Falcons Wrap Up Regular-Season Schedule at EMU Saturday

Saturday, March 9

Ypsilanti, Mich.

1 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Eastern Michigan

Tickets

Amy Velasco enters Saturday's EMU game with 998 career points

Photo by: Ashley Huss, WMU Athletics

March 07, 2024 | Women's Basketball

BGSU Notes EMU Notes BGSU's MAC Tourn. Headquarters Support BGSU Women's Basketball

BGSU faces the Eagles before heading to Cleveland for the MAC Tournament

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

BGSU at EASTERN MICHIGAN
Saturday, March 9, 2024 • 1:00 p.m.
George Gervin GameAbove Center • Ypsilanti, Mich.
TV/Video: ESPN+ • Audio: Falcon Media Sports Network
Live Stats: EMUEagles.com • Twitter: @BGSUwbb

JUMP BALL
• The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team closes the 2023-24 regular-season schedule on Saturday afternoon (March 9). The Falcons, under the direction of first-year head coach Fred Chmiel, face Eastern Michigan University in a 1:00 p.m. start at the George Gervin GameAbove Center.

• Then, the Falcons will head to Cleveland for the MAC Tournament, which begins on Wednesday (March 13) with four quarterfinal-round contests.

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

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

ABOUT THAT MAC TOURNAMENT...
• With Wednesday's win at Western Michigan, the Falcons have clinched no worse than the fifth seed for the MAC Tournament. BGSU is currently tied with Buffalo for fourth place in the standings, and the Falcons and Bulls are locked into the 4/5 game in the conference tourney quarterfinals.

• BGSU will face Buffalo on Wednesday (March 13), in the second game of the day. That game will begin at approximately 1:30 p.m. at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: AMY'S APPROACHING A MILESTONE
• Junior Amy Velasco scored 20 points in the Falcons' win at Western Michigan on Wednesday. Velasco now has a total of 998 points as a Falcon, and – If our math is correct (and we think it might be) – is a mere two points away from reaching the 1,000-point mark.

• Velasco currently ranks 31st in BGSU history in career scoring.

• This season, Velasco has 410 points and 43 three-point field goals made, the highest totals of her BGSU career to date.

LAST TIME OUT: RED-HOT START LIFTS FALCONS PAST WMU, 87-73
• The Falcons put together one of their best halves of the season, and BG went on to an 87-73 win over Western Michigan Wednesday night (March 6) at University Arena.

• All five starters scored in double figures for the Orange and Brown, as Morgan Sharps led the way with 26 points. Amy Velasco had 20, with Paige Kohler scoring 16, Erika Porter 14 and Olivia Hill 11.

• Hill recorded the first double-double of her BGSU career, with a game- and career-high 10 rebounds.

• Kaitlyn Zarycki paced three double-digit scorers for the Broncos, with 22 points.

• The Falcons never trailed, scoring the game's first six points and getting out to leads of 28-15 after one quarter and 52-27 at the half. BGSU went 9-of-12 from the field in the second quarter, leading by as many as 28 points late in the half.

• The Broncos crept within 12 points with under five minutes left in the game, but Velasco found Sharps for a three-pointer on the next possession, and the teams traded points the rest of the way.

• The Falcons shot 55.8 percent from the field for the game, making 29-of-52 shots, and BG was 8-of-17 (47.1%) from three-point range and 21-of-23 (.91.3%) from the free-throw line.

• The hosts shot 52.1% for the night, including a 10-of-17 (58.8%) performance from the arc.

A B!G FIRST HALF IN KALAMAZOO
• BGSU had a 52-27 lead at halftime of Wednesday's win at Western. The 25-point lead at the half was the Falcons' largest since Dec. 2, 2022, when the Orange and Brown had a 50-24 lead at the intermission at Valparaiso, en route to a 92-61 win over the Beacons.

• That Valpo game came just four days after BG led Detroit Mercy by a 43-11 score at the half, in a 76-29 victory at the Stroh.

MORE SHOTS = MORE POINTS? IN THIS CASE, YES
• Part of BGSU's first-half success at WMU was the fact that the Falcons shot 63.6% in the first half on Wednesday. The Broncos shot 44.4% from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.

• Due to advantages in rebounding and turnover margin, BGSU took 15 more shots than the Broncos in the opening half. The Falcons had a 15-7 rebounding advantage, holding Western without an offensive rebound, and BG forced the Broncos into 12 first-half turnovers while committing six.

• In all, BG attempted 33 first-half shots (making 21) compared to 18 (with eight makes) for WMU.

SHARPS SHOOTER: MORGAN NOW SIXTH AT BGSU
• Morgan Sharps made seven three-point field goals vs. Miami and five more at WMU, giving her 192 triples in her BGSU career. Sharps has moved into sole possession of sixth place on that Falcon career list for three-pointers made.

• Sharps has played in 74 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 2.59 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 3.29 three-pointers per game, and she ranks fifth in the nation in that category.

• That figure (3.29) also puts her on pace to break the BGSU single-season record for triples per game. And, Sharps has moved into fifth place on the school's seasonal list for total treys made, as she has 79 in 2023-24 to date.

AMY 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 EMU game, Velasco now has 337 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 3.44.

PORTER'S PROLIFIC PACE
• Erika Porter has shot the ball well – very well – all season long. She was a perfect 10-for-10 from the floor against Buffalo (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.

• After going 6-for-7 at Western on Wednesday (March 6), Porter is shooting 66.5%, having made 137 of her 206 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.

• Porter's current percentage would rank her fourth in the nation, 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 4.89 FGM/game.

• Entering the Eastern Michigan game, Porter leads the MAC in field-goal percentage in conference games, having made 68.3% of her shots vs. league foes.

• Over the Falcons' last 14 games, Porter has gone 86-of-118 (72.9%) from the floor.

MORE LIKE VELA-SCORE, AMIRITE?
• Junior Amy Velasco exploded for a career-high 32 points in the Falcons' 82-73 win at Northern Illinois (Feb. 24). It was the highest single-game point total by a BGSU player in nearly four years.

• No Falcon had scored as many points since Caterrion Thompson had a 32-point game vs. Kent State on Feb. 29, 2020. And, no Falcon has scored more points since Angela Perry had 36 against California Baptist on Nov. 30, 2019.

• Velasco scored 15 of those points in the fourth quarter alone, going a perfect 4-for-4 from the field and 6-of-6 at the free-throw line.

MORE LIKE SCORE-GAN SHARPS, AMIRITE?
• Morgan Sharps has consistently put up points since arriving at BGSU, but has taken it to another level over the last few weeks. Sharps has averaged 27.5 points over the Falcons' last two games, wins over Miami and Western Michigan. She now has a team-leading averages of 16.0 ppg in MAC games and 15.9 ppg overall, good for fourth in the MAC in each case.

• Sharps is one of just four MAC players with three games of 25 or more points in conference play this season.

THE FALCONS – A QUICK OVERVIEW
• The Falcons have an overall record of 16-12 on the season, and BGSU is 10-7 in MAC play heading into Saturday's EMU game. BG has won four of the last five 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 home loss to UB to end the February portion of the schedule (Feb. 28), BG bounced back with last Saturday's (March 2) 66-47 win over Miami, on Senior Day at the Stroh Center.

• BGSU has won three-straight road games after Wednesday's (March 6) 87-73 victory at Western Michigan. The Falcons' point total in that game was the team's highest since the season opener (89).

• BG went 8-5 at home, and the Falcons are 6-7 on the road and 2-0 at neutral sites. In MAC play, the Falcons went 6-3 at the Stroh and are 5-4 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 35.2 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 16.0 and 14.6 ppg, respectively. Erika Porter, who had a pair of double-doubles last week, has 12.0 ppg, while Kohler is right behind at 10.9 ppg. Sharps (seven), Porter (six), Velasco (five) and Kohler (three) each have had multiple games with 20 or more points this season (as has Fleming [three]), and Porter has six double-doubles on the year.

• Sharps, who had a career-high 30 points vs. Kent State in late January, has scored 29 and 26 more, respectively, in BGSU's last two games (vs. Miami and WMU). She tied the school record with eight three-pointers made in the Troy game, and has made 35 triples in the last seven contests. Sharps is averaging 20.5 ppg over the Falcons' last 11 games.

• Velasco paces BG (and ranks second in 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 79-of-201 shots (39.3%) from long distance.

• Porter is shooting a team-leading 66.5% from the field, having made 137 of her 206 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 136 and 142 field goals this season.

• Seniors Olivia Hill and Sophie Dziekan have 4.8 and 3.0 ppg, respectively, this season. Hill has started 26 of the Falcons' 28 games, and had her first collegiate double-double at Western Michigan, 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 15-for-49 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 28 games this year. Hill, as mentioned, has made 26 starts, while Porter has started 21 games and Sharps 18.

• BGSU's scoring in MAC games could not be much more balanced, as Sharps has 15.9 ppg, followed by Velasco (15.4 ppg), Porter (14.4 ppg) and Kohler (12.7 ppg). BG is the only team with four players in the top 13 in the MAC in scoring. Porter has a team-high 8.5 rebounds per game in MAC action, with all six of her double-doubles this season coming 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 68.3% from the floor. Sharps has a 35.9% 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 EAGLES
• Eastern Michigan is 6-22 on the season, and the Eagles are 2-15 in MAC play. EMU is looking to snap a six-game losing streak after picking up a win over South Alabama in the MAC/Sun Belt Challenge. The Eagles are 4-8 at home and 2-14 on the road this season to date. In MAC games, Eastern is 1-7 at the George Gervin GameAbove Center and 1-8 away from home.

• Individually, Lachelle Austin and Tayra Eke are averaging 9.6 and 9.5 ppg, respectively, while Kennedi Miles has 8.4 ppg and a team-leading 8.9 rpg.

• Ke'Sha Blanton was named the Eagles' interim head coach on Dec. 11. The Eagles returned eight players from a 2022-23 club that went 15-15 overall and 7-11 in the MAC.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead EMU, 57-20, in the all-time series, and BGSU has won six consecutive meetings with the Eagles. In this season's first meeting, the Falcons captured a 69-57 decision (Jan. 10, 2024). BG's last trip to Ypsilanti resulted in a 71-60 victory two years ago (Jan. 24, 2022). EMU's last series win was a 70-58 decision in Northwest Ohio four seasons ago (Feb. 12, 2020).

• The Falcons are 31-6 at home, 21-13 on the road and 5-1 at neutral sites vs. EMU through the years. Additional series information can be found on page 34.

DOWN THE ROAD
• Following the EMU game, the Falcons will prepare for Wednesday's (March 13) MAC Tournament quarterfinal-round matchup with Buffalo. The teams will meet at approximately 1:30 p.m. at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland.

• The semifinals will be held on Friday, March 15, with the championship game scheduled for the following day.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Sat., March 9 – at Eastern Michigan, 1:00 p.m.
Wed., March 13 – vs. Buffalo (MAC Tournament Quarterfinal), approx. 1:30 p.m.