Falcons Fall to Bulls, 70-55, Despite Porter's Prolific Performance

Wednesday, February 28

Bowling Green, Ohio

7 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

14-12,8-7MAC

Buffalo

16-10,9-6MAC

Buffalo

Bowling Green

Photo by: Scott W. Grau

Falcons Fall to Bulls, 70-55, Despite Porter's Prolific Performance

February 28, 2024 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Erika Porter put together a prolific performance, but the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team fell, 70-55, to the University at Buffalo on Wednesday night (Feb. 28) at the Stroh Center.

Attendance: 1,868 // Ziggyville: 174

Porter had game-high totals of 22 points and 13 rebounds, and was a perfect 10-for-10 from the field on the night.

Morgan Sharps also had a double-digit scoring total for the Falcons (14-12, 8-7 MAC), with 15 points on the night.

But, the Bulls (16-10, 9-6 MAC) took an early lead and were able to hold off every BGSU comeback attempt. Chellia Watson, one of the top scorers in the nation, had 20 points, with Rana Elhusseini and Kirsten Lewis-Williams adding 16 and 14, respectively.

Watson, held to just 2-for-18 shooting in the first three quarters, had 14 of her 20 points in the fourth period.

Following Wednesday's action around the conference, the Falcons are in fifth place in the league, one game behind fourth-place UB.

BGSU's magic number to clinch a top-eight finish and a trip to Cleveland for the MAC Tournament is one. The Falcons are three games ahead of ninth-place Miami with three regular-season games remaining. BGSU hosts the RedHawks on Saturday (March 2).

NOTE OF THE NIGHT
• Erika Porter's 10-for-10 effort on Wednesday night is the second-best single-game field-goal percentage in the history of BGSU women's basketball. Porter fell just one bucket shy of the school record, set by Michelle Terry. Terry went 11-for-11 against Eastern Michigan on Valentine's Day of 1996.

ALSO WORTH NOTING
• After scoring six first-half points, Porter had a double-double in the second half, with 16 points and 10 rebounds after the intermission.
• Porter nearly had a double-double in the third quarter alone, with 10 points and eight rebounds in the period. Porter was responsible for all five BGSU field goals made in the quarter.
• Chellia Watson, the MAC's leading scorer, went just 2-for-14 from the field in the first three quarters, before making 3-of-4 shots in the fourth period.
• The Falcons committed seven turnovers in the first quarter and a total of 11 in the opening half. BGSU had only three second-half turnovers (including just one in the fourth quarter), for a total of 14 in the game. But, UB had only six turnovers on Wednesday, including none in the second half.
• Kyla Smith, who joined the Falcons earlier in February, played the last 1:37 of the UB game, and scored the first points of her BGSU career with a three-point field goal in the final minute of play. Smith, who previously played for the BG club team, had played a total of 0.7 seconds with the Falcons prior to Wednesday.

Gallery: (2-28-2024) 022824 wbk v UB - Kate Laney

Gallery: (2-28-2024) 022824 wbk v Buffalo - Avery Zuercher

FIRST QUARTER
• The Bulls never trailed on Wednesday night. UB took an early 6-0 lead on three-point field goals by Chellia Watson and Rana Elhusseini, before a nifty bounce pass by Erika Porter found a cutting Morgan Sharps for a layup that got BGSU on the board just over 2:20 into the game.
• Alexis Davis, however, got a steal and layup, and after Paige Kohler hit a long three-point try, a Davis jumper gave the visitors a 10-5 lead at the media timeout.
• Neither team scored for over three minutes, before Hattie Ogden knocked down a triple try for the Bulls. Sharps drained a three-pointer for the hosts with 1:23 left in the period, but Elhusseini answered with a long-distance shot. Kohler found Porter for a layup in the final seconds of the period, but the Bulls had a 16-10 lead after 10 minutes.

SECOND QUARTER
• Kohler drove and kicked the ball out to Sharps for a trey that cut the UB lead in half, but Kirsten Lewis-Williams hit a layup after a BG turnover, and after several scoreless minutes, Lewis-Williams scored inside again to give UB a 20-13 advantage.
• Amy Velasco made a pair of free throws, and Emily Siesel drew a charge at the defensive end, then took a Velasco pass and knocked down a three-point try to get the Falcons within three points, at 21-18.
• The teams traded points over the next three-plus minutes, with Porter making a pair of shots inside and Velasco hitting a floater. But, Ogden made a layup with 12 seconds left in the half to give UB a 29-24 lead at the intermission.

THIRD QUARTER
• Elhusseini's corner three opened the third-quarter scoring, and a Davis layup gave UB a 34-24 advantage, the first double-digit lead of the night. Velasco drove and dished the ball to Porter for a layup, and Kohler lobbed the ball into Porter for another bucket.
• Davis was called for her fourth foul of the game midway through the period on an over-the-back call as Porter corralled a rebound, and a nifty entry pass by Kohler resulted in yet another Porter hoop that made it a 34-30 game.
• Lewis-Williams scored, but Kohler hit a floater at the shot-clock horn, and after a pair of offensive rebounds, Porter scored inside yet again. The margin seemingly had dropped to two points, but at the next timeout, Kohler's shot was reviewed, and it was ruled that the shot had became after the shot clock had expired. Out of the timeout, Kiara Johnson made a pair of free throws, and after another Porter hoop, back-to-back Buffalo buckets gave the Bulls an eight-point lead, 42-34, after 30 minutes.

FOURTH QUARTER
• Lewis-Williams scored on the opening possession of the period, then fed Watson for a triple that gave the visitors a 13-point lead, the largest of the game to that point. Sharps found Velasco for a triple almost immediately, and Velasco returned the favor 70 seconds later, spotting Sharps for a short-corner jumper that cut the UB lead to 47-39.
• A Porter layup got BG within seven, but Watson answered with a three-ball, and after a BG miss, Davis threw a shot up and in to give UB a 53-41 lead with 6:05 remaining.
• Kohler grabbed a rebound, went coast to coast and found Sharps for a fast-break three-pointer, and Sharps and Kohler each hit shots in the next few minutes. But, the Bulls were answering at the other end, as Lewis-Williams made a layup, and Watson hit a jumper and two free throws.
• Porter's putback cut the BG deficit to 59-50 with 3:07 remaining, but Elhusseini scored, and after a pair of UB stops, several more free throws increased the UB lead to 15 points, 65-50, with under two minutes to go.
• Porter made a pair of shots at the stripe, and Siesel found Kyla Smith for a three-pointer in the final minute of play that closed the game's scoring.

UP NEXT
• BGSU closes out the home portion of the 2023-24 schedule on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 24). The Falcons will host Miami in a 2:00 p.m. start at the Stroh Center. Saturday will be Senior Day, with the seniors in the BGSU program recgnized in ceremonies prior to tipoff.

• Then, the Brown and Orange will close out the regular-season slate with road games against Western Michigan (March 6) and Eastern Michigan (March 9).

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.