Falcons Host Ohio on National Girls & Women in Sports Day

Wednesday, February 7

Bowling Green, Ohio

7 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Ohio

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Photo by: Daniel Carlson

February 06, 2024 | Women's Basketball

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BGSU battles the Bobcats at the Stroh Wednesday night

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

BGSU vs. OHIO
Wednesday, February 7, 2024 • 7:00 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 a season-long three-game homestand with a midweek matchup at the Stroh Center. The Falcons, under the direction of first-year head coach Fred Chmiel, face Ohio University in Mid-American Conference action on Wednesday (Feb. 7), with tipoff at 7:00 p.m.

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

• TV/VIDEO: Wednesday's Ohio 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: 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.

BGSU SAAC TO HOLD CLINIC FOR NGWSD WEDNESDAY
• BGSU's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) is proud to announce a sports clinic for National Girls and Women In Sports Day on Wednesday (Feb. 7). The clinic, which will run from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m., will feature members of each of BGSU's women's athletic teams interacting and engaging with children to teach the importance of sport participation, leadership and leading a healthy and active lifestyle.

• After the event, all participants are invited to join BGSU women's basketball as the team hosts Ohio at 7:00 p.m. Registration is limited to the first 75 children grades 1-8. More information can be found on the web at BGSUFalcons.com.

All participants will receive a complimentary ticket to the game and a bottled water for use during the clinic.

SIESEL, TUBERGEN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THEIR TIME
• Sophomore Jaci Tubergen entered last Wednesday night's NIU game with totals of 24 minutes played and four points scored on the season. She checked into the contest with five seconds remaining in the first quarter.

• Tubergen had not played more than 7:11 in a game this season, but after playing those last few seconds of the first quarter, she was on the court for all 10 minutes in the second period as BGSU enjoyed that 22-2 scoring advantage. She was one of four Falcons to singlehandedly outscore the Huskies in the quarter, with four points.

• For the game, Tubergen had seven points in 15:10 – setting career bests in both minutes played and points scored – and she had a plus/minus rating of +18.

• Three days later, fellow sophomore Emily Siesel played 21:45 – the highest total of her career – in the Falcons' game at Toledo. Siesel played a total of 15:55 during her entire freshman season, and had just one double-digits minutes-played total in this season's first 15 games. But, she has now played over 10 minutes in four of the Falcons' last six contests.

TROY GAME TO START AT NOON –PLEASE MAKE A NOTE OF IT
• The start time for Falcons' game vs. Troy on Saturday (Feb. 10) – part of the MAC/Sun Belt Challenge – has been changed. Tipoff is now set for 12:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.

FALCONS' PLAY4KAY/PINK GAME SET FOR SATURDAY
• BGSU will host Troy on Saturday (Feb. 10), and it will be the program's annual Play4Kay/Pink Game. The Falcons are inviting Survivors, Thrivers and those standing in the gap for a loved one who is battling or has battled cancer to come to the Stroh Center for that day's game, which begins at 12:00 p.m.

• Former North Carolina State head women's basketball coach Kay Yow was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987, and passed away on January 24, 2009, after facing her third bout with the disease. The vision of Play4Kay came directly from Coach Yow. Through Play4Kay, she saw a way to bring communities together and honor cancer warriors in the fight against ALL cancers affecting women.

• All fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game.

PORTER'S PERCENTAGE PACES THE MAC
• Erika Porter continued a stretch of torrid shooting by going 7-for-10 from the floor at Toledo. Porter leads the MAC in field-goal percentage in conference games, having made 65.5% of her shots vs. league foes.

• Over the last seven games, Porter has gone 40-of-56 (71.4%) from the floor.

THE FALCONS VS. THE MAC
• Historically, the Falcons have been one of the top programs in the Mid-American Conference. Entering Wednesday's Ohio game, BGSU has gone 453-264 (.632) 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.

THE FALCONS – A QUICK OVERVIEW
• The Falcons enter the Ohio game with an overall record of 11-9 on the season, and BGSU is 5-5 in MAC play. Three of the Falcons' losses this season have come to nationally-ranked teams.

• BGSU is 6-2 at home, 3-7 on the road and 2-0 in neutral-site games. In MAC play, the Falcons are 4-1 at the Stroh and 1-4 in front of hostile gatherings.

• The Falcons rallied to beat Cleveland State in the season opener at the Stroh, 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 Wednesday's (Jan. 31) 72-54 win over Northern Illinois, before falling at Toledo on Saturday (Feb. 3).

• A total of 13 Falcons have seen action this season, with nine of those 13 averaging at least 13 minutes per contest. Nine different players have started at least one game so far in 2023-24.

• Velasco, a junior, leads the team with 34.4 minutes per game, while freshman Paige Kohler has played 32.8 mpg.

• Fourth-year Falcon 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 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 13.9 and 13.5 ppg, respectively. Kohler, who scored a game-high 22 points at Toledo, has 11.1 points per contest, while Erika Porter has 10.5 ppg to date. Kohler, Porter and Sharps (three apiece) and Velasco (two) each have had multiple games with 20 or more points this season (as has Fleming [three]).

• Velasco paces BG with 4.7 assists per game, followed by Kohler (3.3 apg).

• Velasco has gone 29-of-72 (40.3%) 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 42-of-109 shots (38.5%) from long distance.

• Olivia Hill and Sophie Dziekan have 4.7 and 4.0 ppg, respectively, this season. 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.

• Hill had six points and a career-high nine rebounds at Toledo Saturday. She started the first 14 games this winter before missing the Akron and Miami contests due to injury. After going 0-for-1 from three-point land in her first 59 games as a Falcon, she made not one, but two, long-range shots at Xavier. Hill is now 12-for-32 from the arc this season to date.

• BGSU's scoring in MAC games could not be any more balanced, as Kohler and Velasco each have 14.0 ppg, with Sharps and Porter both averaging 13.7 ppg. Porter has a team-high 7.1 rebounds per game in MAC action, and recorded double-doubles in back-to-back road games, vs. Miami and Buffalo.

• Velasco leads the Falcons in assists (5.6 apg; second in the MAC) and steals (1.6 spg) in MAC games, while Porter is shooting a team- and MAC-best 65.5% (55-of-84) 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' group of returnees for the 2023-24 season also included Jasmine Clerkley, Jasmine Fearne, Emily Siesel and Jaci Tubergen.

• Five newcomers joined head coach Fred Chmiel's first BGSU squad. That quintet includes Baylor transfer Porter as well as freshmen Ellis, Kohler, McGuff and Abbie Riddle.

• Chmiel's staff is comprised of assistant coaches Maggie Lucas, Nick DiPillo and Lexxus Graham-Blincoe, video coordinator Audra Clark, director of operations Tim Kjar and director of player personnel Zhaque Gray.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE BOBCATS
• Ohio is 7-13 on the season, and the Bobcats are 4-6 in MAC play. Ohio won three-straight league contests before falling at home to Buffalo and on the road vs. MAC-leading Ball State last week. The 'Cats are 6-4 at home and 1-9 on the road this season. In MAC games, Ohio is 3-2 at The Convo and 1-4 away from Athens.

• Individually, Jaya McClure has a team-leading 12.6 ppg, while Kennedi Watkins and Monica Williams have 10.8 and 9.0 ppg, respectively, McClure has missed the last five games.

• Head coach Bob Boldon welcomed back seven players from a 2022-23 team that finished 6-23 overall and 4-14 in conference action.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead Ohio, 58-34, in the all-time series, and BGSU won the last meeting. The Falcons snapped a two-game Ohio series winning streak in a big way, with an 81-44 road win a year ago (Feb. 7, 2023). BGSU has won three of the last five overall meetings. Prior to that, Ohio had captured 11-straight contests.

• The players on BGSU's 2023-24 active roster combined to score just eight of the 81 points in last season's meeting.

• The Falcons are 33-11 at home, 22-21 on the road and 3-2 at neutral sites vs. Ohio through the years. Additional series information can be found on page 31.

DOWN THE ROAD
• Following the Ohio game, the Falcons will step outside of conference play to host Troy on Saturday (Feb. 10). That game, part of the MAC/Sun Belt Challenge, will begin at 12:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will prepare for a rematch with Toledo the following Saturday (Feb. 17). That 'Battle of I-75' begins at 6:00 p.m. inside the Stroh.

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.