BGSU Battles Butler in WNIT First Round

Thursday, March 21

Indianapolis, Ind.

7 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Butler

Tickets

Photo by: Scott W. Grau

March 20, 2024 | Women's Basketball

BGSU Notes (PDF)Butler Notes (PDF)WNIT Bracket Support BGSU Women's Basketball

Falcons face Bulldogs on Thursday night in Indy

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

BOWLING GREEN AT BUTLER
Thursday, March 21, 2024 • 7:00 p.m.
Hinkle Fieldhouse • Indianapolis, Ind.
WNIT FIRST ROUND
TV/Video: YouTube • Audio: Falcon Media Sports Network
Live Stats: ButlerBulldogs.com • Twitter: @BGSUwbb

THE FALCONS	BGSU vs. BUTLER	THE BULLDOGS
16-14, 10-8 MAC	2023-24 RECORDS	14-16, 6-12 Big East
31-7, 14-4 MAC	FINAL 2022-23 RECORDS	11-19, 6-14 Big East
Fred Chmiel	HEAD COACH	Austin Parkinson
Excelsior, 2001	ALMA MATER	Purdue, 2004
16-14 (first season)	RECORD AT SCHOOL	25-35 (second season)
16-14 (first season)	OVERALL RECORD	249-176 (14th season)

JUMP BALL
• The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team has advanced to national postseason play for a fourth consecutive season. Head coach Fred Chmiel and the Falcons head to Indianapolis to face Butler University in the first round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament. BGSU meets the Bulldogs in a 7:00 p.m. start on Thursday night (March 21) at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse.

• The BGSU-Butler winner will advance to the second round to meet Purdue University, with the date, time and site of that game to be announced following the completion of the first round.

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

• TV/VIDEO: Thursday's Butler game will be streamed via YouTube.
• RADIO/AUDIO: The Butler 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.

THE FALCONS IN THE WNIT
• BGSU is appearing in the Postseason WNIT for the ninth time in program history, and the third time in four years. The Falcons enter the Butler game with an all-time record of 12-9 in the tourney.

• The Falcons are 10-6 in home WNIT games through the years, including a 2-2 mark at venerable Anderson Arena and an 8-4 record at the Stroh Center. The Falcons are 1-1 in road games and 1-2 in neutral-site contests in WNIT play over the years.

• BGSU advanced to the third round of the 2013 tournament and the fourth round of the 2014 WNIT, losing to the eventual champion in each of those seasons (Drexel in 2013; Rutgers in '14).

• Last year, the Falcons advanced all the way to the semifinal round of the then 64-team tournament. BGSU defeated Liberty, Green Bay, Memphis and Florida – winning the last three games by double-digit margins – before falling to Columbia in the Fab 4.

• A complete list of BGSU's game-by-game results and individual and team records in the WNIT can be found in the PDF version of these notes.

ALL-MAC FALCONS
• Four Falcons earned recognition when the MAC announced the all-conference teams and specialty award winners. Morgan Sharps and Amy Velasco each were named to the All-MAC Second Team, with Erika Porter earning all-league third-team honors. And, Paige Kohler was named to the MAC's All-Freshman Team.

KOHLER A FABULOUS FALCON FRESHMAN
• Paige Kohler has had a tremendous start to her collegiate career. She was in the starting lineup for her BGSU debut back in November, and has remained there ever since. As we just mentioned, Kohler was named to the MAC's All-Freshman Team.

• Entering the Butler game, Kohler is averaging 11.0 points and 3.6 assists per game, ranking second on the team in the latter category. She has played 33.4 minutes per game, ranking second on the Falcons on that list as well.

• In MAC games, Kohler led all MAC freshmen in scoring and assists, with 10.7 ppg and 3.7 apg (ranking second in the entire league in the latter category). Kohler also led all conference frosh in assist/turnover ratio (1.25), free-throw pct. (77.8%) and minutes per game (35.0).

THE FALCONS – A QUICK OVERVIEW
• The Falcons have an overall record of 16-14 on the season, and BGSU went 10-8 in MAC play. BG won four of the last six regular-season games.

• BGSU was picked to finish fourth in the MAC in the preseason coaches poll. Despite losing an estimated 120 player-games due to injury in 2023-24 to date, the Falcons finished the regular season in a tie for fourth in the conference.

• The Falcons posted a pair of road wins, against Akron (74-68; Feb. 21) and Northern Illinois (82-73; Feb. 24), and after a 70-55 home loss to Buffalo to end the February portion of the schedule (Feb. 28), BG bounced back with a 66-47 win over Miami on Senior Day at the Stroh Center (March 2).

• Following an 87-73 victory at Western Michigan on March 6, BGSU had won three-straight road games. But, that streak came to an end with a regular season-ending 59-54 loss at Eastern Michigan three days later (March 9).

• The Falcons are looking to snap a two-game losing streak, after suffering a narrow 70-64 setback to Buffalo in the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament (March 13).

• BG is 8-5 at home, and the Falcons are 6-8 on the road and 2-1 at neutral sites. In MAC play, the Falcons went 6-3 at the Stroh and 4-5 on the road.

• The Falcons rallied to beat Cleveland State in the season opener en route to a 5-1 start. BG had four-straight wins, downing Xavier, Mercer, Lehigh and Duquesne. The latter game was a 68-66 win 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).

• 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 each of the eight games since that time). Nine different players have started at least one game in 2023-24.

• With the multitude of injuries this season, many of the available players have understandably seen a great deal of time on the court. Velasco, a junior, leads the team with 35.5 minutes per game, while freshman Paige Kohler has played 33.4 mpg and Morgan Sharps 33.0.

• 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.

• Sharps and Velasco have scored 15.6 and 14.6 ppg, respectively. Erika Porter, who ended the regular season with three double-doubles in four games, has 11.9 ppg, while Kohler is right behind at 10.6 ppg. Porter (seven), Sharps (seven), Velasco (five) and Kohler (three) each have had multiple games with 20 or more points this season (as has Fleming [three]), and Porter has seven double-doubles on the year.

• Sharps is one of just five MAC players with at least three games of 25 or more points this season, and is averaging 19.3 ppg in the Falcons' four March games. She tied the school record with eight three-pointers made in the Troy game (Feb. 10), and has made 39 triples in the last nine contests.

• Velasco paces BG (and ranks fourth in the MAC) with 4.8 assists per game, followed by Kohler (3.6 apg; tied for sixth in the MAC).

• Velasco has gone 43-of-110 (39.1%) 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 83-of-219 shots (37.9%) from long distance.

• Porter is shooting a team-leading 66.5% from the field, having made 147 of her 221 total shot attempts, and she leads the team in rebounding, at 6.5 rpg. As mentioned earlier, Porter is on pace to shatter the school record for field-goal pct. Sharps, Porter and Velasco each have made between 146 and 151 field goals this season.

• Seniors Olivia Hill and Sophie Dziekan have 5.0 and 3.1 ppg, respectively, this season. Hill has started 28 of the Falcons' 30 games, and had her first collegiate double-double at Western Michigan (March 6), with 11 points and 10 boards. 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 16-for-55 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 six starts this season, including three MAC matchups, and is shooting over 57% from the field.

• Kohler and Velasco each have started all 30 games this year. Hill, as mentioned, has made 28 starts, while Porter has started 23 games and Sharps 20.

• BGSU's scoring in MAC games could not have been much more balanced, as Sharps had 15.6 ppg, followed by Velasco (15.0 ppg), Porter (14.7 ppg) and Kohler (12.3 ppg). Sharps ranked fifth in the MAC in that category, and BG was the only team with four players in the top 13 in the MAC in scoring. Porter had a team-high 8.7 rebounds per game in MAC action, with seven double-doubles in conference play.

• Velasco led the Falcons – and the MAC – in assists in league games (5.3 apg), and also paced BG in steals (1.6 spg). Porter shot a team- and MAC-best 68.2% from the floor, setting a new school single-season record for highest field-goal pct. in MAC games. And, it was the second-highest average in MAC history.

• Sharps had a 35.1% three-point pct. in league games, ranking fifth in the conference among players who made at least two triples per game.

• 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.

BE READY WHEN YOUR NAME IS CALLED
• It's safe to say the Falcons have battled some adversity this year. Entering the Butler game, BGSU has lost an estimated 120 player-games to injury or illness. No fewer than 10 different Falcons have been unavailable for at least one game this season.

After just 16 games this season, the Falcons had utilized six different starting-lineup combinations. That came after BGSU employed a total of five different lineups during all of last year (38 games).

• Nine different players have started at least one game in 2023-24 to date, after a total of seven different Falcons were in the starting lineup last season.

TOUGH CROWD!
• The Falcons put together what is quite possibly the toughest non-conference schedule in program history in 2023-24. Head coach Fred Chmiel's club faced a trio of top-20 teams in Iowa, South Carolina and Indiana, along with a Cleveland State squad that won 30 games last season (and 29 games so far this season).

• South Carolina (first), Indiana (second) and Iowa (third) finished 1-2-3 in the nation in the final Associated Press poll of the 2022-23 season.

• Iowa was fourth in both the AP and USA Today polls when the Falcons faced the Hawkeyes in Iowa City, and South Carolina was first in both polls when the teams met at the Stroh Center. Just three days after facing the Gamecocks, BGSU traveled to meet an Indiana team ranked 16th by AP and 15th by USA Today.

• Thirteen of BGSU's 30 games this season came against teams that qualified for national postseason play, and the Butler game will obviously make it 14 of 31.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE BULLDOGS
• Butler is 14-16 overall this season to date, and the Bulldogs finished with a 6-12 record in Big East Conference play. BU is coming off of a 75-60 loss to Providence in the conference tournament. The Bulldogs are 8-8 at home, 5-7 on the road and 1-1 in neutral-site games to date. In league action, Butler was 2-7 at Hinkle Fieldhouse and 4-5 away from home.

• The Bulldogs rank fourth in the entire nation in three-point field-goal percentage, having gone 253-of-652 (38.8%) from the arc this year. Individually, Caroline Strande leads the team in both scoring and rebounding, with 15.0 ppg and 7.2 rpg. Rachel Kent has 10.4 ppg and Jordan Meulemans 8.3 ppg, and Meulemans and Kent rank 10th (43.7%) and 32nd (40.8%) in the nation, respectively, in three-point accuracy. Strande is shooting 45.7% from long distance, but falls short of the minimum requirement to qualify for the NCAA leaders in that category.

• Head coach Austin Parkinson guided the Bulldogs to records of 11-19 overall and 6-14 in the Big East in his first season at the helm. The overall record was a 10-win improvement over the previous season, as BU went 1-27 and 0-18, respectively, the year before Parkinson took over.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead Butler, 5-3, in the all-time series, and BGSU has won the last four meetings. The teams have not met in over a decade, since a 61-57 BG triumph at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Nov. 18, 2013.

• The Falcons and Bulldogs have met once before in WNIT play. In BGSU's first-ever WNIT game, Butler picked up a 95-90 win at venerable Anderson Arena (March 13, 1998). The Falcons are 2-2 at home (2-0 at the Stroh Center), 2-1 on the road and 1-0 at neutral sites vs. BU through the years. Additional series information can be found on page 6.

DOWN THE ROAD
• The BGSU-Butler winner will advance to the WNIT second round to face Purdue. The date, time and site of that second-round game will be announced following the conclusion of the first-round games.

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 at BGSUFalcons.com.