Falcons Face Miami on Senior Day at the Stroh

Saturday, March 2

Bowling Green, Ohio

2 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Miami (OH)

Tickets

Photo by: Scott W. Grau

February 29, 2024 | Women's Basketball

BGSU Notes (PDF)Miami Notes (PDF)BGSU-Miami Rosters (PDF)Support BGSU Women's Basketball

BGSU battles RedHawks Saturday afternoon

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

BGSU vs. MIAMI
Saturday, March 2, 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 closes out the home portion of the 2023-24 schedule this weekend. The Falcons, under the direction of first-year head coach Fred Chmiel, host Miami University on Saturday afternoon (March 2), with tipoff set for 2:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.

• Saturday will be Senior Day for the Falcons, with several seniors within the program recognized in ceremonies prior to tipoff.

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

• TV/VIDEO: Saturday's Miami game will be streamed via ESPN+.
• RADIO/AUDIO: The MU 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.

SENIOR DAY!
• Saturday, as mentioned, is Senior Day for the Falcons. Four members of the 2023-24 roster will be recognized in festivities prior to the game. That quartet includes Jasmine Clerkley, Sophie Dziekan, Olivia Hill and Morgan Sharps.

MAGIC NUMBER IS ONE (also titled, ONE IS A MAGIC NUMBER)
• The Falcons enter Saturday's game with a magic number of one to qualify for the MAC Tournament. The top eight teams will advance to downtown Cleveland for the league tourney quarterfinals on Wednesday, March 13.

• BGSU is three games ahead of ninth-place Miami with three games to play. The RedHawks currently own the tiebreaker with the Falcons by virtue of a win in the teams' first 2023-24 meeting. But, one BGSU win or one Miami loss over the next three games will clinch a top-eight seed and a trip to Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse for the Falcons.

PORTER'S PROLIFIC PERFORMANCE
• Erika Porter has been shooting the ball tremendously well all season long, but she took it to yet another level on Wednesday night (Feb. 28). Porter was a perfect 10-for-10 from the field against Buffalo, falling just one bucket shy of matching the school record. Michelle Terry set the BGSU record by making all 11 shots she attempted in a win over Eastern Michigan on Valentine's Day of 1996.

• Porter, in her first year with the Falcons, now has two of the top eight single-game performances in school history. The list...
BGSU RECORD BOOK – HIGHEST FIELD-GOAL PCT., GAME
(minimum 8 FGM)
1. Michelle Terry vs. Eastern Mich. Feb. 14, 1996   1.000 (11-11)
2. Erika Porter vs. Buffalo Feb. 28, 2024   1.000 (10-10)
3. Kate Achter vs. Temple Nov. 24, 2006   1.000 (8-8)
Kate Achter vs. Youngstown St. Nov. 30, 2004   1.000 (8-8)
5. Lori Albers vs. Cincinnati Jan. 4, 1993 .923 (12-13)
6. Erika Porter vs. Akron Jan. 17, 2024 .909 (10-11)
Whitney Taylor vs. Kent State Jan. 16, 2008 .909 (10-11)
Joelyn Shoup vs. Eastern Mich. Feb. 20, 1985 .909 (10-11)

PORTER'S PROLIFIC PACE
• Erika Porter, as mentioned, has shot the ball well – very well – all season long. She was a perfect 10-for-10 from the floor against Buffalo on Wednesday (Feb. 28), and has gone 10-for-11, 8-of-9, 10-for-13, 9-of-13 (twice) and 8-for-12 in games this season as well.

• On the year, Porter is shooting 67.2% in 2023-24, having made 125 of her 186 shots. She is on pace to set a new school single-season record in that category. The current record is 63.3%, set by Talita Scott in the 1992-93 campaign (the list is on page 9).

• Porter's current percentage would rank her first in the nation (as of Friday morning, Feb. 29), but she falls just shy of the NCAA's minimum requirements. The NCAA minimum stats requirement is 5.00 field goals made per game, and Porter currently has 4.81 FGM/game.

• Entering the Miami game, Porter leads the MAC in field-goal percentage in conference games, having made 69.7% of her shots vs. league foes. She is far, far ahead of the second-place individual in that category (Western Michigan's Kaitlyn Zarycki, 56.4%).

• Over the Falcons' last 12 games, Porter has gone 74-of-98 (75.5%) from the floor.

A WALKING DOUBLE-DOUBLE
• Erika Porter had a game-high 22 points against Buffalo on Wednesday night (Feb. 28), and she also led all players with 13 rebounds. The double-double was her fifth of the season, and all five have come in MAC play.

• Porter now has six games with at least 20 points this season, including three in the last five games.

RANDOM LIST OF THE DAY: MOST PLAYERS WITH AT LEAST THREE GAMES OF 20 OR MORE POINTS THIS SEASON, MAC TEAMS
5 Bowling Green (Porter 6 20-point games, Sharps 5, Velasco 4, Fleming 3, Kohler 3)
2 Buffalo, Kent State, Toledo
1 Akron, Ball State, Miami, Ohio, Western Michigan

SHARPS SHOOTER: MORGAN NOW SEVENTH AT BGSU
• Morgan Sharps made three three-point field goals vs. Buffalo, giving her 180 triples in her BGSU career. Sharps has moved into sole possession of seventh place on that Falcon career list, passing her former teammate, Elissa Brett.

• Sharps has played in 72 games at BGSU. Every player above her on the career list for three-point field goals made played in at least 118 career contests.

• Sharps is on pace to break the school record for three-point field goals made per game in a career. She has hit 2.49 triples per contest at BG, ahead of the legendary Lauren Prochaska, who made 2.30 treys per game in her Hall of Fame career.

• This season, Sharps has made 3.05 three-pointers per game, and ranks seventh in the nation in that category.

• That figure (3.05) also puts her on pace for the second-best single-season triples-per-game average in Falcon history (the list is somewhere in the PDF version of these very notes).

WELCOME!
• In early February, BGSU coach Fred Chmiel announced the addition of Kyla Smith to the roster. Smith, a senior, came to the 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.

• Smith made her Falcon debut in the win at Akron, playing the final seconds of the third quarter. She had a plus/minus rating of +2 in that game.

• Then, on Wednesday (Feb. 28), Smith made her Stroh Center debut, playing the final 1:37 against Buffalo. Smith knocked down the first shot of her BGSU career, hitting a three-pointer with just over 30 seconds to go.

THE FALCONS – A QUICK OVERVIEW
• The Falcons have an overall record of 14-12 on the season, and BGSU is 8-7 in MAC play heading into Saturday's Miami game. BG posted a pair of road wins last week, topping Akron (74-68; Feb. 21) and Northern Illinois (82-73; Feb. 24), but suffered a 70-55 loss to Buffalo at the Stroh Center on Wednesday night (Feb. 28).

• The Falcons currently sit in fifth place in the MAC standings. BGSU is one game behind Buffalo and one game ahead of sixth-place Western Michigan. BG has a magic number of one to clinch a top-eight finish and a berth in the MAC Tournament.

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

• The Falcons rallied to beat Cleveland State in the season opener, and after a loss at Texas State, BG bounced back with four-straight wins, downing Xavier, Mercer, Lehigh and Duquesne. The latter game saw the Falcons win, 68-66, on Amy Velasco's buzzer-beater at the Stroh.

• BGSU went 1-3 in December, with all three losses coming to nationally-ranked teams (#4/4 Iowa, #1/1 South Carolina and #16/15 Indiana).

• The Falcons went 3-0 to begin the MAC schedule, sweeping the league's three Michigan members. BGSU lost for the first time in conference play on Jan. 13, falling at Ball State by a 76-61 count. The Falcons bounced back with a 70-59 home win over Akron (Jan. 17), and BG snapped a three-game losing streak with a 72-54 win over Northern Illinois (Jan. 31), before falling at Toledo (Feb. 3).

• The Orange and Brown topped Ohio, 69-52, at the Stroh (Feb. 7), and after losses to Troy and UT, BGSU completed season sweeps of both UA and NIU.

• A total of 14 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 (and the next four contests). Nine different players have started at least one game so far in 2023-24.

• Velasco, a junior, leads the team with 35.1 minutes per game, while freshman Paige Kohler has played 33.1 mpg.

• Fourth-year Falcon Lexi Fleming, one of the many injured players, 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 15.0 and 14.6 ppg, respectively. Erika Porter, after a 22-point, 13-rebound game vs. UB on Wednesday, has 11.8 ppg, while Kohler is right behind at 10.9 ppg. Porter (six), Sharps (five), Velasco (four) and Kohler (three) each have had multiple games with 20 or more points this season (as has Fleming [three]), and Porter now has five double-doubles on the year.

• Sharps, who had a career-high 30 points vs. Kent State in late January, scored 28 points against Troy, tying the school record with eight three-pointers made in the latter game. She has made 23 triples in the last five contests, and is averaging 19.3 ppg over the Falcons' last eight games.

• Velasco paces BG with 4.8 assists per game, followed by Kohler (3.7 apg).

• Velasco has gone 42-of-101 (41.6%) from the arc to lead the Falcons in three-point accuracy, while Sharps, despite missing the first four games of the season, tops the team in triples made, having made 67-of-177 shots (37.9%) from long distance.

• Porter is shooting a team-leading 67.2% from the field, having made 125 of her 186 total shot attempts, and she leads the team in rebounding, at 6.3 rpg. As mentioned earlier, Porter's field-goal pct. would lead the nation, but she falls just short of the NCAA minimum (5.0 FGM per game) to qualify. Velasco, Sharps and Porter all have made between 122 and 126 field goals this season.

• Olivia Hill and Sophie Dziekan have 4.6 and 3.2 ppg, respectively, this season. Hill has started 24 of the Falcons' 26 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 14-for-43 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 just under 60% from the field.

• Kohler and Velasco each have started all 26 games this year. Hill, as mentioned, has made 24 starts, while Porter has started 20 games and Sharps 16.

• BGSU's scoring in MAC games could not be much more balanced, as Velasco has 15.4 ppg, followed by Sharps (14.4 ppg), Porter (14.3 ppg) and Kohler (12.9 ppg). That quartet ranks sixth, eighth, ninth and 11th, respectively, in the MAC in scoring. Porter has a team-high 8.2 rebounds per game in MAC action, with five double-doubles in conference play.

• Velasco leads the Falcons in assists (5.3 apg; good for first in the MAC) and steals (1.8 spg) in MAC games, while Porter is shooting a team- and MAC-best 69.7% (85-of-122) 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.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE REDHAWKS
• Miami enters Saturday's game with an overall record of 8-18 this season, and the RedHawks are 5-10 in the MAC. MU had won three of four games prior to a 76-73, double-overtime loss at Central Michigan Wednesday night. The RedHawks are 5-6 at home and 3-12 on the road this season. In MAC action, Miami is currently 3-4 at Millett Hall and 2-6 on the road.

• Individually, Jadyn Scott and Amber Tretter have 10.6 and 9.9 ppg, respectively, and Tretter leads the team with 7.7 rpg. Katey Richason has 8.9 points, and scored a team-high 21 points off the bench at CMU. She has averaged 17.5 ppg over the last two games after missing the previous eight contests due to injury.

• Head coach Glenn Box is in his first season with the RedHawks. MU returned just four letterwinners from the 2022-23 team that finished 12-19 overall and 7-11 in conference action.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead Miami, 57-35, in the all-time series, but Miami won this season's first meeting to snap a six-game BG series win streak. The RedHawks picked up a 56-47 victory in Oxford last month (Jan. 20, 2024), despite a 16-point, 19-rebound effort by Erika Porter. Last year, in the teams' lone matchup, the Falcons picked up an 88-59 victory at the Stroh Center (Feb. 4, 2023).

• The Falcons are 27-16 at home, 24-18 on the road and 6-1 at neutral sites vs. Miami through the years. Additional series information can be found on page 33.

DOWN THE ROAD
• Following the Miami game, the Falcons will close the regular-season schedule with a pair of games in the state of Michigan. BGSU will head to Kalamazoo for a Wednesday (March 6) meeting with Western Michigan, beginning at 7:00 p.m. Then, the regular season ends next Saturday (March 9) with a 1:00 p.m. contest at Eastern Michigan.

• The top-eight teams in the final regular-season standings will head to Cleveland for the MAC Tournament, which begins with quarterfinal-round matchups on Wednesday, March 13, at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

REMAINING REGULAR-SEASON SCHEDULE
Sat., March 2 – MIAMI, 2:00 p.m. (Senior Day)
Wed., March 6 – at Western Michigan, 7:00 p.m.
Sat., March 9 – at Eastern Michigan, 1:00 p.m.