remaining with the home team. The referees reviewed the play and added half a second to the game clock, giving the hosts 0.8 seconds to work with.

Central inbounded the ball to Gordon, but she was unable to get a shot off before the game clock expired, and the Falcons had the road win.

Kohler was the only Falcon to score in double digits on Wednesday night. Porter had eight points and Hill seven, with three teammates – Velasco, Sharps and McGuff – scoring six apiece.

Falcon freshmen scored 38 of the Falcons' 65 points in the win. McGuff had a team-high seven rebounds in addition to her six points, and classmate Taya Ellis had four points and five boards in the win.

Velasco had five rebounds, four assists and a game-high five steals to go along with her six points in the win.

Taylor Anderson had 16 points to pace the Chippewas, with Gordon adding 11. Jean had 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

NOTEWORTHY
• BGSU ended the game on a 14-4 run. All four of CMU's points during that span of eight-plus minutes came at the free-throw line.
• Central Michigan shot nearly 48 percent (20-of-42; 47.6%) over the first three quarters. But, the BGSU defense held the Chippewas to just a 1-for-19 (5.0%) from the field in the fourth quarter.

FIRST QUARTER
• Neither team got on the scoreboard for over two minutes, and it took BGSU exactly three minutes before Paige Kohler hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 2-2. A quick steal and layup by Kohler gave BG a 4-2 lead, before the teams combined for three three-point field goals in roughly 25 seconds. Morgan Sharps took a Kohler pass and connected from the arc, but a Madisen Wardell trey gave CMU a 10-7 lead.
• Kohler would hit a triple later in the quarter, and back-to-back putbacks by Taya Ellis kept the Falcons within a bucket. Kohler was fouled on a drive and knocked down a pair of charity tosses to get BG within two, 18-16, after 10 minutes.
• Freshmen Kohler (9) and Ellis (4) combined for 13 of the Falcons' 16 points in the opening quarter.
• BGSU went just 5-of-16 in the first period (31.3%), while CMU was 7-for-12 (58.3%) from the floor. But, the hosts committed eight turnovers, and BGSU had a 9-0 lead in points off turnovers in the period.

SECOND QUARTER
• Keiryn McGuff opened the second-quarter scoring with a free throw, and Amy Velasco came up with a steal and found Sharps for a pull-up transition triple, tying the game at 20-20. But, the bank was open for CMU's Tiana Timpe, who saw her triple try go off glass and in.
• Taylor Anderson followed with a crazy Euro-step layup to put the hosts up by five. Kohler hit a free throw, then found Erika Porter for a layup and a three-point play. When Kohler knocked down a long-range shot, the Falcons had a 27-25 lead and CMU used a timeout.
• But, the Chippewas responded to BGSU's 7-0 run with a quick 6-0 run of their own. Velasco scored on a floater, and Olivia Hill knocked down a pair of free throws with just under a minute to go, tying the contest at 31-all.
• Porter's charity toss gave BGSU the lead, but the Chippewas made three shots from the stripe in the last three seconds of the quarter to take a 34-32 lead into the intermission.
• The Falcons shot just 29% in the opening half, going 9-of-31, while Central had a 42.3% success rate in the first 20 minutes. BGSU forced CMU into 12 turnovers and had a 14-0 lead in points off turnovers in the half.

THIRD QUARTER
• CMU scored the first four points of the quarter, before Kohler drove and finished through contact. Porter took a charge at one end of the court and hit a reverse layup at the other, cutting Central's lead to 39-36.
• But, the hosts then went on an 8-2 run, capped by a pair of layups by Karrington Gordon. The latter bucket gave the Chippewas a 47-38 lead as BGSU used a timeout.
• Kohler hit a nifty and-one shot off glass, knocking down the free throw, and the freshman then scored on the break. But, just that quickly, the hosts responded with five consecutive points, as Timpe's triple made it a nine-point game once again.
• Kohler hit a long three-point try, but Anderson answered with a three-point play, and Lisa Tesson's driving layup gave CMU a 56-47 lead.
• The Chippewas shot 60% (9-of-15) from the floor in the third quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER
• McGuff was fouled and made a pair of free throws just eight seconds into the final quarter, but the hosts answered with a pair of shots from the stripe. Kohler hit a runner, but Gordon made a reverse layup – CMU's only successful field goal of the entire quarter – to give her team a 60-51 lead with 8:20 to go.
• McGuff was fouled again, and hit two more charity tosses. Then, a pass by Sharps found Hill cutting through the paint for an easy layup. And, moments later, Sharps kicked the ball out to Hill for a trey from the right elbow, cutting the CMU lead to two.
• With 5:08 to go, Kohler found Porter for a game-tying layup, and just over a minute later, Velasco's free throw gave BGSU a 10-0 run and a 61-60 lead.
• Gordon ended that run with a single free throw at the 2:43 mark, but Kohler splashed a long three-point try to give the Falcons a 64-61 lead with 2:20 remaining. Gordon hit two free throws on the next possession to make it a one-point game.
• The game continued along with that same 64-63 score for nearly 90 seconds. BGSU missed a three-point try, but CMU returned the favor as a long shot was way off the mark. The Falcons missed a contested layup at the one-minute mark, but forced a miss at the other end. But, as the teams battled for the rebound, BGSU was whistled for a foul, and Nadege Jean hit a charity toss to tie the game with 36.6 seconds to go.
• BGSU missed a shot, and the ball went out of bounds to Central. The Chippewas called a timeout to inbound the ball at midcourt, but Velasco stole the pass, was fouled and hit a free throw with 30.7 seconds left.
• Central used nearly all of the shot clock before Gordon's jumper was off the mark. The ball went out of bounds to CMU with 0.3 seconds on the clock. The referees reviewed the play and changed the time remaining to 0.8 seconds to go.
• CMU got the ball to Gordon, but with Porter guarding her, she was unable to get a turnaround jumper off before time expired, and the Falcons had the road win.

UP NEXT
• BGSU returns home for the next two games, beginning with a Saturday (Jan. 6) matchup against Western Michigan. That game will begin at 2:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will entertain Eastern Michigan next Wednesday night (Jan. 10), with that contest set for a 7:00 p.m. start at the Stroh.

WEDNESDAY'S SCORES AROUND THE MAC
Bowling Green 65, at Central Michigan 64
Kent State 73, at Buffalo 64
Toledo 70, at Miami 52
at Ohio 67, Akron 58
Eastern Michigan 67, at Northern Illinois 49
Ball State 78, at Western Michigan 56

FOR MORE INFORMATION...
• For more information on all things BGSU women's basketball, follow the Falcons on Facebook (@BGWBB), Twitter/X (@BGSU_Athletics and @BGSUWBB) and Instagram (@bgsuwbb), as well as right here at BGSUFalcons.com.

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Paige Kohler

Erika Porter

Olivia Hill

Morgan Sharps

Players Mentioned

Taya Ellis