Sharps, Falcons Shoot Past Miami, 66-47

Saturday, March 2

Bowling Green, Ohio

2 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

15-12,9-7MAC

Miami (OH)

8-19,5-11MAC

Miami (OH)

Bowling Green

Senior Day - Sharps Dziekan Clerkley Hill

Photo by: Drake Harlett, Falcon Media Sports Network

March 02, 2024 | Women's Basketball

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Senior hits seven triples and scores 29 points in Senior Day win

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Morgan Sharps scored a game-high 29 points as the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team rolled along to a 66-47 victory over Miami University on Saturday (March 2) at the Stroh Center.

On Senior Day, Sharps scored 22 of those 29 points in the middle two quarters as the Falcons (15-12, 9-7 Mid-American Conference) erased an early deficit. Sharps had 18 first-half points, including 11 in the second quarter alone, then had 11 more points in the third period.

Attendance: 1,996 // Ziggyville: 80

Erika Porter had yet another double-double for the Orange and Brown, with 15 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, while Amy Velasco scored 11 points in the win.

Cori Lard led the RedHawks (8-19, 5-12 MAC) with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Miami took an early 11-4 lead, but the Falcons proceeded to go on an 11-0 run to take the lead. The RedHawks responded by scoring seven-straight points, but Sharps hit a three-pointer – she had seven on the day – to tie the score and begin a 10-0 run for the hosts. Paige Kohler's triple capped that run and gave the Falcons a 25-18 lead.

Sharps hit three-pointers on back-to-back trips down the floor late in the half to give the Falcons a 14-point lead. That lead grew to 20 points on a short-corner jumper by senior Olivia Hill midway through the third period, and BG led by 20 after 30 minutes.

The visitors began the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run, with an Amber Tretter three-point play cutting the Falcons' advantage to 12 points, but BG slowly built that lead back out to the final margin of 19.

The Falcons had a 40-25 rebounding lead in the win, which clinched a berth in the MAC Tournament. BGSU will play an opponent to be determined in a quarterfinal-round game on Wednesday, March 13, in Cleveland.

BGSU honored seniors Sharps, Hill, Sophie Dziekan and Jasmine Clerkley in ceremonies prior to tipoff.

NOTE OF THE DAY
• Morgan Sharps hit seven three-point field goals in the win, just one shy of the school record of eight. Sharps owns a share of that record, having made eight triples vs. Troy several weeks ago.
• Sharps is the first player in school history with four games of seven or more three-point field goals in a game. Madisen Parker had three such games in her BGSU career.

ALSO WORTH NOTING
• After the RedHawks took an 11-4 lead with 6:21 left in the first quarter, Miami went a total of 7:06 before scoring again. The Falcons scored 10 consecutive points before MU made a bucket in the first minute of the second period.
• The Falcons shot 52.3 percent in the first three quarters, including an 8-of-11 (72.7%) success rate in the second period.

FIRST QUARTER
• The teams traded scoring runs over the bulk of the opening half. The RedHawks got out to a fast start, taking an early 11-4 lead. BGSU's only points in the game's first five minutes came on an Olivia Hill layup just 30 seconds into the contest and a Morgan Sharps jumper with three minutes gone.
• Sophie Dziekan contributed to both baskets for her fellow seniors, with the assist on Hill's bucket and an offensive rebound that kept the possession alive for the Falcons prior to the Sharps shot. But, Amber Tretter scored five-straight points, including a trailing three-pointer that made it an 11-4 game.
• Sharps, however, knocked down a triple try with 4:44 left in the quarter. Erika Porter hit a layup, and Porter assisted both Sharps and Amy Velasco on hoops in the final minute-plus of the period. Velasco's jumper with 27 seconds on the clock gave the Falcons a 13-11 lead.

SECOND QUARTER
• Porter's layup gave BG a four-point advantage, but after that 11-0 BG run, Miami proceeded to score seven-straight points, with a Hennessey Luu-Brown three-pointer giving the 'Hawks an 18-15 advantage.
• A Sharps catch-and-shoot three tied the game, and Paige Kohler fed Porter for a pair of layups, with a lob inside and a nifty drive and dish. Then, Velasco found Kohler for a three-pointer, a 10-0 run and a 25-18 lead.
• Cori Lard scored exactly halfway through the period, but a Sharps shot off glass began a 9-0 run for the Orange and Brown. Sharps scored eight of those nine points, with back-to-back three-pointers less than a minute apart to give the Falcons a 34-20 lead in the final minute of the half. The second triple in that span capped a 19-2 run for the hosts. Miami closed the scoring on a Lard jumper.
• BGSU went 8-of-11 (72.7%) from the field, including 4-of-5 from three-point range, during the second quarter. Sharps scored 11 of BG's 21 points in the period.

Sights from Senior Day at the Stroh Center @BGSUWBB pic.twitter.com/T4aXhZl8Aj
— Carley Ford (@CarleyFordTV) March 3, 2024

📹HIGHLIGHTS!📹

Check out some of the sights & sounds from today's Senior Day win over the RedHawks.#AyZiggy x #onemore pic.twitter.com/IyVO3E12K0
— BGSU Women's Basketball (@BGSUWBB) March 2, 2024

THIRD QUARTER
• Porter's layup on the first possession of the half gave BG a 14-point lead once again, and after a Tretter three, the Falcons countered with a pair of triples. Sharps connected from the arc, and after BG got a stop, Sharps fired a pass ahead to Velasco for a corner three and a 42-25 lead.
• The Falcons continued to extend the lead, as Sharps hit a three-pointer, and Porter kicked the ball out to Hill for a short-corner jumper that gave BG a 47-27 lead. The RedHawks got five consecutive points, and the teams then traded triples, with Sharps and Kohler connecting for the hosts.
• After a Lard bucket cut the BG lead to 16, Sharps hit a short-corner jumper, and Porter tracked down a missed shot and laid the ball back up and in with mere seconds to go in the period. The Falcons headed to the fourth quarter with a 57-37 lead.

FOURTH QUARTER
• BGSU shot 52.3 percent in the first three quarters before going just 2-of-14 in the fourth. Miami got a pair of Tretter layups sandwiched around a Lard triple. Tretter's second bucket in that stretch was an and-one layup, and the ensuing free throw cut BG's lead to 12, 57-45.
• Porter hit a pair of free throws with 6:36 to go, for BG's first points of the period. Then, she made another charity toss just over halfway through the quarter. Jadyn Scott hit a layup, but Velasco made two shots at the stripe, then took a Dziekan pass and made a layup for a 64-47 lead. Another Velasco hoop, off of a Hill pass, capped the scoring with 1:38 to go.

Gallery: (3-2-2024) 030224 wbk v Miami - Sr. Day (Harlett)

Gallery: (3-2-2024) 030224 wbk v Miami (Scott Grau)

UP NEXT
• BGSU hits the road for the final two games of the regular season, beginning with a Wednesday (March 6) game at Western Michigan. That contest begins at 7:00 p.m. at University Arena in Kalamazoo.
• Then, the Orange and Brown will end the regular season with a game at Eastern Michigan next Saturday (March 9), beginning at 1:00 p.m.
• The Falcons have clinched a berth in the MAC Tournament, and will play an opponent to be determined in the quarterfinal round on Wednesday, March 13. If the season ended today, BGSU would be the fifth seed and would meet fourth-seeded Buffalo.

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.