
Taya Ellis & the Falcons face WMU Saturday afternoon at the Stroh
Photo by: Jack Reeber, CMU Athletics
Falcons Face WMU to Begin Home Portion of MAC Schedule
January 05, 2024 | Women's Basketball
BGSU battles the Broncos on Saturday afternoon at the Stroh
BGSU vs. WESTERN MICHIGAN
Saturday, January 6, 2024 • 2:00 p.m.
Stroh Center • Bowling Green, Ohio
TV/Video: ESPN+ • Audio: Falcon Media Sports Network
Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.com • Twitter: @BGSUwbb
JUMP BALL
• The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team begins the home portion of the Mid-American Conference schedule this weekend. The Falcons, under the direction of first-year head coach Fred Chmiel, play three of the next four games at the Stroh Center, beginning with a Saturday matchup with Western Michigan University. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• There are multiple ways to keep up with the Falcons in 2023-24...
• TV/VIDEO: Saturday's WMU game will be streamed via ESPN+.
• RADIO/AUDIO: All of BGSU's 2023-24 games are scheduled to have an audio stream thanks to the Falcon Media Sports Network.
• LIVE STATS: Again this year, live stats for all games will be available.
• TWITTER (X): In-game updates, along with key graphics and information, can be found on the BGSU women's basketball Twitter/X 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.
LAST TIME OUT: FALCONS MAKE WINNING PLAYS DOWN THE STRETCH AT CMU
• The Falcons made big plays down the stretch on Wednesday night (Jan 3), rallying for a 65-64 win at Central Michigan in the MAC opener for both teams.
• Freshman Paige Kohler exploded for 28 points, the highest total of her young career, as the Falcons 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's triple cut the Falcons' deficit to two before Kohler found Erika Porter for a game-tying layup midway through the quarter. 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 left.
• 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 remaining.
• 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 Central 0.8 seconds to work with.
• The hosts 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, McGuff and Morgan Sharps – scoring six apiece.
FRESHMEN FLOURISH IN FIRST FORAY IN THE MAC
• Three BGSU freshmen saw action at Central Michigan, and all three made B!G contributions in the road win. That trio – Paige Kohler, Keiryn McGuff and Taya Ellis – combined for 38 of the Falcons' 65 points on the night.
• Kohler exploded for a game-high 28 points, the highest total of her young career. She hit four three-pointers, went 6-of-7 at the free-throw line and added four assists.
• McGuff had career-best totals of six points and seven rebounds, while Ellis had four points and five boards. Both players blocked two shots in the win.
• Ellis and McGuff combined to score a total of 15 points in the Falcons' first 10 games of the season, before teaming up to score 10 against the Chippewas.
• And, all three players were on the court during key stretches of the game. Kohler played a total of 32:54 in the win, including 7:39 of the fourth quarter. Ellis and McGuff each played over 20 minutes on the night, with McGuff on the court for 7:50 in the final quarter. She had a plus/minus rating of +10 in that period alone.
• Ellis played the final 2:44 of the contest, and all three players were on the court for the final defensive sequence, when the Falcons got a stop to preserve the win.
SPEAKING OF DEFENSE
• BGSU allowed Central Michigan to make just one field goal during the entire fourth quarter on Wednesday night. After a layup by the Chippewas gave the hosts a 60-51 lead with 8:20 left in the game, the BG defense forced Central to go 0-for-16 from the field during the remainder of the contest.
• CMU shot just 5.0% (not a typo – five percent) from the field in that fourth quarter.
THE FALCONS VS. THE MAC
• Historically, the Falcons have been one of the top programs in the Mid-American Conference. Entering Saturday's WMU matchup, BGSU has gone 449-259 (.634) in league regular-season games. The Falcons have the second-highest winning percentage of all MAC institutions, and the second-most conference wins of all 12 programs.
• BGSU has won 15 MAC regular-season titles, which is the highest total of any conference institution. And, the Falcons have won a league-best 11 MAC Tournament titles.
• BG leads the all-time series with all 11 conference foes, making the Falcons – obviously – the only team in the league with a winning record against every other school. BGSU also has the most overall victories and highest overall winning pct. of any league institution.
TOUGH CROWD!
• The Falcons put together what is quite possibly the toughest non-conference schedule in program history in 2023-24. Head coach Fred Chmiel's club faced a trio of top-20 teams in Iowa, South Carolina and Indiana, along with a Cleveland State squad that won 30 games last season.
• South Carolina (first), Indiana (second) and Iowa (third) finished 1-2-3 in the nation in the final Associated Press poll of the 2022-23 season.
• Iowa was fourth in both the Associated Press and USA Today polls when the Falcons faced the Hawkeyes in Iowa City, and South Carolina was first in both polls when the teams met at the Stroh Center. Just three days after facing the Gamecocks, BGSU traveled to meet an Indiana team ranked 16th by AP and 15th by USA Today.
TOUGH CROWD! PART II
• The Falcons enter the Western Michigan game with a 7-4 record. BGSU's four losses have come to teams that are a combined 49-6 as of Friday morning (Jan. 5).
THE STREAK IS OVER. LONG LIVE THE STREAK.
• BGSU went 0-for-11 from three-point range at Indiana (Dec. 22), ending a prolific long-range streak. The Falcons had made at least one three-pointer in exactly 600 consecutive games, which had been the seventh-longest streak in NCAA Division-I women's basketball.
• Prior to the IU game, BGSU had not been held without a triple in over 18 years – since Feb. 12, 2005, at Akron, when the Falcons won, 61-52, despite going 0-of-13 from the arc.
• BGSU's streak is now at one game after the Falcons knocked down seven triples in the win at CMU on Wednesday night.
THE FALCONS – A QUICK OVERVIEW
• The Falcons enter the Western Michigan game with a 7-4 record on the season, and BGSU is off to a 1-0 start in MAC play. Three of the four losses coming to nationally-ranked teams. The four teams who have beaten BGSU currently have a combined record of 49-6.
• BGSU is 2-1 at home, 3-3 on the road and 2-0 in neutral-site games.
• The Falcons rallied to beat Cleveland State, 89-86, in the season opener at the Stroh Center (Nov. 7), and after a loss at Texas State, BG bounced back with four-straight wins. The Falcons recorded a 73-64 victory at Xavier (Nov. 18) before heading to Georgia and posting a pair of neutral-site wins in the Savannah Hoops Invitational.
• The Falcons topped Mercer by a 59-38 final (Nov. 22), and BGSU returned to the court on Thanksgiving Day and defeated Lehigh, 85-73. BG picked up a 68-66 win over Duquesne at the Stroh on a last-second shot (Nov. 27), before opening the December slate with a 99-65 loss at fourth-ranked Iowa.
• The Orange and Brown captured a 69-48 win at Wright State (Dec. 12) before falling to #1/1 South Carolina and #16/15 Indiana prior to a break for the holidays. The Falcons began the 2024 portion of the schedule with a 65-64 win at Central Michigan in Wednesday night's (Jan. 3) MAC opener.
• A total of 13 Falcons have seen action this season, with nine of those 13 averaging over 10 minutes per contest. Amy Velasco leads the team with 35.2 minutes per game, while Paige Kohler has played 29.8 mpg. Lexi Fleming averaged 31.4 mpg over the first 10 contests of the season, before leaving the Indiana game (Dec. 22) due to injury.
• Fleming also had averages of 15.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game, leading the Falcons in all three categories at the time of her injury. She was averaging 16.7 ppg prior to that IU game, in which she played just 1:10.
• Morgan Sharps and Velasco have scored 13.0 and 12.4 ppg, respectively. Kohler, after scoring a career-high 28 points at CMU, now has 10.0 points per contest, while Erika Porter has 7.4 ppg to date.
• Velasco paces BG with 3.8 assists per game, followed closely by Kohler (3.6 apg).
• Sharps is shooting 44 percent from three-point range, having gone 22-for-50 from the arc in her seven games. Velasco has been almost equally deadly, having made 41.7% (15-of-36) of her long-distance tries.
• Olivia Hill and Sophie Dziekan have 4.5 and 4.0 ppg, respectively. Dziekan made her first collegiate start at Wright State and responded with her first career double-double, as she had 12 points and a career-high 10 rebounds in the win.
• Hill has started all 11 games this winter. After going 0-for-1 from three-point land in her first 59 games as a Falcon, she made the first – and the second – long-range shot of her career at Xavier. She is now 7-for-17 (41.2%) from the arc this season.
• Last year, the Falcons went 31-7 overall, and 14-4 in MAC play. BGSU tied Ball State for second in the conference, earned the number-two seed for the MAC Tournament and advanced to the championship game. Then, the Orange and Brown won four games in the WNIT to advance all the way to the semifinal round of that tourney. A total of nine student-athletes returned from that team in 2023-24.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE BRONCOS
• Western Michigan is 5-6 on the season, and the Broncos are 0-1 in MAC play after a 78-56 loss to Ball State on Wednesday night. WMU is 3-2 at home, 1-3 on the road and 1-1 at neutral sites to date.
• Individually, Kaitlyn Zarycki leads the team in both scoring and rebounding, with 17.4 ppg and 5.1 rpg. Zarycki had 27 points in the Ball State contest. Maggie Stutelberg has 12.8 ppg and has shot 45.6% (31-of-68) from the arc in nine games.
• Shane Clipfell and the Broncos went 12-17 overall and 7-11 in the MAC last season.
THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead WMU, 41-36, in the all-time series, and BGSU has won two consecutive meetings and five of the last six. Last season, the Falcons picked up a 74-56 victory at the Stroh (Feb. 1, 2023) and a 65-53 decision in Kalamazoo (Feb. 18, 2023). WMU's last series win was a 72-64 triumph nearly two years ago (Feb. 16, 2022), and the Broncos' last victory at the Stroh Center came almost exactly five years prior to Saturday's contest (84-82; Jan. 5, 2019).
• The Falcons are 22-14 at home, 16-21 on the road and 3-1 at neutral sites vs. WMU through the years. Additional series information can be found on page 25.
DOWN THE ROAD
• Following the WMU contest, BGSU will conclude a three-game stretch against the MAC's Michigan membership when Eastern Michigan comes to the Stroh on Wednesday (Jan. 10). The Falcons and Eagles will meet in a 7:00 p.m. start.
• Then, the Orange and Brown will hit the road next weekend, for a Saturday (Jan. 13) matchup at Ball State. That contest begins at 1:00 p.m. at Worthen Arena.
FOR MORE INFORMATION...
For more information on BGSU women's hoops, be sure to follow the Falcons on Facebook (@BGWBB), Twitter/X (@BGSU_Athletics and @BGSUWBB) and Instagram (@bgsuwbb), as well as on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.
Saturday, January 6, 2024 • 2:00 p.m.
Stroh Center • Bowling Green, Ohio
TV/Video: ESPN+ • Audio: Falcon Media Sports Network
Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.com • Twitter: @BGSUwbb
JUMP BALL
• The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team begins the home portion of the Mid-American Conference schedule this weekend. The Falcons, under the direction of first-year head coach Fred Chmiel, play three of the next four games at the Stroh Center, beginning with a Saturday matchup with Western Michigan University. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• There are multiple ways to keep up with the Falcons in 2023-24...
• TV/VIDEO: Saturday's WMU game will be streamed via ESPN+.
• RADIO/AUDIO: All of BGSU's 2023-24 games are scheduled to have an audio stream thanks to the Falcon Media Sports Network.
• LIVE STATS: Again this year, live stats for all games will be available.
• TWITTER (X): In-game updates, along with key graphics and information, can be found on the BGSU women's basketball Twitter/X 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.
LAST TIME OUT: FALCONS MAKE WINNING PLAYS DOWN THE STRETCH AT CMU
• The Falcons made big plays down the stretch on Wednesday night (Jan 3), rallying for a 65-64 win at Central Michigan in the MAC opener for both teams.
• Freshman Paige Kohler exploded for 28 points, the highest total of her young career, as the Falcons 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's triple cut the Falcons' deficit to two before Kohler found Erika Porter for a game-tying layup midway through the quarter. 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 left.
• 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 remaining.
• 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 Central 0.8 seconds to work with.
• The hosts 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, McGuff and Morgan Sharps – scoring six apiece.
FRESHMEN FLOURISH IN FIRST FORAY IN THE MAC
• Three BGSU freshmen saw action at Central Michigan, and all three made B!G contributions in the road win. That trio – Paige Kohler, Keiryn McGuff and Taya Ellis – combined for 38 of the Falcons' 65 points on the night.
• Kohler exploded for a game-high 28 points, the highest total of her young career. She hit four three-pointers, went 6-of-7 at the free-throw line and added four assists.
• McGuff had career-best totals of six points and seven rebounds, while Ellis had four points and five boards. Both players blocked two shots in the win.
• Ellis and McGuff combined to score a total of 15 points in the Falcons' first 10 games of the season, before teaming up to score 10 against the Chippewas.
• And, all three players were on the court during key stretches of the game. Kohler played a total of 32:54 in the win, including 7:39 of the fourth quarter. Ellis and McGuff each played over 20 minutes on the night, with McGuff on the court for 7:50 in the final quarter. She had a plus/minus rating of +10 in that period alone.
• Ellis played the final 2:44 of the contest, and all three players were on the court for the final defensive sequence, when the Falcons got a stop to preserve the win.
SPEAKING OF DEFENSE
• BGSU allowed Central Michigan to make just one field goal during the entire fourth quarter on Wednesday night. After a layup by the Chippewas gave the hosts a 60-51 lead with 8:20 left in the game, the BG defense forced Central to go 0-for-16 from the field during the remainder of the contest.
• CMU shot just 5.0% (not a typo – five percent) from the field in that fourth quarter.
THE FALCONS VS. THE MAC
• Historically, the Falcons have been one of the top programs in the Mid-American Conference. Entering Saturday's WMU matchup, BGSU has gone 449-259 (.634) in league regular-season games. The Falcons have the second-highest winning percentage of all MAC institutions, and the second-most conference wins of all 12 programs.
• BGSU has won 15 MAC regular-season titles, which is the highest total of any conference institution. And, the Falcons have won a league-best 11 MAC Tournament titles.
• BG leads the all-time series with all 11 conference foes, making the Falcons – obviously – the only team in the league with a winning record against every other school. BGSU also has the most overall victories and highest overall winning pct. of any league institution.
TOUGH CROWD!
• The Falcons put together what is quite possibly the toughest non-conference schedule in program history in 2023-24. Head coach Fred Chmiel's club faced a trio of top-20 teams in Iowa, South Carolina and Indiana, along with a Cleveland State squad that won 30 games last season.
• South Carolina (first), Indiana (second) and Iowa (third) finished 1-2-3 in the nation in the final Associated Press poll of the 2022-23 season.
• Iowa was fourth in both the Associated Press and USA Today polls when the Falcons faced the Hawkeyes in Iowa City, and South Carolina was first in both polls when the teams met at the Stroh Center. Just three days after facing the Gamecocks, BGSU traveled to meet an Indiana team ranked 16th by AP and 15th by USA Today.
TOUGH CROWD! PART II
• The Falcons enter the Western Michigan game with a 7-4 record. BGSU's four losses have come to teams that are a combined 49-6 as of Friday morning (Jan. 5).
THE STREAK IS OVER. LONG LIVE THE STREAK.
• BGSU went 0-for-11 from three-point range at Indiana (Dec. 22), ending a prolific long-range streak. The Falcons had made at least one three-pointer in exactly 600 consecutive games, which had been the seventh-longest streak in NCAA Division-I women's basketball.
• Prior to the IU game, BGSU had not been held without a triple in over 18 years – since Feb. 12, 2005, at Akron, when the Falcons won, 61-52, despite going 0-of-13 from the arc.
• BGSU's streak is now at one game after the Falcons knocked down seven triples in the win at CMU on Wednesday night.
THE FALCONS – A QUICK OVERVIEW
• The Falcons enter the Western Michigan game with a 7-4 record on the season, and BGSU is off to a 1-0 start in MAC play. Three of the four losses coming to nationally-ranked teams. The four teams who have beaten BGSU currently have a combined record of 49-6.
• BGSU is 2-1 at home, 3-3 on the road and 2-0 in neutral-site games.
• The Falcons rallied to beat Cleveland State, 89-86, in the season opener at the Stroh Center (Nov. 7), and after a loss at Texas State, BG bounced back with four-straight wins. The Falcons recorded a 73-64 victory at Xavier (Nov. 18) before heading to Georgia and posting a pair of neutral-site wins in the Savannah Hoops Invitational.
• The Falcons topped Mercer by a 59-38 final (Nov. 22), and BGSU returned to the court on Thanksgiving Day and defeated Lehigh, 85-73. BG picked up a 68-66 win over Duquesne at the Stroh on a last-second shot (Nov. 27), before opening the December slate with a 99-65 loss at fourth-ranked Iowa.
• The Orange and Brown captured a 69-48 win at Wright State (Dec. 12) before falling to #1/1 South Carolina and #16/15 Indiana prior to a break for the holidays. The Falcons began the 2024 portion of the schedule with a 65-64 win at Central Michigan in Wednesday night's (Jan. 3) MAC opener.
• A total of 13 Falcons have seen action this season, with nine of those 13 averaging over 10 minutes per contest. Amy Velasco leads the team with 35.2 minutes per game, while Paige Kohler has played 29.8 mpg. Lexi Fleming averaged 31.4 mpg over the first 10 contests of the season, before leaving the Indiana game (Dec. 22) due to injury.
• Fleming also had averages of 15.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game, leading the Falcons in all three categories at the time of her injury. She was averaging 16.7 ppg prior to that IU game, in which she played just 1:10.
• Morgan Sharps and Velasco have scored 13.0 and 12.4 ppg, respectively. Kohler, after scoring a career-high 28 points at CMU, now has 10.0 points per contest, while Erika Porter has 7.4 ppg to date.
• Velasco paces BG with 3.8 assists per game, followed closely by Kohler (3.6 apg).
• Sharps is shooting 44 percent from three-point range, having gone 22-for-50 from the arc in her seven games. Velasco has been almost equally deadly, having made 41.7% (15-of-36) of her long-distance tries.
• Olivia Hill and Sophie Dziekan have 4.5 and 4.0 ppg, respectively. Dziekan made her first collegiate start at Wright State and responded with her first career double-double, as she had 12 points and a career-high 10 rebounds in the win.
• Hill has started all 11 games this winter. After going 0-for-1 from three-point land in her first 59 games as a Falcon, she made the first – and the second – long-range shot of her career at Xavier. She is now 7-for-17 (41.2%) from the arc this season.
• Last year, the Falcons went 31-7 overall, and 14-4 in MAC play. BGSU tied Ball State for second in the conference, earned the number-two seed for the MAC Tournament and advanced to the championship game. Then, the Orange and Brown won four games in the WNIT to advance all the way to the semifinal round of that tourney. A total of nine student-athletes returned from that team in 2023-24.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE BRONCOS
• Western Michigan is 5-6 on the season, and the Broncos are 0-1 in MAC play after a 78-56 loss to Ball State on Wednesday night. WMU is 3-2 at home, 1-3 on the road and 1-1 at neutral sites to date.
• Individually, Kaitlyn Zarycki leads the team in both scoring and rebounding, with 17.4 ppg and 5.1 rpg. Zarycki had 27 points in the Ball State contest. Maggie Stutelberg has 12.8 ppg and has shot 45.6% (31-of-68) from the arc in nine games.
• Shane Clipfell and the Broncos went 12-17 overall and 7-11 in the MAC last season.
THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead WMU, 41-36, in the all-time series, and BGSU has won two consecutive meetings and five of the last six. Last season, the Falcons picked up a 74-56 victory at the Stroh (Feb. 1, 2023) and a 65-53 decision in Kalamazoo (Feb. 18, 2023). WMU's last series win was a 72-64 triumph nearly two years ago (Feb. 16, 2022), and the Broncos' last victory at the Stroh Center came almost exactly five years prior to Saturday's contest (84-82; Jan. 5, 2019).
• The Falcons are 22-14 at home, 16-21 on the road and 3-1 at neutral sites vs. WMU through the years. Additional series information can be found on page 25.
DOWN THE ROAD
• Following the WMU contest, BGSU will conclude a three-game stretch against the MAC's Michigan membership when Eastern Michigan comes to the Stroh on Wednesday (Jan. 10). The Falcons and Eagles will meet in a 7:00 p.m. start.
• Then, the Orange and Brown will hit the road next weekend, for a Saturday (Jan. 13) matchup at Ball State. That contest begins at 1:00 p.m. at Worthen Arena.
FOR MORE INFORMATION...
For more information on BGSU women's hoops, be sure to follow the Falcons on Facebook (@BGWBB), Twitter/X (@BGSU_Athletics and @BGSUWBB) and Instagram (@bgsuwbb), as well as on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.
Players Mentioned
Amy Velasco, Lexi Fleming, & Coach Chmiel Postgame Interview (Mar. 5, 2025)
Thursday, March 06
Paige Kohler, Coach Chmiel, & Amy Velasco Postgame Interview (Feb. 26, 2025)
Thursday, February 27
In the Paint: Lexxus Graham-Blincoe
Wednesday, February 26
Erika Porter, Amy Velasco, & Coach Chmiel Postgame Interview (Feb. 22, 2025)
Sunday, February 23