Falcons Pick Up a 74-68 Road Win Over Akron

Wednesday, February 21

Akron, Ohio

7 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

13-11,7-6MAC

Akron

9-15,4-9MAC

Bowling Green

Akron

Morgan Sharps surpassed the 1,000-point mark for her career in Wednesday's win at Akron

Photo by: Brenna Orton, BGSU Athletics

February 21, 2024 | Women's Basketball

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Sharps scores her 1,000th point, Porter has a monster game as BGSU moves into a tie for fourth in the MAC

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

AKRON, Ohio – Erika Porter had a monster game and Morgan Sharps surpassed the 1,000-point mark for her career as the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team picked up a 74-68 road win over the University of Akron Wednesday night (Feb. 21). The Mid-American Conference game was held at James A. Rhodes Arena.

Porter had game-high totals of 22 points and 16 rebounds for the Falcons (13-11, 7-6 MAC), pacing four double-digit scorers. Amy Velasco had 18 points, with Sharps scoring 15 and Paige Kohler 10.

The Zips (9-15, 4-9 MAC) got 17 points from Lanae Riley, with five of her teammates scoring between eight and 11 points.

With the win, the Falcons move into a tie for fourth place in the MAC standings. BGSU is tied with Buffalo, as the Bulls fell to Northern Illinois (BG's next opponent) on Wednesday.

The Falcons trailed for a total of just 17 seconds in the game, and Akron never led in the final 35-plus minutes. BGSU led by 10 points on several first-half occasions, but the Zips battled back to within three at the intermission.

The visitors moved the lead back out to 10 points on a Porter hoop midway through the third quarter, but again the hosts responded, tying the contest on a pair of Riley free throws late in the period.

A three-pointer by Sharps gave the Falcons a 65-60 lead with 6:41 to go, but the Zips scored the next five points, with a Riley triple knotting the score with 5:18 on the clock. BG responded, however, with a Kohler free throw, followed by layups from Kohler and Porter to push the lead back out to five.

Another Riley trey made it a 70-68 game with 2:30 remaining, but Porter responded with a layup, and the Falcons held the Zips scoreless the rest of the way. Velasco iced the contest with a pair of late free throws.

BGSU shot an even 50 percent for the game, and the Falcons had a 38-31 rebounding lead.

NOTE OF THE NIGHT
• Morgan Sharps, as mentioned, has surpassed the 1,000-point mark for her career. Sharps had 15 points on Wednesday night, and now has a total of 1,010 points.
• Sharps, a transfer from Xavier, scored 222 points with the Musketeers before coming to BGSU, and she now has 788 points as a Falcon.

ALSO WORTH NOTING
• Erika Porter's double-double on Wednesday night was her fourth of the season, and she reached the 20-point mark for the fifth time this year.
• With two three-point field goals vs. the Zips, Sharp now has made 173 triples as a Falcon. She has moved into a tie for eighth place on the BGSU career list.
• Sharps has played in 70 games at BGSU. Every player above her on the career three-pointers list played in at least 111 contests as a Falcon.
• Kyla Smith made her BGSU debut on Wednesday night. Smith, who joined the Falcons earlier this month, played the final seconds of the third quarter at Akron, and finished the night with a plus/minus rating of +2.

MO SHARPS! She hits -- what else? -- a 3-pointer to surpass the 1000-point mark for her collegiate career!

0:57 1Q | BGSU 18, UA 11#AyZiggy x #onemore pic.twitter.com/y5rOjhDk5D
— BGSU Women's Basketball (@BGSUWBB) February 22, 2024

FIRST QUARTER
• BGSU got out to an early 6-0 lead, as Erika Porter scored a pair of buckets down low before Amy Velasco made a driving layup with just over two minutes gone. But, the Zips answered BG's run with a 7-0 run, capped by a Reagan Bass jumper. That 7-6 score would mark Akron's only lead of the night, however, and that lead lasted just 17 seconds.
• Morgan Sharps went to the line and made a free throw to tie the game, and Porter scored inside once again, then put back a missed shot for an 11-7 BG lead.
• BG went ahead by six after a banker by Sharps and another Velasco layup, and with just under a minutes left in the quarter, Sharps drilled a three-point try to surpass the 1,000-point mark for her career. Then, Emily Siesel fed Velasco for a corner three and a 21-11 lead, before the hosts answered with a trey in the final seconds of the quarter.

SECOND QUARTER
• Sophie Dziekan scored the Falcons' first two buckets of the period, and a nifty move and layup by Taya Ellis gave BG a 27-17 lead. The lead was still 10 points after Sharps canned a pull-up jumper, but Alexis Stewart knocked down a triple try for the hosts, and a Zakia Rasheed trey cut the BG advantage to 31-25.
• After a BGSU steal, Paige Kohler and Velasco worked a nifty give-and-go play , with Kohler scoring in transition. That gave the Falcons a 33-25 lead, but again the Zips would respond. Akron scored the next six points, including a trailing three by Rasheed, to get within two points.
• Porter kicked the ball out to Olivia Hill for a corner three, but a Bass putback cut BG's lead to three points, 36-33, at the half.

Gallery: (2-21-2024) 022124 wbb at Akron - Brenna Orton

THIRD QUARTER
• Porter scored inside on the first possession of the second half, and a Velasco layup gave the Falcons a five-point lead, but Morgan Haney scored from the arc to cut BG's lead to 40-38.
• Velasco found Kohler for a triple, and after a Bass bucket, Velasco pulled up at the top of the arc and knocked down a long-range try. Then, Kohler made a pair of free throws, and after an emphatic block by Porter at the other end, Kohler found Porter for a layup and a 50-40 lead.
• But, back-to-back three-pointers by the hosts cut that 10-point lead to four. Porter handed the ball off to a cutting Velasco for an open layup, and Velasco returned the favor by finding Porter for a layup, but the hosts rallied back, with Teniesha Clarke's three-point play making it a 55-53 game.
• Sharps hit a pull-up jumper, but Kaia Woods scored, and a pair of Lanae Riley free throws tied the score. Porter was fouled in the final second of the quarter, making both charity tosses for a 59-57 lead.

FOURTH QUARTER
• Sharps hit a floating jump shot, but Clarke's three-ball cut the BG lead to a single points. Kohler was fouled and split her free throws, but Porter rebounded the miss to keep the possession alive, and Sharps hit a trey for a 65-60 BG lead.
• But, Clarke drove and scored, and Riley's three-pointer tied the score with 5:20 to go. Porter made a free throw, and Kohler hit a nifty step-back jumper as the shot clock was about to expire, giving BGSU a 68-65 lead with just under four minutes left.
• Porter scored to make it a five-point game, but another Riley three cut that lead to two points. Porter, however, scored inside with just over two minutes left, and the Zips missed a layup. BG did not score on the next possession, but the Falcons got another stop at the defensive end, and Velasco was fouled with the shot clock at one second and the game clock at 10.3 seconds. She hit both of the ensuing free-throw tries to give the Falcons a six-point lead.

UP NEXT
• BGSU returns to the road this weekend, heading to DeKalb to face Northern Illinois on Saturday (Feb. 24). The Falcons and Huskies will meet shortly after 2:00 p.m. ET at the Convocation Center.

• Then, the Brown and Orange will close out the home portion of the regular-season schedule with back-to-back games vs. Buffalo (Wed., Feb. 28) and Miami (Sat., March 2).

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.