Falcons Help Themselves (and Each Other) to a 74-53 Win at Ohio

Wednesday, January 15

Athens, Ohio

7 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Ohio

Paige Kohler, pictured in the win over Xavier, flirted with a triple-double at Ohio Wednesday night

Photo by: Drake Harlett, BGSU Athletics

January 15, 2025 | Women's Basketball

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BGSU has 23 assists on 26 field goals Wednesday night in Athens

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

ATHENS, Ohio – Bowling Green State University shared the basketball, to say the least, on Wednesday night (Jan. 15), as the Falcons rolled to a 74-53 victory over Ohio University at the Convocation Center.

The Falcons (8-8, 2-3 Mid-American Conference) had 23 assists on 26 field goals in the victory, with four players scoring in double digits and five different players dishing out at least two assists.

Fifth-year Falcon Lexi Fleming led the team in scoring, with 19 points, and now has a career total of 999 points.

Paige Kohler flirted with a triple-double, as the sophomore had 18 points, along with eight rebounds and a game- and career-high eight assists. Senior Amy Velasco and freshman Johnea Donahue scored 14 and 10 points, respectively.

Bailey Tabeling had a game-high 26 points for the Bobcats (3-12, 1-4 MAC), but was the only player to score in double digits for the hosts.

BGSU nearly doubled up the Bobcats on the boards, with a 42-22 rebounding advantage. The Falcons shot 49.1 percent (26-of-53) from the field, including a 12-of-29 (41.4%) effort from the arc.

The Falcons held Ohio to a 32% field-goal rate, as the 'Cats went 16-of-50 on the night.

BGSU used a 10-0 scoring run to take a 24-7 lead late in the first quarter. The Bobcats hit a three-pointer just before the quarter ended, beginning a 17-3 run that cut the Falcons' lead to just three points, 27-24. But, BG ended the first half on a 9-2 run to take a 36-26 lead into the intermission, and the margin remained in double digits for the remainder of the night.

Tabeling scored the first basket of the fourth quarter, but BGSU then went on a 10-2 run, capped by a Donahue three-pointer that pushed the margin over 20 points midway through the period. The lead reached a game-high 24 points after Kohler knocked down a step-back three-pointer, then drove the paint and hit a floater with just under four minutes to go.

The Falcons had 12 assists on 12 first-half buckets, and each of BGSU's first 17 field goals of the night came with an assist. Keiryn McGuff grabbed a teammate's missed shot and laid the ball back up and in with 3:38 remaining in the third quarter, for the Falcons' first unassisted hoop of the night.

FIRST QUARTER
• Lexi Fleming took a Paige Kohler pass and knocked down a three-point try on the game's first possession, and Kohler then found Amy Velasco for a long-range shot from nearly the same spot 90 seconds into the game. Ohio's Bailey Tabeling, however, answered Fleming's three with a triple of her own, then responded to Velasco's shot with a driving layup to make it a 6-5 game.
• Then, however, the Falcons went on an 18-2 run, holding the Bobcats without a field goal for over eight and a half minutes. After Tabeling's layup, Kohler found a cutting Fleming for a baseline layup on the next possession. Kohler had three assists and three rebounds in the game's first two-and-a-half minutes. Velasco lobbed the ball inside to Erika Porter for an and-one layup, and after Porter knocked down the free-throw try, Velasco fed Kohler for a three-point goal and a 14-5 lead. The Falcons hit their first five field-goal attempts of the night.
• Velasco grabbed a defensive board, headed downcourt, took a Jasmine Fearne pass and made a trailing three, and Johnea Donahue got an offensive rebound and was fouled, hitting both shots at the stripe. Kohler again found Fleming for a back-door layup, and after a Kohler steal, the soph took Fearne's 'extra' pass and made a long-distance shot for a 10-0 BG run and a 24-7 lead. Ohio's Kate Dennis finally stopped that 18-2 BGSU run, beating the buzzer with a corner three that cut the margin to 14 points after 10 minutes.
• Fleming (seven), Kohler (six) and Velasco (six) all scored at least six points in the first quarter.

SECOND QUARTER
• Ohio's buzzer-beating triple that ended the first quarter began a 17-3 run for the hosts. Tabeling began the second-period scoring with a driving layup, then hit a three-pointer that cut the BG lead to 24-15. Velasco took a Taya Ellis pass and drained a three-point shot of her own, but Tabeling hit a deep three moments later, cutting the Falcons' advantage to just seven, at 27-20.
• And, four free throws got the Bobcats within three pointer with 3:52 left before the half. But, Fleming found Kohler for a floater, and that duo teamed up for a Kohler three-ball that gave BG a 32-24 lead. Fearne's free throw and Fleming's three-point play would give the Orange and Brown a 36-26 advantage at the half.

THIRD QUARTER
• The Falcons' defense got five-straight stops to begin the third quarter, and Porter scored on a pair of layups to give the visitors a 40-26 lead. Tabeling broke the Bobcats' drought with one of her game-high five three-pointers, but Velasco took a cross-court pass from Fleming and answered with a triple.
• Kohler hit two free throws, then found Fleming for a long two-pointer, and after a Tabeling triple, Kohler kicked the ball out to Fleming for a successful shot from the arc and a 50-34 lead. Keiryn McGuff's putback was BG's first unassisted bucket of the night, and Kohler rebounded an Ohio miss, headed upcourt and fired a long bounce pass to Donahue for a transition layup and a 54-36 lead.
• The 'Cats answered with long-distance makes from Aliah McWhorter and Tabeling to cut the BG lead to 12, but back-to-back Donahue steals led to three BGSU free throws. Velasco capped the third-period scoring with just 0.1 seconds on the clock, hitting two charity tosses for a 57-42 lead.

FOURTH QUARTER
• After a Tabeling layup, Donahue's handoff resulted in a Fearne three-pointer. Then, Donahue rebounded a Bobcat miss and fired a pass ahead to Fleming for a run-out. Fleming scored on another transition layup, this time from a Velasco pass, and BG had a 64-46 lead with seven minutes to go.
• That lead grew to 21 points after a Donahue three-pointer midway through the quarter, and the margin reached a game-high 24 points on Kohler's step-back layup with 3:52 to go. A Kohler floater and a Donahue layup off of a Kristiana Kulackovska pass capped the Falcons' scoring.

UP NEXT
• BGSU will end the month of January with three home games in the next four contests. The Falcons will host Northern Illinois on Saturday night (Jan. 18). Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center, and the NIU contest is the program's annual Play4Kay/Pink game.

• Then, BGSU will host Western Michigan next Wednesday (Jan. 22), with that game also set for a 7:00 p.m. start at the Stroh.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Sat., Jan. 18 | NORTHERN ILLINOIS | 7:00 p.m.
Wed., Jan. 22 | WESTERN MICHIGAN | 7:00 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 25 | at Toledo | 2:00 p.m.

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.