Falcons Fall Just Short, 70-64, Against Buffalo on Wednesday

Wednesday, March 13

Cleveland, Ohio

approx. 1:30 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

16-14,10-8MAC

Buffalo (Quarterfinals)

18-12,10-8MAC

Bowling Green

Buffalo

Freshman Paige Kohler tied for team honors with 19 points on Wednesday

Photo by: Daniel Carlson

March 13, 2024 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Bos Score (PDF)Photo Gallery

Kohler, Velasco each score 19 points in MAC Tourney Quarterfinal

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team mounted a huge third-quarter rally on Wednesday (March 13), but the University at Buffalo was able to post a 70-64 win over the Falcons. The game, a quarterfinal-round contest in the Mid-American Conference Tournament, was held at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

Paige Kohler and Amy Velasco each scored 19 points for the Falcons (16-14), the fifth seed for the tournament. Morgan Sharps added 12 points, with Olivia Hill scoring eight and leading BGSU with a career-high 11 rebounds and three steals.

The Falcons had a 40-24 rebounding advantage in the game, with Hill and Sophie Dziekan combining for 11 offensive boards.

On the afternoon, Kohler had a total of nine rebounds, tying her career high, while Dziekan had seven.

Chellia Watson scored 24 points for the fourth-seeded Bulls (18-12), who answered BGSU's third-quarter run with a run of their own in the fourth quarter.

Velasco hit two free throws with just under a minute remaining to tie the score, but the Bulls split a pair of tosses at the other end of the court to take the lead for good.

BGSU shot just over 40 percent from the field for the game, but the Falcons went just 5-of-27 (18.5%) from three-point range. The Bulls shot 48.9% overall and 44.4% (8-of-18) from the arc.

The Falcons' rebound total included 19 offensive boards, compared to just four for the Bulls. BGSU had advantages of 40-20 in points in the paint and 16-3 in second-chance points.

FIRST QUARTER
• UB got off to a hot-shooting start, making 9-of-14 shots (64.3%) in the first quarter. BGSU hit just four shots in 17 attempts (23.8%) in the opening 10 minutes.
• Morgan Sharps took an Olivia Hill pass and knocked down a three-point try early, giving the Falcons a 3-2 lead, but UB then went on a 12-0 run. Chellia Watson began that run with a layup, then hit a pull-up jumper. When Alexis Davis banked home a long two-point try, the Bulls had a 10-3 lead and the Falcons used a timeout.
• BGSU forced a shot-clock violation midway through the period, but UB got the ball back, and Kirsten Lewis-Williams made a layup. When Rana Elhusseini went coast-to-coast and scored, UB had a 14-3 lead.
• Amy Velasco ended that run with a nice slicing drive to the basket for a layup, but the Bulls answered with two buckets, including another jumper that went in off glass. Paige Kohler fed Hill for a bucket, then knocked down a three-point try to get the Falcons within nine, 19-10, after 10 minutes.

SECOND QUARTER
• Enhusseini's triple opened the second-quarter scoring, but Sophie Dziekan came up with an offensive rebound in traffic, putting the ball back up and in. Sharps made a nifty drive across the paint and scored on a scoop shot, but Watson's floater made it a 25-14 game.
• The Falcons crept closer, as Velasco found Sharps for a right-side jumper, and Kohler made a pair of free throws. UB answered, but Velasco made a nice cut, took a Kohler pass and hit a floating jump shot. Then, Velasco got a shot to go as the shot-clock horn sounds.
• BGSU was within five points, but UB scored the next four points before Dziekan scored inside. Kohler drove and hit a layup to make it a five-point game again, and Hill answered a UB bucket with a shot of her own, but a Hattie Ogden triple gave the Bulls a 36-28 lead. Velasco's nifty spinning one-hander cut the deficit to six points at the intermission.

Gallery: (3-13-2024) 031324 WBB v Buffalo - Daniel Carlson

THIRD QUARTER
• The second half did not start well for the Falcons, as BG turned the ball over and Watson hit a triple. Then, Erika Porter, who missed much of the first half due to foul trouble, was called for another foul just 38 seconds into the period. With less than a minute gone, a free throw gave UB a 40-30 lead.
• But, after that Watson triple, the Bulls did not make another field goal for a span of over seven minutes (7:15, to be exact). After the free throw, UB did not score a point for 6:41. In the meantime, the Falcons went on a 15-0 run.
• Hill played a key role in getting that run started. The senior went to the floor to come up with a steal and was fouled, and on the ensuing possession, Hill grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled again. That possession ended with a Velasco jumper.
• Kohler drove and scored, then pulled down a defensive rebound, headed upcourt and was fouled, knocking down both free-throw tries.
• Hill came up with another steal, and capped the ensuing trip down the floor herself, taking a pass from fellow fourth-year Falcon Dziekan and laying the ball in. BG trailed by just three points.
• Then, Hill came up with another steal, and Velasco hit a pair of charity tosses. Watson missed a shot at the other end, and Dziekan kicked the ball out to Sharps for a corner three and a 43-41 lead.
• After a Velasco free throw, Sharps drove and hit a pull-up jumper to give the Falcons a 46-41 lead. Watson ended that run with a three-pointer, and a pair of free throws tied the game. But, Sharps found Hill for a bucket late in the third quarter, and BGSU had a 48-46 lead.
• BG outscored UB, 18-10, in that third quarter, going 6-of-10 from the field while the Bulls were just 2-of-8.

FOURTH QUARTER
• Velasco opened the final-quarter scoring for a four-point Falcon lead, but then it was the Bulls' turn to go on a run. Watson hit a layup, and an Ogden triple gave UB a 51-50 lead.
• Watson hit a trey as well, and she then made a pair of free throws before draining another long-distance try for a 59-50 UB lead.
• The Falcons snapped that run when Kohler hit a triple, and after Lewis-Williams scored on a putback, Kohler again connected from beyond the arc to get BG within five points with 4:27 to go. When Sharps found Dziekan for a reverse layup, BG was down just three, and Kohler drove through traffic and scored to cut UB's lead to 61-60.
• But, Ogden hit another three to make it a four-point game with 2:30 to go. BG missed a shot in traffic, but Emily Siesel drew a charge on Watson. Velasco made a layup before Siesel poked the ball away from Watson on the next possession. Velasco was fouled on a drive and hit two free throws with 55.2 seconds left, and the game was tied at 64-64.
• But, Lewis-Williams was fouled and split a pair of tosses to give UB the lead with 44.5 seconds on the clock. A contested BG shot in traffic would not drop, and UB rebounded the ball before Elhusseini made 1-of-2 shots at the stripe with 19.1 seconds left.
• BG turned the ball over, however, and Elhusseini made two free throws with 14.3 left, making it a four-point game. A three-point try was off the mark for BG, and two more free throws capped the scoring.

UP NEXT
• Buffalo advances to Friday's (March 15) MAC Tournament semifinal round, where the Bulls will face top-seeded Toledo.

• The Falcons now will wait to find out if their season will continue in a national postseason tournament.

MAC TOURNAMENT
March 13, 15-16 | Cleveland, Ohio | Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse
Wednesday, March 13 – Quarterfinals (ESPN+)
Game 1 – #1 Toledo 72, #8 Western Michigan 61
Game 2 – #4 Buffalo 70, #5 Bowling Green 64
Game 3 – #2 Ball State 77, #7 Ohio 53
Game 4 – #3 Kent State 63, #6 Northern Illinois 60

Friday, March 15 – Semifinals (ESPN+)
Game 5 – Toledo vs. Buffalo, 10:00 a.m.
Game 6 – Ball State vs. Kent State *

Saturday, March 16 – Championship Game (CBS Sports Network)
Game 7 – Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 11:00 a.m.
* game begins approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the previous game

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.