Falcons Begin Final Week of Regular Season with a Trip to Kalamazoo

BGSU at WESTERN MICHIGAN
Wednesday, March 6, 2024 • 7:00 p.m.
University Arena • Kalamazoo, Mich.
TV/Video: ESPN+ • Audio: Falcon Media Sports Network
Live Stats: WMUBroncos.com • Twitter: @BGSUwbb

JUMP BALL
• The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team closes the 2023-24 regular-season schedule with a pair of road games, beginning Wednesday (March 6). The Falcons, under the direction of first-year head coach Fred Chmiel, face Western Michigan University in a 7:00 p.m. start at University Arena.

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

• TV/VIDEO: Wednesday's WMU game will be streamed via ESPN+.
• RADIO/AUDIO: The WMU 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.

LAST TIME OUT: SHARPS, FALCONS SHOOT PAST MIAMI, 66-47
• Morgan Sharps scored a game-high 29 points as the Falcons rolled along to a 66-47 victory over Miami 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 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.

• 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.

• Cori Lard led the RedHawks with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

• Miami took an early 11-4 lead, but the Falcons then proceeded to go on an 11-0 run. 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 honored seniors Sharps, Hill, Jasmine Clerkley and Sophie Dziekan in ceremonies prior to tipoff.

ABOUT THAT MAC TOURNAMENT...
• With Saturday's win over Miami, the Falcons clinched a berth in the MAC Tournament. The top eight teams will advance to downtown Cleveland for the league tourney quarterfinals next Wednesday (March 13).

• BGSU is tied with Buffalo for fourth place in the MAC standings, as both teams have 9-7 league records. The Falcons and Bulls each are three games behind third-place Kent State (12-3), and BG and UB are two games ahead of Western Michigan and Ohio (both 7-9).

• Long story short, it is very likely that the Falcons will face UB in the quarterfinal round of the league tournament. That game would begin at approximately 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 13, at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

DIALING UP THE DEFENSE (AND THE OFFENSE)
• After Miami took an 11-4 lead with 6:21 left in the first quarter on Saturday (March 2), the RedHawks then 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.

• At the offensive end of the court, the Falcons shot 52.3 percent in the first three quarters, including an 8-of-11 (72.7%) success rate in the second period.

MO BUCKETS
• Morgan Sharps hit seven three-point field goals in the win over Miami, just one shy of the school record of eight. Sharps owns a share of that record, having made eight triples vs. Troy last month (Feb. 10).

• 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.

A MILESTONE FOR MORGAN: SHARPS SURPASSES THE 1,000-POINT MARK
• Morgan Sharps reached a career milestone last week, surpassing the 1,000-point plateau in the Falcons' win at Akron (Feb. 21). Sharps had 15 points vs. the Zips, including a three-point field goal in the last minute of the first quarter that put her past the millennium mark.

• Sharps, a transfer from Xavier, scored 222 points with the Musketeers prior to coming to BGSU. After exploding for 29 points in Saturday's (March 2) win over Miami, she now has 847 points in 73 games as a Falcon, an average of 11.6 points per game. She enters the WMU contest with a total of 1,069 points in her college career.

AND DON'T LOOK NOW, BUT AMY'S APPROACHING A THOUSAND, TOO
• After scoring 11 points against Miami on Saturday (March 2), junior Amy Velasco has a total of 978 points as a Falcon. If our math is correct (and we're pretty sure it is), Velasco is just 22 points away from reaching the 1,000-point mark.

• Velasco has 390 points and 43 three-point field goals made – the highest totals of her BGSU career to date – this season.

AMY ALSO ACCUMULATES ASSISTS
• Amy Velasco reached a career milestone in the win over Ohio last month (Feb. 7), dishing out the 300th assist of her career. Velasco became just the 11th player in school history to reach the 300-assist plateau.

• Then, three days later (Feb. 10), Velasco handed out seven more assists, moving past Judit Lendvay (304 assists from 1989-93) into 10th place on the BGSU career assists list. Entering the WMU game, Velasco now has 332 career assists. Her next target is ninth-place Cathy Koch, who had 347 assists from 1988-92.

• Velasco currently ranks seventh in BGSU history in assists per game, with 3.42. The complete lists of both career assists and assists per game can be found on page 7.

SHARPS SHOOTER: MORGAN NOW SEVENTH AT BGSU
• Morgan Sharps made seven three-point field goals vs. Miami, giving her 187 triples in her BGSU career. Sharps has moved into sole possession of sixth place on that Falcon career list, passing Chrissy Steffen in the win over MU.

• Sharps has played in 73 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 a virtual lock to break the school's career record for three-point field goals made per game. She has hit 2.56 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 3.22 three-pointers per game, and ranks sixth in the nation in that category.

• That figure (3.22) also puts her on pace to break the BGSU single-season record for triples per game (the list is on page 9).

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. Then, she had 15 points and 15 rebounds in the win over Miami three days later. Porter now has six double-doubles this season, and all six have come in MAC play.

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

PORTER'S PROLIFIC PERFORMANCE
• Erika Porter has been shooting the ball tremendously well all season long, but she took it to yet another level last 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.

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 last Wednesday (Feb. 28), and has also had games in which she has gone 10-for-11, 8-of-9, 10-for-13, 9-of-13 (twice) and 8-for-12.

• On the year, Porter is shooting 65.8%, having made 131 of her 199 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 fourth in the nation (as of Monday 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 4.85 FGM/game.

• Entering the Western Michigan game, Porter leads the MAC in field-goal percentage in conference games, having made 67.4% of her shots vs. league foes. She is far, far ahead of the second-place individual in that category (WMU's Kaitlyn Zarycki, 55.4%).

• Over the Falcons' last 13 games, Porter has gone 80-of-111 (72.0%) from the floor.

THE FALCONS – A QUICK OVERVIEW
• The Falcons have an overall record of 15-12 on the season, and BGSU is 9-7 in MAC play heading into Wednesday's WMU game. BG has won three of the last four games, and the Falcons are tied with Buffalo for fourth place in the MAC.

• 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 loss to Buffalo at the Stroh Center last Wednesday night (Feb. 28), BG bounced back with Saturday's (March 2) 66-47 win over Miami, on Senior Day at the Stroh.

• BGSU went 8-5 at home, and the Falcons are 5-7 on the road and 2-0 at neutral sites. In MAC play, the Falcons went 6-3 at the Stroh and are 3-4 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 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 33.0 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 15.6 and 14.4 ppg, respectively. Erika Porter, after a pair of double-doubles last week, has 12.0 ppg, while Kohler is right behind at 10.7 ppg. Porter (six), Sharps (six), 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 six double-doubles on the year.

• Sharps, who had a career-high 30 points vs. Kent State in late January, scored 28 points against Troy and 29 more vs. Miami. She tied the school record with eight three-pointers made in the Troy game. Sharps has made 30 triples in the last six contests, and is averaging 20.3 ppg over the Falcons' last nine games.

• Velasco paces BG (and the MAC) with 4.9 assists per game, followed by Kohler (3.8 apg).

• Velasco has gone 43-of-102 (42.2%) 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 74-of-190 shots (38.9%) from long distance.

• Porter is shooting a team-leading 65.8% from the field, having made 131 of her 199 total shot attempts, and she leads the team in rebounding, at 6.6 rpg. As mentioned earlier, Porter's field-goal pct. would rank her fourth the nation, but she falls just short of the NCAA minimum (5.0 FGM per game) to qualify. Sharps, Porter and Velasco all have made between 130 and 133 field goals this season.

• Seniors Olivia Hill and Sophie Dziekan have 4.6 and 3.1 ppg, respectively, this season. Hill has started 25 of the Falcons' 27 games, 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-45 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 just under 60% from the field.

• Kohler and Velasco each have started all 27 games this year. Hill, as mentioned, has made 25 starts, while Porter has started 20 games and Sharps 17.

• BGSU's scoring in MAC games could not be much more balanced, as Sharps has 15.3 ppg, followed by Velasco (15.1 ppg), Porter (14.4 ppg) and Kohler (12.5 ppg). BG is the only team with four players in the top 12 in the MAC in scoring. Porter has a team-high 8.7 rebounds per game in MAC action, with six double-doubles in conference play.

• Velasco leads the Falcons in assists (5.4 apg; good for first in the MAC) and steals (1.7 spg) in MAC games, while Porter is shooting a team- and MAC-best 67.4% from the floor. Sharps leads the league with a 35.1% three-point pct. in league games.

• 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 BRONCOS
• Western Michigan is 12-15 on the season, and the Broncos are 7-9 in MAC play. WMU is looking to snap a two-game losing streak after picking up two wins the previous week. Most recently, WMU dropped an 84-69 decision to Toledo on Saturday. The Broncos are 7-5 at home, 4-9 on the road and 1-1 at neutral sites this season to date. In MAC games, Western is 4-3 at University Arena and 3-6 away from home.

• Individually, Kaitlyn Zarycki leads the team in scoring and is tied for the WMU rebounding,with 18.4 ppg and 4.8 rpg. Maggie Stutelberg has 10.8 ppg and has shot 44.3% (35-of-79) from the arc this season to date.

• Head coach Shane Clipfell and the Broncos went 12-17 overall and 7-11 in the MAC last season.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead WMU, 42-36, in the all-time series, and BGSU has won three consecutive meetings and six of the last seven contests. The Falcons captured this season's first matchup, 75-69 at the Stroh (Jan. 6, 2024). Last season, BG picked up a 74-56 home victory (Feb. 1, 2023) and a 65-53 decision in Kalamazoo (Feb. 18, 2023). WMU's last series win was a 72-64 triumph at University Arena (Feb. 16, 2022).

• The Falcons are 23-14 at home, 16-21 on the road and 3-1 at neutral sites vs. WMU through the years. Additional series information can be found on page 34.

DOWN THE ROAD
• Following the WMU game, the Falcons will close the regular-season schedule with a Saturday (March 9) matchup with Eastern Michigan. That game will begin at 1:00 p.m. at the George Gervin GameAbove Center.

• Then, BGSU will head to Cleveland for a quarterfinal-round game in the MAC Tournament. The Falcons will face an opponent to be determined, with the quarterfinals set for Wednesday, March 13, at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Wed., March 6 – at Western Michigan, 7:00 p.m.
Sat., March 9 – at Eastern Michigan, 1:00 p.m.
Wed., March 13 – MAC Tournament Quarterfinal (opponent and time TBA)

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