Falcons Face Western Michigan in Midweek MAC Matchup

Wednesday, January 14

Kalamazoo, Mich.

7 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Western Michigan

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Photo by: Drake Harlett, BGSU Athletics

January 13, 2026 | Women's Basketball

BGSU Notes WMU WBB BGSU WBB Media Central Support BGSU WBB

BGSU battles the Broncos in Kalamazoo Wednesday night

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2026 | 7:00 P.M. | UNIVERSITY ARENA | KALAMAZOO, MICH.

BOWLING GREEN
FALCONS
(9-6, 2-2 MAC)

WESTERN MICHIGAN
BRONCOS
(5-9, 2-2 MAC)


WATCH: ESPN+ \| LISTEN: Falcon Media Sports \| LIVE STATS: BGSU-WMU \| TWITTER/X: @BGSUwbb \| INSTAGRAM: bgsuwbb

WHAT, WHEN & WHERE
• The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, after posting a double-digit road win over the weekend, returns to the road for a midweek Mid-American Conference matchup. Head coach Fred Chmiel and the Falcons head to Kalamazoo, Mich., for a Wednesday (Jan. 14) contest vs. Western Michigan University. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at University Arena.

• Wednesday's game is the third of three-straight road games in which the opposing team's head coach has BGSU ties.

WHERE TO WATCH / LISTEN
• Wednesday's WMU contest – as is the case with all of BGSU's home games (and many road games as well) – will be streamed via ESPN+. Additionally, all 2025-26 games will have an audio stream, thanks to BG Falcon Media Sports.

STATS & SOCIAL MEDIA
• Links to audio, video and live stats for all 2025-26 games can always be found on the web at BGSUFalcons.com – both on the women's basketball schedule page and in the right column on the main page – on game day.

THE FALCONS VS. THE MAC
• Historically, the Falcons have been one of the top programs in the Mid-American Conference. Entering the Western Michigan game, BGSU has gone 471-276 (.631) in league regular-season games over the years. The Falcons have the second-highest winning percentage of all MAC institutions, and the second-most conference wins of all 13 programs.

• BGSU has won 15 MAC regular-season titles, which is tied for the highest total of any conference institution. And, the Falcons have won a league-best 11 MAC Tournament titles.

• BGSU leads the all-time series with all 12 conference foes, making the Falcons – obviously – the only team in the league with a winning record against every other school. BG also has the most overall victories and highest overall winning pct. of any league institution.

MOX!
• Senior Kendal Moxey has stepped up her game as of late, having led the Falcons in both scoring and rebounding in each of the last two games. Moxey had 16 points and 15 rebounds – the highest totals of her BGSU career – in the Central Michigan game (Jan. 3).

• Then, on Saturday (Jan. 10), Moxey was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field en route to 15 points and eight rebounds in BG's 65-48 win at Northern Illinois. She scored 13 of those 15 points in the second half, including 10 in the fourth quarter alone.

• After amassing totals of 21 points and 19 rebounds (1.6 ppg and 1.5 rpg) over BGSU's first 13 games this season, Moxey has had 31 points and 23 boards (15.5 ppg, 11.5 rpg) in the last two contests.

FAMILIAR FACES ON THE ROAD
• Wednesday's WMU game will be the third of three-straight road contests in which the opposing head coach has ties to BGSU.

• BG opened the road portion of the MAC schedule at Eastern Michigan (Dec. 30), where Sahar Nusseibeh is in her second season as head coach. Nusseibeh was an assistant coach for the Falcons for three seasons (2013-16).

• Saturday's game (Jan. 10) saw Falcons face a Northern Illinois squad coached by Jacey Brooks. Brooks was an assistant coach at BGSU for five seasons (2013-18).

• Brooks and Nusseibeh were both on the staff in 2013-14, as the Falcons went 30-5 overall, won the MAC's regular-season title and advanced to the quarterfinal round of the WNIT.

• And, Wednesday's (Jan. 14) opponent, Western Michigan, is coached by BGSU Hall-of-Famer Kate Achter. During her Falcon career (2004-08), Achter helped BG to four MAC regular-season titles, three MAC Tournament crowns and four national postseason appearances. She also helped the Orange and Brown go 108-23 overall and 57-7 in the MAC. Achter had 1,580 career points as a Falcon, and remains BGSU's all-time assists leader, with 688.

• The BGSU reunions are not limited to head coaches. Audra Clark is an assistant coach under Brooks at NIU. Clark spent the last two seasons on Fred Chmiel's staff at BGSU, serving as the video coordinator in 2023-24 before being named director of player personnel for the '24-25 campaign.

• Former Falcon Andrea Cecil is an assistant coach under Achter at WMU. Cecil played three years at BGSU, scoring 891 points and earning All-MAC Third-Team honors as a junior in 2018-19. She missed the '19-20 season due to injury before playing two seasons at Florida Gulf Coast as a graduate transfer.

DONAHUE'S BEEN DOMINANT
• Sophomore Johnea Donahue has had numerous well-rounded games, to say the least, in the early portion of the 2025-26 campaign. After missing two games due to injury in mid-December, Donahue returned to action and posted a double-double in the MAC opener against Kent State (Dec. 20). She had a game-high 19 points along with a game- and career-high 11 rebounds in that win, and was named MAC Player of the Week for the second time this season.

• Donahue also had been named MAC P-O-T-W after stuffing the stat sheet with a career-high 24 points, six rebounds, six assists and six steals at Wisconsin (Nov. 12), followed by a 16-point performance at Marquette two nights later.

• The guard had eight steals, falling just two shy of the school record, in BGSU's win over Kentucky State (Dec. 3). All eight steals came in the first half.

• After her performance v KSU, she posted her second-straight double-double in Tuesday's (Dec. 30) Eastern Michigan game, with 10 points and 10 boards.

• Donahue again had eight steals in Saturday's (Jan. 10) win at Northern Illinois, adding 10 points, five assists and four rebounds.

• Donahue is averaging 4.00 steals per game this season, which leads the MAC and ties her for fourth in the entire nation. And, she is ranked among the MAC leaders in total steals (first), scoring (17th), rebounds (14th), assists (seventh), free-throw percentage (fifth) and assist/turnover ratio (seventh) as well.

KOHLER NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-MAC TEAM
• BGSU junior Paige Kohler was named to the 2025-26 Preseason All-MAC First Team, which was determined via voting by the league's 13 head coaches.

• Kohler, a native of Olmsted Falls, Ohio, earned All-MAC Honorable mention last season, and also was named to both the Academic All-MAC Team and the Academic All-District® Team, selected by College Sports Communicators. The guard started all 31 games in 2024-25, and averaged 35.0 minutes, 13.6 points and 4.6 boards per game, finishing second on the club in both scoring and rebounding.

• This season, Kohler leads the Falcons in scoring, with 14.4 ppg, and she is second in assists (3.7 apg). She is listed among the MAC leaders in scoring (eighth), assists (eighth), three-pointers made per game (seventh), assist/turnover ratio (second) and minutes played (sixth).

• In her first two-and-a-half seasons at BGSU, Kohler has compiled impressive totals of 975 points, 334 rebounds, 278 assists and 142 three-point field goals made. She has moved into 34th place on the BGSU career scoring list, and also is currently ranked on the school career lists for points per game (10th, 12.66), assists per game (eighth, 3.61), three-pointers made (18th) and three-pointers made per game (sixth, 1.84).

• Kohler has been in the starting lineup for all 77 of BGSU's games since she arrived on campus.

SPEAKING OF THE STARTING LINEUP
• The Falcons have used eight different starting lineups this season to date, after the Brown and Orange utilized five different lineups during all of last year and six the previous season (2023-24).

• A total of 10 players have started at least one game this year to date. That group includes a pair of fourth-year Falcons (senior Emily Siesel and redshirt junior Jasmine Fearne) who had never started a collegiate contest prior to Nov. 22. Junior Paige Kohler is the only player who has started all 15 games this year, while sophomore Johnea Donahue and junior Taya Ellis and have made 13 and 12 starts, respectively.

LEADERS OF THE MAC
• Johnea Donahue and Paige Kohler are far from the only Falcons who are listed among the MAC leaders in various statistical categories...

• Junior Taya Ellis is third in the league in blocked shots (1.08 bpg), and is also in the top 10 in free-throw percentage (sixth) and rebounding (10th).

• Sophomore Lauren Gerken is fourth in the league in blocked shots (1.07), while junior Jaedyn Cook is tied for 10th in that category (0.79 bpg in just 8.8 minutes per game). Senior Kaia Woods is third in the MAC in free-throw pct. (.846), while redshirt junior Jasmine Fearne is 10th in the league in three-pointers per game (1.60).

LAST TIME OUT: FALCONS SURGE PAST HUSKIES, 65-48
• BGSU went on the road and picked up a double-digit win on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 10), topping Northern Illinois, 65-48, at the Convocation Center.

• Senior Kendal Moxey had a game-high 15 points for the Falcons (9-6, 2-2 MAC), going a perfect 7-for-7 from the field to pace five players in double digits. Moxey also led the team and tied for game honors with eight rebounds.

• Sophomore Lauren Gerken had 11 points and six boards, while three Falcons – senior Kaia Woods, junior Paige Kohler and sophomore Johnea Donahue – scored 10 points apiece. Woods was a perfect 2-for-2 from three-point range.

• Kohler and Donahue combined for 10 assists and 12 steals. Each player had four rebounds and five dimes, while Donahue had eight steals, including seven in the second half, and Kohler had four.

• The Falcons limited the Huskies (3-12, 1-3 MAC) to just 15 points during the middle two quarters, forcing 13 turnovers during that time. NIU scored just 32 points over the game's final 30 minutes.

• NIU led by six points late in the first period before the Falcons battled back. BG used a 9-0 run late in the second quarter to take the lead, then extended a three-point margin to a double-digit lead after three periods.

• After the Huskies battled back to within five points early in the fourth quarter, a Kohler three sparked a quick 7-0 run and allowed the Orange and Brown to regain control. BGSU led by as many as 21 points down the stretch, before winning by 17.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE BRONCOS
• Western Michigan enters Wednesday's game with an overall record of 5-9 and a MAC mark of 2-2. The Broncos picked up back-to-back wins, over Buffalo and Akron, before falling by a 59-46 final at Toledo on Saturday (Jan. 10). Western is 3-3 at home and 2-6 on the road this season to date.

• Kailey Starks leads the team in scoring, with 10.9 points per game, but a total of five players are averaging at least eight points per contest. De'Ahna Richardson is second on the Broncos in both scoring and rebounding, with 9.1 ppg and 5.3 rpg.

• Kate Achter, in her first season with the Broncos, inherited a team that had just four players who saw action for last year's squad. The 2024-25 team went 12-18 overall and 8-10 in MAC play.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead Western Michigan, 44-37, in the all-time series, and the teams split last year's meetings, with the road team winning both. WMU captured a 63-60 decision at the Stroh Center (Jan. 22, 2025), with the Falcons heading to Kalamazoo and coming away with a 70-63 decision the following month (Feb. 19, 2025).

• Prior to Western's win last January, the Falcons had won seven of eight meetings with the Broncos since January of 2021. Overall, the Falcons are 23-15 at home, 18-21 on the road and 3-1 in neutral-site meetings with the Broncos over the years. More information can be found on page 25 of these very notes.

DOWN THE ROAD
• Following the WMU contest, the Falcons will return home for the next two games. BGSU will face Miami on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 17). That game will begin at 4:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center, and it will be Alumni Day, with numerous former Falcon greats expected to be on hand.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will face Ohio on Wednesday, Jan. 21. That contest is set for a 7:00 p.m. start at the Stroh.

STORIES & LINKS
Dec. 18 - Lorain Morning Journal - Olmsted Falls Grad Kohler Looks to Lead Falcons
Nov. 25 - Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum - Walk-on to Captain: Siesel's Patience Pays Off at Bowling Green

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.