Falcons Head to NE Ohio for Midweek Matchup with Zips

Wednesday, February 21

Akron, Ohio

7 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Akron

Tickets

Photo by: Scott W. Grau

February 19, 2024 | Women's Basketball

BGSU Notes (PDF)Akron Notes (PDF)Support BGSU Women's Basketball

BGSU faces Akron on Wednesday night

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

BGSU at AKRON
Wednesday, February 21, 2024 • 7:00 p.m.
Rhodes Arena • Akron, Ohio
TV/Video: ESPN+ • Audio: Falcon Media Sports Network
Live Stats: GoZips.com • Twitter: @BGSUwbb

JUMP BALL
• The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team hits the road for a pair of Mid-American Conference games this week. The Falcons, under the direction of first-year head coach Fred Chmiel, head to Northeast Ohio for a Wednesday (Feb. 21) meeting with the University of Akron, with tipoff at 7:00 p.m. at Rhodes Arena.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will venture to the MAC's "West Coast" this weekend, taking on Northern Illinois University in DeKalb on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 24).

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• There are multiple ways to keep up with the Falcons in 2023-24...

• TV/VIDEO: Wednesday's Akron game tussle will be streamed via ESPN+.
• RADIO/AUDIO: The UA contest, as is the case for all of BGSU's 2023-24 games, is scheduled to have an audio stream thanks to the Falcon Media Sports Network.
• LIVE STATS: Live stats for all games in '23-24 are 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.

MILESTONE WATCH: SHARPS SHOOTING FOR 1,000
• Morgan Sharps had a team-high 28 points against Troy (Feb. 10), and followed that up with a BGSU-best 22-point effort against Toledo (Feb. 17). Sharps is now just five points away from reaching the 1,000-point mark for her career.

• Sharps scored 222 points in 38 career games at Xavier, and since transferring to BGSU she has scored a total of 773 points in 69 contests, an average of 11.2 points per game as a Falcon.

MILESTONE WATCH II: AMY ACCUMULATES ASSISTS
• Junior Amy Velasco reached a career milestone in the Ohio game (Feb. 7), dishing out the 300th assist of her career in the Falcons' 69-52 win. Velasco became just the 11th player in school history to reach the 300-assist plateau.

• Then, three days later (Feb. 10), Velasco handed out seven more assists, moving past Judit Lendvay (304 assists from 1989-93) into 10th place on the BGSU career assists list. Entering the Akron game, Velasco now has 312 career dimes. Her next Target is ninth-place Cathy Koch, who had 347 assists from 1988-92.

• Velasco currently ranks seventh in BGSU history in assists per game, with 3.35. The complete lists of both career assists and assists per game can be found on page 7 of these notes.

• Velasco surpassed the 900-point mark for her career in the Toledo game. She now has 910 points as a Falcon, tops among all current team members.

WELCOME!
• BGSU coach Fred Chmiel recently announced the addition of Kyla Smith to the roster. Smith, a senior, comes to the varsity program from the BGSU club team. A native of Blacklick, Ohio, the guard helped Gahanna Lincoln H.S. to a 20-7 overall record and a regional semifinal appearance in her senior season of 2019-20.

THE FALCONS – A QUICK OVERVIEW
• The Falcons have an overall record of 12-11 on the season, and BGSU is 6-6 in MAC play heading into Wednesday night's Akron game.

• BGSU is 7-4 at home, 3-7 on the road and 2-0 in neutral-site games. In MAC play, the Falcons are 5-2 at the Stroh and 1-4 in front of hostile gatherings.

• A total of 13 Falcons have seen action this season, but only eight of the 14 players who began the season on the roster suited up for the Troy game. Nine different players have started at least one game so far in 2023-24.

• Velasco, a junior, leads the team with 34.8 minutes per game, while freshman Paige Kohler has played 33.4 mpg.

• Fourth-year Falcon Lexi Fleming, one of the injured Falcons, averaged 31.4 mpg over the first 10 contests of the season, before leaving the Indiana game (Dec. 22). Fleming also has averages of 15.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game, and led 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 14.9 and 14.0 ppg, respectively. Erika Porter has 11.0 ppg, while Kohler is right behind at 10.9 ppg. Sharps (five), Porter (four), Kohler and Velasco (three apiece) each have had multiple games with 20 or more points this season (as has Fleming [three]), and Porter has three double-doubles on the year.

• Sharps, who had a career-high 30 points vs. Kent State in late January, scored 28 points against Troy and 22 more in the home game vs. Toledo. She has made 14 three-point field goals over the last two contests, and is averaging 21.0 ppg over the Falcons' last six games.

• Velasco paces BG with 4.8 assists per game, followed by Kohler (3.5 apg).

• Velasco has gone 35-of-82 (42.7%) from the arc to lead the Falcons in three-point accuracy, while Sharps, despite missing the first four games of the season, leads the team in triples made, having made 58-of-145 shots (40.0%) from long distance.

• Porter is shooting a team-leading 64.6% from the field, having made 102 of her 158 total shot attempts.

• Olivia Hill and Sophie Dziekan have 5.0 and 3.4 ppg, respectively, this season. Hill has started 21 of the Falcons' 23 games this winter, and after going 0-for-1 from three-point land in her first three seasons (plus two games) as a Falcon, has shown her proclivity from the arc by going 13-for-39 from downtown this season to date.

• Dziekan made her first collegiate start at Wright State (Dec. 12) and responded with her first career double-double, as she had 12 points and a career-high 10 rebounds in the win. She has made five starts this season, including a pair of MAC matchups, and is shooting over 60% from the field.

• BGSU's scoring in MAC games could not be any more balanced, as Velasco has 14.5 ppg, followed by Sharps 14.3 ppg), Kohler (13.5 ppg) and Porter (13.3 ppg). That quartet ranks eighth through 11th in the MAC in scoring. Porter has a team-high 7.4 rebounds per game in MAC action, with three double-doubles in conference play.

• Velasco leads the Falcons in assists (5.5 apg; good for first in the MAC) and steals (1.6 spg) in MAC games, while Porter is shooting a team- and MAC-best 66.7% (62-of-93) from the floor.

• 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.

THE FALCONS VS. THE MAC
• Historically, the Falcons have been one of the top programs in the Mid-American Conference. Entering the Akron game, BGSU has gone 454-265 (.631) 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.

BE READY WHEN YOUR NAME IS CALLED...
• It's safe to say the Falcons have battled some adversity this season. Entering the Akron game, BGSU has lost an estimated 78 player-games to injury or illness. No fewer than 10 different Falcons have been unavailable for at least one game this year.

After just 16 games this season, the Falcons had utilized six different starting-lineup combinations. That came after BGSU employed a total of five different lineups during all of last year (38 games).

• Nine different players have started at least one game in 2023-24 to date, after a total of seven different Falcons were in the starting lineup last season.

...AND BE READY TO PLAY A LOT
• With BGSU battling injuries for much of the past two months, the healthy Falcons have understandably seen their playing time increase. Paige Kohler, Amy Velasco and Morgan Sharps all are averaging at least 33.6 minutes per game in MAC play, with Erika Porter and Olivia Hill each over 25 minutes per contest.

• Kohler has played over 32 minutes in each of the last 14 games, and has been on the court for all 40 minutes of three MAC games to date. She is second in the league in minutes played in conference games (36.25).

• Velasco has played more than 30 minutes in all but two of this season's 21 games, and has been on the court for 39:48 and 39:56, respectively, in BGSU's last two contests (vs. Troy and Toledo).

• Sharps has played over 38 minutes in three of the last four games and in five of the last eight contests, including more than 39 minutes vs. both Kent State and Troy.

• Hill has played more than 31 minutes in five of BGSU's last six games, including a career-high 36:20 vs. Kent State. Then, she played exactly 36:20 again three games later, vs. Ohio.

• And, Emily Siesel, who played more than five minutes in a game just three times in her first season and a half, has played in all 12 MAC games and has averaged 8.1 mpg in conference contests. She has posted double-digit minutes totals four times in the last nine games, and has been on the court for 126 minutes this season after playing just 16 total minutes as a freshman.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE ZIPS
• Akron enters Wednesday's game with a 9-14 overall record this season, and the Zips are 4-8 in MAC action. Akron, coming off of a 65-54 win over Buffalo on Saturday, is 4-6 at home, 4-7 on the road and 1-1 in neutral-site games this season to date. In MAC action, UA is 2-4 at home and 2-4 on the road.

• Individually, Reagan Bass leads the team in both scoring and rebounding, with 16.9 ppg and a MAC-best 10.7 rpg. Morgan Haney and Lanae Riley have 9.4 and 9.0 ppg, respectively, and Haney has a team-high 2.9 apg.

• Head coach Ryan Gensler is in his first season with the Zips. Akron went 17-13 overall and 8-10 in the MAC last winter.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead Akron 59-14, in the all-time series, and BGSU has won the last two meetings. Last month (Jan. 17, 2024), the Falcons picked up a 70-59 victory over the Zips at the Stroh Center. The teams' last meeting in Akron was the visiting Falcons rally for a 71-66 victory (Jan. 14, 2023). The Falcons won the first 26 series meetings, and after Akron won two of the next five, BGSU reeled off 19-straight wins before UA's next victory in 2013. Akron has won 11 of the last 19 meetings after BGSU's 51-3 series start.

• The Falcons are 31-5 at home, 26-8 on the road and 2-1 at neutral sites vs. the Zips through the years.

DOWN THE ROAD
• Following the Akron game, the Falcons will head to DeKalb for a Saturday (Feb. 24) meeting with Northern Illinois, with tipoff at 2:00 p.m. ET at the Convocation Center.

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.